Patents Examined by Tien Dinh
  • Patent number: 9365291
    Abstract: A personal service unit pod assembly configured to be positioned in the interior of an aircraft. The personal service unit pod assembly includes a personal service unit pod and a panel positioned directly above and affixed to the personal service unit pod. The pod includes a housing with a lens assembly and a pod interior, a first reading light positioned within the pod interior and configured to shine light below the bottom of the housing, and cabin lighting positioned in the housing and configured to shine light through the lens assembly and above the housing. The panel includes connectors that are configured to secure the personal service unit pod assembly to a component within the aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: C&D Zodiac, Inc.
    Inventor: Scott Savian
  • Patent number: 9365280
    Abstract: A gutter profile for draining liquids on an aircraft, comprising a connecting section for connecting the gutter profile to an outer skin of the aircraft and comprising a drain section for forming a drain cross-section of the gutter profile. The drain section is pre-tensioned into a ground position which opens the drain cross-section and has a flow guiding device for transferring the drain section into a flight position which closes the drain cross-section. An aircraft having such a gutter profile is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Hinnik Gensch, Hauke Kirstein
  • Patent number: 9365298
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an airplane ground deicing installation that minimizes the impact of deicing operations on the airport during icing conditions. The installation does not require alteration of a normal taxi pattern and can be performed as quickly as the average separation time between take-offs. The installation allows modification of its shape to adapt to the contour of almost all types of commercial passengers airplanes operating from major airports, and simultaneously deices large surfaces of the airplane. Deicing and anti-icing fluids are applied to airplane surfaces from nozzles positioned in close proximity to the airplane's surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Inventor: Valentin Luca
  • Patent number: 9365289
    Abstract: A rotorcraft provided with an anti-torque tail rotor having a drive axis of constant orientation and having a rotor disk that is arranged mainly to one side of the tail boom of the rotorcraft. A control mechanism for controlling the blades of the tail rotor includes a rotary control plate engaged with the blades and movable by a control rod extending along the drive axis of the tail rotor. The control plate is arranged in a constant mounting plane (PM) and serves to provide permanent cyclic variation in the pitch of the blades. Turning the control rod changes the way in which the cyclical variation of the pitch of the blades is operated between providing a contribution to lift and providing a contribution to propulsion in translation of the rotorcraft, depending on the angular orientation of the control plate in its mounting plane (PM).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 14, 2016
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Pierre Prud'Homme-Lacroix, Olivier Bistuer
  • Patent number: 9359070
    Abstract: Each propulsion unit of the drone comprises a propeller (20) and a rotary-cage synchronous electric motor whose stator is connected to the drone body. The propulsion unit in of the gearless type, the rotor of the motor being rotationally integral with the propeller hub (24). The rotor is integral with an upper flange (56) extending in a radial plane with respect to the axis of rotation. Reversible means are provided for the fast coupling of the propeller to the rotor, implementing studs (62) with an enlarged head (66) formed on the flange, which cooperate with homologous curvilinear buttonholes (32) formed on the hub. The switching from the decoupled position to the locked position is operated by relative rotation of the propeller hub with respect to the flange by a fraction of a turn, in an opposite direction with respect to the direction of rotation of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: PARROT
    Inventor: Christine Caubel
  • Patent number: 9361876
    Abstract: A method of processing acoustic waves emitted at an outlet of a turbo engine of an aircraft with a dielectric barrier discharge device, and an aircraft including such a device. The method includes activating the dielectric barrier discharge device so as to emit an electric wind in a direction of acoustic waves so as to attenuate the acoustic waves. An aircraft can include such a dielectric barrier discharge device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: SNECMA
    Inventor: Alexandre Alfred Gaston Vuillemin
  • Patent number: 9357111
