Patents Assigned to Airbus Operations
  • Patent number: 11260964
    Abstract: An aircraft assembly is disclosed having a wing tip device connected to a wing tip of a wing by a first connector, a second connector, and a third connector. The wing tip device includes a front device spar and a rear device spar. The first connector is associated with the rear device spar. The second connector is spaced apart in a chordwise direction forward of the first connector, and the third connector is spaced apart in a chordwise direction rearward of the first connector. The third connector includes a spigot mounting formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Clive Steadman, David Liversage, Ben Smith, Ruth Pullan
  • Patent number: 11260986
    Abstract: A method and device for inspecting the structural damage on the skin of an aircraft after a lightning strike, the skin has marks derived from the lightning strike, wherein the marks represent a Visual Damage (VD) and a Structural Damage (SD). The method includes for every mark: measuring the area of paint that has been removed by the lightning strike, and comparing the measured area with an area threshold value, wherein the threshold value is related to the Structural Damage (SD) of every mark.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignees: Airbus Operations S.L., Airbus Operations (S.A.S), Airbus S.A.S.
    Inventors: Valentin Garcia Martinez, Richard Murillo, Sebastien Dupouy, Antoine Bregand, Irene Borillo Llorca, Romain Coëmet
  • Patent number: 11264553
    Abstract: An overheat detection system and insulation muff comprising an overheat detection system. The overheat detection system comprises a thermometer, a thermal harvesting module comprising at least one passive radiator, the thermal harvesting module being able to generate electrical energy from the thermal difference between two elements, and a digital module, comprising a power management system, a data treatment system and a wireless transmission system, wherein the electrical energy generated by the thermal harvesting module powers the thermometer and the digital module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS S.L.
    Inventors: Brice Lenoir, Panagiotis Mourtis Ioannou
  • Patent number: 11254448
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for servicing a shock absorber on a landing gear assembly of an aircraft in a weight-on-wheels state is disclosed. The shock absorber includes at least one chamber containing both hydraulic fluid and a gas in fluid communication with each other. The apparatus includes a source of gas and a source of hydraulic fluid. The amount of hydraulic fluid in the chamber is corrected, preferably such that the chamber is then filled with a known amount of degassed hydraulic fluid. The process may be at least semi-automatically performed, for example under the control of a control unit. By delivering a pre-set mass of gas into the chamber, there is no need to rely on a measure of gas pressure or H-dimension (h) when servicing the shock absorber, and more accurate servicing of a shock absorber may thus be provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Oliver Pountney, Alan Shepherd
  • Patent number: 11254443
    Abstract: A spark containment cap for forming a sealed cavity around an end of a fastener protruding from a structure is disclosed having a cap body with an annular base terminating at a rim which surrounds an opening into an air cavity arranged to enclose the end of the fastener. An annular sealing volume extends around the rim arranged to receive an annular bead of a curable sealing material around the opening into the cavity to provide a seal between the cap body and the structure to seal a volume of gas within the cavity. An engaging feature is configured to engage with the end of the fastener to prevent rotation of the fastener relative to the cap when the end of the fastener is received by the cap. A fastening system, a joint, an aircraft and a method of securing a fastener and a spark containment cap to a structure are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventor: Richard Dobbin
  • Patent number: 11255293
    Abstract: A turbofan with a secondary duct and including a fixed structure and a mobile assembly including a frame with openwork regions. The mobile assembly is translatable between advanced and extended positions. The openwork regions are positioned across the window in the extended position. A plurality of blocking doors is provided, each being mobile between stowed and deployed positions. An array of rams move the mobile assembly. A cascade grille mounts on the frame across the openwork region. The grille slides on the frame parallel to the translational direction. For each grille, a rear stop limits rearward movement, and a compression spring pushes the grille to the rear for abutment against a rear stop. For each grille, the fixed structure comprises a stop element against which the grille abuts upon movement from the advanced position to the extended position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS
    Inventors: Pascal Gardes, Frédéric Ridray, Benoit Orteu, Pascal Gougeon, Frédéric Piard
  • Patent number: 11254449
    Abstract: A method and portable apparatus for servicing a shock absorber on a landing gear assembly of an aircraft in a weight-on-wheels state is disclosed. The shock absorber includes at least one chamber containing both hydraulic fluid and a gas in fluid communication with each other. The apparatus includes a source of gas and a source of hydraulic fluid. The amount of hydraulic fluid in the chamber is corrected, preferably such that the chamber is then filled with a known amount of degassed hydraulic fluid. A pre-set mass of gas is then delivered into the chamber under the control of a gas delivery system of the portable apparatus. More accurate servicing of a shock absorber may thus be provided since account is additionally taken of gas dissolved in hydraulic fluid. By delivering a pre-set mass of gas into the chamber, there is no need to rely on a measure of gas pressure or H-dimension (h) when servicing the shock absorber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Oliver Pountney, Alan Shepherd
  • Patent number: 11254437
    Abstract: An aircraft engine assembly has a front engine mount connecting an engine and a primary structure of a pylon comprising at least one front rod having at least three front link points. A first front link point is configured to connect the front rod and the front end of the primary structure. A second front link point is configured to connect the front rod and the core of the engine. A third front link point is configured to connect the front rod and the engine core and is offset relative to the second front link point in a horizontal transverse direction. The first front link point of the front engine mount is separated from the rotation axis of the engine by a distance greater than an exterior radius of the rear casing of the core of the engine at the rear link point of the rear engine mount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS
