Did You Know...
...that Thomas Edison's patent application on his phonograph was approved by the Patent Office in just seven weeks? In contrast, it took Gordon Gould, the inventor of the laser, 30 years to obtain his patent -- finally awarded in 1988!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8128038 | High-lift device for an aircraft An aircraft comprises a wing (2) defining an aerofoil surface, the wing (2) comprising a drooped leading edge flap (1) being moveable between a stowed position and a deployed position. The wing (2) is so arranged that during flight when t... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8113465 | Trailing edge aircraft structure with overhanging cover An aircraft structure comprising: a rear spar; and a composite cover attached to the rear spar and having an overhanging portion extending to its rear. The overhanging portion of the cover comprises one or more ramps along which the thickness of the cover reduces. A... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8028956 | Aircraft landing gear and door assembly An aircraft landing gear door assembly includes a door, which is moveable to an open position, in which an aperture is exposed, the landing gear being able to be deployed through said aperture, and moveable to a closed position, in which the door is closed across th... | 10/04/2011 |
| 8001690 | Rib for aircraft wing and methods for the manufacture thereof There is provided a method of manufacturing a rib for an aircraft wing, the method comprising providing a billet of material for forming the rib, machining away material from all sides of the billet to form a rib for use in an aircraft, the rib including a web that ... | 08/23/2011 |
| 7988086 | Fuel tank system Unsafe electric energies can exist in aircraft fuel tanks as a result of static build-up or induced currents from lightning strikes. The invention provides an aircraft fuel tank including two discharge paths for the safe discharge of electricity from the tank before... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7506549 | Method and apparatus suitable for measuring the displacement or load on an aircraft component The load on an aircraft component, such as the load on a landing gear leg during braking, is measured with a contactless, all-weather displacement measuring system. The system includes a control unit a controllable microwave emitter of electromagnetic radiation and ... | 03/24/2009 |
| 7484688 | Landing gear noise reduction An aircraft landing gear (1) is described including a noise-reducing element that includes an air-deflecting surface, in the form of a fairing (4), and a perforated airflow-reducing region (8). In use, some air passes through the perforations, w... | 02/03/2009 |
| 7473010 | Light cover A light cover has a transparent element manufactured from polycarbonate and an infrared filter angled so as to reflect infrared radiation emitted from a light source way from both the transparent element and the light source. ... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7458542 | Landing gear door assembly An aircraft landing gear door assembly (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) includes a door (1), which is moveable to an open position, in which an aperture (6) is exposed, the landing gear (10) being able to be deployed through said aperture (6), and ... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7392928 | Welding process for large structures There is provided a method for welding together two metal components to form a large structure suitable for use as an aerospace component. The method comprises the steps of providing two metal components to be welded together, each component having a length, a width... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7380753 | Composite material structure A laminated composite material structure, in the form of a load-bearing rib of a wing of an aircraft, comprises an upper laminated portion, which is angled with respect to a middle laminated portion, and a curved corner portion being continuous with and interposed b... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7375361 | Optical alignment device for machine tool The orientation of a machine 2 relative to a work-piece 10 is manually controlled by means of an alignment device 4. The device 4 includes a light source 24 rigidly attached to a foot 12 that is resiliently movably attached ... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7357357 | Aircraft mode suppression An aircraft control system operates during landing to suppress normal modes of flexing of the aircraft or modes of rigid rotation. The excitation of the modes are measured using accelerometers attached to the aircraft or strain-measuring devices attached to the land... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7357353 | Method of joining structural elements in an aircraft A structure for use on an aircraft and a method of manufacturing said structure. The structure comprises first and second structural elements and a fastening device. The fastening device comprises a bolt that engages with a barrel nut. The first structural element i... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7322223 | Creep forming a metallic component A method of creep forming a metallic component is provided. The method includes the steps of applying static loading and cyclic loading and/or vibration to the component during the creep forming thereof to act as a source of additional energy. ... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7287726 | Landing gear door assembly An aircraft landing gear door assembly has a plurality of doors. The doors include a first door (1) mounted for rotational movement between closed and open positions about a first generally longitudinal axis (11) and a transverse door (3) mounte... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7286909 | Aircraft braking method and apparatus An aircraft is decelerated by applying a braking force to a wheel of the aircraft as it moves along the ground. An anti skid controller calculates the braking force to be applied by taking into account data relating to the vertical load transmitted between the groun... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7275722 | Wing tip device An aircraft comprises a wing tip device, for example a winglet, a raked-tip device, a wing tip fence or a planar wing extension, mounted in the region of the tip of a wing on the aircraft. The wing tip device is rotatably moveable between a first position and a seco... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7243880 | Landing gear door assembly An aircraft landing gear door assembly includes a plurality of doors moveable between open positions, in which landing gear can be deployed through an aperture, and closed positions, in which the doors are closed across the aperture. The plurality of doors includes ... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7237965 | Fibre optic connector A fibre optic connector assembly includes first and second parts (1, 2) that can be physically connected together and separated from one another. Each connector part (1, 2) including a plurality of fibres (3, 4), each for optical connection to a... | 07/03/2007 |
