阅读说明：本技术 连接器 (Connector with a locking member ) 是由 保罗·道格拉斯 安东尼·布赖恩特 丹尼尔·皮奇 于 2019-07-02 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供了一种连接器、连接器组件、飞行器燃料通气系统和飞行器机翼。连接器将通气管或浮阀与附接至飞行器面板的帽形截面的桁条管道连接。连接器具有桥接件以桥接在管道上并且覆盖管道的壁中的孔。桥接件在每一侧具有用于将连接器附接至面板的凸缘。连接器具有将桥接件相对于管道密封的密封件、在桥接件中限定的孔和流量控制器连接器,流量控制器连接器将连接器与管道或浮阀连接并提供其之间的流体连通。组件包括连接器、管道和飞行器面板,燃料通气系统包括一个或更多个燃料箱、通气管和通向大气的排放口。(The invention provides a connector, a connector assembly, an aircraft fuel vent system and an aircraft wing. A connector connects the snorkel or float valve with a stringer pipe attached to the hat section of the aircraft panel. The connector has a bridge to bridge over the pipe and cover an aperture in the wall of the pipe. The bridge has flanges on each side for attaching the connector to the panel. The connector has a seal that seals the bridge relative to the pipe, an aperture defined in the bridge, and a flow controller connector that connects the connector with the pipe or float valve and provides fluid communication therebetween. The assembly includes a connector, a tube, and an aircraft panel, and the fuel venting system includes one or more fuel tanks, a vent tube, and a vent to atmosphere.)

1. A connector for releasably connecting a fluid flow controller to an aircraft stringer conduit, the connector having a bridge member bridging over the stringer conduit, flanges on each side of the bridge member for attaching the connector to the stringer conduit, apertures defined in the bridge member for passing fluid between the stringer conduit and the connector, and a flow controller connector for connecting the connector and the flow controller.

2. The connector of claim 1, wherein the connector is attachable to a panel by fasteners passing through the flange.

3. A connector according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the bridge defines a vent chamber therein which surrounds at least a portion of the stringer conduit after assembly of the bridge, wherein the bridge includes at least one seal for sealing a hole in a wall of the stringer conduit within the vent chamber.

4. The connector of claim 3, wherein the bridge comprises: a pair of spaced apart webs, each web upstanding from the flange; and a crown bridging the webs, thereby in use forming a sealed fit with respect to the stringer conduit having a crown and two spaced apart webs, and wherein the discharge chamber extends between the crown and at least one web of the bridge, thereby in use to enable fluid to flow between an aperture in one of the crown and web of the stringer conduit and an aperture defined in the other of the crown and web of the bridge.

5. The connector of claim 4, wherein at least one web has a columnar structure that positions the fastener between the posts.

6. A connector assembly for connection to aircraft stringer conduits and panels comprising a connector according to any of claims 1 to 5.

7. A connector assembly for connection to an aircraft stringer conduit and panel comprising a connector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a reinforcing saddle is interposed between the stringer conduit and the connector, the saddle being permanently bonded to the stringer conduit.

8. The connector assembly of claim 7, wherein the stringer conduit and saddle comprise CFRP material.

9. The connector assembly of claim 7 or 8, wherein the saddle has a flange adapted to engage the flange of the connector, the saddle and the connector each having a hat-shaped cross-section defining a substantially flat crown, the crown defining a hole, and wherein, providing a sacrificial material between the crown of the connector and the crown of the saddle and between the flange of the connector and the flange of the saddle, the sacrificial material being removable as required, to ensure that the spacing between the flange of the saddle and the crown of the saddle, measured in a direction orthogonal to the flange of the saddle, accurately matches the spacing between the flange of the connector and the crown of the connector, measured in a direction orthogonal to the flange of the connector.

10. The connector assembly of any one of claims 6 to 9, comprising the flow controller comprising a vent tube attached to the flow controller connector.

11. The connector assembly of any one of claims 6 to 9, comprising the flow controller comprising a float valve directly attached to the flow controller connector.

12. A connector assembly according to claim 11 when dependent on claim 4 wherein the flow controller connector comprises a pivot for the float valve, the float valve comprising a float and a closure for the aperture in the web of the bridge, the float and closure being connected for pivotal movement together about the pivot.

13. A connector assembly according to claim 12, wherein the closure for the aperture comprises a plate which is pivotable into and out of engagement with the portion of the web surrounding the aperture in dependence on the pivotal movement of the float.

