AIRCRAFT HAVING HYDRAULIC SUPPORT STRUTS BETWEEN FUSELAGE AND WINGS

Abstract

An aircraft with a fuselage and with wings connected thereto, wherein a support strut extends between the fuselage and each of the wings, which support strut is connected both to the fuselage and to the wing. The support strut has a hydraulic working cylinder, which can be pressurized with hydraulic fluid in a controlled manner for the purpose of pivoting the wing.

Claims

1. An aircraft with a fuselage and with wings connected to the fuselage, wherein a support strut extends between the fuselage and each of the wings, which support strut is connected both to the fuselage and to the wing, wherein the support strut comprises a hydraulic working cylinder, which can be pressurized with hydraulic fluid in a controlled manner for pivoting the wing.

2. The aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder of the working cylinder is connected to the fuselage.

3. The aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the piston of the working cylinder is connected to a section of the support strut which extends to the wing.

4. The aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the cylinder of the working cylinder is fixedly attached to the fuselage and a free end of the piston rod is connected to the end of the support strut which is close to the fuselage via a swivel lever.

5. The aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the valves lying in a flow path of the hydraulic fluid can be activated such that the flow resistance for the hydraulic fluid is adjustable.

6. The aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the working cylinder is coupled with a hydraulic motor and an electric motor/generator, so that a piston movement caused by wing vibrations or wing oscillations drives the hydraulic motor and thus the motor/generator.

7. The aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the working cylinder is produced with a lightweight construction.

8. The aircraft according to claim 7, wherein the cylinder of the working cylinder comprises fiber-reinforced plastic.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The disclosure herein is explained in greater detail below with reference to the greatly simplified schematic diagram of FIG. 1 showing an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] The depicted aircraft has a fuselage 1 and wings 2, 3, to which propulsion units 4, 5 are usually attached. A support strut 6 extends between the fuselage 1 and the wing 2 and a support strut 7 extends between the fuselage 1 and the wing 3, both of which support struts are identically constructed. Each of the support struts 6, 7 comprises a hydraulic working cylinder, the cylinder body 8, 9 of which is attached to the fuselage 1, while its piston rod 10, 11 is connected to the wings 2, 3. The entire piston rod 10, 11 can extend to the wing 2, 3 or it can be connected to a strut section which is attached to the wing 2, 3.

[0015] The hydraulic working cylinders 8, 10 and 9, 11 are each connected to a source of hydraulic fluid in a manner which is not depicted. This source can be part of a unit 12, which is housed at a suitable location in the fuselage 1 of the aircraft. This unit 12 comprises, in addition to the hydraulic fluid sources for the working cylinders 8, 10 and 9, 11, a hydraulic motor and an electric motor/generator for each of the working cylinders as well as corresponding control devices. These permit an activation of the electric motors/generators in order to drive the hydraulic motors, which then supply hydraulic fluid to the working cylinders 8, 10 and 9, 11 or withdraw hydraulic fluid from them by suction.

[0016] The sources of hydraulic fluid, the hydraulic motors and the electric motors/generators can of course also be individually housed in the fuselage instead of being grouped together in a unit.

[0017] If the motors/generators are simultaneously activated at the same speed, the pistons of the working cylinders 8, 10 and 9, 11 are displaced correspondingly and both wings 2, 3 are thus either raised or lowered. An adaptation to fueling and loading states is thus obtained which enhances the efficiency of the aircraft.

[0018] If the motors/generators are activated in such that one of the working cylinders is supplied with more and the other working cylinder with less or no hydraulic fluid, then one wing is pivoted more and the other wing is pivoted less or not at all. This leads to a rolling motion of the aircraft, of the sort usually generated by the aileron.

[0019] In this regard it is noted that an adjustment of the “rigidity” of the wings 2, 3 can also be realized by the hydraulic working cylinders 8, 9. For this purpose, the resistance of the hydraulic fluid to displacement in the cylinder 8, 9 is able to be changed, for example, by adjustable valves. The forces which, by wing vibrations and wing oscillations, act on the piston of the working cylinder 8, 10 and 9, 11 and which produce a displacement of hydraulic fluid, can then more or less easily shift the hydraulic fluid and thus the respective piston dependent on the set flow resistance of the hydraulic fluid, so that the wing is adjusted to be more flexible or more rigid. A more flexible wing adjustment increases the cabin comfort during turbulence for example.

[0020] Finally, it is also possible to use the piston movements resulting from wing vibrations and wing oscillations to supply hydraulic fluid to the corresponding hydraulic motor and to use the thus obtained driving of the hydraulic motor to drive the motor/generator, so that it functions as a generator and generates electricity, which can be used for operating the aircraft.

[0021] While at least one exemplary embodiment of the invention(s) herein is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a”, “an” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.