| 7234668 | Friction welding metal components A method of forming a structural airframe component for an aircraft and an airframe structural component are provided. The method includes placing at least two components (1,2) in abutting relationship with each other and joining them together by friction sti... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7228252 | Increased precision position sensors An increased precision position sensor includes a first magnetic field sensing device; a second magnetic field sensing device; and a processor, the processor further includes a calibrator; a mathematical model to predict the magnetic field at a given position relati... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7195203 | Wing skin and method of manufacture thereof A simplified structure for a wing skin and wing box wherein the internal surface (2) of an aircraft wing skin panel (1) in the wing box includes a multiplicity of strips (3), each strip being associated with a stringer. The strips (3) hav... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7192504 | Adding glass to composite bonding surfaces The present invention relates to a method of bonding together two pieces of composite material (10, 26) by applying a layer of glass fibre (20, 28) to a surface of each piece of composite material 10, 26, and bonding the pieces together by means... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7137202 | Assembling composite structures Apparatus and a method for assembly of panels into a composite structure are provided. The structure includes a form jig (1) having form boards (3, 4, 5) defining forming edges (6, 7, 8) against which a composite panel to be precisely formed may... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7127942 | Wind tunnel testing A wind tunnel model for wind tunnel testing having an additional mass mounted on the model via vibration absorbing material to dampen model vibration. ... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7112015 | Drill tool A drill tool comprises a drive shaft (2) that is arranged to allow rotational movement to be transmitted from a drill to a drill bit holder (10) even when the opposite ends of the drive shaft are not axially aligned. The end of the drive shaft housing ... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7066431 | Turbulent flow drag reduction The present invention relates to apparatus for influencing fluid flow over a surface, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to turbulent boundary layer flow drag reduction for an aircraft. The present invention provides such apparatus including a plasma genera... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7021476 | Jig and a method and apparatus of applying a surface treatment to a member on the jig A jig (10) is provided for holding an elongate member (56) to be surface treated. The jig (10) comprises a beam (12) and a plurality of hangers 14 spaced apart along the beam (12). The hangers (14) have supports (9... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7018094 | Material analysis In thermography apparatus, a lamp 102 is modulated sinusoidally and a camera 106 captures thermal images at the modulated frequency, but delayed by an adjustable preset delay. A signal delay box 107 is connected between a sinusoidal modulation s... | 03/28/2006 |
| 7004432 | Aircraft flap extension mechanism An aircraft mechanism including a flap positioning mechanism comprising a carriage and track system suitable for use with variable radius or multiple curvature tracks. ... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6995565 | Thermographic wiring inspection A method for inspecting a wire, a cable or a bundle of wires to locate those parts of said wires or cables having damaged insulation before failure of the wire or cable occurs, the method comprising the steps of: passing a current ... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6811116 | Aircraft landing gear An aircraft, aircraft fuselage, aircraft wing and aircraft landing gear are provided. The landing gear (10) comprises a wheeled leg (12) and a series of mounting members (14, 15, 16, 17) to attach the leg to an airframe of the aircraft via respe... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6809803 | Surface topology inspection Apparatus and a method for inspecting a topology of a surface (2) of a structural member (1) are provided. The degree to which a known type of stress has been applied to the member may be ascertained using a Moiré grid (8). The method involves ... | 10/26/2004 |
| 6786098 | Material analysis Material analysis apparatus and method, particularly of use in detecting barely visible impact damage but also of use to detect other material characteristics. The apparatus includes a function generator which provides a sinusoidal signal to an ultrasonic amplifier ... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6701990 | Roll forming machine The roll forming machine comprise a series of rollers 14, 20, 28 and 36 for shaping a fabric 13 such as a fabric impregnated with a curable matrix. A feed roller 36 is provided for feeding a length of material 37 such as a tow of fibres onto the fabric du... | 03/09/2004 |
| 6685410 | Sheath for protecting a pin-tail locking bolt The invention relates to a sheath 46 for protecting a fastener such as a pin-tail locking bolt 18 as it is passed through a passage 14, the sheath 46 defining a first hollow 52 at a first end for receiving part 28 of the pin-tail locking bolt 18 and a sec... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6684601 | Jig loading system The jig loading system comprises an assembly of straps 10 for attachment to a support member 14 so as to hang downwardly in spaced apart positions. Each strap 10 has a releasable holder 16 thereon for supporting aircraft stringers 18 at spaced apart posit... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6619587 | Aircraft noise reduction apparatus An aircraft, aircraft landing gear and apparatus including at least one attachment (15,17,76,93,94,111) for noise reduction purposes are provided. Such attachments are shaped and positioned on the landing gear to deflect air away from noise-inducing compo... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6450457 | Fairing arrangement for an aircraft The fairing arrangement 28 comprises a first fairing portion 32 on a wing 10 and a second fairing portion 34 on an aileron 12 which is mounted on and angularly displaceable with respect to the wing. The fairing arrangement protrudes 28 outwardly of the ae... | 09/17/2002 |
