Actuation assembly for moving a wing tip device on an aircraft wing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9889920-B2
Application number	US-201615045318-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2016
Priority date	Feb 17, 2015
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

Abstract

An aircraft wing comprises a fixed wing and a wing tip device at the tip thereof. The wing tip device is configurable between: a flight configuration for use during flight and a ground configuration for use during ground-based operations to reduce the span. The wing comprises an actuation assembly for moving the wing tip device. The actuation assembly is arranged to move the wing tip device in a two-stage movement comprising a first stage in which the wing tip device is translated away from the flight configuration in a linear movement only, and a second, subsequent stage, in which the wing tip device is rotated to the ground configuration.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft wing comprising a fixed wing and a wing tip device at the tip thereof, wherein the wing tip device is configurable between:
(i) a flight configuration for use during flight and
(ii) a ground configuration for use during ground-based operations, in which ground configuration the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that a span of the aircraft wing is reduced,
wherein the aircraft wing comprises an actuation assembly for moving the wing tip device between the flight and the ground configuration, and
wherein the actuation assembly is arranged to move the wing tip device from the flight configuration to the ground configuration in a two-stage movement, the two-stage movement comprising a first stage in which the wing tip device is translated away from the flight configuration in a linear movement only, and a second, subsequent stage, in which the wing tip device is rotated to the ground configuration.

2. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein in the second stage of the two-stage movement, the wing tip device is rotated only.

3. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein the first stage of the two-stage movement is arranged to separate the wing tip device from the fixed wing.

4. An aircraft wing according to claim 3 , wherein in the flight configuration the fixed wing and the wing tip device abut along a sealed interface, and wherein the first stage of movement is arranged to separate the wing tip device from the fixed wing to break a seal of the sealed interface.

5. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein one of the fixed wing and the wing tip device comprises a plurality of spigots, and the other of the fixed wing and the wing tip device comprise a plurality of corresponding female members,
the female members being arranged to receive the spigots when the wing tip device is in the flight configuration, such that flight loads may be transferred, via the spigots, from the wing tip device into the fixed wing.

6. An aircraft wing according to claim 5 , wherein longitudinal axes of the spigots extend in a first direction, and wherein the actuation assembly is arranged such that the first stage of movement is a translation in the first direction only.

7. An aircraft wing according to claim 6 , wherein the actuation assembly is arranged such that at the end of the first stage of movement, the spigots have been removed from the corresponding female members.

8. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein the first stage of movement is a translation in an outboard direction along a length of the wing.

9. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein the first stage of movement is a translation in a direction perpendicular to an end of the fixed wing.

10. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a hinge about which the wing tip device is rotatable during the second stage of movement.

11. An aircraft wing according to claim 10 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a rotational stop feature arranged to prevent rotation of the wing tip device, about the hinge, during the first stage of movement, whilst allowing rotation of the wing tip device about the hinge during the second stage of movement.

12. An aircraft wing according to claim 10 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a sliding chassis, slideably moveable relative to the fixed wing, and wherein the hinge is fixed, relative to the sliding chassis, the actuation assembly being arranged such that, during the first stage of movement, the sliding chassis is arranged to translate, thereby creating a linear movement of the hinge.

13. An aircraft wing according to claim 12 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a translational stop feature, arranged to limit the extent of the translational movement of the sliding chassis.

14. An aircraft wing according to claim 13 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a rotational stop feature arranged to prevent rotation of the wing tip device, about the hinge, during the first stage of movement, whilst allowing rotation of the wing tip device about the hinge during the second stage of movement, wherein the actuation assembly is arranged such that, during movement from the flight configuration to the ground configuration, the translational stop feature limits the extent of translational movement of the sliding chassis, at substantially the same time as the rotational stop feature ceases to prevent rotation of the wing tip device about the hinge and instead allows rotation of the wing tip device about the hinge.

15. An aircraft wing according to claim 12 , wherein the sliding chassis carries an articulation mechanism, for transferring an actuation force in a first direction into an actuation force in a second direction.

16. An aircraft wing according to claim 15 , wherein the articulation mechanism is arranged to transfer the actuation force into the wing tip device at a location remote from the hinge, thereby creating a moment arm to rotate the wing tip device.

17. An aircraft wing according to claim 16 , wherein the articulation mechanism comprises a master bell crank connected to the actuator and a slave link connecting the master bell crank with the wing tip device, such that actuation of the master bell crank results in a tensile or compressive force along the slave link.

18. An aircraft wing according to claim 17 , wherein the slave link is pivoted, at one end, to the master bell crank about a first pivot, the slave link being pivoted, at the other end, to the wing tip device about a second pivot, and the master bell crank being pivotably mounted, at its base, about a third pivot, said third pivot being slideably moveable relative to the sliding chassis.

19. An aircraft wing according to claim 12 , wherein the actuation assembly comprises a fixed chassis onto which the slideable chassis is mounted, the fixed chassis being fixedly attached to the fixed wing.

20. An aircraft wing according to claim 1 , wherein the wing includes an actuator arranged to act upon the actuation assembly to effect movement of the wing tip device from the flight configuration to the ground configuration, the actuation assembly being such that the same actuator is arranged to effect both the first and the second stages of movement.

21. An actuation assembly comprising a fixed chassis for installation into an aircraft wing comprising a fixed wing and a wing tip device at the tip thereof, wherein the wing tip device is configurable between:
(i) a flight configuration for use during flight and
(ii) a ground configuration for use during ground-based operations, in which ground configuration the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that a span of the aircraft wing is reduced,
wherein the actuation assembly is arranged to move the wing tip device from the flight configuration to the ground configuration in a two-stage movement, the two-stage movement comprising a first stage in which the wing tip device is translated away from the flight configuration in a linear movement only, and a second, subsequent stage, in which the wing tip device is rotated to the ground configuration, and the actuation assembly further comprises a sliding chassis, slideably mounted in the fixed chassis,
and wherein the sliding chassis comprises a hinge, fixed relative thereto, about which the wing tip device may be mounted for rotational movement,
and the sliding chassis carries an articulation mechanism for

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd

Inventors

• Harding Matthew
• Napier Stefan
• Marongiu Nicola
• Thompson Robert Ian
• Livings Nick
• Briancourt Stephen Paul
• Boye Sylvain

Classifications

• B64C23/072

  the wing tip airfoil devices being moveable in their entirety · CPC title

• B64C3/56 Primary

  Folding or collapsing to reduce overall dimensions of aircraft · CPC title

• Y02T50/145

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02T50/164

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02T50/10

  Drag reduction · CPC title