Emergency Landing Gear Deployment via Release Link and Override Driver
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft landing gear failure to deploy or partially deploy can result in significant damage or destruction during landing, posing a critical safety risk due to the inability to support the aircraft's weight effectively.
Innovation Solution
An emergency deployment system comprising a landing gear coupler, release link, and override driver that allows independent movement of the landing gear to a deployed position, even when the primary drive system is malfunctioning, by disengaging the coupling between the drive shaft and the coupler, and using stored energy to force the landing gear into the deployed position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the primary landing gear drive system is used during normal operation, then the landing gear can be retracted to reduce drag and increase speed, but the system may fail to deploy or fully deploy in emergency situations
Solution Approach 1:
The system stores energy in the override driver (spring or hydraulic accumulator) in advance during normal operation. This preliminary energy storage enables the emergency deployment function to be activated without requiring the primary drive system to be operational at the moment of need, thus resolving the contradiction between speed optimization and deployment reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The release link acts as an intermediary mechanism that couples the override driver to the landing gear coupler. When activated, it transfers the stored energy from the override driver to the landing gear assembly, enabling deployment independent of the primary drive system while maintaining system compactness.
2Loss of energy
If the landing gear is retracted during flight, then drag is reduced and fuel efficiency is improved, but the landing gear must be reliably deployed upon landing which creates safety risks if deployment fails
Solution Approach 1:
The override driver with stored energy serves as a pre-prepared safety mechanism that cushions against the harmful effect of deployment failure. By having the emergency deployment capability ready in advance, the system protects against the potential damage of crash landing while maintaining the fuel efficiency benefits of retraction during flight.
3Reliability
If an emergency deployment system is added to the aircraft, then landing gear deployment reliability is improved, but the device complexity and number of components increase
Solution Approach 1:
The emergency deployment system is merged with the existing primary drive system components. The override driver, release link, and landing gear coupler work together with the existing drive shaft and actuators, consolidating functions into a unified system rather than adding completely separate emergency mechanisms, thus reducing overall complexity while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide apparatuses configured to deploy a landing gear of an aircraft, comprising: a landing gear coupler configured to couple with the landing gear; a release link configured to cooperate the landing gear coupler with a drive shaft that is configured to drive the landing gear between a stowed position and a deployed position; an override driver cooperated with the landing gear coupler; wherein the release link is configured to releasably maintain a relative position of landing gear coupler relative to the drive shaft, and the release link is configured to disengage a coupling between the drive shaft and the landing gear coupler such that the landing gear coupler is configured to move independent of the drive shaft; and wherein the override driver is configured to drive the landing gear coupler to the deployed position.