Fairing arrangements for aircraft
First Claim
1. A fairing arrangement for bridging an aircraft fixed structure and a control surface hingedly mounted on and angularly displaceable with respect to said aircraft structure, said fairing arrangement including:
- a first fairing portion located on said fixed aircraft structure,a second fairing portion located on said control surface, andan intermediate flexible seal member disposed between said first and second fairing portions and having a proximal edge region fixed relative to one of said first and second fairing portions and a distal edge region,wherein said flexible seal member comprises a composite sheet element of rubber or rubber-like material incorporating a plurality of reinforcing plies across at least part of said sheet element, each ply comprising one or more fabric elements, whereby the flexible seal member is deformable to accommodate differential movement between said first and second fairing portions and said flexible seal member defines a surface which generally conforms to the adjacent portions of said first and second fairing portions.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fairing arrangement for bridging an aircraft fixed structure (14) and a control surface (10) hingedly mounted on and angularly displaceable with respect to the aircraft structure is provided, together with a method of producing a flexible seal member for such an arrangement. The fairing arrangement includes first and second fairing portions (22, 24) on the fixed aircraft structure (14) and control surface (10) respectively with an intermediate flexible seal (26) disposed between them. The flexible seal (26) is of composite construction being made of rubber-like material with a series of reinforcing plies (341 to 345). The plies are of fabric construction and the seal is deformable to accommodate differential movement between the first and second fairing portions (22, 24) to provide a continuous seal therebetween.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A fairing arrangement for bridging an aircraft fixed structure and a control surface hingedly mounted on and angularly displaceable with respect to said aircraft structure, said fairing arrangement including:
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a first fairing portion located on said fixed aircraft structure, a second fairing portion located on said control surface, and an intermediate flexible seal member disposed between said first and second fairing portions and having a proximal edge region fixed relative to one of said first and second fairing portions and a distal edge region, wherein said flexible seal member comprises a composite sheet element of rubber or rubber-like material incorporating a plurality of reinforcing plies across at least part of said sheet element, each ply comprising one or more fabric elements, whereby the flexible seal member is deformable to accommodate differential movement between said first and second fairing portions and said flexible seal member defines a surface which generally conforms to the adjacent portions of said first and second fairing portions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A fairing arrangement for bridging an aircraft fixed structure and a control surface hingedly mounted on and angularly displaceable with respect to said aircraft structure, said fairing arrangement including:
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a first fairing portion located on said fixed aircraft structure, a second fairing portion located on said control surface, and an intermediate flexible seal member disposed between said first and second fairing portions and having a proximal edge region fixed relative to one of said first and second fairing portions and a distal edge region, wherein said flexible seal member comprises a composite sheet element of rubber or rubber-like material incorporating a plurality of reinforcing plies across at least part of said sheet element, each ply comprising one or more fabric elements and at least one ply comprising a plurality of fabric elements, whereby the flexible seal member is deformable to accommodate differential movement between said first and second fairing portions and said flexible seal member defines a surface which generally conforms to the adjacent portions of said first and second fairing portions throughout at least a major extent of the range of said angular displacement of said control surface.
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13. A fairing arrangement for bridging an aircraft fixed structure and a control surface hingedly mounted on and angularly displaceable with respect to said aircraft structure, said fairing arrangement including:
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a first fairing portion located on said fixed aircraft structure, a second fairing portion located on said control surface, and an intermediate flexible seal member disposed between said first and second fairing portions and having a proximal edge region fixed relative to one of said first and second fairing portions and a distal edge region, wherein said flexible seal member comprises a composite sheet element of rubber or rubber-like material incorporating a plurality of reinforcing plies across at least part of said sheet element, each ply comprising one or more fabric elements and at least one ply comprising a plurality of fabric elements wherein each of said plurality of fabric elements is butted against a neighbouring fabric element in the same ply without significant overlap, whereby the flexible seal member is deformable to accommodate differential movement between said first and second fairing portions and said flexible seal member defines a surface which generally conforms to the adjacent portions of said first and second fairing portions.
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14. In a fairing arrangement for bridging an aircraft fixed structure and a control surface, said fixed structure including a first fairing portion located on said fixed structure, said control surface including a second fairing portion located on said control surface, wherein said improvement comprises an intermediate flexible seal member disposed between said first and second fairing portions and having a proximal edge region fixed relative to one of said first and second fairing portions and a distal edge region adjacent to the other of said first and second fairing portions, wherein said flexible seal member comprises a composite sheet element of at least rubber like material incorporating a plurality of reinforcing plies across at least part of said sheet element, each reinforcing ply comprising one or more fabric elements, whereby the flexible seal member is deformable to accommodate differential movement between said first and second fairing portions and said flexible seal member defines a surface which generally conforms to the adjacent portions of said first and second fairing portions.
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15. A flexible seal member for aerodynamically bridging a first fairing portion located on a fixed aircraft structure and a second fairing portion located on an adjacent moveable aircraft control surface, said flexible seal member comprising:
a composite sheet element of at least rubber-like material incorporating a plurality of reinforcing plies across at least a portion of said sheet element, each ply comprising one or more fabric elements, whereby said composite sheet element is deformable to conform to accommodate differential movement between said first and second fairing portions while generally conforming to adjacent portions of said first and second fairing portions.
Specification