Maintenance apparatus for a shock absorber of a landing gear, and method for maintaining such a shock absorber

Abstract

The present invention relates to a maintenance apparatus for a shock absorber of a landing gear, comprising a liquid reservoir which can be connected to an interior space of the shock absorber via a liquid line, a gas reservoir which can be connected to the interior space via a gas line, a coupling member for sealingly coupling the liquid reservoir and the gas reservoir, wherein the maintenance apparatus is configured to allow an exchange to occur of liquid and gas between the liquid reservoir and gas reservoir, respectively, and the interior space, the maintenance apparatus comprising control means for determining that a partial volume of the interior space occupied by the gas reaches a reference level as a result of the exchange and for bringing the partial volume of the interior space of the shock absorber respectively occupied by the gas and the liquid to a target level. The invention also relates to a maintenance method.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a maintenance device and a method for maintaining a shock absorber of a landing gear of an aircraft, wherein the shock absorber is filled with a gas and a liquid, so that a part of the volume of the inner space of the shock absorber is occupied by the gas and the liquid, respectively reach the predetermined target level. Background technique [0002] A known method of servicing the shock absorbers of the landing gear consists in jacking up the aircraft so that the shock absorbers are no longer loaded with the weight of the aircraft. Subsequently, all gas is expelled from the shock absorber and the gas flows freely to the atmosphere until the pressure in the shock absorber is equal to atmospheric pressure. Then check the fluid level and, if necessary, correct it based on the amount of fluid present in the shock absorber at this time. Finally, the gas is reintroduced into the shock absorber. A significant disadvantage is the n...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Such a shock absorber cannot be maintained according to this known method, partly because the free piston is not frictionless

In known methods, for example, it cannot be determined whether liquid has entered the gas chamber of such a shock absorber, which is extremely undesirable due to potential adverse effects on the correct functioning of the shock absorber

Furthermore, in the known method, the liquid in the shock absorber must always be arranged below the gas

Due to the need to position the cylinder next to the shock absorber such that the fluid level falls within the boundaries of the sight glass, and since the need to trace the fluid level in the cylinder via visual reading of the sight glass by the operator and comparison of the relative position of the shock absorber to the cylinder level, the method is also laborious, inaccurate and cannot be automated, or at least is extremely difficult to automate

To replenish the fluid in the shock absorber, an external liquid pump is required to supply liquid to the shock absorber at high pressure, making the unit expensive

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