LEANING LANE FOR GLIDER EMERGENCY PARACHUTE

Abstract

The invention relates to a reserve parachute for a paragliding aircraft, comprising: - a reserve canopy, - suspension lines connected to the reserve canopy, - a tether (15) connected to the suspension lines at one end and configured to be connected to a harness of the glider in its installed state at the other end, characterized in that the tether (15) is made of bundles (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22), the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22) having heat-shrinkable polyamide fibers, the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22) being assembled into a tether (15). Figure for the abstract: [Fig. 3]

Description

Title of the invention: LANE FOR EMERGENCY PARACHUTE OF A SAILING AIRCRAFT Scope of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to the field of aircraft canopies of the parachute or paraglider type, and in particular to reserve parachutes used for these aircraft. The invention relates more particularly to a tether forming a mechanical link between the anchor point on the harness of the reserve parachute and the risers of the reserve parachute. Previous art

[0002] To ensure the safety of paragliding and other gliding aircraft, reserve parachutes have become a mandatory standard in many countries and territories.

[0003] These reserve parachutes are deployed in the event of an irreparable failure of the main canopy, when the user's fall becomes inevitable. The reserve parachutes are often integrated into the harness in which the user sits. To avoid causing hindrance or significant weight during normal use of the main canopy, they are designed to be particularly compact and lightweight when packed.

[0004] However, reserve parachutes are subject to strength and deployment tests comparable to those of other canopies to obtain certification and allow them to be placed on the market. In particular, one of the tests performed consists of opening the reserve parachute twice in succession with a relative air velocity of at least forty or even sixty meters per second. The deployment must then occur both times without damage to the reserve parachute.

[0005] The reserve parachute consists of a canopy, connected by suspension lines to a tether, which is itself securely attached to the harness and therefore to the user. The mechanical stresses are thus concentrated at the tether during parachute deployment, which transmits them from the multiple suspension lines to the harness.

[0006] To obtain sufficient strength while respecting weight constraints, it is customary to use a high-density polyethylene lanyard of the "dyneema" type (registered trademark of ultra-high molar density polyethylene) which is strong and light.

[0007] However, the deployment of the parachute causes a sudden braking force that is transmitted to the user, which can destabilize them, injure them, or damage the parachute structure. To lessen this shock, the tether must have dynamic elongation properties that absorb energy; however, ultra-high-density polyethylene fibers molar density are static, with low elongation, and therefore cannot or can only slightly cushion the shock.

[0008] Static lanyards with seam tearing are known in the field of via ferrata. However, the test involving two successive high-speed deployments makes it difficult to use this type of single-use lanyard for reserve parachutes, since they must then be made replaceable and the user must replace them after deployment.

[0009] There is therefore a need for a lanyard which has both identical dynamic characteristics during successive deployments and lightness characteristics at least comparable to those of ultra-high molar density polyethylene, such as "dyneema". Summary of the invention

[0010] In order to address the technical problem mentioned above, the invention proposes a rescue parachute for a paragliding type glider aircraft, comprising: - a rescue canopy, - suspension lines connected to the rescue canopy, - a tether connected to the suspension lines at one end and configured to be connected to a harness of the glider aircraft in the installed state at the other end.

[0011] The parachute is characterized in that the lanyard is made by means of bundles of heat-shrinkable polyamide fiber strands, the bundles of shrinkable polyamide fiber strands being assembled into a lanyard.

[0012] The tether of this parachute exploits the elastic nature of the retracted polyamide fibers, while adding a few tens of grams to the weight, for the same strength. In particular, this elastic nature remains constant under repeated tension, whether this tension is applied over several successive deployments during a certification test, or whether it occurs during a single parachute deployment.

[0013] The parachute according to the invention may further have one or more of the following characteristics.

[0014] Bundles of polyamide fibre strands can be assembled by sewing, in particular by zigzag stitching.

[0015] Alternatively, the bundles of polyamide fibre strands can be braided and / or spliced ​​to obtain the lanyard.

[0016] As a second alternative, the bundles of retracted polyamide fiber strands can be assembled by weaving, with warp bundles and weft bundles.

[0017] As a third alternative, the bundles may comprise a winding of polyamide fiber strands, and a sheath surrounding the winding of polyamide fiber strands.

[0018] These particular assemblies of longitudinal bundles exhibit, due to their structures, greater elasticity than the sole use of straight parallel bundles.

[0019] The bundles can be composed of retracted, twisted, braided polyamide fiber cables and / or parallel fiber strand bundles for greater elasticity.

[0020] The invention also relates to the glider aircraft equipped with a rescue parachute described above.

