Pivoting fairings for a thrust reverser
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsJean-Pierre Lair, Paul Weaver
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The thrust reverser is used with a gas turbine engine and includes first and second doors pivotable between a stowed position and a deployed position. When deployed, pivoting fairings on the first door are moved so as to give room to the second door as its trailing edge moves within the first door. When stowed, the second door preferably provides the locking mechanism to the pivoting fairings of the first door.
Claims20
A thrust reverser for a nacelle of a gas turbine engine having an axis, the thrust reverser comprising a first reverser door and a second reverser door defining a portion of an aft section of the nacelle, the doors having respective trailing edges adjacent to a propulsive jet outlet of the nacelle and being pivotable simultaneously between a stowed position and a deployed position, the trailing edge of the first door being positioned behind the trailing edge of the second door in the deployed position, the thrust reverser including a pair of pivoting fairings, one fairing disposed on either side of the nacelle, the fairings disposed and extending between the doors when the doors are in the stowed position, each fairing having a respective trailing edge adjacent to the propulsive jet outlet and being pivotally connected to an axially-extending side edge of the first door, the pivoting fairings being in a stowed position when the doors are in a stowed position, and the pivoting fairings pivoting about an axis substantially parallel to the first door side edge to an outwardly pivoted position when the doors are in a deployed position.
A thrust reverser comprising at least two thrust reverser doors and a fairing extending between the doors when the thrust reverser doors are in a closed position, the fairing having a wall defining an outer surface and being pivotable around a pivot axis located adjacent to an edge of the wall, the wall being pivotally connected to a longitudinally-extending side edge of a said door, the pivot axis substantially parallel to said side edge, the wall being outwardly biased around the pivot axis.
A method of pivoting doors of a thrust reverser, the method comprising the simultaneous steps of:
- pivoting the doors from a stowed position to a deployed position in such a way that a trailing edge of a first one of the doors moves behind the trailing edge of a second one of the doors;
- and
- outwardly pivoting a pair of opposite fairings about respective pivot axes which are substantially parallel to longitudinally-extending edges defining corresponding sides of the first door and adjacent to its trailing edge so as to provide clearance for the trailing edge of the second door in the deployed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.