Method for reducing the apparent manoeuvring time for landing gear of an aircraft

• US 9,517,837 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2014
• Issued: 12/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Landing Systems
• Original Assignee: Messier-Bugatti-Dowty
• Inventors: Lecourtier, Gilbert
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Tom
• Assistant Examiner(s): PAIGE, TYLER D
• Application Number:
  US14/541,451
• Publication Number:
  US 20150144735A1
• Time in Patent Office: 760 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 244/102.R
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 25/16 Fairings movable in conjunction with undercarriage elements
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 25/20 mechanical
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 25/26 Control or locking systems therefor

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling the manoeuvring of the landing gear of an aircraft, in which at least one of the steps of pulling on the doors of the bay to relieve the door retaining hook, actuating the door hook or hooks to free the doors and opening the doors is executed in response to the detection of a flight situation suitable for the occurrence of a manoeuvre order, even before the manoeuvre order is received.

Claims

1. A computer-based method for controlling the efficient deployment of a landing gear of an aircraft through doors of a landing gear bay, comprising:

(a) detecting by the computer when the following logical condition is true;

(i) sensing by an aircraft inertial unit when speed of the aircraft is above a given threshold speed Vs2, and

(ii) sensing at least one of a deployment of aircraft flaps and a height above the ground being below a predetermined threshold;

(b) initiating automatically by said computer a first stage deployment manoeuver comprising at least one of the following steps;

(i) pulling on the doors of the bay to relieve a door retaining hook;

(ii) actuating the door hook or hooks to free the doors; and

(iii) opening the doors; and

(c) receiving by said computer a deployment manoeuver order from a user and, in response to said order, automatically controlling by said computer a second stage deployment manoeuver comprising the following steps;

(i) pulling on the landing gear to relieve the landing gear retaining hook;

(ii) actuating a landing gear hook to free the landing gear;

(iii) moving the landing gear to bring it from a retracted position to a deployed position, causing the landing gear to be automatically locked when it reaches the deployed position; and

(iv) closing the doors, causing the retaining hook to be automatically rearmed when the doors reach the closed position,

whereby the computer is operative efficiently to execute and control only a part of a landing gear deployment sequence in response to a user deployment order.

2. A computer-based method for controlling the efficient retraction of a landing gear of an aircraft through doors of a landing gear bay, comprising:

(a) detecting by the computer when the following logical condition is true;

(i) sensing by a load sensor when wheels of the landing gear are no longer in ground contact, and

(ii) sensing by an aircraft inertial unit when speed of the aircraft is above a given threshold speed Vs1;

(b) initiating automatically by said computer a first stage retraction manoeuver comprising at least one of the following steps;

(i) pulling on the doors of the bay to relieve a door retaining hook;

(ii) actuating the door hook or hooks to free the doors; and

(iii) opening the doors; and

(c) receiving by said computer a retraction manoeuver order and, in response to said order, automatically controlling by said computer a second stage retraction manoeuver comprising the following steps;

(i) unlocking the landing gear;

(ii) moving the landing gear to bring it from the deployed position to the retracted position, causing the landing gear hook to be automatically rearmed when the landing gear reaches the retracted position; and

(iii) closing the doors, causing the door hook or hooks to be automatically rearmed when the doors reach the closed position,

whereby the computer is operative efficiently to execute and control only a part of a landing gear retraction sequence in response to a user retraction order.