    Abstract: Casings and housings for use in high speed airflow (for example for mounting on a high speed vehicle) are described. In one embodiment, a housing for imaging equipment is described. The housing has a tapering form with symmetrical angular truncations such that it tapers in the form of a wedge with two substantially planar regions. At least one substantially planar region includes an aperture formed of optically transparent material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: QINETIQ LIMITED
    Inventors: Daniel John White, Clive Charles Woolley, Jim Maurice Abbey, David Simpson, Christopher Mark Driscoll
  • Patent number: 9352852
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides an airplane ground deicing installation that minimizes the impact of deicing operations on the airport during icing conditions. The installation does not require alteration of a normal taxi pattern and can be performed as quickly as the average separation time between take-offs. The installation allows modification of its shape to adapt to the contour of almost all types of commercial passengers airplanes operating from major airports, and simultaneously deices large surfaces of the airplane. Deicing and anti-icing fluids are applied to airplane surfaces from nozzles positioned in close proximity to the airplane's surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Inventor: Valentin Luca
  • Patent number: 9352844
    Abstract: An aircraft nacelle includes a first subassembly consisting of a pipe (112) channeling an airflow in the direction of an engine having a covering or panel (118) for acoustic treatment, including, from the inside to the outside, a reflecting layer (120), at least one cellular structure (122), and at least one acoustically resistive structure (124) forming the aerodynamic surface of the pipe (112), as well as a second subassembly consisting of a lip (116) and a front frame (126), characterized in that it includes at least one connection element (134) which is separate from the two subassemblies and connected to a portion of the pipe (112) and to a portion of the lip forming an extension of the portion of the pipe at different points so as to be capable of enabling a relative movement between the two subassemblies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS SAS
    Inventors: Alain Porte, Jacques Lalane
  • Patent number: 9352825
    Abstract: The invention relates to an aircraft having at least one high lift system which is arranged at the wing of the aircraft and which comprises a drive for converting electrical or hydraulic energy into a speed-controlled rotational movement, wherein the aircraft furthermore has at least one control unit which controls the high lift system, wherein the drive comprises in accordance with the invention a main drive and an alternative drive, wherein the alternative drive is fed by a decentralized energy source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH
    Inventor: Bernhard Hauber
  • Patent number: 9352533
    Abstract: An array of aerodynamic riblets incorporates a high elongation elastomeric layer having spaced tips and optionally a protective cladding. The elastomeric layer may be adhered to an aerodynamic surface directly or as an appliqué in combination with one or more of an adhesive layer, one or more supporting polymer layers and a metal foil layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Diane C. Rawlings, Alan G. Burg, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9352930
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided to wrap a faired tether around a drum. The tether may be connected to an aerial vehicle. The method may involve guiding a faired tether around an exterior surface of a drum, wherein the drum comprises a helical shaped step around the exterior surface that is configured to mate with at least part of the faired tether, and to stack subsequent layers of wrapped tether in a staggered manner along the longitudinal axis of the drum. The faired tether may be guided onto the step using one or more level winds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Google Inc.
    Inventors: Damon Vander Lind, Elias Wolfgang Patten, Brian Hachtmann
  • Patent number: 9346539
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear self-orients so to align itself within a plane parallel to the plane defined by the aircraft's roll and yaw axis. A nose gear of a tricycle landing gear configuration includes the ability to not only caster 360 degrees but also self-orient itself to be aligned parallel with the plane defined by the aircraft's roll and yaw axis once removed from any interaction with the ground. A simple and efficient mechanical design provides the landing gear with a substantially constant centering torque that neither impedes nor impairs ground movement yet returns the nose gear to a proper alignment for retraction and stowage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Icon Aircraft, Inc.
