Landing gear assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9868518-B2
Application number	US-201514830909-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 20, 2015
Priority date	Aug 22, 2014
Publication date	Jan 16, 2018
Grant date	Jan 16, 2018

Abstract

The present invention provides a landing gear assembly for an aircraft landing gear, the assembly comprising a steering mechanism for steering at least one wheel of the landing gear, a deployment mechanism for moving a leg of the landing gear between a stowed position and a deployed position, and an actuator arranged to actuate both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism. The invention also provides an aircraft landing gear, an aircraft and methods of operating an aircraft landing gear.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A landing gear assembly for an aircraft landing gear, the assembly comprising:
a steering mechanism for steering at least one wheel of the landing gear,
a deployment mechanism for moving a leg of the landing gear between a stowed position and a deployed position,
an actuator arranged to actuate both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism, and
wherein the actuator is the only actuator used for actuating both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism.

2. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the landing gear assembly further comprises a coupling mechanism for coupling the actuator to the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism, wherein the coupling mechanism is arranged to couple the actuator to only one of the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism at any one time.

3. A landing gear assembly for an aircraft landing gear, the assembly comprising:
a steering mechanism for steering at least one wheel of the landing gear,
a deployment mechanism for moving a leg of the landing gear between a stowed position and a deployed position,
an actuator arranged to actuate both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism,
wherein the actuator is the only actuator used for actuating both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism,
wherein the landing gear assembly further comprises a coupling mechanism for coupling the actuator to the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism, wherein the coupling mechanism is arranged to couple the actuator to only one of the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism at any one time, and
wherein the coupling mechanism is arranged to automatically couple the actuator to only one of the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism at any one time.

4. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the coupling mechanism is arranged to couple the actuator to the steering mechanism when the wheel is in a “weight on wheel” situation and to couple the actuator to the deployment mechanism when the wheel is in a “weight off wheel” situation.

5. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a locking mechanism, comprising a locking element moveable between a steering locked position, in which the steering mechanism is prevented from steering the wheel, and a steering unlocked position, in which the steering mechanism is able to steer the wheel, wherein when the wheel is in a “weight on wheel” situation the locking element is moved to the steering unlocked position and when the wheel is in a “weight off wheel” situation, the locking element is moved to the steering locked position.

6. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the locking element moves from the steering locked position to the steering unlocked position under the action of the wheel being moved from a dropped position to a raised position relative to the locking element when the wheel changes from a “weight off wheel” to a “weight on wheel” situation and moves from the steering unlocked position to the steering locked position under the action of the wheel being moved from the raised position to the dropped position relative to the locking element when the wheel changes from a “weight on wheel” to a “weight off wheel” situation.

7. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a crank arm rotatable between first and second rotation positions by the actuator when the locking element is in the steering unlocked position, and prevented from rotating when the locking element is in the steering locked position.

8. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the crank arm is connected to the steering mechanism such that when the crank arm is in the first rotation position, the steering mechanism steers the wheel in a first direction and when the crank arm is in the second rotation position, the steering mechanism steers the wheel in a second different direction.

9. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the crank arm is connected to the steering mechanism by a bevel gear arrangement such that rotational movement of the crank arm is converted to rotational movement of the steering mechanism.

10. A landing gear assembly for an aircraft landing gear, the assembly comprising:
a steering mechanism for steering at least one wheel of the landing gear,
a deployment mechanism for moving a leg of the landing gear between a stowed position and a deployed position,
an actuator arranged to actuate both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism,
wherein the actuator is the only actuator used for actuating both the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism,
wherein the landing gear assembly further comprises a coupling mechanism for coupling the actuator to the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism, wherein the coupling mechanism is arranged to couple the actuator to only one of the steering mechanism and the deployment mechanism at any one time,
wherein the coupling mechanism is arranged to couple the actuator to the steering mechanism when the wheel is in a “weight on wheel” situation and to couple the actuator to the deployment mechanism when the wheel is in a “weight off wheel” situation,
wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a locking mechanism, comprising a locking element moveable between a steering locked position, in which the steering mechanism is prevented from steering the wheel, and a steering unlocked position, in which the steering mechanism is able to steer the wheel, wherein when the wheel is in a “weight on wheel” situation the locking element is moved to the steering unlocked position and when the wheel is in a “weight off wheel” situation, the locking element is moved to the steering locked position,
wherein the locking element moves from the steering locked position to the steering unlocked position under the action of the wheel being moved from a dropped position to a raised position relative to the locking element when the wheel changes from a “weight off wheel” to a “weight on wheel” situation and moves from the steering unlocked position to the steering locked position under the action of the wheel being moved from the raised position to the dropped position relative to the locking element when the wheel changes from a “weight on wheel” to a “weight off wheel” situation,
wherein the coupling mechanism comprises a crank arm rotatable between first and second rotation positions by the actuator when the locking element is in the steering unlocked position, and prevented from rotating when the locking element is in the steering locked position,
wherein the crank arm is connected to the steering mechanism such that when the crank arm is in the first rotation position, the steering mechanism steers the wheel in a first direction and when the crank arm is in the second rotation position, the steering mechanism steers the wheel in a second different direction,
wherein the crank arm is connected to the steering mechanism by a bevel gear arrangement such that rotational movement of the crank arm is converted to rotational movement of the steering mechanism, and wherein, when in the steering locked position, the locking element acts on the bevel gear arrangement to prevent its rotation.

11. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein, when in the steering locked position, the locking element acts on the steering mechanism to prevent its rotation.

12. The landing gear assembly as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the locking element is part of a centring arrangement for centring the steering mech

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd

Inventors

• Elliott Nicholas

Classifications

• B64C25/22 Primary

  fluid · CPC title

• B64C25/34

  wheeled type, e.g. multi-wheeled bogies · CPC title

• B64C25/50

  Steerable undercarriages; Shimmy-damping · CPC title

• B64C25/14

  fore-and-aft · CPC title

• B64C25/18 Primary

  Operating mechanisms · CPC title