Aircraft wingtip folding mechanism and folding method

Abstract

The application discloses an aircraft wing tip opposite tension and compression actuating folding mechanism and a folding method, and belongs to the technical field of aircraft body structure design. The wing tip fixed end is fixedly provided with a plurality of fixed end rotating shaft supports and an actuating support, and each fixed end rotating shaft support is provided with a rotating driving joint. The actuator is connected between the rotating driving joint and the actuating support. The wing tip folding end is in penetrating joint with the wing tip fixed end, and a folding end rotating shaft support is fixedly arranged on the wing tip folding end. The folding rotating shaft is arranged between the fixed end rotating shaft support, the rotating driving joint and the folding end rotating shaft support. A plurality of fixed latches are arranged on the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end respectively and are matched with each other. The technical scheme of the application is more convenient for wing tip folding design, wing tip locking design and actuating system protection design in the parking state.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of aircraft body structure design, and proposes an aircraft wing tip folding mechanism and folding method. BACKGROUND

[0002] It has become a main consideration to improve the lift-drag ratio of an aircraft by using a high-aspect-ratio wing in the design of a modern large wide-body passenger aircraft to reduce fuel consumption. In order to overcome the problem of airport adaptability caused by this, i.e. the large wing span of the aircraft may exceed the requirements of the width of the aircraft on the runway, taxiway and parking area, the folding wing design has begun to attract more and more attention on large wide-body passenger aircraft in recent years, especially the successful application of the foldable wing tip of the Boeing B777X has shown a good market prospect for the further development of folding wing technology.

[0003] Although the application of folding wings on large wide-body passenger aircraft is only a recent thing, it has been used in the field of carrier-based aircraft for several decades. According to the existing public information, the most basic folding methods in folding wing design include two kinds. One is the torque box scheme, which places the rotating hinge axis at the center chord position in the folding surface, and drives the movable part to fold through an electric rotating actuator. The other is the push rod scheme, which sets the rotating hinge axis at the position close to the inner surface of the wing in the folding surface in the direction of rotation (the hinge axis is set on the upper surface when folding upward, and the hinge axis is set on the lower surface when folding downward), and pushes the movable part to fold through a hydraulic actuating cylinder.

[0004] However, the torque box scheme requires the upper and lower surfaces of the wing to be disconnected at the folding surface when folding, which puts relatively high requirements on the reliability of the latch structure and control system. In addition, the gear box is driven, and the gear box has poor accessibility and interchangeability, increasing the difficulty and cost of maintenance and repair.

[0005] The reliability of the latch in the push rod scheme is extremely important, and it is not conducive to preventing the invasion of external environmental factors such as sunlight, sand, rain and snow when the aircraft is parked at various airports. In addition, such a design has the locking device relatively far away from the fixed part of the wing, which is not convenient for effectively using the components of the fixed part.

[0006] Therefore, it is urgent to provide a wing tip folding mechanism which is convenient for wing tip folding design, wing tip locking design, and actuating system protection design in the parked state. SUMMARY

[0007] In order to overcome the above shortcomings, the technical scheme of the present application provides an aircraft wing tip opposite tension and compression actuation folding mechanism and folding method. In the technical scheme of the present application, the linear actuators are arranged in an opposite series in the span direction, the folding rotation axis is arranged in the middle line of the wing tip section, the wing tip folding is completed by one or more groups of series actuators in tension and compression cooperation, and the folded wing tip is lowered by tension and compression again. The folding actuation mechanism and the latching mechanism are designed separately, the ground latching and the rotating shaft jointly complete the locking when the folded wing tip is in the folded state, and the wing tip locking in the air is completed by the upper and lower wing surface two groups of air latching structures when the folded wing tip is in the storage state. The present application can be used for the wing tip folding structure and mechanism design of large wing span aircraft, and provides a feasible way for avoiding the patent technologies currently owned by Boeing and Airbus.

[0008] According to the first aspect of the technical scheme of the present application, an aircraft wing tip opposite tension and compression actuation folding mechanism is provided, comprising:

[0009] A wing tip fixed end, a plurality of fixed end rotation shaft supports and actuator supports are fixed on the wing tip fixed end, a rotation driving joint is arranged on each fixed end rotation shaft support, and an actuator is connected between the rotation driving joint and the actuator support;

[0010] A wing tip folding end, the wing tip folding end and the wing tip fixed end are inserted and connected with each other, and a folding end rotation shaft support is fixed on the wing tip folding end;

[0011] A folding rotation shaft, the folding rotation shaft is arranged between the fixed end rotation shaft support, the rotation driving joint and the folding end rotation shaft support;

[0012] A plurality of fixed latches, the fixed latches are arranged on the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end respectively and cooperate with each other.

