Rotatable Disc Play Compensation for Aircraft Cargo Door
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Solution Overview
Problem
The cargo door of an aircraft experiences elastic deformation due to its size and alternating loads, leading to challenges in achieving clear load paths between the door and the fuselage structure, particularly due to mechanical play and misalignment.
Innovation Solution
A play compensation device featuring a rotatable disc with increasing thickness in the circumferential direction, which can be positioned between components to compensate for mechanical play by rotating and establishing flush contact, allowing for force transmission and fine adjustment of positions without the need for complex sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple locking devices are used to secure the cargo door, then the reliability of load transmission is improved, but mechanical play and misalignment between components worsen due to elastic deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The disc is designed to be rotatable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically adjust its angular position to accommodate elastic deformation of the locking devices. This dynamic adjustment maintains reliable force transmission despite changing mechanical play between components
2Adaptability or versatility
If a rotatable disc with varying thickness is used to compensate for mechanical play, then the adaptability to tolerance deviations is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The disc acts as an intermediary element between the fork element and jaw member, absorbing the complexity of tolerance compensation within itself. Rather than making the entire locking mechanism complex, only the disc requires the varying thickness feature, while other components remain simple
Solution Approach 2:
The disc is pre-configured with varying thickness during manufacturing to anticipate and compensate for expected mechanical play and tolerance deviations. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex adjustment mechanisms during operation
3Manufacturing precision
If the disc rotates to establish flush contact between components, then the manufacturing precision of load paths is improved, but the torque requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The varying thickness parameter of the disc is specifically designed to match the expected range of mechanical play, allowing the disc to achieve flush contact with both components while minimizing the rotation angle required. This reduces the torque needed compared to a uniform thickness disc that would require greater rotation
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a~3c
Figure 4a~5
AI summary
A backlash compensation device for arrangement on a surface of a first component, which encloses a space of variable size with a surface of a second component, comprises a rotatable disk with a first side and a second side facing away from it, a coupling that can be connected to a drive shaft, and a rotatably mounted shaft section on which the disk is arranged and which is connected to the coupling, wherein the first side of the rotatable disk is flat, wherein the rotatable disk can be mounted in the space on the first component such that the first side can come into surface contact with the first component at least partially and can project from the first component with the second side, wherein the second side has a circumferentially increasing thickness over at least a sector area as a local distance measure between the first side and the second side.and wherein the coupling is designed to transmit a rotation of the drive shaft to the rotatable disc, so that the disc comes into flush surface contact with the first component and the second component.