Drain/fill fitting
AssigneeBE Aerospace, Inc.
InventorsKenneth M. Reynolds, Charles F. Forster
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aircraft drain/fill fitting includes a housing adapted for being fitted into an opening between an aircraft interior and an aircraft exterior. The housing has an interior housing segment fluidly coaxially communicating with an exterior housing segment to define a liquid flow path therethrough, and a heater for applying heat to the interior housing segment. A hollow insert element is positioned in the interior housing segment in heat transfer contact with an inner wall of the interior housing segment. An elongate heat transfer probe is positioned in heat transfer contact with the hollow insert element and extends into the exterior housing segment to reduce the incidence of freezing of liquid in the exterior housing segment.
Claims14
A drain/fill fitting, comprising:
- (a) a housing adapted for being fitted into an opening between a first temperate environment and a below-freezing environment, and including a first housing segment positioned in the temperate environment fluidly communicating with a second housing segment exposed to the below-freezing environment to define a liquid flow path therethrough;
- (b) a heater for applying heat to the first housing segment configured to be permanently positioned within the and embedded in the first housing segment;
- (c) an elongate heat transfer probe configured to be permanently positioned in the drain/fill fitting and in heat transfer contact with the first housing segment and extending into the second housing segment to reduce the incidence of freezing of liquid in the second housing segment exposed to the below-freezing environment, wherein:
- the elongate heat transfer probe is configured to axially extend along an inner wall of a hollow insert element and be within a flow path of the second housing segment, wherein the hollow insert element is configured to be positioned in heat transfer relation on an interior wall of the first housing segment.
An aircraft drain/fill fitting, comprising:
- (a) a housing adapted for being fitted into an opening between an aircraft interior and an aircraft exterior, and including an interior housing segment fluidly coaxially communicating with an exterior housing segment to define a liquid flow path therethrough;
- (b) a heater for applying heat to the interior housing segment permanently positioned within the aircraft drain/fill fitting and embedded in the interior housing segment;
- (c) a hollow insert element positioned in the interior housing segment in heat transfer contact with an inner wall of the interior housing segment;
- and
- (d) an elongate heat transfer probe permanently positioned in the aircraft drain/fill fitting and in heat transfer contact with the hollow insert element and extending into the exterior housing segment to reduce the incidence of freezing of liquid in the exterior housing when the exterior housing is exposed to a below-freezing environment, wherein:
- the elongate heat transfer probe is configured to axially extend along an inner wall of the hollow insert element and be within the flow path of the exterior housing segment.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.