CN114746334A

CN114746334A - Folding wing aircraft and wing folding device

Info

Publication number: CN114746334A
Application number: CN202080083499.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 谢尔盖·弗拉基米罗维奇·伊格纳托夫; 亚历山大·尼古拉耶维奇·科尔内夫
Original assignee: Nick Research And Engineering Co ltd
Current assignee: Nick Research And Engineering Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-02
Filing date: 2020-11-20
Publication date: 2022-07-12
Also published as: WO2021112719A1; RU2727896C1

Abstract

An aircraft having folded wing halves comprising: a body; folding the half-wings; a tail assembly; a wing-half folding device capable of rotating a wing half relative to a transverse axis of the aircraft and subsequently folding said wing half in the direction of the tail assembly along the aircraft fuselage; a wheel type undercarriage including a nose undercarriage and a main undercarriage; and a mechanism for moving the wheels of the main landing gear. The main landing gear is equipped with a vertical strut rotatable about its own axis, said strut being connected at one end to the half-wing folding device and at the other end to a mechanism for moving the wheels of the main landing gear. The device is connected to the mechanism for moving the main landing gear by means of an actuator comprising a control rod and two levers and comprising a structural element connecting the wing halves in assembly with the fixed part of the wing. The folding device enables the half-wing to be placed in a folded position in which the chord plane of the half-wing is vertical and the wing tip is directed towards the tail of the aircraft. The invention aims to improve the fastening rigidity and strength of the half wing in a flying state and a folding state.

Description

Folding wing aircraft and wing folding device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to aircraft construction, i.e. to aircraft with folding wings, which can be used to design air vehicles that move in the air and on the ground.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a flying vehicle (airplane) with folding wings that reduces the transverse dimensions of the airplane during transport on public roads and reduces the space occupied during its storage, ensuring transport mobility during use.

The possibility of independent movement of the aircraft with the folded wings on the ground is also provided when the wheels of the aircraft landing gear are equipped with drives or due to propeller thrust.

Background

A convertible aircraft is known, comprising: a fuselage having a cockpit; an engine; a three-wheeled spring undercarriage having a nose undercarriage and a main undercarriage; a tail assembly; wings, the half wings of which are connected to the fuselage by means of hinge joints, each half wing being rotatable in its pivot mount and being foldable upwards perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (US 2017/0113797 a 1). The main landing gear is pivotally connected to the fuselage and is capable of moving longitudinally according to a desired position of the aircraft center of gravity.

A disadvantage of this construction is the complex construction of the fastening of the wing halves to the fuselage.

The closest proposed device is an aircraft designed to provide folding of the wing halves along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (US 2674422, https:// wwwwwwwww.uspto.gov). The aircraft includes a fuselage having a cockpit and a tail boom; vertical and horizontal rear wings mounted on the tail boom; a three-wheeled landing gear having a nose wheel and a main leg; an engine with a thrust propeller is arranged at the rear part of the cockpit; stub wings with pivotally attached wing halves having latches that secure the wing halves in the flight configuration. When folded, the wing halves are rotated upwardly and rearwardly relative to the stub wing and are mounted along the fuselage with the leading edge of the wing up. In the folded position, the ends of the wing halves rest on special hinges mounted on the horizontal rear wing. To ensure stability and maneuverability of the vehicle in moving on the road, compensation for rearward shifting of the center of gravity is provided by rotating the landing gear legs about their mounting axes. Due to propeller thrust, the aircraft can move on the ground with the wings folded, with the half wings covering the rotating propeller, providing safety for surrounding personnel and vehicles.

The disadvantages of this configuration are as follows:

it is difficult to ensure the strength and rigidity of fastening the wing halves to the stub wing, since the position of the link on the main spar and the articulated flange elements are limited to the thickness of the wing airfoil;

turning the wing halves up and back, making it difficult for one person to perform this operation manually;

the choice of the tailplane as a support for the folding half-wings causes additional loads to act on the structure of the tailplane when the aircraft moves on the ground;

the mechanism for moving the main landing gear according to this solution has the drawback that if one does not exert a great force to lift the aircraft fuselage and perform this operation manually, the main leg of the landing gear cannot rotate about its mounting axis.

"wing-folding device" is a well-known technique (RU 2403177C 1) which comprises: short and pivoting wings, frame members in the form of spars and end ribs, hinge joints and fixing locks;

the parts of the hinge joint are fixed to the wing spar of the wing panel, the fixing lock is spaced from the front hinge joint in the direction of the wing trailing edge, and the element of the lock is fixed at the interface of the wing spar and its end rib.

