Aircraft Wheel Drive Coupler Layout for Protected Axle Harness Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft landing gear systems face challenges in protecting power supply wires and control wires from impacts while allowing for easy integration and removal of the drive motor without excessive rigidity or slack, especially when routing through the axle.
Innovation Solution
A drive device with a motor mounted on the axle and a tubular body that integrates power and signal harnesses within the axle, using couplers that engage in specific orientations to secure the device, providing mechanical and electrical protection and facilitating easy installation and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If power supply wires are routed through the axle center to one end of the axle, then the motor can be connected to the wheel, but the wires become very rigid with large permissible bending radius making them difficult to integrate into the axle
Solution Approach 1:
The wire routing is segmented into two parts: a first portion routed through the axle center to one end, and a second portion routed along the outer surface of the axle to the motor. This segmentation allows each portion to be optimized independently - the first portion can be integrated through the axle structure while the second portion follows a path that accommodates bending requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire routing transitions from a one-dimensional path through the axle center to a two-dimensional path that utilizes the outer surface of the axle. This dimensional change allows the wires to achieve the necessary bending radius by traveling along the axle's exterior rather than being constrained to a straight-through path.
2Ease of operation
If power supply wires are routed through the axle, then connection to the motor is achieved, but a slack loop is needed to allow motor removal and connection/disconnection
Solution Approach 1:
The wire routing is designed to be dynamic rather than fixed - the wires are routed along the outer surface of the axle where they can flex and accommodate motor movement. This dynamic routing allows the motor to be removed and reconnected without requiring excessive slack loops, as the wires naturally flex with the motor's position changes.
3Ease of manufacture
If wires and connectors are routed to the motor without contacting the wheel, then motor connection is achieved, but the wires and connectors are subject to impacts from birds, stones, tyre debris, hail, and lightning
Solution Approach 1:
The axle serves as an intermediary structure that protects the wires from direct exposure to impacts. The wires are routed along the outer surface of the axle, which acts as a shield against birds, stones, tyre debris, hail, and lightning. This intermediary positioning reduces the wires' vulnerability to harmful external factors while still allowing motor connection.
Data Source
AI summary
A landing gear for an aircraft having an axle carried by a strut, the axle including a rotatably-mounted wheel and a drive device for rotating the wheel about a rotation axis. The drive device can have a motor mounted at one end of the axle for transmitting a rotational torque to the wheel, a body projecting out of the motor and snugly received in the axle, and at least a first harness extending along the body and connecting the motor to at least a first coupler carried by a free end of the body to cooperate with a second coupler of the landing gear to supply the motor with power. The second coupler received in an opening formed in the axle at the junction between the strut and the axle, the opening extending along an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the wheel.