Air Refueling Hose Structure for Real-Time Damage Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current air to air refueling hose and drogue systems face challenges such as damage from impacts, friction, and lack of real-time damage detection, which can lead to safety issues and inefficiencies in maintenance and operation.
Innovation Solution
The air to air refueling hose incorporates an intermediate tubular structure with a support spring, braided mesh, and coated conductive wires to provide power and data transmission between the aircraft and the drogue, enabling real-time damage detection and automatization of maintenance tasks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visual inspection methods are used to check hose damages, then the hose can be inspected for external damages, but internal structure damages cannot be detected and multiple personnel are required to extend and retract the hose
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual visual inspection with an automated optical inspection system that uses cameras and image processing to detect hose damages. The system captures images of the hose during extension and retraction operations, automatically analyzes them for defects, and generates inspection reports, eliminating the need for personnel to manually extend and retract the hose while improving detection reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The inspection system creates visual copies (images) of the hose during operation, allowing detailed examination of the hose condition without requiring physical manipulation. The captured images serve as digital replicas that can be analyzed automatically, preserving the hose's operational state while enabling thorough inspection
2Reliability
If the hose is extended for manual inspection, then visual damages can be detected, but the operation requires multiple people and consumes significant time
Solution Approach 1:
The inspection system operates continuously during hose extension and retraction operations, capturing images at multiple points along the hose length without interrupting the normal operational cycle. This continuous imaging approach ensures comprehensive coverage while maintaining operational efficiency, eliminating the need for separate dedicated inspection time
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-inspection by automatically capturing and analyzing images of the hose during its own operational cycles of extension and retraction. The hose inspects itself without requiring external inspection personnel or separate maintenance downtime, integrating the inspection function into the operational workflow
3Ease of operation
If manual tension is applied to extend the hose, then the hose can be extended for inspection, but the tension control is difficult and may cause incorrect wrapping
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual tension application with an automated mechanical extension mechanism that controls hose deployment through controlled winding and unwinding on drums. The automated system maintains consistent tension and positioning, ensuring accurate wrapping and alignment without relying on operator skill or strength, thereby improving both ease of operation and wrapping reliability
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 2
AI summary
The present invention belongs to the field of air to air refueling for aircraft, in particular to the operations with hose and drogue systems for automatizing the response of the system to contact between a tanker aircraft and a receiver while automatizing hose maintenance tasks.