A disadvantage of this wing folding device is that the half-wings fall into the propeller rotation plane when in the folded position. This in fact makes it impossible to move with propeller thrust in the case of folding the half-wings, or involves a considerable increase in the transverse dimensions of the vehicle in the case of incomplete folding of the half-wings. When the wings are turned upwards and backwards in relation to the fuselage, their centre of gravity moves with significant fluctuations in height, which causes great forces to be applied when manually folding the wings, and is a technical problem when using mechanical actuators which must have considerable power.

Closest to the device of the claim is a "manual wing folding mechanism" (RU 2674387C2), comprising: a wing folding arrangement connecting the stub wing panel with the pivoting panel and configured to unfold the pivoting wing panel from the stub wing and rotate the pivoting panel about a lateral axis of the aircraft and the panel about a vertical axis perpendicular to the lateral axis, wherein the pivoting panel is disposed along an aircraft longitudinal axis perpendicular to the fixed panel; elements of the fastening half-wings.

A drawback of this wing folding mechanism is that when the wing halves are deployed from the stub wings, they must be held in this position in order to rotate with respect to the transverse axis and then with respect to the vertical axis, which requires a lot of physical manipulation and may cause the wing to break if the wing folding operation is performed carelessly.

The technical problem to be solved by the set of inventions of these claims is to provide the possibility of folding the wings of an aircraft by one person, to reduce the transverse dimensions of the aircraft and to ensure its transport on public roads, to ensure the rigidity and strength of the fastening of the wing halves while reducing the loads in flight conditions and in the links in the folded position. Furthermore, the possibility of moving the aircraft on the ground by means of wheel actuators or with propeller thrust is provided, taking into account the safety when moving on public roads and the high visibility from the pilot's seat.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical effect achieved when using the vehicle claimed in the invention is to compensate for the backward displacement of the centre of mass when the wings are folded, preventing the aircraft from overturning, and ensuring the possibility of its stable movement under the condition of folding the wings and in particular independently by propeller thrust, and reducing its transverse dimensions to ensure the safety of road users.

The essence of the solution of the aircraft with folded wings claimed in the present invention is that the half-wings are pivotally connected to the stub wings, ensuring the rotation of the half-wings with respect to the transverse axis of the aircraft, and their folding in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, from the front to the rear of the aircraft. Since the half-wing folding device is connected to the mechanism for lifting the main landing gear by means of a control lever and lever system, the weight load is distributed evenly over the two landing gears of the aircraft and is moved stably by propeller thrust in the case of folding the wings, while maintaining a reliable controllability.

At the same time, the mechanism for moving the main landing gear and its actuators is such that the vertical strut of the main landing gear is rotatable and connected to the wing folding device by means of a control rod and a lever, and the mechanism for moving the main landing gear is made in the form of a lever mechanism comprising a two-link folding horizontal strut, a linkage connected to the vertical strut of the main landing gear and a knuckle interacting with the wheels of the main landing gear. The linkage is equipped with a segmented groove in which a pin is mounted, which performs a translational movement in the linkage groove. At the same time, at the extreme points, the pin fixes the leg of the main landing gear in the flight position and in the transport position.

The technical effect of the wing folding device is to reduce the transverse dimensions of the aircraft in the folded wing position and to ensure that the loads are transferred from the wing halves to the wing stubs both in the flight position and during folding.

The essence of the solution of the wing folding device claimed in the present invention is that it is configured to rotate the half-wing with respect to the transverse axis and to rotate it around the vertical axis, and to place the half-wing along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, perpendicular to the transverse axis. The original combination of fastening the wing halves and the short wing by means of vertical hinges of the "flange-fork" type and two horizontal cylindrical hinges, used in the structure of the wing folding mechanism, is capable of transferring the loads from the wing halves to the short wing both in flight position and during folding.

