Landing gear assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12097951-B2
Application number	US-202318320346-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2023
Priority date	May 20, 2022
Publication date	Sep 24, 2024
Grant date	Sep 24, 2024

Abstract

A landing gear assembly is disclosed having a trailing arm for carrying a wheel, a shock absorber pivotally coupled to the arm for damping movement of the arm, and an articulated lock mechanism. The mechanism includes an upper and lower lock links each with a distal end respectively pivotally coupled to the shock and arm. Proximal ends of the lock links are pivotally coupled about a common axis to enable a distance between the distal ends to vary. The mechanism is lockable to lock the assembly in an extended or retracted configuration. When the assembly is in the extended or retracted configuration, the mechanism is locked respectively in an extended or retracted locking configuration, such that the distance between the distal ends of the lock links is substantially the same in either extended or retracted locking configuration.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A landing gear assembly comprising:
a trailing arm for carrying a wheel;
a shock absorber pivotally coupled to the trailing arm for damping movement of the trailing arm; and
an articulated lock mechanism comprising:
an upper lock link comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end pivotally coupled to the shock absorber; and
a lower lock link comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end pivotally coupled to the trailing arm;
wherein the proximal ends of the upper and lower lock links are pivotally coupled to each other about a common axis, such that relatively pivoting the upper and lower lock links about the common axis causes a distance between the distal ends to vary, and the articulated lock mechanism is lockable to inhibit relative pivoting of the upper and lower lock links about the common axis and thereby lock the landing gear assembly in an extended configuration and, separately in a retracted configuration;

wherein, when the landing gear assembly is in the extended configuration, the articulated lock mechanism is locked in an extended locking configuration, when the landing gear assembly is in the retracted configuration, the articulated lock mechanism is locked in a retracted locking configuration, and in the extended and retracted locking configurations, the distance between the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links is substantially the same.

2. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the distance between the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links in the extended and retracted locking configurations is substantially equal to a maximum operable distance between the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links.

3. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , wherein, when the articulated lock mechanism is arranged in each of the extended and retracted locking configurations, the common axis of the articulated lock mechanism lies on a first plane that extends between the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links and is substantially parallel to the common axis.

4. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , wherein, when the articulated lock mechanism is arranged in each of the extended and retracted locking configurations, the common axis is part way between the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links.

5. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , comprising a biasing member to bias the articulated lock mechanism towards the extended and retracted locking configurations.

6. The landing gear assembly according to claim 5 , wherein the articulated lock mechanism comprises a switching mechanism switchable between a first mode and a second mode, wherein, when the switching mechanism is in the first mode, the biasing member biases the articulated lock mechanism towards the extended or retracted locking configurations, and wherein, when the switching mechanism is in the second mode, the biasing member biases the articulated lock mechanism away from the extended or retracted locking configurations.

7. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , comprising:
an aircraft link comprising a first portion pivotally coupled to the distal end of the upper lock link, and a second portion pivotally mountable to an aircraft at an upper aircraft joint, wherein the pivotal coupling of the second portion of the aircraft link, the distal end of the upper lock link, and the shock absorber together form a movable joint;
wherein a second plane extends between the upper aircraft joint and the distal end of the lower lock link and is substantially parallel to the common axis of the articulated lock mechanism, such that, when the articulated lock mechanism is in the extended locking configuration, the movable joint is located on one side of the second plane, and when the articulated lock mechanism is in the retracted locking configuration, the movable joint is located on the other side of the second plane.

8. The landing gear assembly according to claim 7 , the landing gear assembly being further pivotally mountable to the aircraft at a lower aircraft joint, the lower aircraft joint being formed by the pivotal coupling of the lower lock link and the trailing arm.

9. The landing gear assembly according to claim 7 , comprising:
an actuator pivotally mountable to the aircraft at a third aircraft joint and pivotally coupled to the movable joint;
wherein the actuator is arranged to directly move the movable joint through the second plane by extending and retracting with respect to the third aircraft joint.

10. The landing gear assembly according to claim 7 , wherein the aircraft link is a double-acting aircraft link, the landing gear assembly comprising:
an actuator pivotally mountable to the aircraft at a third aircraft joint and pivotally coupled to a third portion of the double-acting aircraft link;
wherein the actuator is arranged to pivot the double-acting aircraft link about the upper aircraft joint and cause the movable joint to indirectly move through the second plane by extending and retracting with respect to the third aircraft joint.

11. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the trailing arm, the shock absorber, and the articulated lock mechanism relatively pivot substantially parallel to a common plane from the extended configuration to the retracted configuration of the landing gear assembly.

12. The landing gear assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the articulated lock mechanism is in tension when the landing gear assembly is arranged in the extended configuration and the articulated lock mechanism is arranged in the extended locking configuration, and wherein the articulated lock mechanism is in tension when the landing gear assembly is arranged in the retracted configuration and the articulated lock mechanism is arranged in the retracted locking configuration.

13. An aircraft comprising the landing gear assembly according to claim 1 .

14. A method of operating a landing gear assembly, the landing gear assembly comprising:
a trailing arm carrying a wheel;
a shock absorber pivotally coupled to the trailing arm; and
an articulated lock mechanism comprising:
an upper lock link comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end pivotally coupled to the shock absorber; and
a lower lock link comprising a distal end and a proximal end, the distal end pivotally coupled to the trailing arm;
wherein the proximal ends of the upper and lower lock links are pivotally coupled to each other about a common axis;

wherein, in an extended configuration of the landing gear assembly, the articulated lock mechanism is locked in an extended locking configuration to thereby lock the landing gear assembly in the extended configuration and the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links are displaced by a first distance,
wherein unlocking the articulated lock mechanism thereby releasing the landing gear from the extended configuration, and moving the landing gear assembly to a retracted configuration causes a distance between the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links to vary, until the distal ends of the upper and lower lock links return to substantially the first distance when the landing gear assembly is in the retracted configuration and the articulated lock mechanism is locked in a retracted locking configuration to thereby lock the landing gear assembly in the retracted configuration.

15. The method of operating the landing gear assembly according to claim 14 , wherein the landing gear assembly comprises:
a switching mechanism comprising a biasing member;
wherein, in the

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd

Inventors

• Bishop Benjamin

Classifications

• B64C25/58

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

• B64C25/10

  retractable, foldable, or the like · CPC title

• B64C25/14

  fore-and-aft · CPC title

• B64C25/26 Primary

  Control or locking systems therefor · CPC title