GB2152894A - Store carrying means for aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

The external carriage of stores such as bombs, guided weapons, fuel tanks, and equipment pods by an aircraft is facilitated by a store carrier having two members (1,2) configured to lie, in a flight position, side-by-side against the belly of an aircraft, the members (1,2) having hinges (7,8) associated with their outboard edges (3, 4) for hinging to the aircraft and latches (9) associated with their inboard edges (5,6) for latching one to the other and to the aircraft, the arrangement being such that the members (1,2) may be swung between the flight position and a non-flight position for access to the otherwise hidden regions of the fuselage surface and the store carrier. Each member (1,2) is of compartmented form, each compartment being capable of housing at least one store ejecting and releasing unit so that the units can be readily positioned to enable a wide range of stores to be carried. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Store carrying means for aircraft This invention relates to store carrying means on which stores can be carried externally of an aircraft. The term 'stores' in this specification includes such items as bombs, guided weapons, fuel tanks, equipment pods, and the like, which are selected according to the mission the aircraft is to perform.

The external carriage of stores poses many problems when designing a multi-role combat aircraft.

For example, the aircraft structure can be adapted to effect such carriage, but is found that this results in a weight and an internal volume penalty when the aircraft is operated in a non-store carrying role. Conversely, if the aircraft structure remains with a minimum of adaptation, the ability to carry a variety of stores is limited.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide store carrying means which require little adaptation of the aircraft structure and which accrue little permanent weight and internal volume penalty.

It is a further objective to provide store carrying means which can be readily removed when the aircraft is to be operated in a non-store carrying role, which allow access to that part of the aircraft structure which may be hidden by the store carrying means and, which allow ready access to such items as store ejection and release units when these are carried by the store carrying means.

Yet a further objective is to provide store carrying means which can carry a wide variety of stores and a wide mix of stores in any one payload having regard to the loading requirement of the aircraft.

Store ejection and release units are preferably carried by the store carrying means for convenient and effective anchorage, release, and ejection of the carried stores.

According to the present invention, store carrying means for aircraft include a store carrying member configured to lie in a flight position adjacent a surface of a carrier aircraft, hinge means for hinging the member to the carrier aircraft, and latch means spaced from the hinge means for latching the member to the aircraft in the flight position, whereby the member can be swung about the hinge means to and from the flight position.

Preferably, the hinge means allows the storage carrying member to swing about an axis lying generally fore-and-aft of the aircraft.

Preferably, the store carrying means includes, in addition to the first mentioned store carrying member, a second store carrying member configured to lie adjacent an aircraft surface alongside the first member, the second store carrying member also having hinge means for hinging to the aircraft. It is preferable for the latch means of the first member to be arranged to latch both members together and to the aircraft but, alternatively, the second member may have its own latch means for latching it to the aircraft.

Conveniently, the, or each store carrying means is configured to lie adjacent to an underside region of an aircraft.

By the present invention, the store carrying means can be swung away from a flight to a nonflight position to expose that region of the aircraft which would otherwise be hidden for inspection and maintenance access. Simultaneously, the otherwise hidden regions of the store carrying means are exposed allowing similar access. This latter feature is particularly advantageous since any ejection and release units carried require electrical connections to be made and re-arming with gasproducing cartridges.

Since the store carrying means can be swung about the hinge means, access is provided without time consuming bodily removal of the store carrying means from the aircraft, but should rapid removal be necessary, for example, if the aircraft is to be flown without stores, then the hinge means conveniently has a quick release facility.

A preferred embodiment of store carrying means according to the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a part side elevation of an aircraft with store carrying means attached and stores being carried.

Figure 2 is an inverted plan view, that is to say, a view upon Arrow II of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a front view of the aircraft with store carrying means attached, Figure 4 is a part side elevation of the store carrying means removed from the aircraft, Figure 5 is a part plan view of the store carrying means, that is to say, a view on Arrow V of Figure 4, Figure 6 is diagrammatic cross sectional view of the store carrying means in the direction of Arrows VI-VI of Figure 5 (i.e. looking aft) but, additionally, showing local aircraft structure in diagrammatic form, Figure 7 is a cross sectional view of the store carrying means in the direction of Arrows VII-VII of Figure 5 (i.e. looking forward), Figure 8 is a pictorial view of part of that region of the store carrying means bounded by the Arrows VI-VI and VII-VII, Figure 9 is an enlarged view of that region of Figure 6 bounded by box IX showing latching means, Figure 10 is an enlarged view of that region of Figure 6 bounded by box X showing hinging means.

In the Figures, carrying means for aircraft externally mounted stores include a first carrying member 1 in the form of an elongated structure having a width much greater than its depth and a second carrying member 2 of similar form. The two members are configured to lie side-by-side closely adjacent to the under surface of an aircraft fuselage when in a flight position and to swing outwardly and downwardly, after the manner of access doors, away from the aircraft when in a non-flight position. Naturally, the members 1 and 2 can be configured to lie adjacent aircraft surfaces other than those which face downwards.

