Main wing structure of aircraft

The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-302637 filed on Nov. 8, 2006 the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a main wing structure of an aircraft in which an engine is supported on an upper or lower surface of a main wing via a pylon.

2. Description of Background Art

An aircraft is known wherein pylons rise from the upper surfaces of right and left main wings and engines are supported at the upper ends of the pylons. See, for example, the AIAA 2003-2530 “Design and Development of the Honda Jet” article by Michimasa Fujino, Honda R&D Americas, Inc., July, 2003.

In an aircraft, the engine and a fuselage of the aircraft are connected to each other by wiring for feeding electric power from a generator driven by the engine into the fuselage. Wiring is provided for transmitting engine control signals to the engine. In addition, piping is provided for pressurizing a cabin and supplying air for heating the cabin, and the like. The wirings and pipings are arranged within the main wing.

In the aircraft described in the above article, a landing device accommodating chamber is provided between the pylon of main wing and the fuselage. The wiring and piping extend forward from the interior of the landing device accommodating chamber to the interior of a leading edge skin, and then pass through the interior of the leading edge skin into the fuselage.

In the above-described conventional main wing structure, because the wiring and piping providing a connection between the engine and the fuselage pass through the landing device accommodating chamber, a particular consideration is required to be paid to prevent interference between the wiring and the piping when the landing device is operated. In addition, because the wiring and piping pass through the interior of the main wing between the landing device accommodating chamber and the leading edge skin, there is a problem wherein a fuel tank cannot be provided in such an area.

The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-described circumstances. It is an object of an embodiment of the present invention to improve the operational reliability and to effectively utilize a space within a main wing by rationally arranging wiring and piping which provides a connection between an engine provided on the main wing and a fuselage.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a main wing structure of an aircraft comprising a fuselage, a main wing, a pylon, and an engine supported on an upper or lower surface of the main wing via the pylon. A plurality of regions are defined within the main wing by a plurality of spars extending in a span direction and a plurality of ribs extending in a chord direction; wherein a predetermined region extending from a main wing connecting portion of the pylon to an internal space of a leading edge skin 23 is used as a wiring/piping accommodating chamber for collectively accommodating wiring and piping which provide communication between the engine and the fuselage. A predetermined region adjacent to a part of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber is used as a landing device accommodating chamber for accommodating a landing device. In addition, a predetermined region adjacent to another part of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber is used as a fuel tank.

With the arrangement of the an embodiment of the present invention, of the plurality of regions defined within the main wing by the plurality of spars and the plurality of ribs, the predetermined region extending from the main wing connecting portion of the pylon to an internal space of the leading edge skin is used as the wiring/piping accommodating chamber for collectively accommodating the wiring and the piping which provide communication between the engine and the fuselage. The predetermined region adjacent to a part of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber is used as the landing device accommodating chamber for accommodating the landing device. The predetermined region adjacent to another part of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber is used as a fuel tank. Thus, the maintainability is improved as compared with the case wherein the wiring and the piping are distributed within the main wing. In addition, because the wiring/piping accommodating chamber is isolated from the landing device accommodating chamber and the fuel tank, the operational reliability can be improved. Moreover, the dead space in the main wing is minimized to increase the capacity of fuel tank.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the first feature, a first wiring/piping guide hole allowing the wiring and the piping to pass therethrough is formed in an upper skin or a lower skin of the main wing corresponding to the main wing connecting portion of the pylon arranged on the upper or lower surface of the main wing. In addition, a second wiring/piping guide hole allowing the wiring and the piping to pass therethrough is formed in the spar that partitions or crosses the wiring/piping accommodating chamber.

With the arrangement of this embodiment of the present invention, the first wiring/piping guide hole is formed in the upper skin or the lower skin of the main wing corresponding to the main wing connecting portion of the pylon arranged on the upper surface or the lower surface of the main wing, and the second wiring/piping guide hole is formed in the spar that partitions or crosses the wiring/piping accommodating chambers. Therefore, it is possible to smoothly handle the wiring and the piping which provide a connection between the engine and the fuselage.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an entire aircraft;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken in the direction of arrow 2 in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 2 ; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4 - 4 in FIG. 2 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , a low-wing aircraft has right and left main wings 12 supported in the lower parts of a fuselage 11 . Engines 14 are supported on the upper surfaces of the right and left main wings 12 via pylons 13 . Flaps 15 are oscillatably supported on trailing edge parts of the right and left main wings 12 on inner sides in the span direction. Ailerons 16 are oscillatably supported on the trailing edge parts of the right and left main wings 12 on outer sides in the span direction,

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 , the main wing 12 includes a main spar 17 extending substantially in the span direction, a front spar 18 arranged in front of the main spar 17 , and a rear spar 19 arranged in the rear of the main spar 17 . The main spar 17 , the front spar 18 , and the rear spar 19 are connected to each other by a large number of ribs 20 A to 20 I, each extending in the chord direction. The upper and lower surfaces of the main spar 17 , the front spar 18 , the rear spar 19 , and the ribs 20 A to 20 I are covered with an upper skin 21 and a lower skin 22 , respectively. A leading edge skin 23 is connected to the front part of the front spar 18 .

The pylon 13 comprises a front stay 24 and a rear stay 25 which form the skeletal structure of the pylon 13 . The lower end of the front stay 24 and the lower end of the rear stay 25 are fixed to fixing parts (not shown) provided on the main wing 12 . The front stay 24 and the rear stay 25 are connected to each other by a pylon rib 36 . Wiring/piping guide holes 36 a and 36 b are formed in the pylon rib 36 so as to allow a wiring 37 and a piping 38 (described later) to pass therethrough, respectively.

