Aircraft Fuselage Power Feed Thru With Anti-Rotation Seals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical power feed through solutions for aircraft fuselages fail to effectively manage high electrical currents and high operating temperatures while maintaining a pressure seal in dynamically changing environments, especially when transitioning from unpressurized exterior to pressurized interior.
Innovation Solution
The design includes a conductive bus bolt with insulators and safety covers, featuring anti-rotation elements and a low-profile configuration that allows for variable geometry and simplified installation, enabling high current transmission through a single fuselage wall mounting hole, and uses high-temperature resistant materials for insulation and sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If high electrical current power lines are installed through the fuselage, then electrical power transmission capability is improved, but operating temperature increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a feed-thru assembly as an intermediary component that mediates between the high-current power line and the fuselage structure. This assembly includes insulating materials and thermal management features that allow high current transmission while managing the resulting heat, thus resolving the contradiction between power transmission capability and operating temperature.
Solution Approach 2:
The feed-thru assembly utilizes composite materials including high-temperature resistant insulators and thermally conductive yet electrically insulating materials. These composite materials enable the structure to withstand high operating temperatures generated by high electrical currents while maintaining electrical isolation and structural integrity.
2Power
If the feed thru transitions from unpressurized exterior to pressurized interior, then electrical power transmission is enabled, but pressure sealing becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The feed-thru assembly acts as an intermediary element that bridges the pressurized and unpressurized zones. It incorporates sealing mechanisms such as gaskets or seals that maintain pressure differential while allowing the electrical conductor to pass through, thus enabling power transmission without compromising pressure seal integrity.
3Ease of operation
If a low-profile configuration is used, then cable routing ease is improved, but space for insulation and sealing is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The feed-thru assembly employs a nested structure where insulating layers, sealing elements, and the electrical conductor are arranged concentrically or in nested configurations. This nesting allows multiple functional layers to be accommodated in a compact low-profile package, maintaining adequate insulation and sealing space while keeping the overall height minimal for easy cable routing.
4Stability of the object's composition
If anti-rotation features are added, then electrical connection stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anti-rotation features utilize asymmetric geometric shapes such as D-shaped holes, offset keyways, or non-circular cross-sections. These asymmetric features prevent rotation of the feed-thru assembly or cables in a simple and effective manner without requiring complex mechanical locking mechanisms, thus improving electrical connection stability while minimizing added structural complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables reliable high-current power transmission across aircraft fuselages, maintaining pressure integrity and withstanding shock and vibration, while allowing for easy routing and clamping of cables, thus addressing the challenges of high temperature and dynamic environmental conditions.
Implementation Method 1
an electrically conductive bus bolt structured and arranged to extend through a wall of the vessel
Implementation Method 2
an outside wall insulator surrounding a first portion of the bus bolt structured and arranged for installation adjacent to an exterior surface of the wall, and an inside wall insulator surrounding a second portion of the bus bolt
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical power feed thru for thin-walled vessels such as aircraft fuselages is disclosed which allows high electrical current power lines, and their associated high operating temperatures, to transition from the inside to the outside of the aircraft. The feed thru includes sealing surfaces, anti-rotation features and safety covers. This low-profile configuration permits the attached cables to run close to the fuselage walls, permitting easier routing and clamping. The feed thru has a variable geometry which permits alternate spacing of the end terminations in reference to the fuselage while maintaining the same parts. Installation is simplified through a single fuselage wall mounting hole design that can be done with a standard punch. The feed thru exceeds the shock and vibration environments of various aircraft such as a military aircraft.