[0013] Further, a group of fixed end rotation shaft supports and two groups of actuator supports are fixed on the wing tip fixed end and arranged side by side, the two groups of actuator supports are arranged on the two sides of the fixed end rotation shaft support respectively, and the two groups of actuators are arranged on the two sides of the rotation driving joint in an opposite series in the span direction.

[0014] Further, the shape of the rotation driving joint is V or (inverted triangle), including two actuator connecting ends of the upper part and a folding rotation shaft fixed end of the lower part, and the folding rotation shaft is arranged in the folding rotation shaft fixed end of the rotation driving joint.

[0015] Further, the actuator is a linear actuator, including a support end and an actuation end, the support end is hinged to the actuator support, and the actuation end is hinged to the actuator connecting end of the rotation driving joint.

[0016] Further, the folding rotation shaft is fixedly connected with the rotation driving joint and the folding end rotation shaft support and hinged with the fixed end rotation shaft support.

[0017] Further, when the folding wing is transforming from the unfolded state to the folded state, among the two groups of actuators arranged on both sides of the rotating drive joint, one group gradually extends and the other group gradually contracts, so that the rotating drive joint drives the folding pivot and the folding end pivot support to rotate, and then drives the wing tip folding end to gradually fold.

[0018] Further, when the folding wing is in the folded state, the V or ∑ type rotating drive joint is in a horizontal state.

[0019] Further, when the folding wing is transforming from the unfolded state to the folded state, among the two groups of actuators arranged on both sides of the rotating drive joint, one group gradually extends and the other group gradually contracts, so that the rotating drive joint drives the folding pivot and the folding end pivot support to rotate, and then drives the wing tip folding end to gradually fold.

[0020] Further, when the folding wing is in the unfolded state, the V or ∑ type rotating drive joint is in a vertical state.

[0021] Further, the wing tip folding axis passing through the folding pivot is arranged at the wing tip section centerline position.

[0022] Further, the fixed latch includes a ground fixed latch and an air fixed latch, wherein:

[0023] The ground fixed latches are respectively arranged on the upper surface of the wing tip fixed end and the lower surface of the wing tip folding end, and when the folding wing is in the folded state, the ground fixed latches on the upper surface of the wing tip fixed end and the lower surface of the wing tip folding end are aligned with each other and cooperate with the pivot to complete the folding position locking.

[0024] The air fixed latches are arranged on both sides of the folding pivot, and are respectively arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface of the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end, and when the folding wing is in the folded state, the air fixed latches on the upper surface and the lower surface of the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end are aligned with each other to complete the unfolded position locking.

[0025] According to the second aspect of the technical scheme of the present application, a folding method of an aircraft wing tip is provided, comprising:

[0026] From unfolding to folding:

[0027] S11: open the ground fixed latches on the upper surface and the lower surface of the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end, and release the fixing of the ground fixed latches on the folding wing;

[0028] S12: the left and right actuators pull and press to cooperate to drive the folding pivot to rotate through the rotating drive joint, and the folding pivot is driven by the folding end pivot support to fold the wing tip folding end under the constraint of the fixed end pivot support.

[0029] S13: After the wing tip folding end is folded to the designated position, the folding position is locked by the aerial fixed latches on the upper surface of the wing tip fixed end and the lower surface of the wing tip folding end being aligned with each other and cooperating with the rotating shaft.

[0030] From folding to unfolding:

[0031] S21: The aerial fixed latches on the upper surface of the wing tip fixed end and the lower surface of the wing tip folding end are opened, and the fixing of the aerial fixed latches on the folding wing is released.

[0032] S22: The left and right actuators pull and press to cooperate to drive the folding rotating shaft to rotate through the rotating drive joint, and the folding rotating shaft is driven by the folding end rotating shaft support to unfold the wing tip folding end under the constraint of the fixed end rotating shaft support.

[0033] S23: After the wing tip folding end is completely unfolded, the ground fixed latches on the upper surface and the lower surface of the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end are aligned with each other to complete the unfolding position locking.

