Aircraft Buoyancy Float Deployment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional buoyancy systems for aircraft do not provide optimal stability during water landings, especially in challenging sea states, and fail to efficiently utilize float deployment to enhance aircraft stability and reduce weight.
Innovation Solution
A buoyancy system featuring inflatable floats with a deployment device that includes a cylinder and piston mechanism, where the piston is integral with a rod sliding within a sleeve, allowing controlled inflation and extension of the float away from the fuselage, optimizing stability and reducing weight by increasing the distance of the float from the fuselage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If floats are fixed close to the fuselage to simplify structure, then device complexity is reduced, but aircraft stability on water deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The float deployment system transitions from a static fixed configuration to a dynamic deployable configuration. The cylinder-piston-rod mechanism allows the float to move from a retracted position (close to fuselage during flight) to an extended position (away from fuselage during water landing), optimizing both structural simplicity and stability performance through dynamic reconfiguration
Solution Approach 2:
The float deployment system is divided into functionally independent segments: the cylinder mounted on the fuselage, the piston with internal channel, the extendable rod, and the float itself. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while enabling the overall system to achieve both compact storage and effective deployment
2Stability of the object's composition
If floats are deployed away from the fuselage to improve stability, then aircraft stability on water is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple functions are merged into the cylinder-piston-rod assembly: the cylinder serves as both the mounting structure and the actuator housing, the piston integrates both the sealing element and the fluid distribution node with its internal channel, and the rod serves as both the actuator output and the float mounting structure. This merging reduces the number of separate components and simplifies the overall deployment mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses pneumatic or hydraulic pressure from the inflator to drive the piston within the cylinder, converting gas pressure into mechanical linear motion of the rod. This allows for controlled, reliable extension of the float away from the fuselage using fluid power principles, achieving stable deployment without complex mechanical linkages
3Ease of operation
If a shutter blocks the piston channel during retraction, then float inflation is controlled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shutter mechanism is designed to operate automatically based on the piston's position. As the piston moves during retraction, the shutter passively blocks the channel without requiring external actuation. The system uses the motion of the piston itself to control the inflation sequence, eliminating the need for separate control mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The shutter acts as an intermediary element between the piston motion and the fluid flow in the channel. It translates the mechanical position of the piston into a controlled opening or closing of the fluid passage, mediating the connection between the first and second chambers while maintaining simple mechanical operation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enhances the stability of the aircraft on water, allowing for greater stability coefficients and weight reduction, even in more severe sea states, by strategically deploying floats during flight and post-landing, thereby improving safety and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the pressure prevailing in the first chamber increases following the supply of gas from the inflator, and then induces the translation of the rod of the cylinder relative to its sleeve
Implementation Method 2
Such a buoyancy system contributes to the flotation and the stability of an aircraft following a water landing
Data Source
Figure 1~8
Figure 2~7
AI summary
A buoyancy system (10) for an aircraft (1), the buoyancy system (10) being provided with at least one inflatable float (15). The buoyancy system (10) has at least one inflator (25) and at least one actuator (30) interposed between said inflator (25) and a float (15), said actuator (30) having a cylinder (35) and a rod (40) partially received in said cylinder (35). Said rod (40) is secured to a piston (50) defining a first chamber (61) within said cylinder (35) and in fluid flow communication with the inflator (25), and a second chamber (62) within said rod (40) and in fluid flow communication with said float (15), and said piston (50) has a channel (63) to put the first chamber (61) into fluid flow communication with the second chamber (62), said deployment device (20) having a shutter (70) for shutting said channel (63).