Aircraft wing with wing tip device
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsHuw Davies, Nigel McKenna
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aircraft wing assembly including: a wing having a wing box structure with an upper wing cover and a lower wing cover, and a wing tip device attached to the outboard end of the wing, the wing tip device including an upper cover and a lower cover, wherein a gap between opposing edges of the wing tip device lower cover and the lower wing cover is at least 5 mm, a seal assembly aerodynamically seals the gap, wherein the seal assembly includes a bridging component on an interior side of the gap, and a seal which fills the gap and is supported by the bridging component.
Claims22
An aircraft wing assembly, comprising:
- a wing having a wing box structure including an upper wing cover and a lower wing cover;
- a wing tip device attached to the outboard end of the wing, wherein the wing tip device includes an upper cover and a lower cover;
- a gap of at least 5 mm between opposing edges of the lower cover of the wing tip device and the lower wing cover;
- a seal assembly configured to aerodynamically seal the gap, wherein the seal assembly includes a bridging component on an interior side of the gap and a seal, wherein the seal fills the gap and is supported by the bridging component;
- wherein the bridging component has a generally T-shaped profile and includes an upright flange abutting the edge of the wing tip device lower cover, an outboard flange abutting the interior surface of the wing tip device lower cover, and an inboard flange extending to contact the interior surface of the lower wing cover.
An aircraft wing assembly, comprising:
- a wing having a wing box structure including an upper wing cover and a lower wing cover;
- a wing tip device attached to the outboard end of the wing, wherein the wing tip device includes an upper cover and a lower cover;
- a gap of at least 5 mm between opposing edges of the lower cover of the wing tip device and the lower wing cover;
- a seal assembly configured to aerodynamically sealing the gap, wherein the seal assembly includes a bridging component on an interior side of the gap and a seal which fills the gap and is supported by the bridging component,
- wherein the bridging component has an upright flange abutting the edge of the wing tip device lower cover, an outboard flange abutting an interior surface of the wing tip device lower cover, and an inboard flange extending to contact an interior surface of the lower wing cover, and wherein the upright flange, the outboard flange and the inboard flange are formed as a single component.
A method of attaching a wing tip device to the outboard end of an aircraft wing, the wing having a wing box structure including an upper wing cover and a lower wing cover, and the wing tip device having an upper cover and a lower cover, the method comprising:
- bringing the wing tip device and the wing together;
- joining the wing tip device to the outboard end of the wing, wherein a gap between opposing edges of the wing tip device lower cover and the lower wing cover is at least 5 mm at completion of the joint;
- and
- installing a seal assembly to aerodynamically seal the gap, wherein the seal assembly includes a bridging portion arranged to extend across an interior side of the gap to bridge the gap and a seal portion projecting from the bridging portion to fill the gap,
- wherein the bridging portion comprises an inboard flange which abuts an interior surface of the lower wing cover, and an outboard flange which abuts an interior surface of the wing tip lower cover, and wherein the seal portion abuts the edge of the wing tip device lower cover, and the bridging portion and the seal portion are formed as a single component.
A method of attaching a wing tip device to the outboard end of an aircraft wing, the wing having a wing box structure including an upper wing cover and a lower wing cover, and the wing tip device having an upper cover and a lower cover, the method comprising:
- bringing the wing tip device and the wing together;
- joining the wing tip device to the outboard end of the wing, wherein a gap between opposing edges of the wing tip device lower cover and the lower wing cover is at least 5 mm at completion of the joint;
- and
- installing a seal assembly for aerodynamically sealing the gap, wherein the seal assembly includes a bridging component on an interior side of the gap, and a seal which fills the gap and is supported by the bridging component,
- wherein the bridging component has an upright flange abutting the edge of the wing tip device lower cover, an outboard flange abutting an interior surface of the wing tip device lower cover, and an inboard flange extending to contact an interior surface of the lower wing cover, and wherein the upright flange, the outboard flange and the inboard flange are formed as a single component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.