WO2014070033A3 - Automated wheel turn speed adjustment system for aircraft landing aimed at reducing aircraft tire wear - Google Patents

Abstract

Automated wheel turn speed adjustment system for aircraft landing aimed at reducing aircraft tire wear. This invention is in essence an automated wheel rotation speed control system that will intervene in the landing stage of a flight. It will eliminate tire wear by eliminating the high friction force that results when the aircraft's tires make contact with the runway. At this moment in time there is no such system implemented for any type of aircraft in service. As such, during landing, upon contact between the tires and the runway a violent friction process occurs and the wheel is rapidly spun up to a rotation speed equal to the liniar speed of the aircraft at landing all within fractions of a second ( a rise of tangential speed from 0 to almost 300 km/h). This process subjects the tire to a very high degree of wear that limits its operational cycle and at the same time exposes the aircraft to high risks such as tire explosion. Our proposed invention would seek to imprint a rotation speed equal to the landing speed of the aircraft to all of said aircraft's wheels. By doing this the tangential speed of any given wheel will be equal to the linear speed of the aircraft during landing, thus eliminating the high friction the wheels are exposed to during contact with the runway. This system can be implemented on any type of aircraft and is essentially made up of : a central controller (A-fig. 1) that commands an electric motor (C-fig. 2). The motor in turn will either directly or through a reductor mechanism turn a wheel or pair of wheels (A-fig. 2) on the landing gear (E-fig. 2). The controller will have a specific type of input parameters aircraft landing gear position, landing speed, altitude, etc) The type of controller and electric motor used will be determined by the aircraft's size and by the number of wheels on the landing gear assembly.