[0021] Finally, the invention also relates to the method of assembling a reserve parachute tether as previously described, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: - preparation of polyamide fiber yarn bundles from heat-shrink polyamide fibers, - assembly of bundles of polyamide fiber cables into a lanyard.

[0022] The bundle preparation step may include a substep of braiding, twisting and / or sizing the retracted polyamide fibers to produce said bundles.

[0023] The step of assembling the bundles of polyamide fiber cables may include a step of braiding the bundles and a step of splicing the braided bundles to obtain the lanyard.

[0024] Alternatively, the step of assembling the polyamide fiber bundles may include a step of weaving the bundles with weft bundles and warp bundles.

[0025] As a second alternative, the step of assembling the polyamide fiber strand bundles may include the following steps: - parallel arrangement of several lengths of bundles of retracted polyamide fiber cables, - sewing together lengths of polyamide fiber strands to obtain a ribbon, - sewing the resulting ribbon onto itself to form the lanyard.

[0026] The step of arranging in parallel lengths of bundles of polyamide fiber strands may include a substep of cutting a plurality of bundle lengths of polyamide fiber strands.

[0027] Alternatively, the step of arranging lengths of polyamide fiber strand bundles in parallel may include a step of spirally winding a single bundle of polyamide fiber strands onto itself, the successive windings forming the parallel arranged lengths of polyamide fiber strand bundles.

[0028] As a second alternative, the step of arranging in parallel lengths of bundles of polyamide fiber strands may include a substep of carrying out a loop from a single bundle of polyamide fiber strands, and sub-steps of folding the loop into a figure eight, each followed by a sub-step of folding the two loops of the figure eight into one, the individual loops thus folded forming parallel lengths of bundle of polyamide fiber strands. Brief description of the figures

[0029] The invention will be better understood in the light of the following description of the accompanying figures, among which:

[0030] [Fig. 1] is a schematic representation of a paraglider-type glider aircraft in flight.

[0031] [Fig.2] is a schematic representation of the deployed emergency parachute,

[0032] [Fig.3] is a schematic perspective representation of the lanyard according to a mode of the realization of the invention,

[0033] [Fig.4] is a detailed schematic representation of a segment of the lanyard,

[0034] [Fig.5] is a detailed schematic representation of two variation segments of the bundle used to make the lanyard according to the invention,

[0035] [Fig.6] is a flowchart showing the main steps of the process of manufacturing of the lanyard according to the invention,

[0036] [Fig.7] is a schematic representation of a bundle being wound for to obtain the lanyard using a specific assembly method,

[0037] [Fig.8] is a schematic representation of a beam being arranged in eight and folded according to a particular assembly method to obtain the lanyard,

[0038] [Fig.9] is a representation of an embodiment of a lanyard obtained by braiding and splicing of the bundles forming it,

[0039] [Fig. 10] is a schematic representation of an embodiment of a lanyard woven bundles,

[0040] [Fig. 11] is a schematic representation of one embodiment of a lanyard, derived from slings.

[0041] The figures and embodiments shown are given by way of illustrative and non-limiting examples. Different embodiments can be obtained by slightly modifying the features or by combining features of different embodiments. These different embodiments are of course understood to be part of the invention. Detailed description of the figures

[0042] Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a 100 sail aircraft.

[0043] As illustrated in [Fig. 1], aircraft 100 is here a paraglider. Aircraft 100 essentially comprises a main sail 1, to which suspension lines 3 are attached, and a harness 5 located in normal flight under the sail 1 and connected to it by the suspension lines 3.

[0044] The main wing 1 is a flexible wing in the shape of a curved wing. The user U is seated in the harness 5, and pilots the paraglider 100 by pulling on certain lines 3, which modifies the shape and therefore the aerodynamic behavior of the main wing 1.

[0045] The harness 5 is here a streamlined harness 5, rigid or semi-rigid, encompassing the legs and at least the pelvis of the user U.

[0046] The harness 5 has a compartment for the reserve parachute 10, in which the reserve parachute 10 is folded. The compartment and the folded reserve parachute 10 are here located at the level of the user's back U, but can be ventral.

[0047] The reserve parachute 10 is shown deployed in [Fig.2]. In particular, in [Fig.2], the parachute replaces the main canopy 1, which is for example detached (released) or lowered during the deployment of the reserve parachute 10 in order to avoid harmful and dangerous interactions between the two canopies.

[0048] The deployment of the emergency parachute 10 is done for example by pulling on a dedicated handle not shown, by manual opening and release.

[0049] The reserve parachute 10 comprises a reserve canopy 11, connected to suspension lines 13. The suspension lines 13 are all connected to a tether 15 which is securely connected to the harness 5.