The two members 1 and 2 have outboard edges 3 and 4 respectively, and inboard edges 5 and 6 respectively. The inboard edges are arranged to lie adjacent one another parallel to and offset to one side of the longitudinal centre line Y-Y of the aircraft when the members are positioned side-byside in the flight position, whilst the outboard edges are positioned to lie away from one another equally spaced from the aircraft centre line Y-Y and again parallel thereto. The inboard edges 5 and 6 are offset from the aircraft centre line when in the flight position, so that, if desired, stores can be carried in register with the centre line when viewed in plan.

Both members 1 and 2 are provided with pivot means for pivoting to the aircraft structure, such means being in the form of a series of individual lugs 7 carried in the region of the outboard edges 3 and 4 respectively. Each lug 7 is connectable by a pivot pin 8 (of a known quick release type) to an anchorage device forming part of the aircraft. This latter device will be described below with reference to Figure 10.

A typical lug 7 is illustrated individually at 7' in Figure 8.

The carrying means is provided with latch means in the form of a series of individual latches 9 which are arranged to releasably anchor the inboard edges 5 and 6 of the members 1 and 2 to one another and to the aircraft in the flight position. The latches 9 are described below with particular reference to Figure 9.

The carrying members 1 and 2 are especially formed to allow a wide variety of stores to be carried according to the mission or role to be performed by the aircraft to which the carrying means is or will be attached, and having regard to its loading requirement, that is to say its centre of gravity range. To this end, the members 1 and 2 are of compartmented form with a series of compartments 10 formed through their depth. The compartments are formed by transverse 11 and longitudinal 12 structural members, the longitudinal members 12 being formed with apertures 13 through which transversely extending quick release pins (not shown) can extend to engage store ejection and release units. The outline of a typical ejection and release unit is shown for reference purposes only at 14 in Figure 8.As before mentioned, the units 14 contain releasable latching means for engaging and anchoring stores, and also ejection means for urging released stores away from the aircraft. The latching means and the ejection means require electrical connection with the aircraft and also the provision and replenishment of cartridges for providing gas to effect actuation. Hence, access to the units subsequent to anchorage within the compartments 10 is necessary. Accordingly, the outer surface only of the members 1 and 2 is provided with a skin 15 whilst the inner surface, that is to say the surface which in use lies adjacent the aircraft, remains unskinned.

Access to the units 14 is readily achieved when the members 1 and 2 are swung away from the aircraft in the non-flight position through this unskinned region. The skin 15 is apertured at 16 to allow the store latching and ejection means to protrude.

Blanking plates (not shown) are provided to close those apertures 16 in compartments not occupied by a unit 14.

To avoid unnecessary duplication of detail in Figure 5, the compartments 10 and their associated structure are only shown in regions A and B; the regions C and D, however, are identical to region B.

As illustrated, each compartment 10 can accommodate two units 14 in tandem.

Figures 1, 2 and 7 show various stores in a flight position.

To allow access to the aircraft structure which would be otherwise hidden, and to the otherwise hidden regions of the members 1 and 2, the members can be swung about the pivot pins 8 after the latches 9 are released, to lie in the non-flight position shown in broken outline in Figures 3 and 6.

This is done without attached stores.

In the illustrated embodiment, where the members swing downwardly to the non-flight position, each member carries a winch system 17 shown in some detail in Figure 6. As before mentioned, the non-flight positions of the members 1 and 2 are shown in broken outline.

Each winch system 17 includes a driven spool 18 on which is wound a cabie 19. When used for swinging the members 1 and 2 about their pivot pins 8, the cables 19 extend around pulley wheels 20 and have their ends releasably attached to lugs 21. Both the pulley wheels 20 and the lugs 21 are carried by the aircraft. Rotation of the spools 18 effect winding in and paying out of the cables and thus achieve upward and downward, respectively, swinging of the members.

The winch systems 17 can also be used to facilitate bodily removal and re-attachment of the members 1 and 2 to the aircraft.

In this case, subsequent to swinging the members to the non-flight position shown in broken outline in Figure 6, the ends of the cables 19 are releasably attached to lugs 22 outboard of the lugs 21 and similarly carried by the aircraft. Conveniently also, the cables 19 engage and are guided by a series of pulley wheels 23 carried by the members 1 and 2. By this arrangement, the members 1 and 2 can be lowered to the ground in a controlled manner on removal of the pivot pins 8.

Referring now to Figure 9, each latch 9 includes a screwed bolt 24 which is carried by spaced lugs 25 and 26 formed upon the inboard edge 5 of the member 1. A circlip 27 lies between the spaced lugs 25 and 26 so that the bolt is retained; the bolt 24 can thus rotate but can move axially by only a limited amount.

