Landing gear retraction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11541992-B2
Application number	US-202016799904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2020
Priority date	Feb 28, 2019
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

A landing gear system 100 for an aircraft including: a landing gear 130 that is movable between an extended position and a retracted position, the landing gear includes an extendible strut 136 ; a position sensor 140 configured to detect a position of a part of the extendible strut and output a signal indicative of the position; and a landing gear controller 150 that is communicably connected to the position sensor and is configured, in use, to: receive the signal from the position sensor; and, on the basis of the signal, determine that the strut has extended and the landing gear is in contact with the ground and automatically cause performance of at least a portion of a procedure to move the landing gear from the extended position to the retracted position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A landing gear system for an aircraft, the landing gear system comprising:
a landing gear including an extendible strut and the landing gear is movable between an extended position and a retracted position;
a position sensor configured to detect a position of a part of the extendible strut and output a signal indicative of the position; and
a landing gear controller communicably connected to the position sensor and configured to:
receive a signal from the position sensor during a take-off procedure of the aircraft; and,
on the basis of the signal, determine that the strut has extended and the landing gear is in contact with the ground and automatically cause performance, during the take-off procedure, of at least a portion of a procedure to move the landing gear from the extended position to the retracted position.

2. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , wherein the landing gear controller makes the determination that the strut has extended and the landing gear is in contact with the ground and automatically causes the performance, on the basis of a combination of the signal and at least one further criterion.

3. The landing gear system according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one further criterion comprises the signal having been received at the landing gear controller for greater than a predetermined time period.

4. The landing gear system according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one further criterion comprises a pitch angle of a bogie of the landing gear.

5. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , wherein the position sensor is configured to detect the position of the part of the extendible strut when the extendible strut has a predetermined length that is less than a maximum length to which the strut is extendible.

6. The landing gear system according to claim 5 , wherein the predetermined length is at least 50% of the maximum length.

7. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , wherein the position sensor is configured to detect the position of the part of the extendible strut when the extendible strut has a predetermined length equaling a maximum length to which the strut is extendible.

8. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , further comprising one or more landing gear bay door actuators configured to move a landing gear bay door from a closed position towards an open position to permit movement of the landing gear between the extended position and the retracted position;
wherein the at least a portion of the procedure to move the landing gear includes the one or more landing gear bay door actuators moving the landing gear bay door from the closed position towards the open position.

9. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , further comprising one or more landing gear actuators configured to move the landing gear from the extended position towards the retracted position;
wherein the portion of the procedure to move the landing gear comprises the one or more landing gear actuators moving the landing gear from the extended position towards the retracted position.

10. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , wherein the landing gear controller is configured to:
receive an input indicative of an event; and
automatically cause performance of a preliminary portion of the procedure based on the input, before causing the performance of the at least a portion of the procedure.

11. The landing gear system according to claim 10 , wherein the input is indicative of at least one of: braking force being less than a predetermined braking force, thrust being greater than a predetermined thrust, aircraft groundspeed being greater than a predetermined groundspeed, change in length of the extendible strut, a command from a cockpit flight control, and aircraft geographical position.

12. The landing gear system according to claim 10 , wherein the preliminary portion of the procedure comprises one or more avionics processes and/or one or more mechanical processes.

13. The landing gear system according to claim 10 , wherein the preliminary portion of the procedure comprises an avionics side change over.

14. The landing gear system according to claim 10 , comprising one or more landing gear bay door locks to retain the landing gear bay door in the closed position when the landing gear bay door lock is locked;
wherein the preliminary portion of the procedure comprises unlocking the, or each, landing gear bay door lock to permit movement of the landing gear bay door to the open position.

15. The landing gear system according to claim 14 , wherein the preliminary portion of the procedure comprises actuating one or more landing gear bay door actuators to move the landing gear bay door further from the open position before the unlocking of the, or each, landing gear bay door lock, thereby to facilitate unlocking of the, or each, landing gear bay door lock.

16. The landing gear system according to claim 10 , further comprising an isolator for isolating part of the landing gear system from a power supply;
wherein the preliminary portion of the procedure comprises operation of the isolator to enable power to be supplied to the part of the landing gear system.

17. The landing gear system according to claim 1 , wherein the strut includes a shock absorber configured to support the aircraft when the aircraft is on the ground, and wherein the part of the extendible strut is a part of the shock absorber.

18. A method of controlling a landing gear system of an aircraft using a landing gear controller of the aircraft, the method comprising the landing gear controller:
receiving a signal from a position sensor while the aircraft is performing a take-off procedure, wherein the signal is indicative of a position of a part of an extendible strut of a landing gear, the landing gear is movable between an extended position and a retracted position, and the receiving of the signal occurs when the aircraft or the landing gear is in contact with the ground; and
in response to the signal and during the take-off procedure, automatically causing performance of at least a portion of a procedure for causing movement of the landing gear from the extended position to the retracted position.

19. A landing gear system for an aircraft, the landing gear system comprising:
a retractable landing gear having a shock absorber that is configured to support the aircraft when the aircraft is on the ground;
a sensor configured to directly detect a characteristic of the shock absorber and output an indication of the characteristic; and
a landing gear controller that is communicably connected to the sensor and is configured to receive the indication during take-off of the aircraft, and, in response to the indication and while the aircraft is on the ground during the take-off, to automatically cause performance of at least a portion of a procedure for retracting the landing gear.

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd

Inventors

• Kerr Sean
• Marles David

Classifications

• B64C25/26 Primary

  Control or locking systems therefor · CPC title

• B64C25/60

  Oleo legs · CPC title

• B64C25/58

  Arrangements or adaptations of shock-absorbers or springs (shimmy-dampers B64C25/50) · CPC title

• B64C25/28 Primary

  with indicating or warning devices · CPC title

• B64C25/10 Primary

  retractable, foldable, or the like · CPC title