Aircraft Brace Housing Fluid Transfer Lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
The routing of fluid transfer lines between the wing and fuselage in aircraft is complex, requiring pipes to traverse critical structural zones and potentially entering pressurized cabin areas, complicating design and increasing mass and cost.
Innovation Solution
Integrating fluid transfer lines within the brace that extends between the wing and fuselage, reducing the length of routing and avoiding pressurized zones, while the brace serves both structural and routing functions by housing these lines and electrical cables.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If fluid transfer lines are routed along the wing member and through the root zone to the fuselage, then fluid transfer between wing and fuselage is achieved, but the routing becomes complex and requires passage through critical structural zones and pressurized cabin areas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fluid transfer line routing from the traditional path along the wing member and through the fuselage root zone. Instead, the fluid lines are routed through the brace structure that connects the wing to the fuselage, eliminating the need to pass through critical structural zones and pressurized cabin areas. This extraction simplifies the routing by removing the problematic segments from the fluid transfer path.
Solution Approach 2:
The brace structure is given multiple functions: it provides structural support to connect the wing to the fuselage and simultaneously serves as a conduit for fluid transfer lines. By making the brace multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for separate routing paths through the wing root and fuselage cabin, thereby simplifying the overall routing complexity while achieving both structural and fluid transfer objectives.
2Quantity of substance
If fluid transfer lines are routed through the wing root zone and fuselage, then fluid circulation is established, but the length of routing increases and mass and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the spatial dimension of fluid transfer line routing by utilizing the vertical dimension provided by the brace structure. Instead of routing lines horizontally along the wing member and through the fuselage root zone, the lines are routed vertically through the brace that connects the upper wing to the lower fuselage. This dimensional change shortens the routing path and reduces the quantity of fluid lines required, thereby reducing aircraft mass and cost while maintaining fluid circulation.
3Quantity of substance
If traditional routing paths are used for fluid lines, then fluid transfer is achieved, but critical passages in primary structural zones are compromised and pressurized zone design is affected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fluid transfer function from the primary structural zones of the wing root and fuselage. By routing fluid lines through the brace structure instead, the patent removes the interference between fluid lines and critical structural passages. This extraction preserves the structural integrity of primary zones while maintaining fluid transfer capability through an alternative path that does not compromise structural strength.
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft including a wing, a fuselage and at least one brace extending between the wing and the fuselage. The brace houses at least one fluid transfer line between the wing and the fuselage, such as an engine air bleed line, a hydraulic line or a fuel pipe. Use in particular to equip high-winged aircraft.