    Inventors: Frederic Journade, Eric Bouchet, Olivier Barbara, Pascal Pome
  • Patent number: 11247781
    Abstract: An aircraft turbine engine assembly including a nacelle structure with a strut attachment zone, a first cover forming an air intake lip, a hinged cover arranged on the nacelle upper portion, between the first cover and the attachment zone, a hinge system of the cover comprising, on either side of a mid-plane of the nacelle, a front rod and a rear rod that are one in front of the other. The two ends of each rod are co-planar, parallel to the mid-plane. A first end of each rod is hinged on the cover. A second end of each rod is hinged on the structure. A locking system is actuatable from the outside of the nacelle between a locked and an unlocked positon. The nacelle comprises at least one cylinder with a first end mounted hinged on the structure and the other end mounted hinged on the cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS
    Inventors: Stéphane Combes, Jean Geliot
  • Patent number: 11250377
    Abstract: A device and a method for supplying spare parts of an aircraft to a maintenance and/or repair center, such as a hangar. From data of previous transactions with the spare parts and from technical data relating to the spare parts, probabilities are calculated that certain spare parts are needed together, enabling them to be supplied together. According to a further aspect, different vending machines at the maintenance and/or repair center are proposed, with which the spare parts for a maintenance or repair task can be supplied together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH
    Inventors: Mario Cappitelli, Oliver Tormählen
  • Patent number: 11247768
    Abstract: A flight control system for an aircraft comprises a set of actuators for controlling the aircraft and a set of flight control computers only made up of a set of duplex type main computers and of at least one backup computer. All the main computers are configured to implement auto-pilot laws for the aircraft. The set of main computers comprises two computers from a first hardware type, configured to control actuators of the set of actuators as per a first tolerance level and two computers from a second hardware type, different from the first hardware type, configured to control actuators of the set of actuators as per a second tolerance level, less stringent than the first tolerance level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Airbus Operations SAS
    Inventor: Marc Fervel
  • Patent number: 11247766
    Abstract: A leading edge structure for providing an aerodynamic surface of an aircraft is disclosed having a skin structure, the skin structure providing an outer aerodynamic surface and an inner surface, both surfaces extending in a chordwise and spanwise direction of the structure, and a plurality of structural members, each structural member being connected to the inner surface of the skin structure and extending in the chordwise direction along the inner surface, wherein the structural members are integrally formed with the inner surface of the skin structure. The disclosure is also related to an aircraft wing, aircraft tailplane, wing box structure, wing or wing structure and an aircraft including the leading edge structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignees: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED, AIRBUS OPERATIONS GmbH
    Inventors: Llifon Williams, Ross Salisbury, Marcus Rafla, Hugh Theobald, Christopher Payne, Robert McCormick, Heinz Hansen, Timothy Evans
  • Patent number: 11249738
    Abstract: An on-board computing system for an aircraft. The computing system comprises a plurality of partitions each including at least one software component configured to perform a function related to the aircraft, wherein software components of different partitions of the plurality of partitions are configured to exchange data via a communication hub of the computing system, the communication hub being configured to store data items exported by exporting software components of the plurality of partitions and to provide the stored data items to reading software components of the plurality of partitions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignees: AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS, AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH
    Inventors: Eric Rabaute, Frank Schaller, Stéphane Poulain, Daniel Kliem, René Niedermowe, Torben Krumm
  • Patent number: 11247769
    Abstract: An aerodynamic structure for use on an upper surface of an aircraft wing is disclosed. The wing includes a slat operable between a stowed configuration in which the slat is stowed in a slat recess of the wing, and a deployed configuration in which the slat extends out of the slat recess. When the slat is in the deployed configuration, an end face of the slat recess is exposed, the end face intersecting with the upper surface of the wing at a recess edge. The aerodynamic structure, adjacent to the recess edge, has a volume shaped to encourage air flowing over the recess edge onto the upper surface during flight, to remain attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Ching-Yu Hui, Neil John Lyons
  • Patent number: 11241708
    Abstract: A device for lacquer transfer includes a frame, transfer roller with circumferential lateral wall, nozzle for dispensing lacquer, and hardening unit, the hardening unit formed as a UV-light unit for hardening the lacquer in a contactless way by emitting UV-light, and is within an interior space defined by the transfer roller. The lateral wall of the transfer roller is transparent for UV-light, and the hardening unit is arranged such that UV-light is emitted towards the work surface upon which the lateral wall of the transfer roller rolls, to harden the lacquer after it being transferred to the work surface. Using the device, lacquer transfer can occur from the transfer roller to the work surface more reliably. The device includes a light shield between the hardening unit and outside contact surface with at least a portion of the outside contact surface provided with lacquer is shielded from UV-light emitted from the hardening unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignees: Airbus Operations GmbH, Airbus (S.A.S.)
