Airbus Operations Gmbh

Airbus Operations (s.a.s.)

William Tulloch

Pat Broomfield

Paul Dean

Olivier Pautis

James Bird

Richard Hewson

Danny Payne

Javier Ruiz De Pablo

An aircraft assembly including a wing component and an engine mounting pylon component. The wing component has three fastening locations arranged in a triangle and a plane. The engine mounting pylon component is connected to the wing component by three tension fasteners, wherein each of the tension fasteners passes through a different one of the fastening locations. The wing component comprises three first spherical surfaces positioned such that the center of each first spherical surface is at a different one of the fastening locations. The engine mounting pylon component comprises three second spherical surfaces having equal and opposite curvature to the first spherical surfaces. Each of the second spherical surfaces is in contact with a different one of the first spherical surfaces.

Aircraft wing-pylon connection

An aircraft assembly is disclosed having a wing and an engine mounting pylon. An aft end of the engine mounting pylon is connected to the wing by a spigot and at least one fastener. The aircraft assembly is configured such that, during operation of the aircraft assembly on an aircraft, the spigot transfers only lateral load between the engine mounting pylon and the wing and the at least one fastener transfers only vertical load between the engine mounting pylon and the wing.

A barrel nut positioning frame for maintaining a barrel nut in a desired position in a bore of a component is disclosed having a frame body configured to receive a barrel nut therein, the frame body being adapted to fit, together with a received barrel nut, within a bore, and a bore engagement element configured to engage with a positioning feature in the bore so as to restrict movement of the frame within the bore.

Barrel nut positioning frame

An aircraft wing including: a wingbox; a fuel tank; a fuel cell system with a fuel cell; a fuel line configured to deliver fuel from the fuel tank to the fuel cell system; a propulsion system carried by the wingbox; and an electrical power line configured to deliver electrical power from the fuel cell system to the propulsion system. The fuel tank and the fuel cell system are located inside the wingbox, and the propulsion system is located outside the wingbox.

Aircraft wing with fuel tank and fuel cell

A fitting for connecting a first aircraft structure to a second aircraft structure is disclosed including a first substantially planar surface, a second substantially planar surface, a body, and a cavity in the body configured to retain a captive nut. The body connects the first surface to the second surface such that the first surface is at an angle of less than or equal to 90° to the second surface. The cavity is configured such that a captive nut retained therein is adjacent the first surface and the second surface.

Fittings for connecting structures

An aircraft wingbox assembly is disclosed having a wingbox including an upper cover, a lower cover and a pair of spars; a plurality of ribs in the wingbox, wherein the ribs divide the wingbox into bays; and a fuel tank in the wingbox. All or part of the fuel tank is located in a first one of the bays between a first one of the ribs and a second one of the ribs. The fuel tank includes a tank wall and first and second tank lugs extending from the fuel tank wall. A first fastener attaches the first tank lug to the first one of the ribs; and a second fastener attaches the second tank lug to the second one of the ribs.

Wingbox with fuel tank attached to ribs

An aircraft wing including a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, a forward spar and a rear spar. A leading edge of a trailing edge panel is attached to the wingbox. A support structure is attached to the wingbox. A kinked link includes a first arm, a second arm, and a corner where the first and second arms meet. The first arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the trailing edge panel at a first pivot joint, and the second arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the support structure at a second pivot joint.

Trailing edge panel support

An assembly with an aircraft fuel tank is disclosed having a captive nut with an internal thread, a secondary structure, and a fastener which secures the secondary structure to the fuel tank. The fastener has a shaft which passes through the secondary structure and has an external thread coupled to the internal thread of the captive nut. The fuel tank has a fuel tank element with a hole, and the captive nut has a sleeve which is located in the hole with an interference fit between an outer surface of the sleeve and an inner surface of the wall of the hole.

Assembly with captive nut

An aircraft wing structure () including a spar () and a systems module () that is releasably secured to brackets () on a first side of the spar () and the second, opposite side of the spar is configured to define a wall of a fuel tank of an aircraft wing.

Wing construction

An aircraft wing including a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, and a rear spar. A lower trailing edge panel is provided with a leading edge attached to the wingbox. The wing includes a flap, a flap deployment mechanism which is configured to deploy the flap, and a fairing which covers the flap deployment mechanism. A first end of a link is pivotally attached to the lower trailing edge panel at a first pivot joint, and a second end of the link is pivotally attached to the fairing at a second pivot joint. The second pivot joint is lower than the first pivot joint.

Aircraft wing with trailing edge panel

An aircraft assembly including: a first aircraft structure, a second aircraft structure, first and second tension bolts arranged to suspend the first aircraft structure below the second aircraft structure, the first and second tension bolts connected to the first aircraft structure such that an end of each of the tension bolts is accessible from respective outer surfaces of the first aircraft structure and first and second fail-safe mechanisms each associated with a respective one of the first and second tension bolts and arranged to suspend the first aircraft structure below the second aircraft structure responsive to failure of the respective tension bolt.

Aircraft assembly

A method of securing a lower trailing edge panel of an aircraft wing. The wing includes a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, and a rear spar. A leading edge of the lower trailing edge panel is attached to the wingbox. A support structure is also attached to the wingbox and a connector is mounted to the trailing edge panel. A link is provided, with a first end and a second end. The second end of the link is pivotally attached to the support structure at a pivot joint. A biasing arrangement biases the link towards an upright orientation in which the first end of the link is higher than the pivot joint. The link is held in its upright orientation with the biasing arrangement; and then the first end of the link is attached to the connector.

Trailing edge panel support with biasing arrangement

An electronic device to control illumination levels of a light emitting device. The electronic device comprises a microcontroller that is adapted to: receive data relating to an object sensed by a sensor; provide the received data to a machine learning algorithm; and output a control signal to define an illumination pattern and an illumination level of the light emitting device based on analysis of the received data.

Sensor to control lantern based on surrounding conditions

The trailing edge structure of an aircraft wing is subjected, in use, to high temperature efflux from an aircraft's engines. Such elevated temperatures can detrimentally affect the ultimate tensile strength of the trailing edge. An aircraft wing component includes composite material having a first portion including a metal matrix containing reinforcing material, and a second portion including a metal matrix containing hollow metal ceramic spheres, the second portion being adjacent a surface of the composite material. The provision of two portions, one of which contains reinforcing material and the other comprising hollow spheres means that the composite material has both structural strength and heat shielding qualities where they are needed most in the component. The portion of composite containing the hollow metal ceramic spheres acts as an embedded layer of heat insulation.

Aircraft wing component

A barrel nut retainer for retaining a barrel nut in a bore of a component is disclosed having a body adapted to fit within a bore and extending between a first end and a second end, and wherein the body has an aperture between the first end and second end configured to receive a barrel nut, and a head portion at the first end of the body, the head portion adapted to sit over an open end of the bore.

Growing community of inventors

Bristol, United Kingdom

William Tulloch