Nacelle
AssigneeRohr, Inc.
InventorsMichael Ray Aten, Sara Crawford
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nacelle is configured to be coupled to an underside of a wing and forms a clearance space between the nacelle and a leading edge slat of the wing. A portion of an outlet cowling moves longitudinally aft when a reverse thrust configuration is activated and the leading edge slat is deployed toward the nacelle. The outlet cowling also includes another portion located adjacent to the leading edge slat that does not move when the reverse thrust configuration is activated and thus maintains its clearance space from the leading edge slat.
Claims20
A nacelle outlet cowling of a jet engine thrust reverser, the outlet cowling at a location adjacent to a nacelle inlet cowling having a circumference measured from an outboard top edge to an inboard top edge, the outlet cowling comprising:
- a sliding portion beginning at the inboard top edge and having a circumference at the location adjacent to the nacelle inlet cowling that is less than the circumference of the outlet cowling, the sliding portion being configured to move longitudinally between a forward thrust position adjacent to the nacelle inlet cowling and a reverse thrust position aft of the forward thrust position;
- and
- at least one stationary portion extending between the outboard top edge and an edge of the sliding portion, the at least one stationary portion remaining in a stationary position when the sliding portion moves between the forward thrust position and the reverse thrust position.
A nacelle configured to be coupled to an underside of a wing via a pylon, the wing comprising a leading edge slat configured to extend toward the nacelle when in a deployed configuration, the nacelle comprising:
- a cowling including
- an outer translating sleeve configured to move aft in a longitudinal direction;
- and
- an outer fixed structure having a clearance distance to the leading edge slat when the leading edge slat is in the deployed configuration that remains substantially constant when the outer translating sleeve moves aft in the longitudinal direction, wherein the outer fixed structure comprises a fixed panel extending at least partially circumferentially around an exterior surface of the cowling.
A method of reversing thrust of an engine fitted with a nacelle on an aircraft, the nacelle comprising a cowling including an outer translating sleeve and an outer fixed structure located adjacent to an inboard lateral side of the outer translating sleeve, the method comprising:
- moving the outer translating sleeve longitudinally from a first position to a second position aft of the first position without moving the outer fixed structure, wherein the outer fixed structure comprises a fixed panel extending at least partially circumferentially around the exterior surface of the cowling.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.