Aircraft-Mounted Winch for VTOL Landing Assistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Landing and take-off processes for vertical landing aircraft are challenging, especially on moving platforms like ships in adverse weather conditions, due to complex movements and the need for specific and costly infrastructure, which limits the versatility and safety of existing systems for both manned and unmanned aircraft.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a tether and a winch motor with a control device and coupling mechanism that allows the cable winch to be lowered from the aircraft onto the landing surface, providing a detachable connection and maintaining an uninterrupted cable force, enabling precise control and flexible use across various aircraft types and landing conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a winch system is installed on the landing surface to assist aircraft landing, then the safety and reliability of landing is improved, but the device complexity and infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of installing the winch on the landing surface (conventional approach), the patent inverts the arrangement by mounting the winch on the aircraft itself. The winch system, including the cable and payout mechanism, is integrated into the aircraft structure, allowing the aircraft to actively manage its own landing assistance rather than relying on ground-based infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the winch system from the landing surface infrastructure and relocates it to the aircraft. This removes the need for complex ground-based winch installations, heavy cables, and associated control systems on the landing surface, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining the safety function.
2Measurement precision
If a tether cable system is used to guide the aircraft during landing, then the positional control is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the winch system, tether cable, and control mechanisms into a single integrated unit mounted on the aircraft. Rather than having separate ground-based components for cable management, guidance, and control, all these functions are merged into the aircraft-mounted system, simplifying the overall device complexity while maintaining precise positional control capability.
3Reliability
If complex infrastructure is installed on the landing surface to support VTOL operations, then the landing assistance capability is improved, but the adaptability to different aircraft types and locations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft-mounted winch system is designed to be universally applicable to different VTOL aircraft types without requiring modifications to the landing surface infrastructure. The system can be adapted to various aircraft configurations and can operate from different locations (ships, offshore platforms, remote areas) without requiring specialized ground installations, thereby achieving multi-functionality and broad adaptability.
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 system ensures reliable guidance and safe landing/take-off of aircraft by minimizing positional deviations and eliminating the need for complex infrastructure, allowing for versatile use on different types of aircraft and landing areas, including those with adverse weather conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a winch (11) designed for winding and unwinding the tether cable (7), which is driven by a winch motor
Implementation Method 2
The control device (13) is arranged on the winch (11) and is configured to control the winch (11) in such a way that, during the landing process, a continuous cable force is exerted on the aircraft (3)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
Figure 5~7
AI summary
A system (1) for assisting the landing of a vertical landing aircraft (3) on a landing surface (5), comprising a mooring cable (7), a winch (11) driven by a winch motor and configured to wind and unwind the mooring cable (7), a control device (13) configured to control the winch (11), and a fastening device (15) to which the winch (11) is connected via the mooring cable (7) and which can be attached to the aircraft (3) to connect the winch (11) to the aircraft (3) via the mooring cable (7), provides improved assistance for the landing process by comprising a coupling device (17) arranged on the winch (11) and designed to be carried by the aircraft (3), wherein the control device (13) is configured to control the winch (11) in such a way thatthat at the beginning of the landing procedure, the winch (11) is lowered from the aircraft (3) onto the landing surface (5) by unwinding the mooring cable (7), - the coupling device (17) is configured to establish a coupled state of the aircraft (3) by creating a detachable connection between the lowered winch (11) and the landing surface (5), in which the aircraft (3) is connected to the landing surface (5) via the mooring cable (7), and - the control device (13) is configured to control the winch (11) in such a way that, during the landing procedure, a continuous cable force is exerted on the aircraft (3) by winding up the mooring cable (7) in the coupled state of the aircraft (3).