Aircraft Flow Body Inverted Link Plate Hinge Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing movable flow body devices for aircraft are limited by dimension constraints, particularly at outboard positions, which restrict the use of mechanical interfaces due to minimum height or width requirements, limiting the length, width, curvature, and rigging behavior of flow bodies.
Innovation Solution
A movable flow body device with a main extension axis and three mechanical interfaces, each with a swiveling device and link plates that allow for inverted orientations, enabling the placement of hinge points in a straight line along the flow body, allowing for longer, slimmer, and more tapered designs while maintaining adjustability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If conventional mechanical interfaces are used to support the flow body, then the flow body can be supported and aligned, but the dimension of the flow body is limited by the available space for these interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates the mechanical interfaces from the outboard end region to the inboard region of the flow body, changing the spatial dimension where the interfaces are positioned. This allows the flow body to extend further outboard while maintaining adequate space for the mechanical interfaces in the inboard region, thereby increasing length without requiring additional width.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the conventional arrangement by placing the mechanical interfaces at the inboard end rather than the outboard end. This inversion allows the flow body to achieve its full length extension toward the outboard region while the interfaces are accommodated in the inboard region, resolving the dimensional conflict.
2Shape
If the flow body is made longer and more tapered, then aerodynamic characteristics are improved, but the available space for mechanical interfaces is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the conflict between tapered shape and interface space by moving the interfaces to the inboard region, effectively utilizing the width dimension in the inboard region where it is larger, while allowing the outboard region to taper to a finer dimension without compromising interface accommodation.
3Ease of operation
If mechanical interfaces are positioned at outboard positions, then the flow body can be supported, but a minimum height or width is required which limits the design flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the spatial dimension of interface placement from outboard to inboard region. The inboard region provides greater width and height, allowing the mechanical interfaces to be positioned where sufficient space exists, while the outboard region can be optimized for aerodynamic shape without interface constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
By inverting the conventional placement strategy and positioning interfaces at the inboard end rather than the outboard end, the patent enables greater design flexibility in the outboard region while maintaining adequate support and alignment capabilities through the inboard interface arrangement.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~2c
Figure 3
AI summary
A movable flow body device for an aircraft is proposed, comprising an elongated flow body having a main extension axis, a first mechanical interface in a first position along the main extension axis, a second mechanical interface in a second position and a third mechanical interface in a third position. The first mechanical interface may be a master interface arranged in a central region, while the second and third mechanical interfaces are slave interfaces. Preferably in the outboard position a link plate between a support lever and a support rib of the flow body is inverted compared to the further inboard mechanical interface, which allows for supporting slimmer and longer flow bodies in the outboard region and providing a rigging hinge line through the whole flow body.