Airport Apron Carriage Assembly for Engine-Off Airplane Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for transporting airplanes on an airport apron from a parking location to a runway or back require the airplane's engines to be on, which is inefficient and not economical, as there is no solution for doing so with the engines off.
Innovation Solution
A carriage assembly with guiding grooves and pivotable covers, equipped with a leading mandrel and vehicle wheels, allows for the movement of airplanes within these grooves, enabling transportation without engine power by using a spatial structure with lower and side guide rails and a telescopic leading mandrel with a latch for secure attachment to the airplane.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If airplanes are transported on airport apron under their own power with engines on, then the transportation can be performed without external assistance, but the operation becomes more expensive and less economical
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a carriage assembly as an intermediary device that couples to the airplane and provides guided transportation along grooves in the airport apron surface. This mediator enables the airplane to be transported without engine power by utilizing the ground-based guiding infrastructure, thus resolving the contradiction between autonomous operation and energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the airplane's own propulsion system (engine-driven wheel rotation) with an external mechanical guidance system consisting of grooves and carriages. This substitution eliminates the need for engine power during transportation, addressing the energy consumption issue while maintaining controlled movement through the mechanical guide rails and carriage mechanism.
2Measurement precision
If a carriage assembly with guiding grooves is implemented, then precise guidance and engine-off transportation is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guiding system is segmented into discrete components: grooves cut in the airport apron surface, separate carriage assemblies, and modular guide rails. This segmentation allows the complex guidance function to be distributed across multiple simple, interchangeable parts, making the system manageable despite its complexity while maintaining precise guidance through the coordinated interaction of these segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from conventional two-dimensional airplane movement on the apron surface to a three-dimensional guided system by introducing vertical guide rails and carriages that engage with grooves. This dimensional addition provides precise guidance control while distributing the complexity across multiple spatial dimensions, allowing the system to achieve accuracy without concentrating all complexity in a single plane.
3Adaptability or versatility
If leading mandrels are fastened to airplane wheels in docking stations, then the airplane can be coupled to the transport system, but the operation becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The docking system is designed so that the leading mandrels automatically engage with the carriage assemblies when the airplane approaches the docking station. The system performs the coupling operation itself through mechanical interaction between the mandrels and carriage components, reducing the need for complex manual procedures or additional coupling mechanisms, thus achieving adaptability without proportionally increasing operational complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention solves a problem of a carriage (1) assembly for an airplane transporting system on an airport apron, from a parking location to a runway and from a landing to the parking location with an airplane's engine off. The carriage assembly is formed by a guiding groove (3) with a rectangular cross-section, a floor (5) of which being provided with lower guide rails (6), and side walls (7) of which being provided with side guide rails (8), and the carriage (1) is constituted by a spatial structure (9), having a bottom part (10) and side parts (11), the carriage (1) being provided with a lower vehicle wheels set (12), fixed at the bottom part (10) of the carriage (1), and a side vehicle wheels set (13) fixed at both side parts (11) of the carriage (1).