Aircraft Pylon Guide Rail for Heavy Tank Mounting Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft pylons face challenges in manipulating and precisely guiding tanks containing fire-extinguishing fluids due to their weight and volume, making mounting and demounting cumbersome and difficult, especially for fluids with higher weight and volume.
Innovation Solution
An aircraft pylon equipped with a guide system featuring a guide pin, guide rail, and connecting system that facilitates the movement of tanks from a mounted position to a through-hole, utilizing a guide pin and rail that cooperate to support and slide the tank along the rail, with a pivoting and elastically deformable connection system to compensate for the tank's weight and ensure precise guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the tank volume and weight are increased to contain more fire-extinguishing fluid, then the fire protection capability is improved, but the ease of manipulation by operative during mounting and demounting deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A guide system comprising a guide pin attached to the tank and a guide rail positioned in the through-hole acts as an intermediary mechanism. The guide pin engages with the guide rail to constrain the tank's movement path, enabling safe and precise manipulation of heavy tanks during mounting and demounting operations without requiring direct manual handling of the entire tank mass
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail is positioned to align with the center of gravity of the tank, creating a balanced configuration where the tank can be maneuvered more easily along the guided path. This alignment reduces the effort required by operatives to control the tank during insertion and removal operations
2Reliability
If the tank is positioned offset from the through-hole to optimize fire protection coverage, then the fire protection effectiveness is improved, but the precision of alignment during mounting deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The guide system with guide pin and guide rail serves as a precision alignment intermediary. The guide rail is precisely positioned within the through-hole, and the guide pin on the tank engages with this rail to automatically align the tank in the correct offset position relative to the through-hole, ensuring both fire protection effectiveness and mounting precision
Solution Approach 2:
The manual alignment process is replaced by a mechanical guidance system. Instead of relying on operative skill to align the tank offset from the through-hole, the guide pin mechanically follows the guide rail's predetermined path, automatically achieving the required alignment precision for optimal fire protection coverage
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
The guide system simplifies the manipulation of tanks by compensating for their weight and ensuring precise guidance during mounting and demounting, reducing the risk of accidents and enhancing operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
the guide pin and the guide rail being configured to cooperate with each other so that the tank is supported by the guide rail and able to slide along the guide rail
Implementation Method 2
an elastically deformable second connection offset toward the second end of the guide rail relative to its first end and connecting the guide rail and the primary structure
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft pylon comprising a box-section primary structure and at least one tank positioned inside the primary structure. To facilitate mounting or demounting the tank, the pylon is equipped with a guide system configured to move the tank from its mounted position toward a through-hole, including a guide rail fastened to the primary structure and positioned above the tank and a guide pin fastened to the tank cooperating with the guide rail so that the tank is supported by the guide rail and is able to slide along the latter. This guide system contributes to simplifying manipulation of the tank when mounting or demounting the tank by at least partly compensating its weight and guiding the tank.