Embedded Heating Foil for Aircraft Lock Icing Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft door and emergency slide locks are prone to icing due to exposure to extreme temperatures and mechanical, chemical, and thermal stresses, with existing hot air blower solutions being inefficient and prone to malfunction.
Innovation Solution
A sandwich construction with a heating foil embedded in a sliding plate, sealed with ceramic woven mats and liquid ceramic, providing efficient heat transfer and mechanical stability, combined with a control unit and safety switch for temperature regulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hot air blowers are used to heat lock elements, then icing prevention is achieved, but the system becomes complex and prone to malfunction due to alternating thermal loading
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical hot air blower system with a direct electric heating system consisting of heating elements embedded in the lock element housing. This substitution eliminates the complexity of air circulation systems, blowers, and thermal insulation requirements while providing more reliable and direct heating of the lock elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the heating function from the complex hot air blower system and concentrates it into simple electric heating elements that are directly integrated into the lock element housing. This extraction simplifies the overall system by removing unnecessary components like air blowers, ducts, and thermal insulation layers.
2Temperature
If thermal insulation is provided at the aircraft floor in the lower door area, then lock element temperature stability is improved, but space for emergency slides is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the thermal insulation layer from the aircraft floor in the lower door area, thereby preserving the space required for emergency slides. Instead of providing insulation at the floor level, the heating function is directly integrated into the lock element housing itself, eliminating the need for space-consuming insulation structures.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of insulating the lock elements from the cold environment through floor insulation, the patent inverts the approach by providing active heating directly at the lock element. This inversion allows the lock elements to maintain their own temperature without requiring thermal insulation infrastructure that would consume emergency slide space.
3Reliability
If high temperature and high airflow speed are used in hot air blowers, then icing prevention is effective, but human comfort and energy efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the hot air blower system with direct electric heating elements that provide localized heat exactly where needed - in the lock element housing. This eliminates the need for high temperature and high airflow speed conditions, thereby maintaining human comfort in the cabin while achieving effective icing prevention through direct contact heating.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies heating locally at the lock element housing rather than using high temperature air flow throughout the cabin. The heating elements are embedded directly in the lock element, providing concentrated heat only where icing prevention is needed, thus maintaining comfort in the rest of the cabin while achieving effective heating.
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
The solution effectively prevents icing of lock elements without frequent maintenance, ensuring reliable operation under high mechanical, chemical, and thermal loads by providing efficient heating and thermal insulation.
Implementation Method 1
a heating foil (4) which is embedded in the hollowed out recess (32) in a sandwich-type construction
Implementation Method 2
The recess of the sliding plate with the sandwich construction comprising the heating foil and woven mats is advisably filled with liquid ceramic in order to fill it and achieve a good thermal transition from the heating foil to the sliding plate
Implementation Method 3
The sandwich construction advantageously comprises two high-temperature resistant woven mats and the heating foil which is arranged therebetween
Data Source
AI summary
The invention is directed to a device for heating lock elements in aircraft, in particular to prevent icing up of door locks and emergency slide locks. The object of the invention, to find a novel possibility for heating lock elements in aircraft, particularly for preventing icing of door locks and emergency slide locks, which reliably eliminates icing of the lock elements without requiring frequent maintenance and repair due to high mechanical, chemical and thermal stresses, is met according to the invention in that a base body which is mounted in the floor of the aircraft and contains an insert profile has an integrated, inserted sliding plate and in that the sliding plate is hollowed out from the bottom over a large surface to receive a heating foil, wherein the heating foil is embedded in the hollowed out recess in a sandwich-type construction, and the sliding plate is hermetically sealed from the bottom.