14. An aircraft fuel vent system comprising at least one fuel tank, a connector assembly according to any of claims 6 to 13 and means to vent the stringer conduit to atmosphere.

15. An aircraft wing comprising the fuel aeration system of claim 14.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a connector for connecting an aircraft stringer conduit to a tube or other type of flow controller. In particular, the present invention relates to such connectors that can be releasably attached to a conduit without penetrating into the interior of the conduit.

Background

It is known to use aircraft hat section wing stringers as ducts to conduct fluids, both liquid and gas, in the spanwise direction of the wing. Stringers are stiffening members that are securely attached to the skin of a wing, also known as a cover. They extend in the wingspan direction of the wing from the wing root to the wing tip. The cross-sectional shape of the hat stringer is defined by: two spaced apart co-planar flanges for attaching a stringer to a panel being stiffened, a pair of spaced apart upstanding webs attached to the inner edges of the flanges and a crown bridging across the distal edges of the webs. Such stringers, when attached to a reinforced panel, form closed channels capable of conducting fluid along its length.

In particular, for modern civil passenger aircraft that use the space within the wing as fuel tanks, such hat-section stringers may be used to conduct fuel, fuel vapour or air between the fuel tanks in the spanwise direction of the wing. Such stringers have been referred to as fuel stringer conduits (FSDs) and are used in particular to vent air from a central fuel tank and one or more wing tanks to a buffer tank typically located in the outboard part of the wing. Air enters the FSD in a given tank via a flare or float valve located inside and near the top of the tank. The flare or float valve is typically connected to the FSD by a length of tubing.

Currently, one known method of attaching a pipe connector, typically an elbow connector, to an FSD is by gluing. If the wing cover is made of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP), the FSD may comprise the same material and be co-cured in place against the cover to form a unitary reinforced structure. In this case, the connector used to connect the tube to the carbon fibre FSD is shaped to fit around the FSD of the hat section and to adhere to the FSD by co-curing in place or by using an adhesive. It should be noted that this arrangement does not involve any intrusion of the connector or any of its securing means into the pipe itself. Thus, fluid flow within the FSD is not interrupted. Such flow interruption can result in pressure loss in the exhaust system. The intrusion of fasteners may also lead to the risk that static electricity accumulated in the FSD is discharged by the spark.

However, the use of such a bonded connection between the connector and the FSD means that the connector cannot be easily removed and replaced if damaged. Such connectors are susceptible to damage because of the protrusion of the FSD.

Another difficulty with attaching pipe connectors to FSDs is that the most convenient way to make a fluid connection is usually through a hole in the crown of the FSD. From the standpoint of keeping any pipework attached to the FSD as close as possible to the wing cover, it is desirable to connect the pipework to the web of the FSD. However, the web of an FSD is typically not as wide as the crown, which makes it difficult to attach a pipework pipe of sufficient diameter to the web. A connector that enables the bore in the FSD to be in its crown but takes a tubular connection with the web of the FSD would alleviate this problem.

Disclosure of Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a connector for releasably connecting a fluid flow controller to an aircraft stringer conduit, the connector having a bridge member bridging over the stringer conduit, flanges on each side of the bridge member for attaching the connector to the stringer conduit, apertures defined in the bridge member for the passage of fluid between the stringer conduit and the connector, and a flow controller connector for connecting the connector to said flow controller.

Thus, the connector according to the invention can be fitted around stringer conduits having any closed cross-section, for example stringers of omega-shaped cross-section or hat-shaped cross-section, as appropriate.

The connector may be made of any suitable material having the desired properties of strength, rigidity, lightness, durability, etc. Thus, metal or thermoplastic materials are considered suitable.

The connector may be attachable to the panel by fasteners passing through the flange. This arrangement provides the advantage that the connector can be easily removed from the aircraft panel if damaged. Additionally, the fastener will not intrude into the conduit, which would impede fluid flow within the conduit.

The bridge may include: a pair of webs, each web upstanding from the flange; and a crown bridging between the webs, and the flow controller connector may be located on the crown or on the web of the bridge.

The flow controller connector may comprise a pipe connector, optionally in the form of a threaded member or a flange defining a bore for a fastener. Alternatively, the flow controller connector may comprise a float valve connector, which may be in the form of a pivot for a float valve.

The bridge may define a discharge chamber therein which surrounds at least a portion of the pipe when the bridge is assembled, and in use the bridge may include at least one seal for sealing an aperture in said wall of the pipe within the discharge chamber.

