AN ACCESS SURFACE

The present invention relates to a hooking member for favouring and, especially for a pilot and for any passengers on board, for achieving a safer landing of an aircraft, typically a helicopter, on an access surface, such as for example:

- a self-leveling landing platform installed on a leisure, military or civil security boat,

- a platform of a oil drilling station or of a port quayside,

- a mountain steep and/or slippery ground,

- a frozen ground,

- a ground with frozen snow.

It is well known that aircrafts, especially helicopters, have to reach in certain circumstances access surfaces which, due to their nature and/or to the constructive conception, are rather complicated and uneasy, such as platforms for Offshore yachts, military boats platforms or platforms for offshore civil relief, platforms of oil drilling stations, isolated grounds, steep and rugged mountain grounds, frozen grounds and so on.

This approach maneuver is required, for example, if a person should for any reason be taken from or, conversely, down left in this access surface.

It is possible to clearly and immediately understand that, in these cases, the aircraft pilot must have experience and skills to perform safely and effectively the take off and landing maneuvers, just considering that the access surface is Uneven, bumpy and/or, more generally, ruggy, unstable, irregular and roughj

Although the ability of the pilot, however, the landing and takeoff maneuvers occurring over the mentioned access surfaces are notoriously rather complicated and tricky in terms of safety, so as to require long implementation times and high caution of the pilot, who therefore must have a high ability.

The present invention therefore overcomes the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.

In particular, in fact, a first purpose of the present invention is to provide a hooking member for favouring the landing maneuvers of an aircraft on an access surface, making them more safe, practical and effective with respect to the state of the art.

Within this, a further purpose of the invention is to provide a hooking member for favouring the landing of an aircraft on an access surface that is also able to increase, with respect to the prior art, serenity and psychological peace of mind of the pilot and especially of any passengers on board of the aircraft during the landing phase on an irregular and/or unstable access surface.

Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a hooking member, which is able to reduce the time required to effectively perform the landing phase of an aircraft on any access surface.

A further purpose of the present invention is to provide a hooking member for facilitating the landing of an aircraft on an access surface, which can be easily applied to the support pads of the aircraft.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a hooking member for facilitating the landing phase of an aircraft on an access surface, which requires an occasional and in any case easy maintenance.

The above purposes are achieved by means of a hooking clamping member for favouring the landing of an aircraft on an access surface according to the enclosed claim 1 , to which reference is made for sake of brevity.

Further detailed technical characteristics of the hooking member of the invention are also described in the dependent claims.

Advantageously, the hooking member of the invention, once mounted in a suitable way to the support pads of an aircraft, allows the pilot to effectively perforrfi a landing maneuver on an access surface with greater security, speed and ease with respect to what is happen now.

This is due to the presence, in the invention, of a grip assembly which, together with actuating means which control the movement of the operating bodies, allows steady, automatic and substantially immediate coupling and locking of the hooking member to the access surface, thus making easier with respect to the known art the landing maneuvers of the aircraft on said surface.

Still advantageously, the hooking member according to the invention improves the safety conditions of the pilot and/or the passengers during the landing of the aircraft on an access surface.

Equally advantageously, the hooking member of the present invention can be easily installed to the support pads of an aircraft.

Advantageously, moreover, the hooking member allows the pilot and any passengers on board to have peaceful psychological conditions with respect to the prior art during the landing of an aircraft on an access surface, especially when said surface is irregular, unsteady, bumpy and/or slippery.

Further characteristics and technical specifications of the invention will be more clear from the following description, relating to a preferred embodiment of the hooking member claimed herein, which is purely indicative and illustrative, but not limitative, and with reference to the enclosed drawings in which:

- figure 1 is a perspective view of the hooking member of the invention in operative conditions;

- figure 2 is a side view of figure 1 ;

- figure 3 is a section view of figure 2 taken along the section plane BB;

- figure 4 is a front view of figure 1 ;

- figure 5 is a section view of figure 4 taken along the section plane AA in a rest position of the operating bodies;

- figure 6 is a section view of figure 4 in an operative condition of the bodies;

- figure 7 is a section view of figure 4 taken along the section plane CC;

- figure 8 is a section view of figure 4 taken along the section plane FF; - figure 9 is a section view of figure 4 taken along the section plane DD;

- figures 10 and 11 are two different perspective views of the hooking member of figure 1 ; '

- figure 12 is a bottom view of the hooking member of figures 10 and 11 ; - figure 13 is a side view of the hooking member of figures 10 and 11 ;

- figures 14, 15 and 16 are three perspective views of the hooking member of figure 1 in use;

- figure 17 is a simplified, partial, cross sectional view of the hooking member of figure 1 , according to the use condition of figure 16.

