Avionic equipment heating

• US 10,183,753 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2016
• Issued: 01/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales SA
• Original Assignee: Thales SA
• Inventors: Pineau, Jean-Philippe, Sarno, Claude, Hodot, Romain, Martin, Frederic
• Primary Examiner(s): Davis, Richard G
• Application Number:
  US15/220,481
• Publication Number:
  US 20170029122A1
• Time in Patent Office: 909 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: B22F 5/10 of articles with cavities or holes, not otherwise provided for in the preceding subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 15/06 Liquid application in general B05
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 15/12 by electric heating electric heating elements in general H05B
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 33/08 of power plant cooling systems cooling of internal-combustion engines per se F01P; cooling of gas-turbine plants or jet-propulsion plants per se F02C, F02K
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 43/02 for indicating aircraft speed or stalling conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/00 Designing, manufacturing, assembling, cleaning, maintaining or repairing aircraft, not otherwise provided for; Handling, transporting, testing or inspecting aircraft components, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 15/0266 with separate evaporating and condensing chambers connected by at least one conduit; Loop-type heat pipes; with multiple or common evaporating or condensing chambers F28D15/043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 15/043 forming loops, e.g. capillary pumped loops
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 2021/0021 for aircrafts or cosmonautics
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 13/025 indicating air data, i.e. flight variables of an aircraft, e.g. angle of attack, side slip, shear, yaw
• CPC Class Codes: G01P 5/165 Arrangements or constructions of Pitot tubes
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 10/25 Process efficiency

Abstract

A piece of aeronautic equipment intended to equip an aircraft, the equipment (25) including a part intended to be arranged at a skin (27) of the aircraft and elements for heating the part, characterized in that the heating elements include a thermodynamic loop including a closed circuit in which a heat transfer fluid circulates, the closed circuit including an evaporator (14) associated with functional elements (25a) of the aircraft forming a heat source giving off heat during their operation and a zone in which a condensation of the heat transfer fluid can occur in the appendage to heat it, and in that outside the evaporator (14), the circuit in which the fluid circulates is formed by a tubular channel with an empty section.

Claims

1. A piece of aeronautic equipment configured to equip an aircraft, the aeronautic equipment comprising a part configured to be arranged at a skin of the aircraft and heating means for heating the part, wherein the heating means comprise a thermodynamic loop comprising a closed circuit in which a heat transfer fluid circulates, the closed circuit comprising an evaporator associated with a component of the aeronautic equipment, the component forming a heat source configured to emit heat by emission of heat during operation of the component, and a zone in which a condensation of the heat transfer fluid can occur in an appendage to heat the heat transfer fluid, and outside the evaporator, the circuit in which the fluid circulates is formed by a tubular channel with a hollow cross-section.

2. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the tubular channel is configured for the heat transfer fluid to circulate therein by capillarity.

3. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a circulation pump for circulating the heat transfer fluid.

4. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the tubular channel forms a single thermodynamic loop outside the evaporator.

5. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the tubular channel forms plural thermodynamic loops in which the heat transfer fluid circulates in parallel outside the evaporator.

6. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said part is configured to be at least partially flush with the skin of the aircraft.

7. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein said part is an element configured to be arranged protruding relative to the skin of the aircraft.

8. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 7, further comprising a base configured to fasten the piece of aeronautic equipment on the skin of the aircraft, wherein the element is arranged on a first side of the base and the evaporator is arranged on a second side of the base, opposite the first side.

9. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the component of the aeronautic equipment is formed by a portion of the aeronautic equipment or an electronic board of the aeronautic equipment making it possible to contribute heat energy to the evaporator.

10. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the component of the aeronautic equipment is formed by an actuator thereof.

11. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, wherein the component of the aeronautic equipment is formed by a portion of the aeronautic equipment or an electrical equipment of the aeronautic equipment.

12. The aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, further comprising an aerodynamic measuring probe.

13. A method for producing a piece of aeronautic equipment according to claim 1, the equipment comprising a body in which the tubular channel with a hollow cross-section is produced using an additive manufacturing method.

14. A non-transitory storage means storing a data file able to be loaded in a memory of a processing unit associated with an additive manufacturing machine able to manufacture an object by superimposing layers of material, wherein the data file comprises data for three-dimensional depiction of the piece of equipment according to claim 1, so as to allow, when the data file is loaded into the memory of, and processed by, said processing unit, the manufacture of said piece of equipment by said additive manufacturing machine.