Patents Assigned to Eurocopter
  • Publication number: 20130078096
    Abstract: A system (10) having a control plate (15) for controlling the pitch of the blades (5) of a propeller, a power block (20), and a directional control valve (30) for feeding said power block (20) with fluid. The power block (20) is sealed and includes at least a body in which at least one piston (22) that is secured to a piston rod (25) projecting from said body (21) is movable in translation, a repeater rod (50) connecting said piston rod (25) to said control plate (15). The control valve (30) is sealed and comprises a stationary manifold (35) and a movable manifold (40) that is movable in rotation, said stationary manifold (35) being controlled by a control lever (31) connected by repeater means (32) to said repeater rod (50). A respective pipe (60) connects each chamber (23, 24) of said power block (20) to said movable manifold (40).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: March 28, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER
    Inventors: Gérard Couderc, Mathilde Chouteau, Romuald Biest
  • Publication number: 20130078049
    Abstract: Surface-area safety means (10) comprising a barrier net (20) and at least one fastener means (30), each fastener means (30) having a fastener strap (40) fastened to a segment (25) of said barrier net (20) and co-operating with a fastener member (50) suitable for fastening said fastener strap (40) to said structure (2). The fastener means (30) also include a tensioning strap (60) fastened thereto, said tensioning strap (60) including at least two tensioning eyelets (61), said fastener strap (40) having a securing system (200) for securing it to a tensioning eyelet (61) and securing the fastener strap (40) to the tensioning strap (60) by passing through a particular tensioning eyelet in order to tension said barrier net (20) to the tension corresponding to the particular tensioning eyelet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2012
    Publication date: March 28, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER
    Inventor: EUROCOPTER
  • Publication number: 20130079956
    Abstract: A method of regulating the propulsion speed of a hybrid helicopter. In application of a correction process for protecting the hybrid helicopter, piloting orders generated by a manual control member relate to an airspeed setpoint and they are corrected by control means in accordance with at least one correction mode in which the piloting orders are corrected in application of a rule that takes account of a setpoint consumed power corresponding to the airspeed setpoint derived from the piloting order.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2012
    Publication date: March 28, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER
    Inventor: Eurocopter
  • Patent number: 8397431
    Abstract: An ejection system for a window pane or panel which is affixed to a frame structure with at least one clamping seal. The system has means for ejecting the panel or window pane from the clamping seal and (a) a frame part with a housing which surrounds the inner face of the window pane or panel along a peripheral path, wherein the housing has an open end facing the window pane or panel; (b) an inflatable seal arranged in the housing; (c) a pressure source which is joined to the inflatable seal; and (d) an emergency actuation means to release pressure from the gas pressure source. The released air or gas expands the inflatable seal which pushes the window pane or panel out of the clamping seal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH
    Inventor: Kornelius Krahl
  • Patent number: 8398029
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an on-board device for measuring the mass and the position of the center of gravity of an aircraft having a plurality of landing gears (T1, T2), each landing gear (T1, T2) being provided with at least one contact member (2) having a deformable element (3) that is deformable under the action of the weight of the aircraft when the aircraft is standing on a surface, and is remarkable in that the formable element (3) is provided with a bar (4) having an eddy current sensor (6) at its free end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Julie Leroy, Bertrand Tardy
  • Patent number: 8393866
    Abstract: A drive device (D) for driving first and second lift rotors (2, 3) of a twin-rotor rotorcraft, includes link elements provided with first and second transmission shafts (5, 6) for synchronizing the first and second transmission members (74, 84) of first and second main gearboxes (7, 8), the first main gearbox (7) being provided with first power combiner element (73) firstly meshing with the first transmission member (74) and secondly mechanically linked with the first transmission shaft (5) and with the second transmission shaft (6), and the second main gearbox (8) being provided with second power combiner element (83) firstly meshing with the second transmission member (84), and secondly mechanically linked with the first transmission shaft (5) and with the second transmission shaft (6).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Lionel Thomassey, Eric Magre
  • Patent number: 8393519
    Abstract: The invention provides a method of assembling together two thin plane parts (1, 2) by friction welding. A main sheet (19) made of a material having high thermal conductivity is held against the parts (1, 2) for assembly. The main sheet (19) picks up the heat induced by the friction of a welding pin (5) against the parts (1, 2) for the purpose of forming the weld bead (17), and it dissipates this heat by radiation. Temperature regulation of the welding operation is obtained by the main sheet (19), ensuring that no localized excess heating occurs in the welding zone. The main sheet (19) is based on copper and presents a thickness that is less than the thickness of the parts (1, 2).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Delphine Allehaux, Jean-Loup Gatti