    Inventors: Pierre C. Zahlen, Christian Schepp, Daniel Kress, Waldemar Kümmel
  • Patent number: 11244520
    Abstract: The system for collecting and analyzing data relating to safety and comfort criteria of an aircraft comprises an acquisition unit for acquiring basic aircraft information before a flight of the aircraft and values of flight parameters during the flight, the basic information and the flight parameter values forming a first set of digital data, a measurement unit for measuring values of environmental parameters during the flight and for storing, in a suitable digital format, a second set of digital data representative of the environmental parameter values, an analysis unit for analyzing the first and second sets of digital data, and radio communication systems for transmitting sets of digital data between the different units, the system allowing for a rapid collection and analysis of the digital data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS
    Inventors: Serge Carbonne, Fabien Roux-Portalez, David Cumer
  • Patent number: 11241851
    Abstract: A composite stiffener for a stiffener reinforced panel is disclosed. The stiffener has a longitudinal direction and a run-out region which terminates at an end of the stiffener. The stiffener also has a constant section region inboard of the run-out region in the longitudinal direction and having a constant cross section transverse to the longitudinal direction with a crown between adjacent foot portions. The run-out region has a changing cross section transverse to the longitudinal direction with a crown between adjacent foot portions and the crown reduces in height towards the end of the stiffener forming a ramp. The composite stiffener includes a number of blankets of non-crimp fabric layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Junwei Zhang, Martin Gaitonde, Joshua Bonaventura, John Norman Woolcock
  • Patent number: 11242159
    Abstract: A turbomachine assembly for an aircraft comprising a nacelle with a nacelle structure, cowls attached to the structure to create an aerodynamic surface, an articulated cowl, comprising four edges, in the upper portion of the nacelle, an articulation at a first edge of the articulated cowl attached between the articulated cowl and the nacelle structure allowing the articulated cowl to move between a closed and an open position, a locking system at a second edge of the articulated cowl, opposite the first edge. The locking system comprises a handle actuable from the exterior of the nacelle, between a first position and a second position, a locking device movable between a locking position and an unlocking position, and a transmission system that moves the locking device from the locking position to the unlocking position when the handle passes from the first position to the second position, and vice versa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS
    Inventor: Jean Geliot
  • Patent number: 11246222
    Abstract: A 3D printed drilling template (20, 30a, 30b, 30c) including: a rigid framework able to be manipulated by an operator or an automaton, and a set of traversing (22, 32a, 32b, 32c, 33c) orifices in the framework and arranged to guide the drilling of holes into a structure on which the drilling template is mounted, wherein the drilling template (20, 30a, 30b, 30c) is designed or revised on an ad-hoc basis and manufactured by 3D printing and using a 3D printing material based on a polymer material mixed with powdered graphene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Airbus Operations S.L.
    Inventors: Alvaro Jara Rodelgo, Alvaro Torres Salas, Elena Moya Sanz, Paloma Llorente Garcia
  • Patent number: 11242129
    Abstract: A structural assembly for an airfoil structure comprising at least one connection member configured to connect a leading-edge member, or a trailing-edge member, of an airfoil structure to a torsion-box member, such that the connection member prevents the leading-edge member, or trailing-edge member, from pivoting relative to the torsion-box member away from an operational position. At least one corresponding support is provided wherein the support is configured to be attachable to the connection member and further configured to be attachable to at least one system element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS GMBH
    Inventors: Bernhard Schlipf, Florian Lorenz