Aerodynamically shaped probe
AssigneeRosemount Inc.
InventorsEric A. Hedberg, Jeffrey M. Setterholm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a air data sensing probe that has a cylindrical barrel joined to a contoured strut section. The strut has leading and trailing edges formed along curved paths, and supports the cylindrical barrel at a position spaced from a mounting surface and facing upstream of relative air movement. The strut has a rounded leading edge, and is generally ogival-shaped in cross-section. There is a blended, relatively quickly-changing transition section to blend the trailing end of the cylindrical barrel into the ogival-shaped strut section so that the probe has reduced weight of the strut and drag, and through reduction of the cross-sectional area and rounding the strut leading edge, has enhanced anti-icing performance.
Claims13
A pressure-sensing probe for mounting on an air vehicle comprising:
- a barrel having a generally cylindrical shape, a central axis centered on a diameter of an outer surface of the barrel, and a length along the central axis and a pressure sensing port;
- a mounting base;
- a strut extending between said mounting base and the barrel comprising curved leading and trailing edges that define a bisecting plane and that converge in direction away from the mounting base toward the barrel, the strut having a generally ogival cross-sectional shape, the strut extending to a position adjacent an end of the barrel the dimension of the strut perpendicular to the plane being less than the diameter of the barrel at the outer end of the strut;
- and
- a transition surface section interposed between the strut and the barrel that is smoothly contoured to blend from the ogival cross-sectional shape of the strut to the cylindrical shape of the barrel.
A pressure sensing probe for mounting on an air vehicle comprising:
- a cylindrical barrel having a generally circular cross section, a central axis centered on a diameter of an outer surface of the barrel, and a length along the central axis, and having a pressure sensing port thereon;
- a mounting base;
- a strut extending between said mounting base and the barrel comprising curved leading and trailing edges that define a plane and that extend outwardly from the base and curve in a forward direction at location spaced from the base such that the edges merge with the outer surface of the barrel and are generally parallel to the central axis where they merge with the barrel, the edges also converging from the base toward the barrel, the edges being spaced apart substantially at the base and said edges spaced apart in said plane a distance substantially equal to the barrel diameter where they merge with the barrel, the converging edges extending to space the barrel from the mounting base, the strut having a generally ogival cross sectional shape with a maximum dimension measured perpendicular to the plane less than the diameter of the barrel in the region adjacent the barrel;
- and
- a short transition section interposed between the strut and the barrel from the ogival cross sectional shape to the cylindrical shape barrel in a distance along the central axis less than two times the diameter of the barrel, with the transition section having surface curving smoothly at all regions of the junction between the strut and the barrel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.