Self-orienting aircraft landing gear

摘要

An aircraft landing gear self-orients so to align itself within a plane parallel to the plane defined by the aircraft's roll and yaw axis. A nose gear of a tricycle landing gear configuration includes the ability to not only caster 360 degrees but also self-orient itself to be aligned parallel with the plane defined by the aircraft's roll and yaw axis once removed from any interaction with the ground. A simple and efficient mechanical design provides the landing gear with a substantially constant centering torque that neither impedes nor impairs ground movement yet returns the nose gear to a proper alignment for retraction and stowage.

主权项

1. A method for self-orienting an aircraft landing gear, comprising: coupling a wheel mount with a landing gear assembly via a cylindrical shaft wherein the wheel mount is configured to caster about a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical shaft;
circumscribing the cylindrical shaft with a cam wherein the cam possesses a planar cardioid shape having a top cam surface, a lower cam surface and a cam sidewall wherein the cam sidewall is substantially perpendicular to the upper cam surface and the lower cam surface; continually engaging the cam sidewall by a cam follower; and creating, by the cam follower, a substantially constant centering torque driving the cam follower to a cusp of the planar cardioid.