US 12,473,082 B2
Landing gear for a vertical take-off and landing aircraft
Luca Mario Bresciani, Wessling (DE); Dieter Pestal, Wessling (DE); Sebastian Born, Wessling (DE); and Richard Bergeron, Wessling (DE)
Assigned to Lilium GmbH, Wessling (DE)
Filed by Lilium GmbH, Wessling (DE)
Filed on Oct. 25, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/494,621.
Claims priority of application No. 23160297 (EP), filed on Mar. 6, 2023.
Prior Publication US 2024/0300639 A1, Sep. 12, 2024
Int. Cl. B64C 25/20 (2006.01); B64C 25/58 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 25/58 (2013.01) [B64C 25/20 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A landing gear for a vertical take-off and landing aircraft comprises:
a wheel;
a shock absorber with an absorber connection to connect to a fuselage of the aircraft; and
an attachment lever with a lever connection to connect to the fuselage of the aircraft spaced apart from the absorber connection, the wheel being attached to the attachment lever spaced apart from the lever connection;
wherein the shock absorber is connected to the wheel directly or indirectly via a wheel connection to provide a load path for vertical load from the wheel to the absorber connection;
wherein the shock absorber includes a fuse pin at the absorber connection and/or the wheel connection having a predetermined breaking load to break and release the connection at the absorber connection and/or the wheel connection, the wheel connection being located rearward of the absorber connection relative to a forward direction of the aircraft when the wheel is in an extended landing position, the absorber connection being located rearward of the lever connection relative to the forward direction of the aircraft, the absorber connection and the lever connection being located in a plane that is substantially parallel to the forward direction of the aircraft; and
wherein the attachment lever includes a rotary bearing providing a folding movement for the wheel from the extended landing position into a crash position responsive to the fuse pin breaking.