The hooking member of the invention, which is used for favouring the landing of an aircraft, usually a helicopter, on an access surface, is shown in figure 1 where it is generally indicated with 1.

The hooking member 1 includes a support group, generally indicated with 2, which is suitable to be arranged so as to protrude from the support pads P of the aircraft, to which the member 1 is stably and removably coupled.

According to the invention, the hooking member 1 includes:

- a grip assembly, generally indicated with 3, which is coupled to the support group 2 and which comprises a plurality of downwards protruding operating bodies 4;

- actuation means, schematically shown in figures 5 and 6 where are generally indicated with 5, which are operatively connected to the bodies 4 of the grip assembly 3 in order to arrange them from/to a rest position (shown in the figures 1 to 5), according to which the operating bodies 4 are freely hanging, to/from an operating position (shown in figure 6), according to which the operating bodies 4 contact the access surface so as to enter at least partially in said access surface, thus being bound to said surface in a stable but removable way and increasing the safety conditions during the landing of the aircraft on said access surface.

In particular, the actuation means 5 bring into rotation the operating bodies 4 about a longitudinal axis of rotation Z to arrange them from/to the rest position to/from the operating position.

As clearly shown in figures 2 and 3, the grip assembly 3 preferably comprises:

- an abutment plate 6, which is arranged close to and directly facing the support group 2;

- a support plate 7, which is spaced from the abutment plate 6 so that the plates 6, 7 identify different and substantially parallel reference planes;

- a central shaped pin 8, which identifies a longitudinal axis of symmetry Y that is placed orthogonal to the reference planes of said plates 6, 7, said pin 8 passing through a first central through hole 9 of the support plate 7 and downwards projecting from said support plate 7 for any positions of the operating bodies 4 and' also passing through a second central through hole 10, which is coaxial with said first central through hole 9 formed in the abutment plate 6;

- a plurality of shaped strips 11 , which cooperate on one side with the central shaped pin 8 and on the other side with the operating bodies 4, each strip 11 being coupled to the upper face 7a of the support plate 7 by means of fastening means which are generally indicated with 12.

The enclosed figures 10 to 13, to which the following description frequently refer, also show the grip assembly 3 separated from the other components of the hooking member 1 of the invention.

Said figures show that each operating body 4 partially protrudes, in any positions, from the lower face 7b of the support plate 7 by passing through a plurality of peripheral holes 13 that are uniformly provided on the support plate 7.

Moreover, the Operating bodies 4 are uniformly positioned on the support plate 7 to which are directly and properly coupled.

We underline that in certain conditions, i.e. when the access surface is, for example, slippery or uneven, each operating body may have a knurled or otherwise processed and/or shaped outer surface, in order to increase the sealing and gripping capability of the body to the structure to which is coupled, even if only provisionally.

Preferably the grip assembly 3 includes a fitting sleeve 14 connecting the plates 6 and 7; specifically, the fitting sleeve 14 is coupled to the support plate 7 in correspondence of the first central through hole 9 and to the abutment plate 6 in correspondence of the second central through hole 10, so that the sleeve 14 is partially inserted in said second through hole 10 and an end portion 14a of the sleeve 14 protrudes from the upper face 6a of the abutment plate 6, as shown in figures 11 and 13. The actuation means 5 are arranged below and close to the support group 2 and are at least partially contained in the tubular chamber 15 of the fitting sleeve 14, so as to operatively cooperate with the central shaped pin 8 which therefore axially slides.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the actuating means 5 are at least partially contained in an axial groove 16, shown in the cross sections of the enclosed figures 3, 5 and 6, which is formed in the central shaped pin 8.

