Helicopter rotors
AssigneeWestland Aircraft Limited
InventorAlfred C. Martin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A helicopter rotor includes a rotor head arranged to support a plurality of rotor blades for rotation about an axis. The rotor head comprises a generally hollow structure, and each rotor blade is supported by an elastomeric bearing arranged to permit blade flap, lead/lag and feathering movements. A resilient support means is housed within the structure and is operatively associated with each rotor blade so as to provide controlled restraint of rotor blade movements in the blade flap plane. In the illustrated embodiment, the support means comprises interconnected inner and outer elastomeric assemblies, the outer assembly being connected to each rotor blade through a common elastomeric lead/lag damper unit which provides inter-blade damping of blade lead/lag movements. The outer elastomeric assembly also provides an automatic blade droop stop.
Claims25
A helicopter rotor including a rotor head arranged to support a plurality of rotor blades for rotation about a generally vertical axis, said rotor head including, for each rotor blade, an elastomeric bearing having a geometric center and arranged to permit flap, lead/lag and feathering movements of its associated rotor blade, a lead/lag damper, and resilient support means axially spaced apart from said bearing geometric center and arranged during operation to provide controlled restraint of blade flap movements.
A helicopter rotor including a rotor head arranged to support a plurality of rotor blades for rotation about a generally vertical axis, said rotor head including, for each rotor blade, a hollow elastomeric bearing attached to rotor head structure to permit flap, lead/lag and feathering movements of its associated rotor blade, a spindle fixedly secured through said hollow bearing and protruding generally radially outwardly therefrom for attachment to the rotor blade, and resilient support means arranged to provide controlled restraint of blade flap movements and comprising an annular outer elastomeric assembly and an inner elastomeric assembly, said outer assembly being operatively associated with an inner end of said spindle which protrudes radially inwardly from said elastomeric bearing, said inner elastomeric assembly being earthed to the rotor head structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.