  • Patent number: 8393569
    Abstract: A breakable coupling device for coupling together first and second main transmission shafts stationary in translation along a longitudinal axis of rotation of the device comprises a blocking device having a discontinuous first housing and a continuous second housing forming a closed loop; a compression device; at least one drive device connecting the blocking device and the compression device together in rotation about the longitudinal axis below a predetermined torque, wherein the discontinuous first housing is configured to receive the at least one drive device below the predetermined torque; and a shifting device configured to shift the at least one drive device non-reversibly from the discontinuous first housing towards the continuous second housing when the torque exerted on the at least one drive device is greater than the predetermined torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Bernard Gemmati, Philippe Vincent, Romuald Biest
  • Patent number: 8392475
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of flying safely and at low altitude in an aircraft, in which method unsafe relief (R0) of terrain is determined as is the position of at least one high point (4, 5) representing an obstacle (4?, 5?) overlying said unsafe relief (R0). A main volume (V0) is added to said unsafe relief (R0), the main volume being defined between a main volume base (2) placed on the unsafe relief (R0) and an envelope (1), thereby obtaining safe relief (R1) for overflying that contains at least said unsafe relief (R0) and said main volume (V0), said main volume base (2) having an area (2?) defined by a closed peripheral curve (3) resting on said unsafe relief (R0), said envelope (1) being generated using a moving segment (S) of predetermined length (L) extending from said high point (4, 5) to a second point (3?) moving along said peripheral curve (3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Richard Pire, Francois-Xavier Filias
  • Patent number: 8380365
    Abstract: A method of determining a sound nuisance level outside an aircraft, wherein an aircraft is fitted with a plurality of external microphones, then during a flight of the aircraft, sound levels are measured using on-board microphones and at least two components are measured of the speed of the aircraft relative to air, and thereafter the kurtosis of samples of the sound level measurements is calculated and a model is determined of variations in a sound nuisance level as function of the air speed components, with the sound nuisance level being determined as a function of the kurtosis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventor: Henri-James Marze
  • Patent number: 8376283
    Abstract: A device for controlling vehicles having a manual control unit configured to influence the direction of movement of a vehicle. The manual control unit provides, in a neutral position of the manual control unit, a trim point to determine a preferred direction of movement. The device further includes a force generating device, generating at least one force acting in the direction of the neutral position of the manual control unit; a trim coupling operable to reduce the at least one force acting on the manual control unit; and a trim control unit configured to store and retain the trim point existing prior to an operation of the trim coupling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter Deutschland, GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfram Grieser
  • Patent number: 8376269
    Abstract: A hydraulic valve assembly includes a hydraulic valve, a control rod configured to be moved in translation along a first longitudinal axis by flight controls of an aircraft, a servocontrol, and an outlet rod configured to be moved in translation along a second longitudinal axis and configured to transfer a hydraulic fluid between the servocontrol and the hydraulic valve. A blocker device is configured to block a movement of the control rod when a difference between a first movement of the control rod and a second movement of the outlet rod exceeds a predetermined threshold and includes at least one moveable abutment configured to block the movement of the control rod when the predetermined threshold is reached and configured to move in longitudinal translation with the outlet rod, and a differential lever configured to mechanically link the control rod to the outlet rod and to cooperate with the at least one moveable abutment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventor: Jean-Pierre Jalaguier
  • Patent number: 8376266
    Abstract: A method of controlling the yaw attitude of a hybrid helicopter including a fuselage and an additional lift surface provided with first and second half-wings extending from either side of the fuselage, each half-wing being provided with a respective first or second propeller. The hybrid helicopter has a thrust control suitable for modifying the first pitch of the first blades of the first propeller and the second pitch of the second blades of the second propeller by the same amount. The hybrid helicopter includes yaw control elements for generating an original order for modifying the yaw attitude of the hybrid helicopter by increasing the pitch of the blades of one propeller and decreasing the pitch of the blades of the other propeller, the original order is optimized as a function of the position of the thrust control to obtain an optimized yaw control order that is applied to the first and second blades.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Bernard Gemmati, Nicolas Queiras, Paul Eglin
  • Patent number: 8377244
