Auxiliary airfoil lost motion detector and actuator
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJoseph S. Caferro, Hector V. Tomassi
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Abstract
Apparatus for detecting and signaling a skewing or misalignment of adjacent aircraft leading edge slats is disclosed. A cable is attached to an actuator having a compression spring system and located in an outboard slat. The cable passes through cable guides in several adjacent slats before being attached to an inboard slat. The compression spring system utilizes a dual concentric pair of compression springs for maintaining a tight cable. When a misaligned condition is detected by a proximity switch, the increased cable load will cause the actuator to lock itself in a position out of the range of the proximity sensor.
Claims5
Apparatus for detecting and signaling a misalignment of adjacent auxiliary airfoil elements comprising:
- a cable;
- an actuator having a compression spring system attached to said cable;
- a proximity sensor system attached to the housing of said spring system;
- and
- a latch means for locking said spring system with respect to said housing;
- wherein said spring system responds to loadings in said cable, and said spring system controls movement of said cable toward and away from said housing until a predetermined cable loading is reached, at which time said actuator moves away from said sensor system and said latch means locks said spring system against movement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.