US 12,240,590 B2
Actuator assembly for moving a movable wing tip of an aircraft
Christoph Winkelmann, Buchholz (DE)
Assigned to Airbus Operations GmbH, Hamburg (DE)
Filed by Airbus Operations GmbH, Hamburg (DE)
Filed on Feb. 23, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/678,555.
Claims priority of application No. 102021103421.3 (DE), filed on Feb. 25, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0266984 A1, Aug. 25, 2022
Int. Cl. B64C 13/34 (2006.01); F16D 11/10 (2006.01); F16D 11/00 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 13/34 (2013.01) [F16D 11/10 (2013.01); F16D 2011/008 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An actuator assembly for moving a movable aerodynamic surface of an aircraft, comprising:
an input section for introducing an externally provided rotary motion into the actuator assembly, and
a geared rotary actuator having a plurality of actuator slices each comprising a planetary gear with a sun gear couplable to the input section, a fixed gear attachable to a fixed component of the aircraft and an output gear couplable with the movable aerodynamic surface,
at least a first and a second clutch operatively connected to the geared rotary actuator, wherein the geared rotary actuator is configured to couple with the movable surface, and to selectively decouple from the input section to allow for the free movement of the movable surface,
wherein the at least first clutch is disposed at a first end of the actuator assembly and the second clutch is disposed at a second end of the actuator assembly,
wherein a plurality of the actuator slices is operatively bounded between the first and the second clutches along a central axis, and
wherein each actuator slice comprises an output gear coupled with a lug couplable with the fixed component.