초록 ▼

In a helicopter rotor in which the blades are supported for rotation and articulation from the hub by elastomeric bearings and including a lead-lag damper which acts to cause radially inward blade motion during rotor braking and including the improvement of utilizing members which move pivotally in

In a helicopter rotor in which the blades are supported for rotation and articulation from the hub by elastomeric bearings and including a lead-lag damper which acts to cause radially inward blade motion during rotor braking and including the improvement of utilizing members which move pivotally in response to centrifugal force and which serve blade flapping and droop stop functions both statically and dynamically and which further are programmed as a function of rotor speed to prevent or limit radial inward motion of the blade during the rotor braking operation.

대표청구항 ▼

A helicopter rotor comprising: (1) a hub mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation, (2) at least one blade projecting radially from said hub, (3) an elastomeric bearing supporting said blade from said hub for universal motion thereabout and so that rotation of the blade with said hub generates

A helicopter rotor comprising: (1) a hub mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation, (2) at least one blade projecting radially from said hub, (3) an elastomeric bearing supporting said blade from said hub for universal motion thereabout and so that rotation of the blade with said hub generates centrifugal force which causes a radially outward motion of the blade to exert a compressive load upon the elastomeric bearing, (4) a lead-lag damper comprising a cylinder-piston mechanism extending substantially parallel to said blade and connected at its opposite ends to said blade and said hub to resist lead-lag motion of said blade, (5) brake means operatively associated with said hub to reduce the speed thereof and hence cause said blade to lead and thereby cause said damper to impose a force on the blade to cause a radial inward motion of the blade to exert a tension load on said bearing in opposition to said compression load, (6) and restraint means operative in response to centrifugal force from a first position wherein universal motion between said blade and said hub is permitted during flight operation and to a second position at a selected rotor rpm to prevent further inward motion of the blade when the bearing compressive load and the bearing tension load are substantially equal to thereby prevent the imposition of tension load on the bearing beyond a selected limit.