The present application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/668,676, titled “Rotor Hub”, filed May 8, 2018, which is incorporated herein as if set out in full.
Helicopter rotor blades are subject to aerodynamic and inertial forces that, in turn, create vibratory (oscillatory) motions because of the non-uniform flow environment in which these aircraft are designed to operate. With reference to
In the case of a flexure type hub, where the flapping “hinge” is due to the structural deflection of the flexure, the term “virtual hinge” is used. Typically, the location of this virtual hinge is specified by the intersection of two lines drawn tangent to the inboard and outboard slope of the deflected yoke. Dynamically, the flap moment at the hub is the same as if there was a pure hinge. The yoke of some embodiments of the present technology is tapered to give the precise moment desired at the hub for a specified amount of blade flapping.
The combination of coning and flapping creates Coriolis forces caused by the blade center-of-gravity moving radially as the rotor flaps. These loads are imposed in the chordwise direction and can be quite large at the root end of the blades and hub. In the design of the present technology these loads are reduced by the lag hinge and damper that tune the first lag mode below the rotor rotational speed (RPM or CPS). This tuning is referred to as “soft-in-plane” and is achieved by the lag hinge and damper incorporated in embodiments of the present technology.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary, and the foregoing Background, is not intended to identify key aspects or essential aspects of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, this Summary is not intended for use as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The present disclosure provides an advanced technology hub for rotor aircraft.
These and other aspects of the present system and method will be apparent after consideration of the Detailed Description and Figures herein. It is to be understood, however, that the scope of the invention shall be determined by the claims as issued and not by whether given subject matter addresses any or all issues noted in the Background or includes any features or aspects recited in this Summary.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present invention, including the preferred embodiment, are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified.
Embodiments are described more fully below with reference to the accompanying figures, which form a part hereof and show, by way of illustration, specific exemplary embodiments. These embodiments are disclosed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. However, embodiments may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
With reference to
With reference to
With further reference to
Embodiments of the grip 12 attach to the yoke 14 as depicted in View A of
The outboard end of the grip 12, shown in
The smaller hole 58 on the outboard end of the grip 12 is oversized to permit the blade lead-lag motion and to act as a stop when contacted by the bolt 64 which attaches the damper 66 to the blade 20 and passes thru the grip 12. The damper 66 also contains an elastomer that provides both a damping and spring force around the lag bushing. The damping force contributes to the damping required to lag mode Shims 68 are disposed between the elastomer and blade 20, The outboard bolt 64 is also designed as an alternate load path for centrifugal force in the event the inboard bolt fails. Manual blade fold, illustrated in
Although the technology has been described in language that is specific to certain structures, materials, and methodological steps, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific structures, materials, and/or steps described. Rather, the specific aspects and steps are described as forms of implementing the claimed invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers or expressions, such as those expressing dimensions, physical characteristics, etc. used in the specification (other than the claims) are understood as modified in all instances by the term “approximately.” At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the claims, each numerical parameter recited in the specification or claims which is modified by the term “approximately” should at least be construed in light of the number of recited significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Moreover, all ranges disclosed herein are to be understood to encompass and provide support for claims that recite any and all subranges or any and all individual values subsumed therein. For example, a stated range of 1 to 10 should be considered to include and provide support for claims that recite any and all subranges or individual values that are between and/or inclusive of the minimum value of 1 and the maximum value of 10; that is, all subranges beginning with a minimum value of 1 or more and ending with a maximum value of 10 or less (e.g., 5.5 to 10, 2.34 to 3.56, and so forth) or any values from 1 to 10 (e.g., 3, 5.8, 9.9994, and so forth).
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