AN IMPROVED QUICK DISCONNECT FOR AEROSPACE FLUID SYSTEMS

THE IMPACT OF LEAKAGE IN AEROSPACE FLUID SYSTEMS IS UNACCEPTABLE DUE TO THE HAZARDOUS NATURE OF THE FLUIDS INVOLVED. A SYSTEM FOR REMOTE SEAL VERIFICATION IN QUICK DISCONNECT (QD) COUPLINGS IS REQUIRED TO INSURE THE SAFETY OF PERSONNEL AND FLIGHT HARDWARE. THIS SYSTEM WOULD VERIFY THE EXTERNAL SEAL OF THE QD PRIOR TO INITIATING FLUID FLOW, AND THEN BOTH THE GROUND AND FLIGHT HALF POPPET SEALS PRIOR TO DISCONNECT. THE PROPOSED INNOVATION ACCOMPLISHED THESE SEAL VERIFICATIONS BY UTILIZING FEATURES WHICH ARE INHERENT IN CURRENT CONNECTOR DESIGNS. THE SEQUENCE OF QD CONNECTIONAND OPERATION INVOLVES VOLUME DISPLACEMENTS; THIS CONCEPT MONITORS THE ASSOCIATED PRESSURE CHANGES AND EMPLOYS THIS INFORMATION TO VERIFY SEAL INTEGRITY. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS EFFORT ARE TO: CONTINUE THE BASIC RESEARCH NECESSARY TO QUANTIFY THE MAGNITUDE AND REPEATIBILITY OF THE PRESSURE CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH QD OPERATIONS AND TO EXPAND THE APPLICATIONS OF THE CONCEPT. THESE OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY: PERFORMING EXPERIMENTS NECESSARY TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL DATA ON THE PRESSURE CHANGE CHARACTERISTICS OF QD OPERATIONS; THE DEVELOPMENT OF QD OPERATIONS; THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CLOSED LOOP SYSTEM FOR FAIL SAFE OPERATION; THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNIQUE TRANSDUCER REQUIREMENTS; AND THE ADDITION OF THE CONCEPT TO OTHER GFE CONNECTORS.