Additive Manufactured Fume-Tight Sock Collector for Rotorcraft Fluid Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
As rotorcraft become larger and more complex, they face challenges in preventing fluid leaks and fumes from escaping, which can pose risks to passenger safety and avionics systems, especially with increasing automation and critical electrical systems.
Innovation Solution
A fume-tight fluid recovery system is developed, featuring a collector with an integrated drain structure and snap-together enclosure formed using additive manufacturing, which encases fluid handling lines and connects to collection socks to retain any escaping fluids or vapors, allowing for precise manufacturing without the need for seals or gaskets, reducing the risk of joint failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional fluid handling systems are used with separate components and seals, then assembly flexibility is maintained, but reliability deteriorates due to potential seal failures and joint leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate components (fluid tube, collector, ports, and drain structure) into a single integrally formed unit using additive manufacturing. This eliminates the need for separate seals and gaskets between components, directly resolving the contradiction by improving reliability through eliminated joint failures while managing complexity through integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the manufacturing parameter from traditional subtractive or assembly-based methods to additive manufacturing. This parameter change enables the creation of complex integrated geometries that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with separate components, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If additive manufacturing is used to form the collector, then manufacturing precision improves, but device complexity increases due to integrated structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies additive manufacturing technology to form the collector with high precision. This manufacturing parameter change enables accurate formation of complex integrated structures including the body, ports, and drain structure as a single unit, directly addressing the contradiction by achieving superior manufacturing precision while the integrated design simplifies assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrally formed collector serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a fluid containment structure, provides structured ports for fluid tube passage, and incorporates an integrated drain structure. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby managing overall device complexity while achieving precise manufacturing.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If fluid tubes are enclosed in collectors with ports, then fume containment improves, but fluid flow resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by designing ports with specific geometries and orientations that optimize both containment and flow. The ports are strategically positioned and shaped to contain fumes effectively while minimizing resistance to fluid flow, directly addressing the contradiction by optimizing local port structures to balance containment and flow requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated drain structure acts as an intermediary element that receives fluid from the enclosed space and directs it outward through the collector. This mediator structure provides a dedicated flow path that maintains fume containment while facilitating efficient fluid drainage, thereby reducing flow resistance without compromising containment effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment fluid recovery structure includes a body having an interior cavity, ports integrally joined to first walls of the body and having port walls that extend away from the body, with each of the ports having a port opening that is contiguous with the interior cavity, and a drain structure integrally joined to a second wall of the body and having a drain hole that extends from the interior cavity through the drain structure.