Gear disconnect mechanism for landing gear actuator emergency deployment

Abstract

An aircraft landing gear includes a main beam coupled to the aircraft for reciprocating movement between a stowed position and a deployed position. An actuator is configured to drive the reciprocating movement of the main beam. The actuator includes a ball screw and a motor. The motor has an output shaft operably coupled to the ball screw through a gear train and configured to drive selective rotation of the ball screw. The actuator further includes a disconnect mechanism with a disconnect fitting rotatably mounted to the ball screw. A biasing fitting engages the disconnect fitting to rotate the disconnect fitting between a first position and a second position. The disconnect fitting transfers rotation of the output shaft to the ball screw when the disconnect fitting is in the first position. The ball screw is isolated from the output shaft when the disconnect fitting is in the second position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.