Brief description of the drawings

The essence of the proposed invention is illustrated by the following description and the attached drawings, which show the following:

FIG. 1 shows a general view of an aircraft in a flight position;

FIG. 2 is a general view of the aircraft in the position of the rotary wing halves;

FIG. 3 shows a common view of the aircraft in the folded wing half position;

FIG. 4 illustrates a rear view of a segment of an aircraft structure, a wing folding device and a mechanism for moving the landing gear;

FIG. 5 shows a segment of an aircraft structure, a rear view of a wing folding device;

FIG. 6 shows a segment of an aircraft structure, a view of a catch for securing the wing halves in a rotated position;

FIG. 7 illustrates a segment of an aircraft structure, a view of a latch for fastening a half wing to a spar of a stub wing;

FIG. 8 is the position of the lever mechanism for raising the main landing gear in the wing half flight position;

figure 9 shows the position of the lever mechanism for moving the landing gear in the case of the folded position of the wing halves;

FIG. 10 shows a segment of an aircraft, a view of a latch for securing the wing halves in the folded position;

wherein:

1 is a fuselage;

2 is a short wing;

3 is a half wing;

4 is the nose leg of the landing gear;

5 is a main landing gear;

6 is the main landing gear spring;

7 is a vertical pillar;

8 is the wheel of the main landing gear;

9 is the control lever of the actuator of the mechanism for moving the main landing gear;

10 is the lever of the actuator of the mechanism for moving the main landing gear;

11 is a latch for fixing the wing halves in the flight position;

12 is the rear wall of the wing half;

13 is a fuselage bulkhead;

14 is a wing half mounting bracket;

15 is a spar of a half wing;

16 is an internal horizontal hinge;

17 is an outer horizontal hinge;

18 is an upper vertical hinge;

19 is a lower vertical hinge;

20 is a spar of a short wing;

21 is a latch of the catch for securing the wing halves in the rotated position;

22 is the root rib of the half-wing;

23 is a latch for a catch of the half wing fastened to the spar of the short wing;

24 is a lever of an actuator of a mechanism for moving the main landing gear;

25 is a cable for actuating the latch of the catch for fastening the half wing to the short wing spar;

26 is a spring for a latch used to fasten the half wing to the short wing spar;

27 is a guide link of the horizontal strut;

28 is the driven link of the horizontal strut;

29 is a link mechanism;

30 is a segmented groove of the linkage;

31 is a pin;

32 is a control lever for the mechanism for moving the main landing gear;

33 is the main landing gear pivot lever;

34 is a shaft;

35 is a latch of a catch for securing the wing halves in the folded position;

36 is a retainer for a catch for securing the wing halves in the folded position;

37 is a retainer for a latch used to secure the wing halves in flight position.

Fig. 1-3 show a general view of an aircraft comprising a fuselage 1, a wing stub 2, a wing half 3 pivotably connected to the wing of the wing stub, a wing half folding device, a wheeled undercarriage consisting of nose legs of an undercarriage 4 and a main undercarriage 5, a mechanism for moving the main undercarriage, a catch (not shown) for fixing the flight position of the wing half.

Fig. 4 shows a section of the aircraft structure, which is a rear view of the wing folding device and the mechanism for moving the landing gear.

The main landing gear 5 comprises a spring 6 pivotably connected to the fuselage, a strut 7 pivotably connected to the spring and to the fuselage, a wheel 8 fixed on the spring.

The half-wing folding device is connected to the mechanism for moving the main landing gear by means of a control rod 9 and a lever 10, which are attached to the upper end of the vertical strut 7.

The catch 11 for securing the wing halves in the flight position is made in the form of a latch which is secured to the rear wall 12 of the wing half, which is connected to the fuselage bulkhead 13.

The wing folding device shown in figure 5 comprises:

a half-wing mounting bracket 14 connected to the spar 15 of the half-wing 3 by two horizontal hinge joints 16 and 17, the axis of which is oriented along the spar of the half-wing and is set close to the lower edge strip of the spar;

two vertical hinge joints 18 and 19 connect the half-wing 3 to the spar 20 of the solid wing 2, so as to be able to fold the rotating half-wing into a transport position in which the chord plane of the half-wing is vertical and the end of the half-wing is directed towards the tail of the aircraft;

a catch for securing the wing halves in a rotated position (as shown in figure 6);

a snap fastener for fastening the half-wing to the spar of the short wing (as shown in fig. 7).

The catch for securing the wing halves in the rotated position is made in the form of a spring-loaded latch 21 which is secured to a root rib 22 of the wing half and interacts with the wing half mounting bracket 14 as the wing half rotates.

The catch for fastening the wing halves to the spar comprises a spring loaded latch 23 attached to a lever 24 connected to the wing half mounting bracket 14. The latches are actuated by cables 25, the outer shells of which are fixed to the spars 15 of the wing halves.