At least one of the webs may have a columnar structure that positions the fastener between the posts. This arrangement provides structural rigidity to the connector, with the fasteners located between the posts and therefore occupying minimal space.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a connector assembly comprising a connector according to the first aspect for connection to an aircraft stringer conduit and panel.

The assembly may include a reinforced saddle interposed between the pipe and the connector, the saddle being permanently bonded to the pipe. Both the tube and saddle may comprise CFRP material, and the saddle may be co-cured with the tube to save production time for the assembly, to obtain optimum strength and durability for the assembly.

The saddle may have a flange adapted to engage a flange of the connector. The saddle and the connector may each have a cap-shaped cross-section defining a substantially flat crown defining a hole, and wherein a sacrificial material may be provided between the crown of the connector and the crown of the saddle and between the flange of the connector and the flange of the saddle, the sacrificial material being removable as required to ensure that the spacing between the flange of the saddle and the crown of the saddle, measured in a direction orthogonal to the flange of the saddle, exactly matches the spacing between the flange of the connector and the crown of the connector, measured in a direction orthogonal to the flange of the connector.

Alternatively, the spacing between the crown and the bead may be controlled by using a hard mold (hard tooling) for at least the crown and the bead during the co-curing process.

The connector assembly may comprise said flow controller, optionally in the form of a tube, attached to a flow controller connector. The tube may be a fuel vent tube within a fuel tank of the aircraft. The tube may be fitted with a flare or float valve arrangement.

Alternatively, the flow controller may comprise a float valve operable directly on the connector via the flow controller connector.

In a preferred arrangement, the spaced webs and crowns of the bridge may define said discharge chamber, an aperture being defined in the web, said float valve having a float and being pivotable about a flow controller connector in the form of a pivot. The float valve may comprise a closure for the aperture, the closure comprising a plate pivotable into and out of engagement with a portion of the web surrounding the aperture depending on the position of the float.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided an aircraft fuel vent system comprising one or more stringer conduits, one or more fuel tanks through which the one or more stringer conduits pass and a connector assembly according to the second aspect attached to a stringer conduit in the or each fuel tank.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided an aircraft wing comprising a fuel ventilation system according to the third aspect.

Drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a perspective view from below of an aircraft fuel aeration system according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a variation of a portion of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of a connector according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of an FSD, saddle and face plate for use with the connector of FIG. 1;

figure 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the assembly of the connector of figure 1 and the FSD, saddle and face plate and pipe connector of figure 4,

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of an assembly according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the connector has a sidewall or web flow controller connector;

FIG. 7 is an isometric view from below and from one side of a connector assembly having a side flow controller connector according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a section taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an isometric view from below and from one side of a connector assembly having a crown flow controller connector according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a section taken along line X-X of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of an aircraft fuel aeration system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view from above and from one side of a connector assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a section taken along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a connector according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view from above and one side of a connector assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a side cross-sectional view of a connector assembly similar to that shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a side cross-sectional view of the connector shown in the assembly of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the connector shown in FIG. 17; and

FIG. 19 is a schematic plan view of an aircraft wing having a fuel-breathing system according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

Throughout the drawings, like features are indicated with like reference numerals where convenient for understanding.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2 of the drawings, an aircraft fuel aeration system is shown. The system comprises an aircraft skin panel or cover 1 of CFRP material to which is attached by co-curing a hat-section stringer in the form of a CFRP-made FSD 2. The cover 1 and FSD2 are attached with a connector 4 by means of fasteners 3. Interposed between the FSD2 and the connector 4 is a CFRP reinforced saddle 5, the CFRP reinforced saddle 5 having been co-cured with the cover 1 and the FSD 2.

A fuel vent pipe, shown generally at 7, is attached to the connector 4 via a flow controller connector in the form of a pipe connector 6 (see fig. 2). The pipe 7 comprises a flow controller in the form of an elbow connector 8, the elbow connector 8 being connected to a straight floating pipe 9 via an internal seal (not shown) and then to a transition pipe 10 via a second floating internal seal (not shown). The transition duct 10 comprises a circular elbow portion 11, a transition portion 12 and an oblong flare 15, the circular elbow portion 11 engaging the floating duct 9, the cross-sectional shape of the transition portion 12 transitioning from circular to oblong, and the transition portion 12 comprising a mounting 13 for mounting the snorkel 7 to an aerofoil rib 14, the flare 15 having an opening adjacent the cover 1.