    Inventors: Byron Young, Jon Karkow, Steen Strand
  • Patent number: 9351412
    Abstract: An electrical and electronics bay of an aircraft has at least two rows of systems elements, each row being separated by a single corridor extending an entire longitudinal length of the electrical and electronics bay and being devoid of the systems elements. Each row has at least one set of systems elements and at least one electrical power center, wherein the systems elements are arranged in cabinets. At least one of the cabinets includes at least one removable mobile shelf for allowing access from a front to the back of the cabinets. Bottom edges of back faces of the cabinet are arranged against the fuselage to remove an additional corridor at the back of the cabinet, and front faces of the cabinet are directly accessible from the single corridor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Airbus Operations (SAS)
    Inventors: Yves Durand, Bernard Guering
  • Patent number: 9346534
    Abstract: An assembly to support a wing leading or trailing edge device during deployment and retraction of the device includes a fixed support member attachable to the support structure of an aircraft wing, an intermediate link arm having one end pivotally mounted for rotation relative to the support member about a first axis and, a primary link arm having a first end pivotally mounted to the opposite end of the intermediate link arm for rotation relative to the intermediate link arm about a second axis. A second end of the primary link arm is for attachment to the device via a bearing element so that the device can move relative to the primary link arm in any direction when the intermediate and primary link arms rotate about the first and second axes, respectively, during deployment or retraction of the device from the aircraft wing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Anthony Langley, Simon King
  • Patent number: 9346538
    Abstract: An aircraft landing gear including wheels and a fairing arranged to be moveable between a first and a second configuration, wherein in the first configuration the fairing is arranged to shield an element of the landing gear from incident airflow and wherein in the second configuration the fairing is arranged to deflect debris or spray propelled from one or more of the wheels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Messier-Dowty Limited
    Inventors: Yann Simonneaux, Simon D. Harris
  • Patent number: 9340285
    Abstract: A suspension system (10) of an aircraft (1). The suspension system (10) comprises a fastener device (15) including a coupling member (20) suitable for carrying a load (5) with a sling (21). The suspension system (10) has a return device (30) that comprises a linkage (40) provided with a plurality of bars (41, 42, 43) hinged in pairs to apply a non-linear force to the coupling device (15), said linkage (40) being suitable for fastening to a load-carrier structure (2) of an aircraft (1). In addition, the return device (30) includes a tie (35) connecting said linkage (40) to the coupling device (15), as well as a spring member (36) fastened to a bar (41) of the linkage (40) and suitable for being connected to an aircraft (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Pierre Prud'homme-Lacroix, Patrice Garcin
  • Patent number: 9340081
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a vehicle (1) capable of being converted between a flying condition and an automotive riding condition. The vehicle has a telescopically extendable tail (10) comprising a first tubular tail segment (11) and a second tail segment (12) disposed axially slideable within the first tubular tail segment. The tail is provided with at least two form-closing coupling members (21, 35; 31, 36) located at an axial distance (LI) from each other for providing a force-transferring coupling between the second tail segment (12) and the first tubular tail segment (11) in the extended state of the second tail segment (12), each of said form-closing coupling members (21, 35; 31, 36) capable of transferring torque and transverse forces, and each of said form-closing coupling members (21, 35; 31, 36) coming into engagement by axial displacement of the second tail segment (12) in the outward direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: PAL-V EUROPE N.V.
    Inventors: Michael Alwin William Stekelenburg, Christiaan Cornelis Klok, Louis Petrus Valentijn Marie Van Rijn, Wouter Adriaan Soethoudt, Robert Christiaan Wegerif
  • Patent number: 9334045
    Abstract: An aerodynamic structure comprising a series of shock bumps (3) extending from its surface. The shock bumps are distributed across the structure with a non-uniform spacing (d1, d2) between the centers and/or edges of adjacent bumps. The non-uniform spacing between the bumps can be arranged to give maximum wave drag alleviation for the minimum number of bumps as a function of the shock strength across the span, leading to minimum wing weight penalties for a given amount of wave drag alleviation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventor: Norman Wood
  • Patent number: 9334042
    Abstract: A protection device (20) for protecting a fuselage (2) of a rotorcraft (1) against a pyramid-shaped structure (10) for carrying a load, which pyramid-shape structure has a frame having a quadrilateral shape together with a first pair (13) of two arms (12) and a second pair (15) of two arms (14), each arm extending in elevation from the frame up towards an apex (16). The protection device includes a protective plate (21), a blade (30) secured to the protective plate (21) for exerting a force on the two arms of the first pair, and a chevron (40) provided with two branches connected to the protective plate (21) in order to tend to move the arms of the second pair transversely apart from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Airbus Helicopters
    Inventor: Pierre Prud'Homme-Lacroix