Eurocopter

Airbus Helicopters

Eurocopter France

Elio Zoppitelli

Etienne Jean Rampal

Jean-Pierre Jalaguier

Eric Cornille

Bruno Robert Guimbal

Michel Jamot

Edwin Ortega

Jérémy Camus

Claude Bocoviz

Alain Struzik

Laurent Jean Girard

Olivier Maegey

Philippe Legendre

Alain Vuillet

Etienne Rampal

Jeremy Camus

An assistance method for assisting a pilot of a single-engined rotary-wing aircraft during a flight phase in autorotation, the aircraft including a hybrid power plant provided with a main engine, with an electric machine, with a main gearbox, and with an electrical energy storage device. The aircraft also includes a main rotor driven by the hybrid power plant. In the method, during a flight, operation of the main engine is monitored in order to detect a failure, in particular by means of a drop in power on the main rotor, then, when a failure of the main engine is detected, the electric machine is controlled to deliver auxiliary power We to the main rotor, making it possible to assist a pilot of the aircraft in performing the flight phase in autorotation following the failure.

Method for assisting a single-engine rotorcraft during an engine failure

A damper device () for a rotor () having a rotary ring () and a plurality of levers (), each lever () extending from a first end (') connected to the ring () by a first mechanical connection () to a second end (&#x2033;) suitable for being hinged to a blade (). The damper device () includes non-rotary damper means () secured to non-rotary fastener means () and to a non-rotary member () of an interface (), the interface () being interposed between the non-rotary damper means () and the ring () to convert a rotary movement of a blade () transmitted to a lever () into a movement in translation acting on the damper means ().

Rotor damper device, and an associated rotor and aircraft

A coaxial rotary coupling () includes a hollow inner tube () and a hollow outer tube (), with inner and outer splines (and) in mutual engagement. The coupling () further includes: approach elements for longitudinally approaching the inner and outer tubes () together with elements presenting a wedge arrangement for causing the inner and outer tubes () to turn () relative to each other in opposite directions so as to limit tangential assembly slack; a soleplate () of the driven tube (); and a flange (); the driving tubes () having complementary splines () together with dogs including force-transformation ramps () that are distributed peripherally within the coupling ().

Coupling with slack-takeup, a rotor, and a rotary wing aircraft

The present invention relates to a method of controlling a drag damper for a helicopter blade under all operating configurations of the helicopter, the method consisting in:

Method of controlling vibration damping in a helicopter, and apparatus implementing the method

A pitch control device for a blade of a tilting rotor of a convertible aircraft. The pitch control device is external to a rotor hub which is driven in rotation by a mast and connected to the latter by a mechanism for tilting the hub as a whole, each blade is connected to the hub by a coupling for retaining and hingeing the blade in pitch about its pitch change axis. The device includes a pitch change lever, integral in rotation with its blade root about its axis, a pitch control rod, a bellcrank pivoting about a pin on a drive plate integral in rotation with the mast, and to which the pitch control rod is hinged, the bellcrank being also hinged to a link rod connected to the pitch change lever.

Device for controlling the pitch of the blades of a convertible aircraft rotor

A constant velocity drive mechanism of a rotary-wing aircraft rotor, comprises a torque splitting differential mechanism, comprising a driving disc integral in rotation with a rotor mast and connected to each of two driven discs either side of the driving disc, by a least one connecting pin hinged to each of the discs by one of three ball joint connections. Each of the driven discs is connected to a hub of the rotor by at least one of two driving devices, each of which is also hinged to the hub, so as to drive the hub in rotation about a geometrical axis which can be inclined in all directions about the axis of rotation of the mast.

Constant velocity drive rotary-wing aircraft rotor with torque splitting differential

A tilting rotor of a convertible aircraft comprises, between the mast and the hub, a constant velocity drive mechanism and pivoting arrangement comprising two gimbals, each of which is driven by the mast and pivots about one respectively of two diametral axes by two diametrically opposite bearings. Each gimbal is also hinged to the hub by ball joint connections diametrically opposite and centred respectively in a radial plane passing through the axis of the mast and through the diametral axis about which the other gimbal pivots. The two resulting trains transmitting torque between the mast and the hub have substantially the same torsional rigidity, and one at least of the components of each torque transmission train exhibits a flexibility in deformation about the axis of rotation of the hub.