The axial groove 16 has an access mouth 17 facing the tubular chamber 15 of the fitting sleeve 14.

Preferably but not exclusively, the actuation means 5 comprise a helical spring 18 which is compressed when the appendix 19 of the central shaped pin 8 contacts or is released from the access surface (i.e. in a rest position of the operating bodies 4 and when said bodies 4 have reached their final position in order to have a stable coupling of the hooking member 1 with the access surface).

Therefore, the actuation means 5 allows the shaped central pin 8 to slide along the longitudinal axis of symmetry Y when the appendix 19 of the shaped central pin 8 contacts or is released from the access surface.

Advantageously, the shaped central pin 8 has a longitudinal section which substantially corresponds to an inverted and partially pointed Ω, said pin 8 being composed by the appendix 19, by a rounded central portion 20 and by an end portion 21 with a small cross section which is placed on the side opposite to the appendix 19.

The end portion 21 is defined by a side wall 21a which is joined through a convex portion 22 to the side wall 20a delimiting the rounded central portion 20.

With regard to the above mentioned shaped strips 11 , figures 5 and 6 show that each strip 11 has at one first end 11 a concave side edge 23 and at a second end 1 b a through opening, not shown in the figures, which identifies a axis coincident with the longitudinal axis of rotation Z.

When the shaped central pin 8 slides along the longitudinal axis ^■ 1

of symmetry Y, the convex portion 22 of the lateral surface of the central pin 8 is linked to the concave side edge 23 of each shaped strip 11 , thus causing the rotation of the operating bodies 4 about the longitudinal axis of rotation Z and the passage of said operating bodies 4 from/to the rest position to/from the operating position.

Constructively, the shaped strips 11 are provided in a number equal to the operating bodies 4 and to the peripheral through holes 13; in practice, each shaped strip 11 is coupled and cooperates with each operating body 4.

The shaped strips 11 are uniformly distributed about the shaped central pin 8, between the abutment plate 6 and the support plate 7.

Figure 9 shows that, according to a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the invention, the fastening means 12 comprise:

- a pair of laminar spaced apart and opposed brackets 24, 25, which are fixed to the upper face 7a of the support plate 7; the laminar brackets 24,

25 have at a first end first coaxial and transverse through holes, not shown in the enclosed figures (one of said first through holes is provided for each laminar bracket 24, 25);

- an auxiliary pin 26, shown in figure-9, which defines the longitudinal axis of rotation Z and is provided with ends inserted in said first coaxial and transverse through holes of the laminar brackets 24, 25.

More in detail, therefore, each operating body 4 includes, at one end 4a, a substantially pointed portion 27, which is suitable to be embedded in the access surface, and, at the opposite end 4b, a fixed portion 28 having a central notch 29 which partially receives the second end 11 b of the shaped strips 11.

In addition, said central notch 29 defines two projecting fins 30, 31 , which are opposed and separated in correspondence with said end 4b.

Even the projecting fins 30, 31 have second transverse through holes, not shown in the figures (one of said second through holes is provided for each projecting fin 30, 31): said second through holes are coaxial with each other and are coaxial with said first transverse through holes. The auxiliary pin 26 is also inserted in said second transverse through holes, so that said operating bodies 4 are integral with the shaped strips 11 and the hub of the auxiliary pin 26 is received in the central notch 29 of the operating bodies 4.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention described herein, the support group 2 comprises:

- a first supporting plate 32 and a second supporting plate 33, spaced and facing each other and connected to each other by dampening means which are generally indicated with 34;

- rotation means, which are generally indicated with 35 and which are linked to the upper wall 32a of the first supporting plate 32 by means of first anchoring means, which are generally indicated with 36;

- a clamping terminal 37, which, as shown in figure 1 , is directly applied externally to the support pad P of the aircraft and which is coupled to the rotation means 35 through second anchoring means, which are generally indicated with 38.

More exactly, the second supporting plate 33 is arranged above and in front of the abutment plate 6 of the grip assembly 3.

Preferably but not necessarily, the dampening means 34 comprise a plurality of strain-guards columns 39, which are coated with rubber material and which are uniformly provided along a peripheral annular portion of the supporting plates 32, 33 to which are firmly fixed through known fixing means.