[0050] The emergency sail 11 is a simple, non-steerable sail, hemispherical or square in shape, whose sole purpose is to slow the descent of the user U after a failure of the main sail 1.

[0051] Other shapes of reserve parachute 11 are possible: hexagonal or triangular, some reserve parachutes can also be steerable, although with generally degraded performance. The reserve parachute 11 can, in particular, be connected by two tethers 15 to the harness 5 to allow the descent to be steered. Such reserve parachutes 11 are also covered by the invention.

[0052] Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective representation of a tether 15 for the reserve parachute 10 of Fig. 2.

[0053] The lanyard 15 consists of two loops: a small loop 151, through which the suspension lines 13 pass, and a large loop 153, attached to the harness 5. Between the two loops 151 and 153 is a straight segment 155, here composed of two lengths of ribbon sewn one on top of the other. The lanyard 15 of [Fig. 3] is therefore made by sewing the straight segment 155 into a ribbon closed in a loop.

[0054] Other forms of lanyard 15 are however possible, including a simple loop.

[0055] Fig. 4 shows in more detail a segment of the ribbon forming the lanyard 15.

[0056] Said ribbon is composed of a plurality of lengths of bundles 20 of polyamide fiber strands, arranged here in particular in parallel and connected by zigzag seams 21.

[0057] Each of the bundles 20 is composed of a plurality of thin strands of polymerized polyamide fibers. These strands are, in particular, strands directly produced from polyamide spinnerets. Figure 5 shows three examples of bundles 20 of polyamide fiber strands. The first two, at the top of Figure 5, are in the form of cables.

[0058] The first cable, on the left in [Fig. 5], has twisted polyamide fibers, the second, on the right in [Fig. 5], has braided polyamide fibers. This type of polyamide fiber cable bundle is particularly well-known in rope making, where it is used to make the cores of so-called dynamic ropes, especially in the field of climbing.

[0059] The third embodiment of the bundle 20 is a parallel bundle of wires 22, joined together to be secured.

[0060] The bundles 20 are thus presented in the form of a cord or a single cable that is easy to handle for the assembly of the lanyard 15.

[0061] The number of cables 22, their braiding method, the thickness of the cables 22 of polyamide fibers of the bundles 20 are in particular selected so that the individual bundles 20 have an elongation of 20% under a load of 80 kg, and the number of bundles 20 is selected so that the lanyard 15 has an elongation of 30% under a load of 1000 kg, and a sufficient breaking load.

[0062] The bundles 20 or the polyamide fibers that compose them are notably shrunk by heat treatment. To do this, the fibers before their assembly into bundles 20 or the assembled bundles 20 can in particular be passed through ovens or brought into contact with hot steam.

[0063] The bundle lengths 20 of polyamide fibers arranged in parallel can for example be distinct bundle lengths 20, so as to form a ribbon, which is then closed on itself, in particular by sewing to obtain a loop from which the lanyard 15 is then formed.

[0064] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the main steps of the process for obtaining the lanyard 15.

[0065] The first step 201 is the parallel arrangement of the bundles of polyamide fiber ropes in retracted polyamide fibers by braiding or twisting, followed by the second step 203 of assembling the bundles of polyamide fiber ropes into a lanyard 15.

[0066] Fig. 7 illustrates an alternative method for step 201 of arranging beam lengths 20 in parallel, from a single beam 20, directly in a loop.

[0067] The bundle 20 is for this purpose rolled up on itself, with one end sewn. The bundle 20 is then rolled up on itself and sewn continuously, in particular with a zigzag stitch.

[0068] The number of times the bundle 20 is wound around itself gives the thickness of the lanyard 15 and the breaking load.

[0069] Fig. 8 illustrates another alternative method for the step of arranging beam lengths 20 in parallel, from a single beam 20.

[0070] The bundle 20 is again sewn into a loop, and the loop is folded into a figure eight. The two loops of the figure eight are then folded over each other. The single loop thus obtained is then itself folded into a figure eight, the two loops of which are folded over each other.

[0071] Fig. 9 shows an alternative embodiment of lanyard 15, obtained by braiding bundles 20 of retracted polyamide fibers.

[0072] The bundles 20 are in particular braided like a rope, and the loops 151, 153 are obtained by splicing.

[0073] In the embodiment of [Fig.9], after the splice, the large loop 153 is partially covered by an overmolded or sewn sheath 157, forming reinforcement at the interface with the saddle 5.

[0074] Fig. 10 is a schematic representation of an embodiment using bundles 20 of retracted polyamide fibers which are assembled by weaving.

[0075] The lanyard 15 then has warp bundles 23 and weft bundles 25. The warp bundles 23 are in particular parallel to the longitudinal direction of the lanyard 15, and are preferably uninterrupted over the entire length of the ribbon forming the lanyard 15.

