Electro-expulsive de-icing system for aircraft and other applications

摘要

An apparatus for removing ice from an object (e.g., in-flight ice removal from the skin of an aircraft) includes an actuator assembly that forms an elongated electrically conductive loop. The actuator is mounted in a position enabling it to impact the object to be de-iced in response to movement of the loop that is produced by electric current pulses flowing in opposite directions in two mechanically independent loop subassemblies. The loop subassemblies include multiple electrically conductive elements interconnected at their ends using elongated flexible connectors in order to introduce a physical discontinuity that reduces any restriction of relative movement of the subassembly ends caused by the connectors.

主权项

1. An electro-expulsive de-icing actuator comprising:
a first subassembly comprising:
a first electrically conductive element coupled to an electrical input at a first end of the first electrically conductive element; a second subassembly comprising:
a second electrically conductive element coupled to an electrical output at a first end of the second electrically conductive element; wherein the first and second subassemblies are mechanically independent; at least one separate electrically conductive connector connecting a second end of the first electrically conductive element of the first subassembly to a corresponding second end of the second electrically conductive element of the second subassembly, thereby creating a conductive path from the electrical input to the electrical output; wherein the first and second subassemblies are disposed in an orientation such that an electrical current flows in a single first direction along a single longitudinal axis of the actuator through the first subassembly and in a single opposite, parallel direction along the single longitudinal axis through the second subassembly such that when electrical current flows through the conductive path, at least a portion of each of the first and second subassemblies move apart relative to one another as a result of the magnetic fields created by the electrical current in the first and second subassemblies; and wherein the at least one connector is configured to allow the second end of the first subassembly and the second end of the second subassembly to move apart relative to each other.