The strains-guards columns 39 are able to absorb sudden shots coming from above, according to a vertical or tilted direction, which are directed against the first supporting plate 32 of the support group 2, or coming from below, which are directed against the operating bodies 4, the shaped central pin 8 and the support plate 7 of the grip assembly 3.

With reference to the rotation means 35, figures 1 , 3 and 4 show that said means include a pair of transverse shock-absorbing pins 40, 41 having a common linear axis of rotation X, which is orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of symmetry Y and which is placed in correspondence of a symmetry axis K of the first supporting plate 32; the transverse shock- absorbing pins 40, 41 are however spaced from the first support plate 32.

Each of said transverse shock-absorbing pin 40, 41 is made of rubbery material to absorb sudden shots suffered laterally by the support assembly 2 and/or by the grip assembly 3.

The shock-absorbing transverse pins 40, 41 allow the support group 2 and consequently the grip assembly 3 to perform angles of rotation a about the axis of rotation X which are typically, but not limited to, equal to a value not exceeding 15°.

In other embodiments of the hooking member of the present invention (not shown in the enclosed figures), the support group 2 may also include a single transverse shock-absorbing pin or a number of transverse shock-absorbing pins greater than two.

The shock-absorbing transverse pins 40, 41 are coupled to the first anchoring means 36 by means of support and guide mechanical devices (not shown in the enclosed figures), such as rolling bearings.

Preferably, the first anchoring means 36 include a pair of lateral brackets 42, 43 protruding from the upper wall 32a of the first supporting plate 32; each lateral bracket 42, 43 supports one end of the respective shock-absorbing transverse pih 40, 41.

The second anchoring means 38 comprise, in turn, two intermediate brackets 44, 45 and one end of each intermediate bracket is fixed to the respective shock-absorbing transverse pin 40, 41.

The second anchoring means 38 also include a front plate 46 coupled to the clamping terminal 37 and provided with an outer face 46a to which the intermediate brackets 44, 45 are made integral through known connecting means, such as for example welding points or joints, which are applied between the side edge of the intermediate brackets 44, 45 and said outer face 46a so that the faces of the intermediate brackets 44, 45 identify a respective plane perpendicular to the plane defined by the face of the front plate 46.

As mentioned regarding the lateral brackets, also the intermediate brackets can be provided in a prefixed number (one or more), according to further embodiments (not shown in the enclosed figures) of the hooking member of the invention, said prefixed number varying on the basis of the design choices.

As shown in figures 1 , 7 and 8, the front plate 46 is advantageously coupled to the clamping terminal 37 by means of sliding means, which are generally indicated with 47, able to allow the axial movement of the support group 2 and consequently of the grip assembly 3 along a linear axis W defined by the column or connecting leg C of the support pads P of the aircraft.

In a preferred but not-limiting way, the sliding means 47 comprise a pair of linear seats 48, 49, obtained in two lateral shoulders 50, 51 , which are opposite and spaced apart, of the clamping terminal 37, and two corresponding linear skidding tags 52, 53, which are mutually opposite and which protrude laterally from a shaped counterplate 54, that is integral with the inner face 46b of the front plate 46 (see figure 7).

The hooking member 1 comprises, in addition, contrast means, not shown in the enclosed figures and comprising for example one or more coil springs, which are coupled to the clamping terminal 37 and which cooperate with the sliding means 47 to prevent separation of the support group 2 from the clamping terminal 37 and to define a stop end along the linear axis W.

Advantageously, the hooking member 1 includes self-centering position means, generally indicated with 55 and shown in the figures 3 and from 5 to 8, which are arranged above the grip assembly 3 and which are firmly coupled to said grip assembly 3, in order to allow the grip assembly 3 to quickly adapt its structure to the structure of the access surface with which the grip assembly 3 is in contact and on which the aircraft lands, thus extremely increasing the safety conditions during the landing phase of the aircraft.

More exactly, the self-centering position means 55 comprise a planetary mechanical structure, as clearly shown in figure 8, which includes two idle coplanar disks 56, 57 having different rotation centers, so that said disks 56, 57 freely rotate, one independently from the other.

