Tow bar provided with a device for mechanical movement of its running gear

A tow bar specifically designed to connect to a nose landing gear or to engage with a nose wheel strut of an aircraft on the ground, so as to tow or push the aircraft, the tow bar comprising:

• a main body which extends longitudinally between a first end for attachment to the aircraft, referred to as the rear end, and a second end for attachment to a towing vehicle, referred to as the front end, the front end being opposite the rear end, the main body having a desired weight,
• a first pivot pin integral with the main body and extending transversely through the main body,
• a running gear which comprises a pair of arms which are angularly adjustable relative to the main body and which are integrally connected to each other in parallel, each arm having a proximal portion and a distal portion,
• each distal portion carrying at least a first ground contact element which is designed for moving the main body over the ground, when it is in contact with the ground,
• each proximal portion being coupled to the first pivot pin so as to be freely rotatable thereabout, allowing the running gear to occupy a succession of indexed positions which lie between:
• a first extreme position, referred to as the folded-away position, in which the ground contact elements are located at a minimum distance from the main body, and
• a second extreme position, referred to as the deployed position, in which the ground contact elements are located at a maximum distance from the main body,
• a mechanical device for indexing the position of the running gear comprising:
• a first mechanical control mechanism, producing an exclusively mechanical force, which is designed to be movable between a first position and a second position, by direct transmission of at least one manual translational movement or one manual rotational movement,
• a first mechanical holding mechanism which comprises a first elastic return device designed to bring the first mechanical holding mechanism to the various indexed positions, the first mechanical holding mechanism being designed, when subjected to the effect of the weight of the main body, to block the various indexed positions so that the arms cannot rotate freely about the first pivot pin,
• a first mechanical control transmission mechanism designed to kinematically connect the first mechanical control mechanism and the first mechanical holding mechanism,
• wherein, the mechanical indexing device is designed:
• in response to manual raising of the front end of the main body, relative to the ground, to at least partially relieve the first mechanical holding mechanism of the effect of the weight of the main body, and subsequently actuating the first mechanical control mechanism,
• to transmit the exclusively mechanical force to release the first mechanical holding mechanism, so as to unblock the indexed position so that the arms can rotate freely about the first pivot pin.