1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aircraft engine handling assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Aircraft engines are firstly manufactured in separate modules, which are then assembled with one another. The manufactured modules are transported to the place of assembly, and then removed from their conditioning and moved precisely to the position in which they are docked with the adjacent module. The movements are essentially accomplished by handling, although plant such as hoists to raise the modules, and carriages to move them, are available.
This handling operation is long and difficult since aircraft engine modules are bulky and heavy items, whilst also being fragile. A particular difficulty derives from the fact that they are generally assembled with their rotational axis horizontal, whereas they are often positioned with the rotational axis vertical during shipment in their crate, in order that they are resting on a surface with a flat end, and in order that stability during shipment is improved: they must therefore be overturned when they have been removed from the crate, normally before being positioned on the carriage, but this operation is delicate and therefore requires many precautions. Placing the module on the carriage is also a delicate operation, and special brackets must be added to the module, called “lugs”, to enable it to rest on it in stable fashion and with sufficient area, which would otherwise be impossible due to its generally conical and irregular rotational shape. It must be added that it is also necessary to use tools called “strongbacks”, which are assembled at the ends of the module, in order to strengthen it whilst stopping the movements between the rotor and the stator before it is assembled with the other modules.
The invention relates to an assembly for handling an aircraft engine module which avoids the mentioned disadvantages, and allows the assembly of the module with an adjacent module to be prepared under optimum working conditions, more rapidly and with much fewer manual interventions, requiring fewer precautions.
DE-A-34 27 042 describes an aircraft engine handling assembly in which a moving carriage is fitted with means for attaching the module, and means for adjusting the position of the module, without reproducing other characteristics of the invention, and notably without creating an attachment through a tool secured to an end of the module, and providing the possibility of tipping the module completely. Other carriages or supporting devices are the subjects of U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,481,503, 1,600,835, US-A-2009/020 934 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,034.