Man Gutehoffnungshutte Aktiengesellschaft

Dieter Pohe

Wilhelm Franken

Lars T Michaelsen

Heinrich Goris

Gerhard Weigardt

Torsten L Michaelsen

Ernest Kretschmann

A vehicle with its own traveling gear for towing an aircraft without draw tongue, has a U-shaped chassis frame recess that is open in the forward direction with a clamping and lifting device arranged therein for the nose wheels of an aircraft. The clamping and lifting device, which is oscillatingly suspended on the chassis frame 1, includes a pivoting and lifting ramp 8, as well as two parallel telescoping arms 10 arranged rigidly on the pivoting and lifting ramp 8, with telescoping cylinders 11 and with gripping arms 14, which can be pivoted in and whose nose wheel contact surfaces 18 are rigidly attached to the gripping arms 14, and of telescopingly adjustable holddown devices 12, 13, which are hinged to the support 7. FIG. 3 shows the clamping and lifting devices with the nose wheels 17 lifted.

Towing vehicle without draw tongue for towing aircraft

The aircraft tractor arrangement maintains a uniform degree of reliability with which the nose wheel landing gear, which is standing on a lifting platform that is arranged on the front part and extends into a recess (26), is held down on the surface of the lifting platform which supports the nose wheel landing gear at different nose wheel diameters. Each telescoping rod (30) is hinged (40, 44, 46) to the front part (10.1) directly in the front. A connecting hydraulic cylinder (42) is provided in the rear. The hydraulic cylinder (46) for longitudinal adjustment, and also the hydraulic cylinder (36) for moving the holder (34) on the fixed part (30.1) of the telescoping rod (30) associated with it are arranged ridgedly. This arrangement allows an adjustability in height of the two rear tow arms and at the same time of the front holders, which can come into contact with the two desired zones of the wheel circumference, regardless of the nose wheel diameter. The distance between the arms and the holders is adjustable.

Aircraft tractor without tow-bar with adjustable tow arms

The present invention pertains to an aircraft tractor without tow-bar. The arrangement avoids relative movement between the nose wheel of the aircraft and the tractor lifting platform by making the lifting platform (24) rotatable around a longitudinal axis (30) of the chassis, which axis is horizontal when the chassis is extended, and by making displaceable the transverse tow arms (38) and/or the holders (42) at right angles to this longitudinal axis (30). The tires of an oblique nose wheel landing gear of an aircraft being towed in a curve are handled very gently, because the tractor parts (24, 38, and 42) that are in contact with the nose wheel landing gear are able to follow the movements of the nose wheel landing gear and to adjust to its instantaneous position.

Growing community of inventors

Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Dieter Pohe