ADVANCED EMERGENCY COLLECTIVE ACTUATOR WITH FRICTION PULL-OFF AND METHOD FOR A HELICOPTER

摘要

An emergency collective actuator includes an actuator motor to produce an actuation force and an actuator linkage that directly engages a friction control lever that is pivotally supported on the collective stick of a helicopter to apply the actuation force directly to the friction control lever such that the actuation force initially disengages the friction control and then reduces the adjustable pitch toward a minimum collective pitch position. The actuator can include a clutch that slips to allow the pilot to overcome the actuation force and that slips responsive to an engagement of the friction control by the pilot, but otherwise the clutch co-rotates with the motor shaft to bias the adjustable pitch toward a minimum collective pitch position.

主权项

1. For use with a helicopter including a rotor system having a main rotor with an adjustable pitch that is controlled at least in part by a pilot using a collective control and the collective control pivotally supports a friction control lever as part of a friction control that is engageable by the pilot to selectively increase a control force that is required as a minimum to move the collective control, an apparatus comprising:
an actuator including a motor having an output shaft for rotation to change the adjustable pitch by exerting an actuation force; an actuator linkage that engages the friction lever to apply the actuation force directly to the friction control lever such that the actuation force initially disengages the friction control to decrease the control force and, thereafter, reduces the adjustable pitch toward a minimum collective pitch position; and a control arrangement that is configured to receive a signal that is indicative of a low rotor RPM condition and to respond to said signal by activating the actuator arrangement to exert the actuation force.