IL188901A - Decoy launch device for aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has two receiving housings (3-1, 3-2) receiving two decoy launch baskets (2-1, 2-2), respectively. The housings are open for permitting ejection of decoys contained in the respective baskets, at the exterior of an aircraft. Two mobile closing flaps (7-1, 7-2) close the respective housings. An operating unit operates the flaps for selectively controlling the opening of the housings before the ejection of the decoys, where the operating unit is constituted by an actuator (11), operating rod (13-1), crank assemblies (15-1, 15-2) and connecting rod (17).

Description

188901 ρ'π I 453595 ΤΑΊΚ Decoy launch device for aircraft Dassault Aviation C. 181018-3 Decoy launch device for aircraft.

The present invention relates to a decoy launch device for aircraft, comprising first and second housings for accommodating at least first and second decoy launch magazines respectively, these housings being opened to allow the ejection, out of the aircraft, of the decoys contained in the first and second magazines respectively.

At the present time, devices of this type are commonly mounted on board military airplanes and on certain airplanes called upon to fly in regions where they are liable to be attacked by guided military craft such as for example electromagnetically guided or infrared-guided destructive missiles.

The airplane is then fitted with a radar system designed to detect when such a threat occurs and then to trigger countermeasures. The purpose of these countermeasures is to disrupt the operation of the guidance system of the missile so as to make it miss its target.

One of these countermeasures consists in launching infrared or flare decoys containing charges of burning pyrotechnic substances around the airplane, these being designed to deflect the infrared-guided missile away from the airplane and redirect it toward a burning decoy. Another consists in dispersing metal chaff behind the airplane so as to jam the receiver of radar-guided missiles.

The decoys used, flares or chaff, are usually packaged in the form of cartridges joined together in magazines, called cartridge dispensers or decoy dispensers, these magazines being slid into corresponding housings of the decoy launch device.

According to the present state of the art, these magazines and their respective housings are open to the outside of the aircraft in order to allow the decoys contained in the cartridges to be ejected under the control of the abovementioned missile detection radar system. In some installations, removable doors close the housings, but only on the ground.

Such a practice is not without drawbacks since, in flight, the cartridges are then exposed to the harsh constraints prevailing in the environment of the aircraft. Furthermore, having the magazines open to the outside may impair the aerodynamics and may be the cause of additional noise, owing to the discontinuities introduced by the openings of the housings on the external surface of the airplane. In addition, when the housings remain open on the ground, the safety of operators and o equipment present in the environment of the airplane in respect of decoys being inopportunely launched is not guaranteed, while the presence of a decoy launch device on the airplane is no longer discreet. Both these drawbacks are particularly unacceptable when such a device is installed on a civil or commercial airplane.

The object of the present invention is specifically to provide a decoy launch device that does not suffer from any of these drawbacks and is therefore well suited to being installed on such an airplane.

This object of the invention is achieved, as are others that will appear upon reading the following description, with a decoy launch device for aircraft, comprising at least first and second housings for accommodating at least first and second decoy launch magazines respectively, these housings being opened in order to allow the ejection, out of said aircraft, of the decoys contained in these first and second magazines respectively, this device being noteworthy in that it comprises first and second movable flaps for closing said first and second housings respectively, and means for operating these flaps in order to selectively open said housings before the ejection of the decoys.

Thanks to these flaps, the decoys are protected in flight from the harsh constraints of the environment. They also suppress the abovementioned noise of aerodynamic origin, together with the effects on drag. On the ground, they contribute to providing a protection function for operators and equipment, as will be seen later.

According to other features of the present invention: - the operating means comprise a single drive member; - the drive member is a cylinder; - the device comprises a frame and each flap is fastened to one end of a lever arm, the other end of which is articulated to the frame, an operating rod of the arm being mounted on the latter and a bell crank also being articulated to the frame, the bell cranks being rigidly coupled rotationally by a link rod; - the cylinder is mechanically coupled to the bell cranks in order to make them swing selectively between first and second positions corresponding to the open and closed positions of the flaps respectively; - each of the flaps takes the form of a cylindrical sector that can move rotationally about its axis, which is coincident with the axis of rotation of the lever arm that supports it; and - the device includes at least one proximity sensor placed near at least one of the flaps, in order to emit a signal representative of the position of the flaps.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent on reading the following description and upon examining the appended drawing, in which: - figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the flaps being in their open position; and - figure 2 is a view similar to that of figure 1 , the flaps being in their closed position.

In one embodiment of the device according to the present invention, this is designed to be fastened to an aircraft such as an airplane, for example under the belly of this airplane. It is then covered by a fairing, not shown in the figures in order to make them easier to read.

As shown in figure 1 of the appended drawing, the device essentially comprises a frame 1 designed to accommodate first and second decoy launch magazines 2·, and 22 respectively. The magazines 2i and 22 are accommodated in first and second housings and 32 respectively, these being partly bounded by suitably cut and folded metal sheets, as shown.