The mechanism for moving the main landing gear (fig. 8 and 9) comprises:

a lever mechanism consisting of two-link horizontal struts, the links 27 of which are pivotably connected to the vertical struts (see fig. 7), and the links 28 of which are pivotably connected to the fuselage;

a link mechanism 29 in which a segmented groove 30 is formed, in which a pin 31 connecting the horizontal strut links 27 and 28 is placed;

a control lever 32, one end of which is pivotably connected to the linkage 29 and the other end of which is pivotably connected to a knuckle 33 of the wheel 8.

The knuckle 33 is pivotally connected to the spring 6 of the main landing gear 5 and the shaft 34 is rigidly connected to the wheel 8.

Figure 8 shows an alternative configuration of the main landing gear lever mechanism in the flight position of the wing halves.

Figure 9 illustrates an alternative to the lever mechanism configuration of the main landing gear when in the wing-half folded position.

Fig. 10 shows a segment of the aircraft structure, which is a view of a catch for securing the wing halves in a rotated position.

The catch for securing the wing halves in the folded position is made in the form of a spring-loaded latch 35 which is secured to the front edge of the wing halves, and a catch 36 is provided on the horizontal stabilizer.

Detailed Description

The solution claimed in the present invention is a group of inventions comprising an aircraft with folding wings and a mechanism for moving the main landing gear and wing folding devices, these inventions relating to an object to provide a versatile vehicle that can be moved both in the air and on the ground, which is reliable and easy to operate.

The technical effects of the claimed invention group are achieved due to the following factors: the half-wing folding device is connected to the mechanism for lifting the main landing gear by means of an actuator comprising a control rod 9 and a lever 10, one end of which interacts with the control rod 9 and the other end interacts with the vertical strut 7 of the main landing gear.

The structure for moving the wheels of the main landing gear is made in the form of a lever mechanism comprising: two-link horizontal strut with link 27 pivotally connected to spring 6 and link 28 pivotally connected to the fuselage;

a link mechanism 29 in which a segmented groove 30 is formed, in which a pin 31 is provided, the pin connecting the horizontal strut links 27 and 28; a control lever 32 is pivotally connected at one end to the link 29 and at the other end to a knuckle 33 of the wheel 8. At the same time, the vertical strut 7 of the main landing gear 5 is rotatable about its axis.

This half wing folding device includes:

a half-wing mounting bracket 14 connected to the spar 15 of the half-wing 3 by means of two horizontal hinge joints 16 and 17, the axis of which is oriented along the spar of the half-wing and set close to the lower bead of the spar;

two vertical hinge joints 18 and 19 connect the half-wing 3 to the spar 20 of the solid wing 2, so as to be able to fold the rotating half-wing console into a transport position in which the chord plane of the half-wing is vertical and the end of the half-console is directed towards the tail of the aircraft;

a catch for securing the wing halves in the rotated position, made in the form of a spring-loaded latch 21 fixed on the wing half's root rib 22 and interacting with the wing half mounting bracket 14 when the wing halves are rotated;

a catch for fastening the wing halves to the spar, comprising a spring-loaded latch 23 attached to a lever 24 connected to the wing half mounting bracket 14, the latch being actuated by a cable 25, the outer shell of which is fixed on the spar 15 of the wing half.

Furthermore, the half-wing folding device is configured to transfer flight loads from the spars of the half-wing to the spars of the short wing.

The solution claimed in the invention works as follows. In the flight position (fig. 1), the wing halves are connected to the bulkhead 13 of the stub wing 2 by means of a shackle 11 provided on the wing half rear wall 12. In this case, all the load from the wing halves 3 is transmitted to the stub wings 2 through the wing half mounting brackets 14 and the hinge joints 16, 17, 18 and 19.

