Aircraft Wing Guides and Locks for In-Flight Alignment
Solution Overview
Problem
Securing multiple unmanned aircraft together during flight is challenging due to air movement and unpredictable motion, which complicates alignment and increases time, limiting their operating range and load capacity.
Innovation Solution
The use of guides and locks, such as rotatable paddles, to align and secure aircraft wings together, enabling quick and accurate alignment during flight, thereby increasing aerodynamic efficiency and allowing for integrated landing capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple aircraft are secured together during flight, then aerodynamic efficiency and load capacity are improved, but alignment difficulty and coordination time increase due to air movement and unpredictable motion
Solution Approach 1:
A guide structure is introduced as an intermediary component between the first and second aircraft. The guide includes a guide surface that contacts a corresponding guide surface on the second aircraft, facilitating automatic alignment during the securing process. This intermediary guide mechanism reduces alignment difficulty by providing a physical reference that automatically compensates for positional deviations caused by air movement and unpredictable flight conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure is pre-configured on the first aircraft before flight operations. The guide surface is positioned and oriented in advance to match the corresponding guide surface on the second aircraft. This preliminary configuration enables quick and accurate alignment when the aircraft approach each other, reducing coordination time without compromising aerodynamic efficiency.
2Duration of action of moving object
If multiple aircraft are secured together during flight, then operating range is increased, but alignment time increases due to coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure serves as a mediator that automatically establishes the correct spatial relationship between the first and second aircraft. By providing pre-configured guide surfaces that automatically align when the aircraft approach, the system eliminates the need for complex real-time coordination, thereby reducing alignment time while enabling extended operating ranges through multi-aircraft formations.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure enables the aircraft to self-align during the securing process. The guide surfaces are designed to automatically contact and align the aircraft without requiring active control inputs or coordination between pilot systems. This self-aligning capability significantly reduces alignment time while maintaining the aerodynamic benefits of extended operating ranges.
3Measurement precision
If guides and locks are used to align and secure aircraft, then alignment accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure is introduced as a simple intermediary component that provides automatic alignment. The guide includes a guide surface that contacts a corresponding guide surface on the second aircraft, creating a passive alignment mechanism. This approach achieves high alignment accuracy without requiring complex active control systems, sensors, or coordination mechanisms, thereby maintaining structural simplicity while improving alignment precision.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
Methods (1600) and apparatus (200, 600, 800, 1300) to align and couple aircraft (102) are disclosed. An example apparatus for securing a first aircraft (102a) to a second aircraft (102b) includes a guide (202, 602, 802, 1304; 202, 702, 814, 1320) to direct movement of a first wing (110a) of the first aircraft relative to a second wing (110b) of the second aircraft to align the first wing with the second wing, and a lock configured to couple the first wing to the second wing after the guide aligns the first wing to the second wing.