The bolt head 28 is housed in a recess when in the flight position to present a relatively smooth exterior whilst the screwed end 29 engages a floating part barrel-shaped stiffnut 30 carried by the aircraft. The bolt is tightened into an inflight locked position by a key. To hold the member 2 in the flight position, the bolt 24 is arranged to extend through a slot 31 formed in a lug 32 carried by the inboard edge 6 of the member 2, the lug 32 being held against the lug 25 as the bolt 24 is tightened.

Referring now to Figure 10, each anchorage device, being part of the aircraft, is formed by a bracket 33 fixedly mounted within the aircraft structure. Extending generally downwards through this bracket, for both axially slidable and limited rotational movement, is a spigot 34. At its lowermost end, as drawn, the spigot has an aperture 35, through which one of the pivot pins 8 associated with the members 1 and 2 can extend, and on its upper end it carries a head 36 having oppositely formed flats. The spigot is spring biased downwards in the position shown in unbroken outline by a coil spring 37 compressed between an upper cap 38 and a base region 39 of a hollow portion of the spigot.

The cap 38 is carried by an upper bracket 40 which is formed with a slotted aperture 41 shaped to allow the head 36 to pass through it as the latter is urged upwards against the bias of the coil spring and to allow subsequent rotation of the spigot through 90 to cause the head to rest upon the sides of the slot. In the latter position, shown in broken outline in Figure 10, when the members 1 and 2 are removed, the spigot lies within the aircraft contour.

Claims (15)

1. Store carrying means for aircraft including a store carrying member configured to lie in flight position adjacent a surface of a carrier aircraft, hinge means for hinging the member to the carrier aircraft, and latch means spaced from the hinge means for latching the member to the aircraft in the flight position, whereby the member can by swung about the hinge means to and from the flight position.

2. Store carrying means according to claim 1 including, in addition to the first mentioned store carrying member, a second store carrying member configured to lie adjacent an aircraft surface alongside the first member, the second member also having hinge means for hinging to the aircraft.

3. Store carrying means according to claim 2 wherein the latch means latches both members together and to the aircraft.

4. Store carrying means for aircraft including first and second store carrying members, each member being of elongate form with a width much greater than its depth and having an outboard and an inboard edge generally parallel to one another, said means further including hinge means associated with the outboard edges for hinging to an aircraft and latch means associated with the inboard edges for latching to the aircraft, whereby in a flight position, the first and second members lie in side-by-side relationship adjacent an underside of the aircraft with the inboard edges together, and on release of the latch means the first and second members can swing downwardly and outwardly to a non-flight position.

5. Store carrying means according to claim 4 wherein, the first member is of greater width than the second member.

6. Store carrying means according to any one of the previous claims in which the, or each, store carrying member has longitudinal and transverse members forming a plurality of compartments extending through its depth and in each of which at least one store ejection and release unit can be carried.

7. Store carrying means according to claim 6 in which the longitudinal members have transverse apertures through which mounting pins for store ejection and release units can extend.

8. Store carrying means according to any one of claims 4 to 7 including winch means for swinging the or each store carrying member between the flight position and the non-flight position and/or for lowering the or each member on removal from the aircraft.

9. An aircraft having a surface region, a store carrying member configured to lie in a flight position adjacent said surface region, hinge means for hinging the member to the aircraft, and latch means spaced from the hinge means for latching the member to the aircraft in the flight position, whereby, on release of the latch means, the member can be swung about the hinge means to and from the flight position.

10. An aircraft according to claim 9 including, in addition to the first mentioned store carrying member, a second store carrying member configured to lie alongside the first member, hinge means for hinging the second store carrying member to the aircraft, said latch means latching the members together and to the aircraft.

11. An aircraft having a belly region, a longitudinal axis, a first store carrying member, a second store carrying member, each member being of elongate form with a width much greater than its depth and having an inboard edge and an outboard edge generally parallel to one another, hinge means associated with the outboard edges for hinging to the aircraft positioned such that, in a flight position, the members lie in side-by-side relationship closely adjacent and below the belly region with their inboard edges together and parallel to the longitudinal axis, and latch means associated with the inboard edges for latching to the aircraft in said flight position, whereby on release of the latch means the first and second members can swing downwardly and outwardly away from the aircraft to a non-flight position.

12. An aircraft according to claim 11 wherein the first store carrying member is of greater width than the second store carrying member.

13. An aircraft according to claim 11 wherein at least one store carrying member has longitudinal and transverse members forming a plurality of compartments extending through its depth and in each of which at least one store ejection and release unit can be carried.

14. Store carrying means substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

15. An aircraft including store carrying means substantially as described with reference to the ac companying drawings.