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a panel (1) comprising a core (10) made of honeycomb material provided with a plurality of cells (13) and encased by top and bottom outer walls (20, 30), which method comprises, during a preparation stage (P1): fabricating the top outer wall (20); fabricating the bottom outer wall (30); fabricating said core (10), and perforating one internal orifice (11) per fastener element (50) in said core (10) so as to provide a space (12) for receiving said fastener element (50); and then coating at least one layer of a film of an intumescent adhesive (60) on a connection side wall (51) of said fastener element (50) that is to be connected to said core (10). After performing an assembly stage on a bench (70), the assembly comprising the top outer wall (20), the core (10) provided with said fastener element (50), and the bottom outer wall (30) is polymerized in order to obtain said panel (1) provided with said fastener element (50).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventor: Joseph Mairou
  • Patent number: 8373590
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of processing an image sensed by an image sensor on board an aircraft fitted with an obstacle-locator system, in which the position and the extent of a zone in the sensed image, referred to as the zone of interest, is determined as a function of obstacle location data delivered by the obstacle-locator system, after which at least one parameter for modifying the brightness of points/pixels in said zone of interest is determined to enable the contrast to be increased in said zone of interest, and as a function of said modification parameter, the brightness of at least a portion of the image is modified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventor: Richard Edgard Claude Piré
  • Publication number: 20130034442
    Abstract: A lead lag damper (10, 11) for a helicopter rotor unit has a rotor and a hub (8), said rotor having N rotor modes, with N being the number of blades. This centered single lead lag damper (10, 11) for the entire rotor unit has an essentially cylindrical shape, with an elastomer material shear element between a first side (7) and a second side (9) having a homogenous resistance to shear deformation and being axially preloaded, so that the lead lag damper (10, 11) acts in a homogenous manner in the rotor inplane eigenmodes. Thus, the lead lag damper (10, 11) acts as a single unit on the critical inplane mode of the rotor, which is having N identical blades (1-4). The elastomeric material is loaded by a uniform shear deformation in contrary to the commonly used oscillatory deformation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2012
    Publication date: February 7, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Bernard Enenkl, Rupert Pfaller
  • Publication number: 20130032661
    Abstract: A loads interface (1), particularly a loads interface (1) of an aircraft door with an edge frame (13), an outer skin (15) and a beam (14). A loads transferring flange (11) is designed to transmit transverse, circumferential and/or longitudinal forces, is provided with at least three flanges (18, 19, 20) for distribution of the loads in the edge frame (13), the outer skin (15) and the beam (14).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Publication date: February 7, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Tim Roser, Kamran Rah, Christian Steppich
  • Publication number: 20130032660
    Abstract: A loads interface (1) of an aircraft structure with an edge member (6) and a background structure both preferably made from fiber reinforced plastics. A loads transferring flange (2) is adapted and mounted to said edge member (6) to transmit bending moments into the background structure. Said loads transferring flange (2) is provided with two angled upper and lower planes (8, 9). Said edge member (6) is provided with two angled edge member's upper and lower transfer planes (10, 11). The two angled upper and lower planes (8, 9) and the two angled edge member's upper and lower transfer planes (10, 11) are paired essentially parallel and respectively oriented to each other with an angle of approximately 90° . The invention relates as well to applications of such a loads interface (1).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Publication date: February 7, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Christian Wolf, Hanno Niemann, Matthias Hopf, Patrik Schmiedel
  • Publication number: 20130034443
    Abstract: A planar flexbeam unit (1, 40) as interface between a rotor shaft (2) and a multi-blade rotor, especially for a multi-blade main rotor of a helicopter. The planar flexbeam unit (1, 40) comprises a plurality of essentially planar torque arms (3-7, 41-46), each torque arm (3-7, 41-46) having essentially a concave profile (8) along its radial extension and being integral with its adjacent torque arms (3-7, 41-46). Each of said torque arms (3-7, 41-46) comprises two bundles (10-14) of straight, essentially uni-directional fibers agglomerated by a hardened synthetic resin and arranged along the essentially concave profile (8) along its radial extension. Each of said bundles passing into two essentially opposed torque arms (3-7, 41-46) without remarkable change of direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2012
    Publication date: February 7, 2013
    Applicant: EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Rupert Pfaller, Bernhard Enenkl
  • Patent number: 8364330
    Abstract: A method of assisting the piloting of an aircraft (60) at low altitude over terrain (S), in which method, during a first stage, a framework (10) is constructed from at least one main segment (40) and during a second stage a setpoint flight path (50) is constructed. More precisely, during the first stage, said main segment (40) is subdivided automatically into a plurality of secondary segments (41, 42, 43), each of said secondary segments (41) being situated at the same setpoint height above the highest point of the underlying terrain, with two adjacent secondary segments (41) being in alignment or connected together by a bar (44) that extends vertically in a vertical section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2013
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Francois-Xavier Filias, Marianne Gillet