Aircraft landing gear with a bi-directional clutch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9784326-B2
Application number	US-201615349558-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2016
Priority date	Jun 28, 2012
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

An aircraft landing gear including a wheel rotatable about an axle, a motor, and a bi-directional overrunning clutch, such as a roller or sprag clutch, operable to either connect the wheel with the motor or disconnect the wheel from the motor. The bi-directional clutch includes a ring-shaped overrunning track connected to the wheel by a plurality of drive keys, a ring-shaped drive track connected to the motor and concentrically aligned with the overrunning track, and a plurality of movable elements, each separately and individually movable, retained between the overrunning track and the drive track.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft landing gear, including:
a wheel rotatable about an axle;
a motor; and
a bi-directional clutch operable to connect the wheel with the motor, the bi-directional clutch comprising a ring-shaped overrunning track connected to the wheel, a ring-shaped drive track connected to the motor and concentrically aligned with the overrunning track, and a plurality of movable elements, each individually movable, retained between the overrunning track and the drive track, the movable elements being movable between: a driven configuration in which the movable elements prevent relative rotation between the drive track and the overrunning track to thereby permit the wheel to be driven by the motor; and an overrunning configuration in which the movable elements permit relative rotation between the drive track and the overrunning track to thereby disconnect the wheel from the motor; wherein the overrunning track is connected to the wheel by a plurality of drive keys.

2. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the movable elements are arranged to automatically move from the driven configuration to the overrunning configuration when the overrunning track is rotating faster than the drive track.

3. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the driven configuration comprises a forward driven configuration in which the wheel is driven by the motor in a first rotational direction, and a reverse driven configuration in which the wheel is driven by the motor in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction.

4. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the movable elements are biased towards the overrunning configuration.

5. The landing gear according to claim 4 , comprising a resilient member arranged to bias the movable elements towards the overrunning configuration.

6. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the drive track is positioned radially outwardly from the overrunning track.

7. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the wheel comprises: an inner hub having a central bore through which the axle passes; and an outer rim to which the overrunning track is connected.

8. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the movable elements comprise a plurality of rollers or sprain, and one of the drive track or the overrunning track has a contact face with a corresponding plurality of indentations or protrusions formed thereon.

9. The landing gear according to claim 8 , wherein the contact face has the plurality of indentations formed thereon.

10. The landing gear according to claim 1 , comprising a ring gear rigidly connected to the drive track and a pinion gear arranged to mesh with the ring gear, the pinion gear being rotatable by the motor.

11. The landing gear according to claim 1 , wherein the landing gear comprises a main landing gear of the aircraft and includes a braking system operable to decelerate rotation of the wheel about the axle.

12. A fixed wing aircraft having the landing gear according to claim 1 .

13. The aircraft according to claim 12 , wherein the landing gear comprises a main landing gear of the aircraft.

14. An aircraft main landing gear, including:
a wheel rotatable about an axle;
a motor;
a braking system operable to decelerate rotation of the wheel about the axle; and
a bi-directional clutch operable to connect the wheel with the motor, the bi-directional clutch having a driven configuration in which the bi-directional clutch permits the wheel to be driven by the motor and an overrunning configuration in which the bi-directional clutch disconnects the wheel from the motor, wherein the bi-directional clutch comprises a ring-shaped overrunning track connected to the wheel, a ring-shaped drive track connected to the motor and concentrically aligned with the overrunning track,
wherein the ring-shaped drive track is positioned radially outwardly from the overrunning track, and
wherein the overrunning track is connected to the wheel by a plurality of drive keys.

15. The landing gear according to claim 14 , wherein the wheel comprises an inner hub having a central bore through which the axle passes and a substantially annular outer rim extending from the inner hub, the outer rim having an axle-facing portion to which the braking system is connected to prevent rotation of the wheel about the axle, and an outer portion separated from the inner hub by the axle-facing portion, the bi-directional clutch being connected to the outer portion.

16. A method of operating the landing gear according to claim 1 , the method including the steps of:
arranging the bi-directional clutch in the driven configuration and activating the motor to thereby drive rotation of the wheel; and
arranging the bi-directional clutch in the overrunning configuration to thereby permit rotation of the wheel independently of the motor.

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd

Inventors

• Bedarrides Jeremy
• Sibley Malcolm George

Classifications

• F16D41/086 Primary

  the intermediate members being of circular cross-section and wedging by rolling (F16D41/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• Y02T50/823

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y10T74/19614

  Disconnecting means · CPC title

• B64C25/405

  Powered wheels, e.g. for taxing · CPC title

• F16D41/084

  the intermediate coupling members wedging by pivoting or rocking · CPC title