[0034] The beneficial effects of the above technical solutions of the present application are as follows:

[0035] (a) The technical solution of the present application forms a relatively closed closed chamber after folding, which does not expose the system and actuator equipment to the outside, thereby having the function of protecting against the invasion of external airport environmental factors such as sunlight, sand and dust, rain and snow, and achieving interchangeability, reducing the difficulty and cost of maintenance and repair, and ensuring the rigidity of the folding cross section structure.

[0036] (b) The technical solution of the present application adopts a spanwise opposite series arrangement of the actuators, fully utilizes the wing tip spanwise space, reduces the working load of a single actuator, and effectively solves the outstanding contradiction between the vertical arrangement space of the wing tip and the cross-sectional size of the actuator.

[0037] (c) The technical solution of the present application arranges the wing tip folding axis on the midline of the wing tip cross section, away from the upper and lower surfaces, which is conducive to improving the rotating cross-sectional rigidity, reducing the probability of actuator jamming due to deformation and upper and lower surface interference, and improving the reliability of the folding mechanism.

[0038] (d) In the wing folding process of the technical solution of the present application, the actuators complete the wing tip folding process through the actuating joints of the pull and pressure rotating shafts, the overall stroke is relatively short, and the actuating load is evenly distributed on the left and right actuators, which is conducive to stability design compared with the existing linear drive scheme.

[0039] (e) The rotating shaft drive joints on both sides of the technical solution of the present application are arranged in a "V" shape or shape, which avoids the dead point of the two actuators during the folding process, and designs the largest possible actuating arm.

[0040] (f) The folding actuating mechanism and the latching mechanism of the present application are designed separately, the folding rotary bearing and the in-flight latching mechanism bear the ground load, and the four sets of latching mechanisms arranged on the upper and lower wings bear the in-flight load, without functional reuse, and the actuating mechanism and the latching mechanism have high reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0041] Figure 1 The side view of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism.

[0042] Figure 2 The top view of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism.

[0043] Figure 3A The spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism. Figure 3B The spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism.

[0044] Figure 4 The side view of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism.

[0045] Figure 5 The side view of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism.

[0046] Figure 6 The side view of the present application is a spanwise series pull-push actuating folding mechanism. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] The exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same drawings reference numerals are used to refer to elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all the embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present disclosure, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0048] The terms "first", "second", and the like in the description and claims of the present disclosure are used for distinguishing between similar objects and do not necessarily have to describe a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the use of such terms herein is merely used to distinguish one element from another, and the terms first, second, and the like should not be construed as having an absolute first or second position or order.

[0049] Furthermore, the terms “comprising” and “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or that are inherent to such process, method, product, or apparatus.

[0050] Multiple, including two or more.

[0051] And / or, it should be understood that, for the purposes of this disclosure, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, and B existing alone.

[0052] The present invention provides a wingtip opposing tension-compression folding mechanism, such as... Figures 1-2 As shown. The basic feature of this scheme is that the linear actuators are arranged in a spanwise opposing series, and the folding rotation axis is arranged at the centerline of the wingtip section. The wingtip folding is completed by the tension and compression of one or more sets of series actuators, and the folded wingtip is lowered by another tension and compression. The folding actuation mechanism and the latching mechanism are designed separately. When the folded wingtip is in the folded state, the ground latch and the rotation axis work together to lock it. When the folded wingtip is in the retracted state, the wingtip is locked in the air by two sets of air latching structures on the upper and lower wing surfaces.

[0053] Here, "spanwise opposing tandem" means that in the spanwise direction of the wing (from the wing root to the wingtip), two sets of actuators are arranged in series, and the two sets of actuators operate in opposite directions.

[0054] The wingtip opposing tension-compression folding mechanism includes a fixed wingtip end, a folding wingtip end, an actuation support, a fixed end pivot support, a folding end pivot support, a folding pivot, a rotary drive joint, a linear actuator, an air-mounted fixed latch, and a ground-mounted fixed latch.

[0055] The actuation support is fixed to the wingtip fixed end by mechanical connection, the actuator support end is hinged to the support support, the actuator actuation end is hinged to the rotating shaft drive joint, the drive joint is fixed to the rotating shaft by mechanical connection, the rotating shaft is fixed to the folding end rotating shaft connection joint, and the rotating shaft is hinged to the fixed end rotating shaft support.

