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US 7,190,096 B2Granted
Fault-tolerant electro-mechanical actuator having motor armatures to drive a ram and having an armature release mechanism
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsDavid E. Blanding, Atsuo J. Watanabe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrical actuator comprises two or more electrical motors to drive a threaded screw ram. Each motor has an armature that drives a threaded roller screw that is engaged to the threaded screw ram. Each armature of each motor is independently engageable and/or dis-engageable with the ram. The motor armatures are engageable and disengageable by way of threaded roller screws, the ends of which are tapered to enable them to be lifted away from or lowered into engagement with the threaded ram.
Claims13
An electrically-powered linear actuator comprising:
- an output ram (hereafter the “output ram”) having a central axis and an exterior threaded surface;
- a housing having a first opening through which the output ram extends and retracts;
- a first electric motor (hereafter the “first motor’) fixed in said housing, said first motor providing a first stator and a first armature within the stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said first armature being carried in a manner to prevent its axial movement along the output ram axis while permitting its rotation about the output ram axis, the first armature's rotation causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing when the first armature is engaged with the output ram's threaded surface;
- a second electric motor (hereafter the “second motor”) fixed in said housing and adjacent the first electric motor, said second motor providing a second stator around the output ram and a second armature within the second stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said second armature being carried in a maimer to prevent its axial movement along the output ram axis while permitting its rotation about the output ram axis, the second armature's rotation causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing when the second armature is engaged with the output ram's threaded surface;
- and
- an armature releasing mechanism, operatively coupled to at least one of the first armature and the second armature to decouple the corresponding armature from the output ram upon the existence of a fault.
3 more elements
An electrically-powered linear actuator comprising:
- a cylindrical output ram (output ram) having a central axis and an exterior surface circumscribed by a helical thread;
- a housing having a first opening through which the output ram extends and retracts;
- a first electric motor (hereafter the “first motor’) fixed in said housing, said first motor providing a first stator around the output ram and a first armature within the stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said first armature being comprised of a first roller screw, that rotatably engages the helical thread but which does not move axially along the output ram axis such that the first armature's rotation causes the first roller screw to rotate in the helical thread of the output ram, thereby causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing;
- a second electric motor (hereafter the “second motor”) fixed in said housing, said second motor providing a second stator around the output ram and a second armature within the second stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said second armature being comprised of a roller screw, that rotatably engages the helical thread but which does not move axially along the output ram axis such that the second armature's rotation causes the second roller screw to rotate in the helical thread of the output ram, thereby causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing;
- and
- a armature releasing mechanism, operatively coupled to at least one of the first roller screw and the second roller screw to decouple the corresponding armature from the helical thread of the output ram upon the failure of the corresponding motor.
3 more elements
An aircraft comprising:
- a) two wings, each having an actuator-controllable flight surface;
- b) a fuselage to which the two wings are attached;
- c) a tail section attached to the fuselage, having at least one actuator-controllable flight surface;
- d) at least one engine coupled to at least one of the:
- the two wings;
- the fuselage;
- and the tail section;
- and
- e) an electrically-powered, fault-tolerant actuator (the “actuator) operatively coupled to at least one of the actuator controllable flight surfaces, the actuator comprising:
- i) an output ram having a central axis and an exterior surface circumscribed by a helical thread;
- ii) a housing having a first opening through which the output ram extends and retracts;
- iii) a first electric motor (hereafter the “first motor’) fixed in said housing, said first motor providing a first stator around the output ram and a first armature within the stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said first armature being carried in a manner to prevent its axial movement along the output ram axis while permitting its rotation about the output ram axis, the first armature's rotation causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing when the first armature is engaged with the helical thread in the output ram;
- a second electric motor (hereafter the “second motor’) fixed in said housing, said second motor providing a second stator around the output ram and a second armature within the second stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said second armature being carried in a manner to prevent its axial movement along the output ram axis while permitting its rotation about the output ram axis, the second armature's rotation causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing when the second armature is engaged with the helical thread in the output ram;
- and
- a armature releasing mechanism, operatively coupled to at least one of the first armature and the second armature to decouple the corresponding armature from the output ram upon the existence of a predetermined condition within one of the motors.
12 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- a) a chassis;
- b) at least one steerable wheel coupled to the chassis;
- c) an electrically-powered, fault-tolerant actuator (the “actuator) operatively coupled to the at least one steerable wheel, the actuator comprising:
- i) an output ram having a central axis and an exterior surface circumscribed by a helical thread;
- ii) a housing having a first opening through which the output ram extends and retracts;
- iii) a first electric motor (hereafter the “first motor’) fixed in said housing, said first motor providing a first stator around the output ram and a first armature within the stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said first armature being carried in a manner to prevent its axial movement along the output ram axis while permitting its rotation about the output ram axis, the first armature's rotation causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing when the first armature is engaged with the helical thread in the output ram;
- a second electric motor (hereafter the “second motor’) fixed in said housing, said second motor providing a second stator around the output ram and a second armature within the second stator that rotates about the axis of the output ram, said second armature being carried in a manner to prevent its axial movement along the output ram axis while permitting its rotation about the output ram axis, the second armature's rotation causing the output ram to retract into or extend from the housing when the second armature is engaged with the helical thread in the output ram;
- and
- a armature releasing mechanism, operatively coupled to at least one of the first armature and the second armature to decouple the corresponding armature from the output ram upon the existence of a predetermined condition within one of the motors.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.