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US 9,321,525 B2Granted
Shrink strut landing gear system, method, and apparatus
AssigneeGoodrich Corporation
InventorWilliam E. Luce
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The landing gear systems, methods and apparatuses disclosed herein may comprise a shrink pump and an unshrink valve that are capable of shrinking a landing gear shock strut up to about 40% of its available stroke. The shrink pump may be configured to pump fluid (e.g., a hydraulic fluid) between an oil chamber, where hydraulic fluid is likely present and a shrink chamber to shrink the landing gear. Moreover, the shrink pump and unshrink valve may be part of a strut shrink system.
Claims15
A shock strut, comprising:
- a strut piston defining an oil chamber and comprising an exterior wall;
- a strut cylinder configured to at least partially receive the strut piston and comprising an interior wall;
- an upper strut bearing disposed on an end of the strut piston and configured to guide the strut piston within the strut cylinder;
- a lower strut bearing disposed on a portion of the strut piston and configured to guide the strut piston within the strut cylinder;
- a shrink chamber defined by the upper strut bearing, the interior wall, the exterior wall and the lower strut bearing, the shrink chamber in fluid communication with the oil chamber;
- and
- a strut shrink system configured to conduct a fluid between the shrink chamber and the oil chamber, the strut shrink system comprising a shrink pump in parallel with a valve and in-line with a check valve, the shrink pump configured to pump the fluid from the oil chamber into the shrink chamber.
4 more elements
A shrinkable aircraft landing system, comprising:
- a shock strut comprising a shock cylinder and a shock piston, the shock cylinder and the shock piston at least partially defining a shrink chamber;
- and
- a strut shrink system comprising a shrink pump, and a first valve;
- an oil chamber defined within at least one of the shock cylinder and the shock piston, the oil chamber in fluid communication with the shrink chamber via the strut shrink system, wherein fluid is pumped from the oil chamber into the shrink chamber by the shrink pump in response to the strut shrink system receiving a first command to stow a landing gear, and
- wherein the fluid migrates through the first valve from the shrink chamber to the oil chamber in response to the strut shrink system receiving a second command to deploy the landing gear.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.