Door management
A door management system on an aircraft includes a fuselage extending along a longitudinal axis in a fore-aft direction parallel to forward flight, an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage, a door mounted on the sidewall to slide in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening, a cable attached to the fuselage and the door and a speed governor operatively coupled to the cable to limit a velocity of the door as it moves between the open position and the closed position.
1. A door management system on an aircraft comprising:
a fuselage extending along a longitudinal axis in a fore-aft direction parallel to forward flight;
an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage;
a door mounted on the sidewall to slide in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening;
a cable attached to the fuselage via a plurality of pulleys and the door via a connector; and
a speed governor attached to the door, wherein the speed governor is operatively coupled to the cable to limit a velocity of the door as it moves between the open position and the closed position.
2. The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor is a viscous speed limiter.
3. The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor is a centrifugal brake.
4. The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor is a motor.
5. The door management system of claim 4 , wherein the motor is an electric motor.
6. The door management system of claim 1 , wherein the speed governor comprises a shaft coupled to the cable to rotate with the cable and movement of the door; and
a brake coupled to the shaft to limit the velocity.
7. The door management system of claim 6 , wherein the brake is a viscous speed limiter configured to increasingly apply a dampening load with an increasing velocity of the door.
8. The door management system of claim 6 , wherein the brake is a motor.
9. A tiltrotor aircraft having a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) flight mode and a forward flight mode, the tiltrotor aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a longitudinal X-axis, corresponding to a roll axis, extending through a center of the fuselage in a fore-aft direction parallel to forward flight, a transverse Y-axis, corresponding to a pitch axis, perpendicular to the longitudinal X-axis, and a vertical Z-axis, corresponding to a yaw axis, perpendicular to an X-Y plane;
a wing extending laterally from the fuselage;
first and second proprotors tiltable between the forward flight mode and the VTOL mode;
an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage;
a door mounted on the sidewall to slide in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening;
a cable attached to the fuselage via a plurality of pulleys and the door via a connector; and
a speed governor attached to the door, wherein the speed governor is operatively coupled to the cable to limit a velocity of the door as it moves between the open position and the closed position.
10. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor is a viscous speed limiter.
11. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor is a centrifugal brake.
12. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor is a motor.
13. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 12 , wherein the motor is an electric motor.
14. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the speed governor comprises a shaft coupled to the cable to rotate with the cable and movement of the door; and
a brake coupled to the shaft to limit the velocity.
15. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the brake is a viscous speed limiter configured to increasingly apply a dampening load with an increasing velocity of the door.
16. The tiltrotor aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the brake is a motor.
17. A method, comprising:
flying a tiltrotor aircraft comprising a fuselage extending along a longitudinal axis in a fore-aft direction parallel to a direction of forward flight, an opening in a sidewall of the fuselage, a door mounted on the sidewall and slidable in the fore-aft direction between a closed position covering the opening and an open position revealing the opening, and a cable connected to the fuselage via a plurality of pulleys and the door via a connector; and
utilizing a speed governor that is attached to the door to limit a velocity of the door moving between the open position and the closed position.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein
the speed governor is connected to the cable.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the speed governor increases a damping load on the cable with an increasing velocity of the cable and the door.
20. The method of claim 18 , further comprising a winch connected to the cable.