A landing device accommodating chamber 28 is defined by the main spar 17 , the rear spar 19 , the rib 20 B, and the rib 20 E, and accommodates a landing device 32 including a leg 29 , a tire 30 , and a shock absorber 31 . A pair of pivots 33 are provided at the base end of the leg 29 , and supported by the main spar 17 and the rear spar 19 so that the landing device 32 can be oscillated between a lowered position at which the landing device 32 projects from the lower surface of the main wing 12 and a raised position at which landing device 32 is accommodated in the landing device accommodating chamber 28 through a hydraulic mechanism (not shown).

Regions in front of a part in which the pylon 13 are mounted to the upper skin 21 and are surrounded by the front spar 18 , the rear spar 19 , the rib 20 D, the rib 20 E, the rib 20 F, and the rib 20 G to define passage-shaped rear and front wiring/piping accommodating chambers 34 A and 34 B. Two first wiring/piping guide holes 21 a and 21 b are formed in the upper skin 21 corresponding to the mounting part of the pylon 13 . Two second wiring/piping guide holes 17 a and 17 b are formed in the main spar 17 that partition the rear and front wiring/piping accommodating chambers 34 A and 34 B from each another. Two second wiring/piping guide holes 18 a and 18 b are formed in the front spar 18 that partitions the front-side wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 B from the interior of the leading edge skin 23 .

Regions in front of and laterally outward of the landing device accommodating chamber 28 and laterally inward of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 B are surrounded by the upper skin 21 , the lower skin 22 , the main spar 17 , the front spar 18 , the rib 20 A, the rib 20 C, and the rib 20 D to define two fuel tanks (integral tanks) 35 A and 35 B. Regions laterally outward of the front and rear wiring/piping accommodating chambers 34 A and 34 B are surrounded by the upper skin 21 , the lower skin 22 , the main spar 17 , the front spar 18 , the rear spar 19 , the rib 20 F, the rib 20 G, the rib 20 H, and the rib 20 I to define two fuel tanks (integral tanks) 35 C and 35 D.

Other fuel tanks (not shown) are defined laterally outward of the fuel tanks 35 C and 35 D.

Wiring for feeding electric power from a generator (not shown) driven by the engine 14 to the fuselage 11 and wiring for transmitting engine control signals between the engine 14 and a cockpit are bundled into a single wiring 37 . The wiring 37 extends from the engine 14 to pass through the interior of the pylon 13 , the wiring/piping guide hole 36 a in the pylon rib 36 , and the first wiring/piping guide hole 21 a in the upper skin 21 of the main wing 12 , and enters the rear wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 A. Further, the wiring 37 passes through the second wiring/piping guide hole 17 a in the main spar 17 , the front wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 B, the second wiring/piping guide hole 18 a in the front spar 18 , and the interior of the leading edge skin 23 , and enters the fuselage 11 .

In the same way, the piping 38 for feeding air from the engine 14 in order to pressurize and heat the cabin in the fuselage 11 , extends from the engine 14 to pass through the interior of the pylon 13 , the wiring/piping guide hole 36 b in the pylon rib 36 , and the first wiring/piping guide hole 21 b in the upper skin 21 of the main wing 12 , and enters the rear wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 A. Further, the piping 38 passes through the second wiring/piping guide hole 17 b in the main spar 17 , the front wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 B, the second wiring/piping guide hole 18 b in the front spar 18 , and the interior of the leading edge skin 23 , and enters the fuselage 11 .

As described above, in this embodiment, of the plurality of regions defined within the main wing 12 by the main spar 17 , the front spar 18 , the rear spar 19 extending in the span direction, and the plurality of ribs 20 A to 20 I, the predetermined regions extending from the main wing connecting portion of the pylon 13 to the internal space of the leading edge skin 23 are used as the wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 A and 34 B for collectively accommodating the wiring 37 and the piping 38 which provide communication between the engine 14 and the fuselage 11 . The predetermined region adjacent to parts of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 A and 34 B is used as the landing device accommodating chamber 28 for accommodating the landing device 32 . In addition; the predetermined regions adjacent to other parts of the wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 A and 34 B is used as the fuel tanks 35 A to 35 D.

With this arrangement, the maintainability is improved as compared with the case where the wiring 37 and the piping 38 are distributed within the main wing 12 . In addition, the wiring/piping accommodating chambers 34 A and 34 B are isolated from the landing device accommodating chamber 28 and the fuel tanks 35 A to 35 D, thereby eliminating a possibility that the wiring 37 and the piping 38 interfere with the landing device 32 , which is raised and lowered, to improve the operational reliability of the wiring 37 and the piping 38 . Moreover, because the wiring/piping accommodating chambers 34 A and 34 B collectively accommodate the wiring 37 and the piping 38 , it is possible to utilize the space in front of the landing device accommodating chamber 28 , which has been a dead space in a conventional main wing, as a space for providing the fuel tanks 35 A and 35 B, thereby increasing an amount of loadable fuel to extend the cruising distance.

Also, because the first wiring/piping guide holes 21 a and 21 b are formed in the upper skin 21 of the main wing 12 corresponding to the part in which the pylon 13 is mounted to the main wing 12 , the second wiring/piping guide holes 17 a and 17 b are formed in the main spar 17 partitioning the front and rear wiring/piping accommodating chambers 34 A and 34 B from each other, and the second wiring/piping guide holes 18 a and 18 b are formed in the front spar 18 partitioning the front-side wiring/piping accommodating chamber 34 B from the interior of the leading edge skin 23 , it is possible to smoothly handle the wiring 37 and the piping 38 which provide connections between the engine 14 and the fuselage 11 .

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but various changes in design may be made without departing from the subject matter of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, the engines 14 are supported on the upper surfaces of the main wings 12 via the pylons 13 , however, the engines 14 may be supported on the lower surfaces of the main wings 12 via the pylons 13 .

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.