[0056] The actuators are arranged in series along the spanwise direction on both sides of the folding shaft. The actuator ends are hinged to the left and right sides of the rotary drive joint, respectively. The folding and retraction of the folding wingtip is completed by the coordinated action of the actuators on both sides. The rotary drive joint has a V-shaped or ▽-shaped design, which converts the linear tension and compression motion of the actuators on both sides into the rotational motion of the folding shaft. Under the constraint of the fixed end support joint, the shaft drives the folding end to fold up or down through the folding end shaft connecting joint.

[0057] The ground latches of the fixed end upper wing surface and the ground latches of the folded end lower wing surface are aligned with the folding shaft to complete the wingtip ground folding position locking when the wingtip folding is in the folded state.

[0058] Four groups of air latches are arranged on the upper and lower wing surfaces of the fixed end and the folded end on both sides of the folding shaft, and the folding wingtip is locked in the air in the folded state by the four groups of latch structures.

[0059] Embodiment

[0060] According to the above scheme, assuming that the upper and lower wing panels are flat, the following can be obtained Figure 3A and Figure 3B The spanwise series tension-compression actuation folding mechanism is shown in the drawings. Specifically, it includes a wingtip fixed end 1, a wingtip folding end 2, an actuator support 3, an actuator 4, a rotary drive joint 5, a folding shaft 6, a fixed end shaft support 7, a folding end shaft support 8, an air fixed latch 9, a ground fixed latch 10, and a ground fixed latch 11.

[0061] The side view of the folding wing when the spanwise series tension-compression actuation folding mechanism is horizontally unfolded is shown in Figure 4 .

[0062] When the folding wingtip is unfolded to folded, the specific working steps are as follows.

[0063] Step one: open the air fixed latches 9 of the wingtip fixed end 1 and the folding end 2, and release the fixed folding wing movement of the unfolding latches.

[0064] Step two: the left and right actuator cylinders pull and press through the rotary drive joint 5 to drive the folding shaft 6 to rotate, and complete the wingtip folding.

[0065] Step three: after the folding end 2 reaches the specified position, the ground fixed latches 10 and 11 are used to achieve the ground locking of the folding wingtip with the folding shaft 6.

[0066] For details, refer to the side view of the folding wing during the 45° movement of the spanwise series tension-compression actuation folding mechanism of the present application and the 90° vertical folding shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6 .

[0067] In summary, in the technical scheme of the application, the linear actuators are arranged in series in the spanwise direction, the folding rotation axis is arranged in the middle line of the wing tip section, the wing tip folding is completed by one or more groups of series actuators in cooperation with pulling and pressing, and the folded wing tip is lowered by pulling and pressing again. In addition, the folding actuator mechanism and the latching mechanism are designed separately, the ground latches and the rotating shafts together complete the locking when the wing tip is in the folded state. When the wing tip is in the retracted state, the in-flight latching mechanisms complete the in-flight locking of the wing tip. Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme of the application is more convenient for wing tip folding design, wing tip locking design, and actuator system protection design in the flight state.

[0068] It should be noted that the terms "comprising", "including", or any other variant thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that processes, methods, articles, or apparatuses that comprise a list of elements not only include those elements, but also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, articles, or apparatuses. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising a" does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes the element.

[0069] The above-mentioned embodiment numbers of the application are only for description, and do not represent the advantages and disadvantages of the embodiments.

[0070] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the above-mentioned implementation methods can be realized by means of software and a general hardware platform, of course, they can also be realized by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the application can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as a ROM / RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk), and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a terminal (which can be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, an air conditioner, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of the application.

[0071] The embodiments of the application are described above in combination with the drawings, but the application is not limited to the above-mentioned specific embodiments, and the above-mentioned specific embodiments are only illustrative and not limiting, and those skilled in the art can make many forms under the inspiration of the application without departing from the purpose of the application and the scope protected by the claims. These all belong to the protection of the application.

