The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 25, 2014
Filed:
Oct. 14, 2010
John Lauffer, Santa Clarita, CA (US);
Rhett Henrickson, Palmdale, CA (US);
John Lauffer, Santa Clarita, CA (US);
Rhett Henrickson, Palmdale, CA (US);
Woodward HRT, Inc., Santa Clarita, CA (US);
Abstract
A floating piston actuator for use with multiple hydraulic systems includes a housing and a piston assembly. The piston assembly includes an elongate shaft or ram, at least one secured piston coupled to the ram, and a set of moveable pistons moveably disposed within the housing chamber on the ram such that the set of moveable pistons are translatable relative to a longitudinal axis of the ram. The set of moveable pistons form at least three hydraulically separate actuator cylinders where each of the three hydraulically separate actuator cylinders are disposed in fluid communication with a corresponding pressurized fluid source. The floating piston actuator allows hydraulic redundancy while maintaining a similar length compared to existing multi-system actuators. The floating pistons can be arranged in multiple configurations to allow operation with a hydraulic system failure without force fight or binding and with a higher output force than conventional multi-system actuators.