These magazines, of a known type, are of parallelepipedal shape, complementary to that of the housings that accommodate them. They are open on a lateral face, as may be seen in figure 1 in the case of the magazine 2,. This figure shows that compartments 4·,, 42> etc. are bounded in this magazine by internal partitions. These compartments of rectangular cross section, elongate parallel to the arrow F,, extend over the entire depth of the magazine 21 t in order for each to receive a decoy cartridge, again of a known type. As mentioned earlier, this cartridge may be of the pyrotechnic type or of metal chaff type. Means are provided for ejecting said cartridge out of the magazine, in the direction of the arrow F t perpendicular to the axis X of the airplane.

The same applies of course to the magazine 2Z and to the cartridges that it contains, which are ejected in the direction of the arrow F2, i.e. in the opposite direction to that of the arrow F The magazines 2, and 22 are placed back to back in the device according to the invention so that their end walls face each other and are each clamped in a fixture of U-shaped cross section, 5, and 52 respectively. These fixtures are joined together in a structure 6 or "chair" placed at the center of the device and fastened to the frame . Known means contained in these fixtures and in the cartridges make it possible to eject these cartridges from the magazines.

The housings 3·,, 32 and the magazines 2·,, 22 that they contain respectively are placed symmetrically with respect to the mid-plane of symmetry of the airplane, passing through the X axis. This arrangement makes it possible for the cartridges to be ejected laterally and simultaneously from the airplane in order to protect it from a missile attack.

One feature of the device according to the present invention comprises closure means, for closing the housings 3, and 32, and operating means, for operating these closure means, enabling these housings to be opened at the same time.

These means for closing the housings 3i, 32 consist of flaps 7 72 respectively, these being shown in figures 1 and 2 in the open position and in the closed position respectively. As is apparent in these figures, said flaps 71( 72 are fastened to one end of a lever arm 8i, 82 respectively, the other end of which is articulated to the frame 1, about pins 9,, 92 respectively. Each of these flaps is in the form of a cylindrical sector of axis coincident with the axis of rotation of the lever arm that supports it. The angular opening of the sector is designed so that the flaps 7,, 72 can completely cover or expose the windows 10,, 02 cut into the frame 1 opposite the faces of the magazines 2,, 22 via which the cartridges leave.

It is important for the cartridges contained in the magazines 2^ and 22 to be able to be ejected simultaneously on both sides of the airplane in order to provide complete protection thereof. When the protection system formed by the radar system and the decoy launch device is activated, it is advantageous for the flaps to open in synchronism.

To do this, according to the present invention, the means for operating the flaps of the decoy launch device according to the invention comprise a single drive member 11 acting simultaneously on the two flaps. By way of merely a nonlimiting illustration, this drive member may consist of a cylinder, for example an electric cylinder.

Operating rods 13i, 132 are articulated at one end on the flaps 7i, 72 in order to make them swing about the pins 9,, 92 respectively, between their closed and open positions (see in figure 2 the articulation 14, of the rod 13i on the flap 7,).

These rods 13,, 132 are articulated at their other end on bell cranks 151 ( 152 which are themselves articulated on fixtures 16^ 162 respectively, fastened to the frame 1.

As is apparent on examining both figures 1 and 2, the bell crank 152 is fastened to an arm 16 articulated to its free end on the piston 12 of the cylinder 11. On emitting an appropriate command, this cylinder thus makes the crank, and therefore the flap 72 actuated by the operating rod 132l swing between its open and closed positions shown in the figures 1 and 2 respectively.

As may also be seen in these figures, a connecting rod 17 mechanically couples, rigidly, i.e. without any slack, the bell cranks 15·, and 152 between which said connecting rod is mounted, via the articulation means 18i and 182 respectively. This coupling allows the rods 3·, and 132 to make the flaps 7^ and 72 pivot in synchronism. Thus these flaps pass simultaneously from their closed position to their open position when the cylinder 1 thrusts its piston 12 into the extension position. Conversely, when the cylinder causes the piston to retract, the flaps pass from their open position to their closed position.

The operation of the device according to the invention therefore takes place as follows. When the protection system defined above is activated, the cylinder 11 is actuated so that the flaps 7-, and 72 pass from their normally closed position in flight to their open position, in order to open the windows 10-i , 102 for ejecting the decoy cartridges under the control of the radar system. After the cartridges have been ejected, the cylinder is again actuated so as to return the flaps to their closed position.

Of course, for maintenance and for reloading the decoy launch magazines, the cylinder 11 may also be actuated manually by the ground operators or by the crew, by means of an offset electric control.