The idle disks 56, 57 are also located above the abutment plate 6 and they are separated from each other by an annular seat 58, in which first rolling means (not shown in the figures and consisting in balls o spheres freely rotating in the space) are housed.

In particular, the central disk 57 of the planetary mechanical structure is provided with a shaped cover 59 that closes the top of the coupling sleeve 14 and is provided with a bottom wall against which the actuation means 5 counteract.

In addition, an annular groove 60 is also provided between the peripheral disk 56 and the second plate 33 of the support group 2 and rolling auxiliary means, not shown in the figures and of the type of the first rolling means that are housed in the annular seat 58, are housed in said groove 60.

Preferably, the self-centering position means 55 also comprise a reinforcement and/or protection cover 61 , which is coupled above the shaped cover 59 of the central disk 57 and which is interposed between the supporting plates 32, 33 of the support group 2.

In other embodiments of the hooking member of the invention, not shown in the enclosed figures, the self-centering position means may comprise a number of idle disks different from two, depending on the application requirements and/or on the design choices.

The hooking member 1 also comprises second rolling means, which are interposed between the reinforcement and protection cover 61 and one of the idle disks (in this case the peripheral idle disk indicated with 56) of the planetary mechanical structure.

The second rolling means are partially housed in a first annular recess 62 formed in the lower surface of the reinforcement and protection cover 61 and are also arranged close to the upper surface of said peripheral idle disk 56.

It is obvious that other embodiments of the hooking member of the present invention (not shown in the enclosed figures) may also be provided, according to which the second rolling means are housed in a plurality of first annular recesses formed in the lower surface of the reinforcement and protection cover. The hooking member 1 also comprises third rolling means which are interposed between the peripheral idle disk 56 of the planetary mechanical structure and the abutment plate 6 of the grip assembly 3 and which are partially housed in a second annular recess 63 formed in the upper face 6a of the abutment plate 6 of the grip assembly 3.

Similarly to the second rolling means, the third rolling means are arranged close to the lower surface of one of the idle disks and in particular of the peripheral disk indicated with 56.

What has just been said about the second rolling means also applies to the third rolling means, namely that in other embodiments of the hooking member of the invention, not shown in the enclosed figures, said third rolling means may be housed in a plurality of second annular grooves formed in the upper face of the abutment plate 6 of the grip assembly 3.

Also advantageously, the hooking member 1 of the invention includes quick release means, not shown in the enclosed figures, which are associated with the support group 2.

Said quick release means allow, if necessary, a quick separation of the support group 2 and consequently a quick separation of the grip assembly 3 from the support pads P of the aircraft.

For example, the quick release means can be interposed between the rotating means 35 and the clamping terminal 37 of the support group 2 and can be actuated by the operator by means of wires or cables inserted into suitable projecting eyelets of said release means.

More in detail, said quick release means may include elastic means, such as a plurality of springs, and a pair of intermediate plates, maintained in a compressed state by said elastic means and able to cooperate with a pair of wedges that block the support group 2 and the combined grip assembly 3.

Inserting a cable into a first projecting eyelet and exerting a traction on the cable, the two plates expand, while inserting a cable into the second protruding eyelet and exerting a traction even on said cable, the wedges are drawn at the base, causing the moving towards the outside and the widening of the intermediate plates, as well as the removal of the two wedges; in this condition, part of the support group 2 is dropped by the components which are coupled to the connecting leg C of the support pads P of the aircraft.

In practice, the aircraft, usually a helicopter, equipped with a series of hooking members 1 installed through the clamping terminal 37 on the support pads P, approaches the access surface on which it lands, such as an self-leveling platform of a boat.

In this case, such a self-leveling platform will be conveniently of the type illustrated in figures from 14 to 16, consisting at least in part (e.g. in a surface that is near the well-known symbol "H", which indicates the landing area) by an alveolar grid G, in which each cavity V has a conical section in order to allow the operating bodies 4 of the grip assembly 3 of the hooking member 1 of the invention to tilt and engage effectively and speedily to said alveolar grid G.

