Two-brake torque limiting device

A two-brake torque limiting device comprising:

• a drive shaft line;
• a speed-increasing gear coupled to the drive shaft line, the gear that rotates at a rotational speed that is proportionally related to and faster than a rotational speed of the drive shaft line;
• a trigger brake coupled to the speed-increasing gear, the trigger brake that applies a braking force to the speed-increasing gear when a control signal is received by the trigger brake;
• a lock down brake coupled to the speed-increasing gear, the lock down brake that applies a braking force to the drive line shaft based upon one of the rotational motion of (a) the speed-increasing gear, (b) the drive shaft line, and (c) a combination of the rotational motion of the speed-increasing gear and the rotational motion of the drive shaft line;
• a plurality of flaps and slats that are driven by the drive shaft line;
• and
• an asymmetry detection device for detecting asymmetries in a plurality of flaps and slats on the wings of an aircraft and sending the control signal to the trigger brake based upon a detected asymmetry.

A method for reducing asymmetry in the wings of an aircraft, the aircraft's wings having a plurality of flaps and slats, a plurality of flap/slat actuators that extend and retract the flaps and slats, a plurality of drive shaft lines that drive the flap/slat actuators, and a two-brake torque limiting device that applies a braking force to the drive shaft lines when one of the following occurs 1) one of the torques on the plurality of flap/slat actuators exceeds a preset value 2) a control signal is received from an asymmetry detection device or 3) a combination of 1 and 2, said method comprising the steps of:

• using the asymmetry detection device to detect asymmetries in the flaps and slats on the wings of an aircraft and to send a control signal to a trigger brake based upon a detected asymmetry;
• using a trigger brake to send a braking force to a speed-increasing gear when the control signal from the asymmetry detection device is received;
• using the speed-increasing gear to amplify the braking force and transfer the amplified braking force to a lock down brake;
• and
• using the lock down brake to halt a rotation of the drive shaft line.