After completing flight and landing at the airport, the wing halves are folded. To this end, the stub wing is separated from the half wing by removing the latch of the catch 11 from the opening in the retainer 37 fixed on the fuselage bulkhead 13. The wing halves are then rotated with their leading edges downwards relative to the transverse axis of the aircraft, while the warped profile of the root ribs 22 of the wing halves can form a space to accommodate the wing half mounting brackets 14. At the end pivot points of the wing halves, a spring loaded latch 21 of the shackle secures the wing halves for engagement with the carriage 14. The latches 23, pressed by the springs 26, are then disengaged from the spars 20 of the stub wing, using the cables 25, releasing the wing halves for rotation about a vertical axis. When the wing halves are rotated and folded along the fuselage, the wing half mounting brackets 14 act, through the levers 24, on the levers 9 and 10 of the actuators of the mechanism for raising the main landing gear, thus causing the rotation of the strut 7 and of the guide link 27 of the horizontal strut connected thereto. The rotation of the link 27 moves a lever mechanism comprising a linkage 29, a control rod 32 and a knuckle 33, which interacts with the main landing gear spring 6 and the wheel 8. Thus, there are situations where the main landing gear is moved aft relative to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, thereby compensating for the displacement of the center of mass as the half wings rotate and the pilot and passengers leave the cockpit of the aircraft. This operation is performed sequentially from one side of the aircraft to the other. Furthermore, moving the landing gear backwards enables reloading of the nose leg 4 of the landing gear carrier, thereby improving the controllability of the aircraft when moving over the ground.

The solution can be used as a personal vehicle for commercial and sports use, as well as for patrol and search tasks performed by emergency departments and other structures, and possibly for transit within the cargo hold of a transport.

Claims

1. An aircraft having folded wing halves, the aircraft comprising:

-a fuselage comprising a fixed wing panel (stub);

-a folding half-wing connected to the stub wing, the folding half-wing comprising spars and other frame elements;

-a tail assembly comprising a vertical tail and a horizontal tail;

-a wing half folding device configured to rotate the wing half from a flight condition to an angle close to 90 ° with respect to the transverse axis of the aircraft and then fold along the aircraft fuselage towards the tail assembly;

-a catch for fixing the flying position and the folded position of the wing halves;

-a wheel landing gear comprising a nose landing gear and a main landing gear;

-a mechanism for moving the wheels of the main landing gear;

the method is characterized in that:

-said main landing gear is equipped with a vertical strut rotatable on itself, one end of which is connected to said half-wing folding device and the other end of which is connected to said mechanism for moving said main landing gear;

-the wing half folding device is connected to the mechanism for moving the main landing gear by means of an actuator comprising a control rod and two levers, one of which is connected to the wing half folding device and the other to the vertical strut;

-the root ribs of the half-wings have a profile that is warped in a vertical plane;

-the mechanism for moving the wheels of the main landing gear comprises: the two connecting rods fold the horizontal strut; a link having a groove in which a pin is mounted, said pin connecting the links of the horizontal struts, performing a translational movement in the link groove and fixing the main landing gear leg with the wheels of the main landing gear in the rear position of the folded position of the wing halves; a knuckle for a wheel of the main landing gear.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 wherein said wing halves are directly connected to said fuselage frame.

3. An aircraft according to claim 1, characterized in that the mechanism for moving the main landing gear is equipped with an actuator of any known type, such as a hydraulic actuator or an electric actuator.

4. An aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the recess has a C-shaped profile, the recess being provided in the link of the mechanism for moving the main landing gear.

5. A wing-folding apparatus comprising:

-a structural element in the form of a link connecting the half-wing to a fixed wing panel (stub), said structural element being configured to be able to transmit aerodynamic loads acting on the half-wing in flight conditions and to move the half-wing into a folded position in which the chord plane of the half-wing is vertical, the end of the half-wing being directed towards the tail of the aircraft;

-a catch for securing the wing folding device;

the method is characterized in that:

the fastening of the half-wing to the stub is achieved by means of two horizontal hinges in the form of a bracket connected to the spar of the half-wing, the axis of the bracket being oriented along the spar and being located in the vicinity of the lower cap of the spar so as to enable the half-wing to be rotated through an angle close to 90 ° with respect to the transverse axis of the aircraft; and, connecting the half-wing to the short wing by means of two vertical hinge joints so as to be able to rotate the half-wing to the folded position with respect to a vertical axis.

6. The wing-folding apparatus of claim 7, wherein the vertical hinges of the half-wing mounting brackets used to fasten the half-wing to the short wing spar are spaced within the thickness of the wing airfoil.

7. Wing folding device according to claim 7, characterized in that the horizontal hinges of the half-wing mounting brackets for fastening the half-wing to the spar are spaced from each other in the junction area of the half-wing and the stub wing by a distance of 2 to 3 times the wing airfoil thickness.

8. Wing folding apparatus according to claim 7, characterised in that it is equipped with means for fixing the wing halves in a position rotated relative to a horizontal axis.

9. Wing folding device according to claim 7, characterized in that the wing folding device is equipped with means for fastening the wing halves to the stub wing in the rotated position of the wing halves.