The Boeing Company

Honeywell International Inc.

Honeywell G.m.b.h.

L Porter Davis

Jack Howard Jacobs

Christopher J Heiberg

David C Cunningham

A Dean Jacot

Brian J Hamilton

T Tupper Hyde

A gear drive having a third order damper operating with the antibacklash gear so as to lower the impact of the antibacklash gear at high torques to reduce gear wear while maintaining good contact with the antibacklash gear at lower torques to maintain high accuracy and bandwidth.

Gear transmission damping apparatus and method

A vibration damping and isolation apparatus including a passive damping mechanism and an active enhancement mechanism. The passive damping mechanism operates to dissipate vibratory and shock forces applied to the vibration damping and isolation apparatus. The passive damping mechanism includes first and second spaced damping elements. A first resilient structure connects the first damping element to the second damping element to define a primary fluid chamber between the first and second damping elements. The passive damping mechanism further includes a second resilient structure that defines a secondary fluid chamber which is in fluid communication with the primary fluid chamber via a fluid flow orifice. A fluid fills the primary fluid chamber, the secondary fluid chamber and the fluid flow orifice. The active enhancement mechanism includes a system for sensing changes in fluid pressure, loads or other parameters of the passive damping mechanism as a result of the forces applied to the vibration damping and isolation apparatus. An actuator system of the active enhancement mechanism is coupled to the sensing system and acts on the passive damping mechanism, to change the fluid pressure within the passive damping mechanism in response to the sensing system or external commands. By actively changing the fluid pressure within the passive damping mechanism in response to forces, the active enhancement mechanism enhances the vibratory and shock dissipation of the passive damping mechanism and can actively change the stroke of the apparatus or force exerted by the apparatus.

Hybrid isolator and structural control actuator strut

A dual mode vibration isolator for reducing transmission of vibrations between a forward body and an aft body includes a mounting member positioned between the forward and aft bodies, a plurality of magnetic actuators each having an armature fixed to the forward body and a stator mounted on the mounting member, and a plurality of linear actuators pivotally connected between the aft body and the mounting member. The magnetic actuators support the forward body relative to the mounting member by magnetically supporting the armatures between paired stator cores in each stator. The magnetic actuators are controlled, preferably through local flux feedback loops, to permit the stators to vibrate relative to the armature without transmitting forces to the armatures, thus isolating the vibration of the aft body and mounting member from the forward body. The linear actuators extend and contract to reposition the forward body and mounting member relative to the aft body. In addition, the linear actuators provide supplemental vibration isolation through a followup isolation loop that detects variation of the armatures from a predetermined null position between the paired stator cores. The followup isolation loop moves the mounting member relative to the aft body to restore the armatures to their null positions. The assistance provided by the linear actuators enables the use of small-size magnetic actuators for a given force requirement. A method for isolating vibration from transmission between two bodies also is disclosed.

Dual mode vibration isolator

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Phoenix, AZ, United States of America

L Porter Davis