Autonomous brake-cooling system for aircraft

Abstract

The object of this disclosure is to cool the brakes of the landing gear of an aircraft. For this, it uses the air of the same air conditioning system of the airplane. The supply to the air conditioning system of the airplane can receive pre-conditioned air from outside by an air inlet in the lower part of the fuselage of the airplane to which an external equipment is connected. This air inlet has a non-return valve inside, which prevents the air from going outside. In order to extract the air from the air conditioning system of the airplane while it is on the ground, it is necessary to overpass the air valve. For this purpose, a tool that overpasses that valve from outside has been designed, and in this way, extracting and directing the air through connectors and tubes to the brakes, cooling them for a new takeoff.

Claims

1. A brake cooling system for aircraft, comprising: a connector; a tool configured to open an air conditioning valve of the aircraft, the tool comprising: two plates that form a Y or fork, wherein the two plates are joined by a plurality of bolts; a tube fixed to the plates; a mobile tube attached externally to the fixed tube; springs compressed inside the mobile tube; and two triggers attached to the mobile tube; and a duct system configured to connect an air conditioner to the brakes of the aircraft via couplings.

2. The brake cooling system according to claim 1, wherein the tool further comprises an opening rod fixed to the connector by a clamp with bolts; a lifting rod connected with a bolt to the opening rod; a roller attached to the end of the opening rod; and a handle attached to one end of the lifting rod.

3. The brake cooling system according to claim 2, wherein the duct system comprises a main duct having a first end connected to the connector and a second end connected to a T connector, wherein the T connector connects to two secondary tubes, and wherein the secondary tubes also connect to two L connectors that connect two couplings to the brakes.

4. The brake cooling system according to claim 1, characterized in that air is extracted from an air conditioning external system of the airplane.

5. An opening tool for valves, comprising: two plates that form a Y or fork joined with a plurality of bolts; a tube fixed to the plates; a mobile tube attached externally to the fixed tube; springs compressed inside the mobile tube; and two triggers attached to the mobile tube.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) To complement the description and with the objective of facilitating the understanding of the disclosure characteristics, a set of illustrative and non-limiting drawings is attached to the present specification.

(2) FIG. 1: View of the first preferred tool embodiment, which performs the overpass of the valve of two plates.

(3) FIG. 2A: View of the second preferred tool embodiment that performs the overpass of the single plate valve, in closed position.

(4) FIG. 2B: View of the second preferred embodiment of the tool that performs the overpass of the single plate valve, in the open position

(5) FIG. 3: View from above of the landing gear with the ducts attached to the brake assemblies.

(6) FIG. 4: Isometric view of the non-return valve of the type having two plates rotating around an axis.

(7) FIG. 5: Explosion view of the first preferred tool embodiment, which explains how the rollers are attached to the tool body.

(8) FIG. 6: Front view of the landing gear with the connectors to the brake assemblies.

(9) FIG. 7: Front view of the landing gear with disc connectors in the shape of plates.

(10) In these figures there are numerical references of the following elements that constitute and/or allow the understanding of the disclosure: 1. Overpassing tool 2. Non-return valve of the two-plate type 3. Duct system 4. Valve plates 5. Air conditioning duct of the airplane 11. Rollers of the first tool modality 12 Two plates joined to form a Y or fork. 13. Pipe fixed to the plates. 14. Compatible mobile tubes. 15. Rubber cushions to fix the tool to the duct. 16. Triggers fixed to the compressible tube. 17. Springs. 18. C shaped plate 19. Bolts that join the two plates 20. Bottom structure of the airplane 21. Standard connector for external air conditioning of aircrafts 22. Opening rod. 23. Lifting rod. 24. Roller of the second tool modality 25. Non-return valve of the single-plate type 26. Clamp of the opening rod to the connector (21). 27. Handle of the lifting rod. 28. Lid of the air conditioning inlet of the airplane. 29. Hinge of the air conditioning inlet lid of the airplane. 30. Lock of the air conditioning inlet lid of the airplane. 31. Main duct 32. T tube that bifurcates into two secondary tubes. 33. Secondary tubes. 34. Shock absorber of the landing gear. 35. Assemblies of brakes and rims. 36. Tires. 37. Coupling to the brake assemblies. 38. L connector. 39. Thermal insulation 40. Air inlet to the brake assembly. 41. Discs in shape of plates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(11) As it can be seen in the attached figures, this cooling system comprises a connector 21, a duct system 3, couplings to the wheel brake assembly 37, and a tool 1 configured to open the two-plate type valve (FIG. 1).

(12) The bifurcations of the tool 12 in its first preferred embodiment modality, are characterized by having two bearings 11 (e.g., rollers) at their ends, fastened by bolts to a transverse plate with the ends bent at 90 forming a C 18.

(13) When installing the tool 1, it inserts the bearings 11 and pushes the pair of valve plates 4 pushing them in, rotating on the shaft to which they are attached, opening them and thus allowing the extraction of air conditioning system of the airplane.

(14) In aircrafts that have a two-plate non-return valve 2 before connecting the Standard Connector 21, the tool must be attached to the duct, pressing the triggers 16 against each other, compressing the springs 17, and once the bearings 11 are fitted to the sides of the valve, the triggers 16 are released, allowing the springs to expand and fix the tool to the duct. The connector 21 is then attached to the air conditioning inlet.

(15) In aircrafts presenting the single-plate type valve 25, a second mode of the tool is also used to open the valve (FIG. 2). This last tool is fixed inside the standard connector by means of an anchor 26.

(16) For aircrafts that have a single-plate valve (FIG. 2), the standard connector that includes a second tool embodiment modality is attached, so that once connected, moving the lifting rod 23, it moves the opening rod 22, and through the roller 24, it opens the valve of the single-plate type 25.

(17) The duct system 3 consists in its preferred embodiment of a main duct 31, a connector in the form of T 32, which divides into two secondary ducts 33 to carry air to the couplings in L 38 and these to the brake couplings 37 (i.e., connectors), which are fitted in the air inlets of the brakes 40. Discs can also be used in the form of plates that join the tires to allow air to reach the entire tire rim 41.

(18) The disclosure has application to the aeronautical industry by implementing the system and procedure to aircrafts that do not have the brake cooling system and arriving at airports where there is no external brake cooling systems and have to wait several hours on ramp, so that they cool on their own.

(19) Cooling the brakes quickly and efficiently not only saves time and money to the airlines, but also cold brakes provide the necessary safety for the next takeoff.