Claims

1. A folding mechanism for opposing tension and compression at the wingtip of an aircraft, characterized in that, The aircraft wing tip opposite tension and compression actuation folding mechanism comprises: a wing tip fixed end, a plurality of fixed end rotating shaft supports and actuation supports are fixed on the wing tip fixed end, a rotating drive joint is arranged on each fixed end rotating shaft support, the rotating drive joint is in the shape of V or ▽, comprising two actuator connecting ends on the upper part and a folding rotating shaft fixed end on the lower part; an actuator connected between the rotating drive joint and the actuation support; a wing tip folding end, the wing tip folding end and the wing tip fixed end are inserted and connected with each other, a set of folding end rotating shaft supports are fixed on the wing tip folding end; a folding rotating shaft, the folding rotating shaft is arranged between the fixed end rotating shaft support, the rotating drive joint and the folding end rotating shaft support; a plurality of fixed latches, the fixed latches are arranged on the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end respectively and cooperate with each other; wherein, a set of fixed end rotating shaft supports and two sets of actuation supports are fixed on the wing tip fixed end side by side, the two sets of actuation supports are arranged on the two sides of the fixed end rotating shaft support respectively, and the two sets of actuators are arranged on the two sides of the rotating drive joint in the spread direction opposite series connection mode; wherein, the folding rotating shaft is fixedly connected with the rotating drive joint and the folding end rotating shaft support and hinged with the fixed end rotating shaft support; wherein, when the folding wing changes from the unfolded state to the folded state, one of the two sets of actuators arranged on the two sides of the rotating drive joint gradually extends and the other gradually contracts, so that the rotating drive joint drives the folding rotating shaft and the folding end rotating shaft support to rotate, and then drives the wing tip folding end to gradually fold; when the folding wing changes from the folded state to the unfolded state, the extended set of actuators gradually contracts and the contracted set of actuators gradually extends, so that the rotating drive joint drives the folding rotating shaft and the folding end rotating shaft support to rotate, and then drives the wing tip folding end to gradually unfold.

2. The aircraft wingtip fold mechanism of claim 1, wherein, The folding rotating shaft is arranged in the folding rotating shaft fixed end of the rotating drive joint.

3. The aircraft wingtip fold mechanism of claim 2, wherein: The actuator is a linear actuator, comprising a support end and an actuation end, the support end is hinged with the actuation support, and the actuation end is hinged with the actuator connecting end of the rotating drive joint.

4. The aircraft wing tip fold mechanism of claim 1, wherein: When the folding wing is in the folded state, the rotating drive joint in the shape of V or ▽ is in the horizontal state; when the folding wing is in the unfolded state, the rotating drive joint in the shape of V or ▽ is in the vertical state.

5. The aircraft wing tip fold mechanism of claim 1, wherein, The wing tip folding axis passing through the folding rotating shaft is arranged at the wing tip section centerline position.

6. The aircraft wing tip fold mechanism of claim 1, wherein: The fixed latches comprise ground fixed latches and air fixed latches, wherein: the ground fixed latches are arranged on the upper surface of the wing tip fixed end and the lower surface of the wing tip folding end respectively, when the folding wing is in the folded state, the ground fixed latches on the upper surface of the wing tip fixed end and the lower surface of the wing tip folding end are aligned with each other and cooperate with the folding rotating shaft to complete the folding position locking; the air fixed latches are arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface of the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end on both sides of the folding rotating shaft, when the folding wing is in the folded state, the air fixed latches on the upper surface and the lower surface of the wing tip fixed end and the wing tip folding end are aligned with each other to complete the unfolded position locking.

7. An aircraft wing tip fold method of tension and compression acting in opposition, characterized in that, The aircraft wingtip opposite pulling and pressing actuation folding method based on the aircraft wingtip opposite pulling and pressing actuation folding mechanism in any one of claims 1 to 6, the aircraft wingtip opposite pulling and pressing actuation folding method comprising: From unfolding to folding: S11: open the ground fixed latches on the upper and lower wings of the wingtip fixed end and the wingtip folding end, and release the fixing of the ground fixed latches on the folding wing movement; S12: the left and right two side actuators pull and press to rotate the folding shaft through the rotating drive joint, and the folding shaft is rotated under the constraint of the fixed end shaft support, and the wingtip folding end is folded up through the folding end shaft support; S13: after the wingtip folding end is folded up to the specified position, the air fixed latches on the upper wing of the wingtip fixed end and the lower wing of the wingtip folding end are aligned with each other and cooperate with the folding shaft to complete the folding position locking; From folding to unfolding: S21: open the air fixed latches on the upper wing of the wingtip fixed end and the lower wing of the wingtip folding end, and release the fixing of the air fixed latches on the folding wing movement; S22: the left and right two side actuators pull and press to rotate the folding shaft through the rotating drive joint, and the folding shaft is rotated under the constraint of the fixed end shaft support, and the wingtip folding end is unfolded through the folding end shaft support; S23: after the wingtip folding end is completely unfolded, the ground fixed latches on the upper and lower wings of the wingtip fixed end and the wingtip folding end are aligned with each other to complete the unfolding position locking.

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