The device according to the invention is furthermore equipped with two pairs of proximity sensors (20a, 20b) and (21a, 21 b) respectively, which cooperate with fixed plates 22·, and 222 respectively in order to detect the positions occupied by the arms 8 ( 82, and therefore those of the flaps 7,, 72 when the latter are in their fully-open position or in their fully-closed position. This set of sensors, the number of sensors being unimportant, makes it possible to form a highly secure signal assuredly representative of the positions occupied by the two flaps.

These positions are monitored in the logic means used to authorize the firing of the cartridges. The monitoring also entails indicating to the crew of the aircraft the state of security of the decoy launch device. Thus, for example, if the flaps are not completely closed while the airplane is on the ground, the crew is informed of this by a warning lamp activated by the signal drawn from the information produced by the set of proximity sensors. If the flaps are not closed or incompletely closed, then all or some of the cartridges are exposed to airport users, to the detriment of the necessary concealment that must surround the presence of them on the airplane, in particular when the aircraft is providing civil or commercial transportation. Furthermore, this incomplete closure does not guarantee that the pyrotechnic charges contained in the cartridges are confined and therefore poses a problem as regards the safety of airport users. Should such a situation occur, the crew may then request the airport control personnel to have the airplane moved to an isolated parking area.

It is now apparent that the invention clearly allows the stated objectives to be achieved, namely, and in particular, to protect, in flight, the decoys from the harsh constraints of the environment, to limit drag, to suppress the noise of aerodynamic origin mentioned in the preamble of the present description and to help, on the ground, to protect the individuals and equipment present at airports.

The movable flaps of the device according to the invention are furthermore able to prevent the firing and ejection of a pyrotechnic charge in case of an untimely activation of the decoys. As a matter of fact, some decoys available on the market are shaped as a cartridge equipped with a safety mechanism which operates as follows.

The cartridge comprises a pyrotechnic primer electrically initiated. In normal operation, the initiation of said primer initiates in turn an ejection or "strip" charge. The whole cartridge is thus set in motion by the pressure of the emitted gases. A sliding member forming part of the safety mechanism permits to secure the firing of the pyrotechnic charge by the ejection charge when the whole cartridge is ejected from its compartment within a predetermined period of time, which is a function of the combustion time of the ejection charge.

However the initiation of the pyrotechnic primer could be triggered accidentally, for example when the plane, either on ground or in flight, is struck by lightning while the device according to the invention is set into a safety state, the movable flaps being shut. The latter thus prevent the full ejection of the cartridge out of its compartment and the setting in motion of the sliding member, therefore preventing the firing of the pyrotechnic charge, thus set out of operation.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described and illustrated, which was given merely by way of example. Thus, aircraft other than airplanes could be equipped with the decoy launch device according to the invention.

Thus, this device could also be integrated into the fuselage of the airplane rather than attached to the external face of this fuselage. In this situation, the flaps, in the closed position, advantageously provide the continuity of the fuselage skin so as to have no impact on the drag. Likewise, the device according to the invention could also be installed for example in the shroud for the wheels, in that for the engine pylons beneath the wing or else in the rudder, etc.

Claims (10)

188901/2 CLAIMS:

1. Decoy launch device for aircraft, comprising at least first and second decoy launch magazines respectively, and at least one movable flap adapted to cover or expose selectively said decoy launch magazines in order to allow the ejection, of the decoys contained in said first and second magazines respectively, characterized in that it comprises: - at least first and second housings for accommodating said first and second decoy launch magazines respectively, - first and second movable flaps adapted for closing said first and second housings respectively and for preventing the ejection of a decoy in case of an untimely activation of said decoy, and - means for operating said flaps in order to selectively open said housings before said ejection.

2. Device according to claim 1 , characterized in that said operating means comprise a single drive member.

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that said drive member is a cylinder.

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a frame and in that each flap is fastened to one end of a lever arm, the other end of which is articulated to said frame, an operating rod of said flap being mounted on the latter and a bell crank also being articulated to said frame, said bell cranks being rigidly coupled rotationally by a link rod.

5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that said cylinder is mechanically coupled to said bell cranks in order to make them swing selectively between first and second positions corresponding to the open and closed positions of said flaps respectively.

6. Device according to either of claims 4 and 5, characterized in that each of said flaps takes the form of a cylindrical sector that can move rotationally about its axis, which is coincident with the axis of rotation of the lever arm that supports it.

7. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it includes at least one proximity sensor placed near at least one of said flaps, in order to emit a signal representative of the position of said flaps.

8. Aircraft having a fuselage, equipped with the device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said device is mounted on said fuselage.

9. Aircraft having a fuselage, equipped with the device according to any one 01810183X31 -01 188901/2 9 of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said device is mounted inside said aircraft, said flaps being placed, in the closed position, so as to be continuous with the surface of said fuselage.

10. The aircraft according to any one of claims 8 and 9, adapted for civil or commercial flights. For the Applicants, REINHOLD COHN AND PARTNERS 01810183X31 -01