Rotary-wing aircraft rotor with constant velocity drive

A drag damper for use on a rotary wing aircraft rotor comprises a body defining two variable volume chambers linked by a piston. The chambers are filled with fluid and are connected by a restriction port ( ) and by a channel ( ) of larger cross-section than the restriction port. A secondary piston slidable and pressure-tight piston is fitted in the channel and loaded by an elastic bias ( ). The equivalent mass of this secondary piston ( ) and of the fluid which it displaces, and the stiffness of the elastic bias ( ) are such that the secondary piston is resonant in the channel ( ) at the rotation frequency of the rotor, to filter the dynamic component at this frequency of stresses applied to the damper ( ). Furthermore at the natural drag frequency of the corresponding blade, the elastic bias substantially blocks the secondary piston ( ) in its channel ( ), and the flow of fluid between the chambers ( ) of the damper ( ) takes place mainly via the restriction port ( ) calibrated to provide substantial damping at this frequency.

Dual piston drag damper for rotary-wing aircraft rotor

The rolling bearing of this bearing assembly is of the relubricatable type and is mounted tightly on the shaft by its inner race in such a way as to be prevented from rotating and translating on the shaft, the latter for this purpose comprising a thrust shoulder The outer race of the rolling bearing is housed in a ball swivel with a spherical outer peripheral surface consisting of two half ball swivels back to back and this ball swivel is itself mounted in the spherical housing of a support consisting of two flanges arranged facing one another and slightly separated from one another in the axial direction prior to clamping. One of these flanges may be fixed by lugs to the structure of the craft and the other flange may be fixed to the previous one using screws

Bearing assembly for a helicopter rear transmission shaft

The anti-vibration suspension device comprises at least three oblique bars pivotably mounted each on the gearbox and on the structure, by means of a rigid lever supporting a vibrating weight and in turn pivotably mounted on this structure, and each lever is also linked to the structure by at least one torsion spring biased about a torsion axis substantially perpendicular to the radial plane defined by the axes of the rotor and the corresponding oblique bar.

Anti-vibration suspension device with torsion springs between vibrators and structure, for a helicopter

The present invention relates to a method and to a device for determining the state of a vibrating structure of a rotary wing aircraft, while the latter is operating. The device includes sensors arranged on the vibrating structure and capable of measuring the values of vibrational parameters, and a calculation unit receiving the values measured by the sensors and calculating, from these and from estimated values of the vibrational parameters, a correlation coefficient, comparing the latter with a predefined range of values and deducing from this comparison the state of the vibrating structure.

Method and device for determining the state of a vibrating structure of a rotary wing aircraft

The annular cushion,interposed between the fixed housing,and a swiveling exterior surface,in the shape of a spherical sector with relatively large radius of curvature of the bearing block,is in a relatively rigid and incompressible material, with low coefficient of friction surface, and has a transverse section wholly adapted to the section of the annular space arranged between the inner surface of the fixed housing,and the swiveling exterior surface of the bearing block,this annular cushion consisting of two rings,spaced apart and arranged on each side of the transverse median plane of the swiveling exterior surface. The fixed housing also comprises adjustment means,of the axial engagement amplitude of the cover,on the body,of said fixed housing, and tightening adjustment means of the fixing screws, enabling in this way the radial compression of said relatively rigid annular cushion,to be adjusted on said swiveling exterior surface of the bearing block

Device for coaxially coupling two shafts, especially for a helicopter

The present invention relates to a suspension device for a transmission box (BT) of a rotary-wing aircraft, including bearing pieces (2) connected to the upper part (3) of the transmission box (BT), a suspension system (SU) which connects the lower part (9) of the transmission box (BT) to the fuselage (F) of the aircraft and which includes suspension leaves (5), and resonator means (7) which are associated respectively with the said bearing pieces (2) and which include a mass support (13) secured to the associated suspension leaf (5) and equipped with a flapping mass (MB). According to the invention, the said device additionally includes tuning means (18, 19) associated with the said resonator means (7) and capable of tuning their natural frequencies.

Suspension device for a transmission box of a rotary-wing aircraft

A device for reducing the vibrations generated on the structure of a helicopter. The helicopter includes a structure with a tail boom and a fin. The structure has a longitudinal vertical mid-plane. The helicopter also has a main lift and propulsion rotor which generate an aerodynamic flow passing through the rotor and induce vibrations on the structure. A damping device for reducing the vibrations has a longitudinal chamber which is equipped with at least one central restriction, which has two elastically urged mobile lateral walls and which is full of a fluid representing an oscillating mass. The damping device is mounted in the tail boom close to the fin so that the direction of travel of the oscillating mass is at least substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal vertical mid-plane.

Growing community of inventors

Velaux, France

Elio Zoppitelli