In fact, as soon as the grip assembly 3 is approaching the access surface G, the shaped central pin 8, which protrudes from the lower face 7b of the support plate 7 to a greater extent than the operating bodies 4, interferes firstly with the access surface A and, under the weight of the helicopter, compresses the helical spring 18 of the actuation means 5 in order to prepare its ascent along the longitudinal axis of symmetry Y.

The coupling of the convex portion 22 of the lateral surface of the shaped central pin 8 with the concave side edge 23 of the shaped strips 11 allows said shaped strips 11 to linearly move and said operating bodies 4 to rotate about their respective longitudinal axes Z of rotation defined by the auxiliary pins 26, until the operating bodies 4 engage with the necessary precision in the corresponding cavities V of the alveolar grid G.

If, as a result of said movements, the pilot of the helicopter is unable to correctly and effectively enter the operating bodies 4 in the respective cavities V, the free rotation of the idle disks 56 and 57 of the planetary mechanical structure of the self-centering positioning means 55 allows to vary quickly and automatically the position of the entire grip assembly 3 and, in particular, of the operating bodies 4 of said grip assembly 3, until they find the correct path to fit in the cavities V of the underlying alveolar grid G, according to what is shown in the enclosed figures 15 and 16.

The automatic position adjustment of the grip assembly 3, with respect to the underlying access surface G, is also guaranteed by the rotation means 35 and by the sliding means 47 along the linear axis W, both belonging to the support group 2; said figures 15 and 16 show the different axial position of the sliding means 47 along said linear axis W and therefore the relative adjustment.

The hooking member 1 of the invention takes the operating position shown in figures 16 and 17 when the operating bodies 4 have finally reached the above mentioned correct operating position.

In this position, the coil spring 18 of the actuation means 5 is released so that said spring 18 pushes the shaped central pin 8 downwards along the longitudinal axis of symmetry Y, up to arrange it in a position of maximum projection from the plate 7 and to engage it in a corresponding cavity V of the alveolar grid G.

On the basis of the above description, it is understood therefore that the hooking member for favouring the landing of an aircraft on a access surface, which is the object of the present invention, achieves the objects and realizes the advantages previously mentioned, considering thatsaid hooking member is a kind of mechanical claw able to increase the safety for the driver and any passengers on board during the landing phase.

The movement of the parts of the hooking member of the invention, namely

- the sliding along the longitudinal axis of symmetry Y,

- the rotation about the longitudinal axis Z,

- the free rotation of a planetary mechanical structure around a plurality of rotation centers,

- the rotation about the linear axis X,

- the sliding along the linear axis W,

allow to obtain a quick and effective landing maneuver by the pilot of the aircraft on any access structure, even if said structure is impassable, steep, slippery, unstable and/or uneven.

Upon implementation, changes may be made to the hooking member of the invention consisting, for example, in a support group having a different shape with respect to the support group described above and shown in the enclosed drawings.

In addition, in other constructive solutions of the hooking member of the invention (not shown), the grip assembly may have a different structure with respect to the structure described in the preferred embodiment of the invention; in particular, the operating bodies (a kind of claws) may have a different structure with respect to the structure shown in the enclosed figures.

Moreover, in further embodiments of the claimed hooking member (not shown), the actuating means may be of another type than the mechanical type already described, and include for example, hydraulic or pneumatic pistons, electric motors, gas springs and so on, operated by a central processing and control unit belonging to a control panel available to the operator (in particular, the pilot of the aircraft).

It should be also rioted that an aircraft, in particular a helicopter, may comprise hooking members of the type claimed in the present invention in a number equal to two or three for each support pad and therefore the aircraft may have a total of four or six hooking members.

Finally, it is clear that other variants can be made to the hooking member of the invention, without departing from the principles of novelty inherent in the inventive idea, and it is also clear that in the practical actuation of the invention, the materials, the shapes and the dimensions of the technical details that are shown may be any according to the requirements and can be replaced with other details that are technically equivalent.

Where the construction features and techniques mentioned in the following claims are followed by reference numerals or signs, those reference signs have been introduced with the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims themselves, and, accordingly, they do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified, by way purely of example, by said reference signs.