Safety device for aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10293195-B2
Application number	US-201615041318-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2016
Priority date	Mar 17, 2015
Publication date	May 21, 2019
Grant date	May 21, 2019

Abstract

There is provided a safety device for aircraft, that prevents an explosion of a fuel tank storing aviation fuel, the safety device including: a flame arrester that is arranged near an end of a ventilation passage on an aircraft outer side, as a part of the ventilation passage allowing the inside of the fuel tank and an outside of the aircraft to communicate with each other, to prevent a flame propagation into the fuel tank from the outside of the aircraft through the ventilation passage; and a heat transfer reducing part that is arranged closer to the outside of the aircraft than the flame arrester to prevent heat transfer to the fuel in the fuel tank from the flame.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A safety device for an aircraft that prevents an explosion of a fuel tank storing an aviation fuel, the safety device comprising:
a flame arrester provided within an inside of the aircraft and arranged near an end of a ventilation passage on an outer side of the aircraft, as a part of the ventilation passage allowing an inside of the fuel tank and an outside of the aircraft to communicate with each other, to prevent a flame propagation into the fuel tank from the outside of the aircraft through the ventilation passage, the outer side of the aircraft separating the inside and the outside of the aircraft; and
a heat transfer reducing part provided within the inside of the aircraft and positioned on an outer peripheral part of the ventilation passage to prevent heat transfer to the fuel in the fuel tank from the flame,
wherein the heat transfer reducing part is positioned a first distance from the outside of the aircraft, the flame arrester is positioned a second distance from the outside of the aircraft, and wherein the first distance is smaller than the second distance.

2. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the heat transfer reducing part includes a heat absorbing member that absorbs heat of the flame by phase transition.

3. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 2 , wherein the heat absorbing member is arranged substantially throughout in a circumferential direction of the ventilation passage.

4. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the heat transfer reducing part includes an inner peripheral part that constitutes a part of the ventilation passage throughout a section from the end of the ventilation passage to the flame arrester, and an outer peripheral part that surrounds the inner peripheral part throughout the section from an outside, and
wherein a gap is formed between the inner peripheral part and the outer peripheral part to provide thermal insulation properties to reduce heat transfer between the inner peripheral part and the outer peripheral part.

5. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 4 , wherein the gap is a sealed space under pressure reduced with respect to atmospheric pressure.

6. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the flame arrester includes a quenching element as a preventing part body.

7. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the flame arrester includes a preventing part body formed of a refractory metal.

8. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 6 , wherein the flame arrester further includes a case that surrounds an outer periphery of the preventing part body.

9. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 7 , wherein the flame arrester further includes a case that surrounds an outer periphery of the preventing part body.

10. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 6 , wherein the quenching element is a crimp ribbon type.

11. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 1 , wherein the safety device is provided in a surge tank positioned at a wingtip of a main wing of the aircraft.

12. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 11 , wherein
the flame arrester includes a quenching element as a preventing part body, and a case that surrounds an outer periphery of the quenching element,
a first end of the case is connected to a body of the ventilation passage through an internal space of the surge tank,
a second end of the case is directly connected to an end of the heat transfer reducing part in the surge tank.

13. The safety device for aircraft according to claim 12 , wherein the body of the ventilation passage is a pipe that extends in a longitudinal direction of a main wing of the aircraft.

14. An aircraft comprising the safety device according to claim 1 .

15. The aircraft according to claim 14 , wherein the safety device is provided in a main wing of the aircraft.

16. The aircraft according to claim 14 , wherein a duct constituting the end of the ventilation passage is provided in a surge tank positioned at a wingtip of a main wing of the aircraft.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp

Inventors

• Takahashi Yuta
• Kawano Shingo
• Kawamizu Tsutomu
• Fujii Atsushi
• Todaka Shimpei
• Komoda Ushio
• Umemoto Toshiyuki

Classifications

• A62C4/02 Primary

  in gas-pipes (safety valves F16K17/00) · CPC title

• B64D37/32

  Safety measures not otherwise provided for, e.g. preventing explosive conditions · CPC title

• A62C3/065

  for containers filled with inflammable liquids · CPC title

• A62C3/08

  in aircraft {(A62C3/0207 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B64D37/04

  Arrangement thereof in or on aircraft · CPC title