Remote Pivoting Tool for Aircraft Landing Gear Hook Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manual locking of aircraft landing gear retaining hooks is hazardous, time-consuming, and prone to errors due to the need for operatives to access the gear bay, which poses safety risks and requires multiple personnel.
Innovation Solution
A method and tool for remotely pivoting the hook using a lever system with an angular offset, allowing remote operation by creating a pivoting plane perpendicular to the direct access plane, enabling the hook to be locked without entering the gear bay, with a tool comprising a head, tubular rod sections, a telescopic elbow, and a flexible control rod.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an operative manually locks the hook by accessing the gear bay, then the hook can be reliably locked, but safety risks increase and the operation becomes time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
A remote operating tool acts as an intermediary between the operative and the hook. The tool includes a control rod with an elbow section that transmits force from the operative (positioned outside the gear bay) to the hook, enabling safe remote operation while maintaining reliable locking.
Solution Approach 2:
The control rod is segmented into multiple sections including an elbow section, allowing the tool to navigate around obstacles and reach the hook from a safe distance. This segmentation enables the operative to remain outside the hazardous gear bay area.
2Ease of operation
If an operative manually accesses the gear bay to lock the hook, then direct control is possible, but the operation requires multiple personnel and complex safety equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The remote tool serves as a mediator that provides direct control capability without requiring the operative to physically enter the gear bay. This eliminates the need for complex safety equipment such as safety harnesses, reels of line, and anchorage systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The operative is extracted from the hazardous gear bay environment and positioned outside. The control rod transmits the operative's actions to the hook, maintaining direct control while removing the operative from the dangerous area, thereby reducing personnel requirements.
3Device complexity
If a rectilinear connection is used to reach the hook, then the tool structure is simple, but remote access is impossible due to congestion in the gear bay
Solution Approach 1:
The control rod incorporates an elbow section that provides angular offset, transforming the rigid rectilinear connection into a dynamic, adaptable structure. This allows the tool to navigate around the landing gear and other obstacles in the congested gear bay area while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The elbow section introduces an angular dimension to the control rod, allowing it to bypass obstacles in three-dimensional space. This dimensional adaptation enables remote access to the hook from positions that would be inaccessible with a straight-line connection.
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
Enables safe and efficient remote locking of the landing gear hook, reducing the risk of assembly errors and time, allowing single-operator access from the ground, thereby enhancing safety and reducing complexity.
Implementation Method 1
exerting a lever effect on the element by way of a control bearing on the structure coupled to a connection engaged with the element to cause it to pivot
Implementation Method 2
the support and the shoes may advantageously be covered with a PTFE covering in order not to damage the element to be pivoted and the structure on which said element is mounted
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a tool for remotely pivoting an element mounted in a structure is provided. The method includes exerting a lever effect on the element by way of a control bearing on the structure coupled to a connection engaged with the element to cause it to pivot in a pivoting plane. The method also includes applying an angular offset to this connection in a plane different from the pivoting plane, in which the lever effect is produced, in order to render the control remotely operable.