[0076] Fig. 11 is a schematic representation of an alternative embodiment, similar to round crane and helicopter slings.

[0077] In this embodiment, a retracted polyamide fiber cable is wound into a bundle 20 having a large number of turns of cable 22 (on the order of a few hundred to a few thousand turns) of polyamide fibers. This cable winding is then optionally coated, but with a winding under tension, the frictional forces generally maintain the winding sufficiently.

[0078] Alternatively, several wires 22, typically five to ten, can be wound in parallel to generate the beam 20.

[0079] The bundle 20 is thus formed directly in the shape of a loop. This loop is then covered with a sheath 159 that can stretch. This sheath 159 is, for example composed of a thin tubular fabric, of total length corresponding to the length of the winding under tension, sewn around the bundle 20, or directly threaded around the bundle 20 at the time of winding the cable 22. Alternatively, the sheath 159 can be made by means of a stretchable polymer ribbon, wound diagonally around the bundle 20.

[0080] The lanyard 15 according to the invention is a compromise between lightness and dynamic behavior, in that it is potentially heavier than a high-density polyethylene lanyard, in particular ultra-high molar density polyethylene, with equal strength (a few tens of grams more), but it exhibits constant dynamic behavior during repeated pulls.

Claims

Demands

1. Emergency parachute for a paragliding glider (100), comprising: - a reserve canopy (11), - suspension lines (13) connected to the reserve canopy (11), - a tether (15) connected to the suspension lines (13) at one end and configured to be connected to a harness (5) of the glider (100) in the installed state at the other end, characterized in that the tether (15) is made by means of bundles (20) of heat-shrinkable polyamide fiber strands (22), the bundles (20) of heat-shrinkable polyamide fiber strands (22) being assembled into a tether (15).

2. Emergency parachute according to claim 1, characterized in that the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber cables (22) are assembled by sewing.

3. Emergency parachute according to claim 2, characterized in that the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber cables (22) are arranged in parallel and assembled into a lanyard (15) by zigzag stitching (21).

4. Emergency parachute according to claim 1, characterized in that the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber cables (22) are braided and spliced ​​to obtain a lanyard (15) with two loops.

5. Emergency parachute according to claim 1, characterized in that the bundles (20) of retracted polyamide fiber strands (22) are assembled by weaving, with warp bundles (21) and weft bundles (22).

6. Emergency parachute according to claim 1, characterized in that the bundles (20) comprise a winding of one or more strands (22) of polyamide fibers, and a sheath (159) surrounding the bundles (20).

7. Emergency parachute according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the bundles (20) are composed of retracted polyamide fiber strands (22), which are twisted, braided and / or fused.

8. Glider aircraft equipped with a rescue parachute (10) according to any one of the preceding claims.

9. Method of assembling a lanyard (15) of a reserve parachute (10) according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the steps: - preparation (201) of bundles (20) of wires (22) of heat-shrink polyamide fibers, - assembly (203) of the bundles (20) of wires (22) of polyamide fibers into a lanyard (15).

10. A method according to claim 9, characterized in that the preparation step (201) of bundles (20) comprises a substep of braiding, twisting and / or sizing the strands (22) of retracted polyamide fibers to make said bundles (20).

11. Method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the step of assembling the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber cables (22) comprises a step of braiding the bundles (20) and a step of splicing the braided bundles (20) to obtain the lanyard (15).

12. Method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the step of assembling the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber yarns (22) comprises a step of weaving the bundles (20) with weft bundles (25) and warp bundles (23).

13. Method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the step (203) of assembling the bundles (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22) comprises the steps: - parallel arrangement of several lengths of bundle (20) of retracted polyamide fiber strands (22), - sewing two by two the lengths of bundle (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22) to obtain a ribbon, - sewing the ribbon obtained onto itself to form the lanyard (15).

14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the step of arranging in parallel lengths of bundle (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22) comprises a substep of cutting a plurality of lengths of bundle (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22).

15. A method according to claim 13, characterized in that the step of arranging lengths of bundle (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22) in parallel comprises a step of spirally winding a single bundle (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22), the successive windings forming the lengths arranged in parallel of bundle (20) of polyamide fiber strands (22).

16. A method according to claim 13, characterized in that the step of arranging in parallel lengths of bundles (20) of wires (22) of polyamide fibers includes a substep of making a loop from a single bundle (20) of strands (22) of polyamide fibers, and substeps of folding the loop into a figure eight, each followed by a substep of folding the two loops of the figure eight into one, the individual loops thus folded forming the parallel lengths of the bundle (20) of strands (22) of polyamide fibers.

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