Eurocopter

Eurocopter France

Philippe Maurice Antomarchi

Thomas Pierre Manfredotti

Jean Joseph Mondet

Stephane Mazet

Philippe Maurice Legendre

Jean-Marc Latorre

Christophe Georges Barucchi

A rotorcraft rotor with hinged blades, includes: a hub; a plurality of blades hinged to flap relative to the hub; bottom abutments of the hub, and bottom abutments of the blades suitable for co-operating with the bottom abutments of the hub; and top abutments of the hub, and top abutments of the blades suitable for co-operating with the top abutments of the hub; the top abutments of the hub being movable between a deployed position in which they extend facing the top abutments of the blades, and a retracted position in which they are offset angularly away from the top abutments of the blades. The rotor also includes elements for locking the top abutments of the hub in the deployed position, and inertial means for releasing the top abutments of the hub and for deactivating the locking means.

Rotocraft rotor with hinged blades and lockable retractable flapping abutments

The instrument comprises two rigid yokes 1 and 2 capable of sliding one with respect to the other in the direction of the clearances to be measured between two components (R, 5) and 8. First of all, using an operating member 3, enough force to bring the ball R against the stop b1 of its socket is exerted on the component 5 by means of a spring 10. The comparator 9 is zeroed. Enough force is then exerted on the component 5 to bring the ball R to rest on the opposite stop b2 of its socket, this being done using an operating member 4 that acts in the opposite sense, the clevis mount 8 still being held between two resting faces 6, 7 of the yokes 1, 2. The clearance of the ball R in its socket is then read directly off the comparator 9. Application to measuring clearances in ball joints.

Instrument for measuring the clearance between two components

A hingeless rotor including a rotor mast driven in rotation about an axis of the rotor, a hub secured in terms of rotation to the mast, and at least two blades, each of which is, firstly, joined to the hub by a root attachment part comprising at least one arm which can twist about a longitudinal pitch-change axis of the blade and, secondly, equipped with a cuff which is rigid in torsion, surrounding the at least one twistable arm, and the radially external part of the cuff, with respect to the rotor axis is secured in terms of torsion to the blade and to the twistable arm about the pitch-change axis, while the radially internal part of the cuff surrounds, without contact, the at least one twistable arm and exhibits a pitch lever projecting towards the outside of the cuff and joined to a pitch-control rod, wherein, for each blade, an intermediate pitch-control ring which is rigid in terms of torsion about the corresponding pitch-change axis, and which surrounds the corresponding at least one twistable arm is arranged substantially between the hub and the radially internal part of the corresponding cuff, the ring being joined to the hub and the radially internal part of the corresponding hub by two ball joints, the first one of which articulates the ring to the hub and the second one of which articulates the ring to the cuff.

Hingeless rotor with intermediate pitch-control rings

Growing community of inventors

Marseilles, France

Philippe Maurice Antomarchi