Door management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025034930-A1
Application number	US-202318226431-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 26, 2023
Priority date	Jul 26, 2023
Publication date	Jan 30, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A door management system on an aircraft includes a fuselage extending along a longitudinal axis in a fore-aft direction parallel to forward flight, an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage, a door mounted on the sidewall to slide in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening, a cable attached to the fuselage and the door and a speed governor operatively coupled to the cable to limit a velocity of the door as it moves between the open position and the closed position.

First claim

1 . A door management system on an aircraft comprising:
a fuselage extending along a longitudinal axis in a fore-aft direction parallel to forward flight; an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage; a door mounted on the sidewall to slide in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening; a cable attached to the fuselage and the door; and a speed governor attached to the door, wherein the speed governor is operatively coupled to the cable to limit a velocity of the door as it moves between the open position and the closed position.

2 . The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor is a viscous speed limiter.

3 . The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor is a centrifugal brake.

4 . The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor is a motor.

5 . The door management system of claim 4 , wherein the motor is an electric motor.

6 . The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor comprises a shaft coupled to the cable to rotate with the cable and movement of the door; and
a brake coupled to the shaft to limit the velocity.

7 . The door management system of claim 6 , wherein the brake is a viscous speed limiter configured to increasingly apply a dampening load with an increasing velocity of the door.

8 . The door management system of claim 6 , wherein the brake is a motor.

9 . A tiltrotor aircraft having a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight mode and a forward flight mode, the tiltrotor aircraft comprising:
a fuselage; a longitudinal X-axis, corresponding to a roll axis, extending through a center of the fuselage in a fore-aft direction parallel to forward flight, a transverse Y-axis, corresponding to a pitch axis, perpendicular to the longitudinal X-axis, and a vertical Z-axis, corresponding to a yaw axis, perpendicular to an X-Y plane; a wing extending laterally from the fuselage; first and second proprotors tiltable between the forward flight mode and the VTOL mode; an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage; a door mounted on the sidewall to slide in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening; a cable attached to the fuselage and the door; and a speed governor attached to the door, wherein the speed governor is operatively coupled to the cable to limit a velocity of the door as it moves between the open position and the closed position.

10 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor is a viscous speed limiter.

11 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor is a centrifugal brake.

12 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor is a motor.

13 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 12 , wherein the motor is an electric motor.

14 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor comprises a shaft coupled to the cable to rotate with the cable and movement of the door; and
a brake coupled to the shaft to limit the velocity.

15 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the brake is a viscous speed limiter configured to increasingly apply a dampening load with an increasing velocity of the door.

16 . The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the brake is a motor.

17 . A method, comprising:
flying a tiltrotor aircraft comprising a fuselage extending along a longitudinal axis in a fore-aft direction parallel to a direction of forward flight, an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage, and a door mounted on the sidewall and slidable in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening; and utilizing a speed governor that is attached to the door to limit a velocity of the door moving between the open position and the closed position.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising a cable connected to the fuselage and the door; and
the speed governor connected to the cable.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the speed governor increases a damping load on the cable with an increasing velocity of the cable and the door.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising a winch connected to the cable.

Assignees

• Textron Innovations Inc

Inventors

• Wittmaak Jr John Robert
• Rinehart Michael

Classifications

• E05Y2201/654

  Cables · CPC title

• E05Y2201/68

  Handles, cranks · CPC title

• E05Y2201/664

  Drums · CPC title

• E05Y2400/302

  during electric motor braking · CPC title

• E05Y2201/266

  rotary · CPC title