The area shown is located within the wing fuel tank 16 (see fig. 19) of the aircraft, so that the fuel sometimes almost fills the tank. This is why the opening of the bell 15 is positioned so close to the top cover 1: so that fuel is not drawn into the breather system. Alternatively, flare 15 may be replaced by a float valve (see fig. 11 and description) to prevent fuel from entering the breather system. The ventilation system operates to enable the pressure in the fuel system of the aircraft to equalize in dependence on changes in the fuel level in the individual fuel tanks and changes in the atmospheric pressure caused by changes in the altitude of the aircraft. The system works unidirectionally by the void gas from the space above the fuel in the fuel tank, drawn in by the lower pressure within the breather system, or forced into the tubes 7 as the fuel level in the tank rises. The void gas then enters the FSD2 through the connector 4 and then along the wing 17 (see fig. 19) to the surge tank 20 near the wing tip 21. On the other hand, if the fuel level in the tank is falling, air will be drawn into the tank from the atmosphere through the breather system.

The connector of the invention, which is attached to the wing cover 1 by the fastener 3 rather than by gluing, can be removed and replaced when a part of the connector or ventilation system is damaged, malfunctions or requires maintenance. In fig. 1, it should be noted that the pipe 7 emerges from the elbow connector 8 almost parallel to the FSD2, whereas in fig. 2 the elbow connector 8 emerges at right angles to the FSD 2. Any desired angle is possible.

Fig. 3, 4 and 5 show cross-sectional views of a connector and connector assembly of a similar design to that shown in fig. 1 and 2. In fig. 3, the connector 4 according to the invention is made of a rigid thermoplastic material and has: a pair of spaced apart flanges 22, 23 for attaching the connector 4 to an aircraft panel by fasteners similar to those shown in figure 1; a pair of spaced apart webs 24, 25 upstanding from the flanges 22, 23; a crown 26 bridged across the web; and a flow controller connector in the form of a tube connector 27.

The webs 24, 25 and the crown 26 form a bridge and define a passage 28 therethrough for receiving the FSD. The pipe connector 27 defines a circular aperture 29 for passage therethrough of fuel system void gas or air from the atmosphere. The recess 30 receives a circular seal 31 (see fig. 5) to seal the connector 4 with respect to the FSD.

Referring to fig. 4, a CFRP aircraft wing panel 1 is shown. The CFRP fabricated FSD2 is attached to the inner surface 32 of the wing panel 1 by a co-curing process. The FSD here comprises an inner pipe ply 35, a flanged intermediate ply 36 and a flanged saddle 37. The pipe inner ply 35, the intermediate ply 36 and the saddle 37 all have holes 38 for receiving the fasteners 3 therethrough, although as explained above, in the case of a FSD co-cured with the panel 1, no fasteners are used to hold the FSD in place. The crown 47 of the FSD2 has a circular aperture 53 defined therein, the circular aperture 53 being positioned to align with the aperture 29 of the connector 4.

The voids that exist in the unfilled condition between the wing panel 1, the inner ply 35 and the intermediate ply 36 are filled by the strips 39, 40. The sacrificial glass fiber plies 41, 42, 43 and 44 are machined to a specified thickness to ensure that there is a specific spacing between the flanges 45, 46 of the FSD saddle 37 and the crown 47 of the FSD saddle 37 measured in a direction orthogonal to the flanges 22, 23. To ensure accurate assembly, the spacing will be the same as the specific spacing between the flanges 22, 23 of the connector 4 and the crown 26 of the connector 4.

Turning to fig. 5, the connector 4 is shown assembled to the FSD 2. The countersunk head fastener 3 and swaged collars 33 (see fig. 5) with nut caps 34 hold the connector 4 in place on the FSD 2. The flow controller connector 27 of the connector 4 is fitted with a flow controller in the form of a tube 48. The tube 48 has a flange 109 that engages a flange 110 of the flow controller connector 27. The tube 48 is sealed against the flange 27 by a seal 49 in a groove 50. In practice, fasteners will be used to enable the tube 48 to be removed for maintenance or the like, but the fasteners are not shown here.

As such, the embodiment of fig. 3, 4 and 5 shows an assembly according to the present invention in which the tube 48 is mounted to the connector 4 at the crown 26 of the connector 4. Mounting the tubes in this manner is not always suitable or desirable because the tubes will be further from the wing panel 1 than if they emerge from one of the webs 24, 25 of the connector 4. Mounting the tube 48 to the web of the connector brings it considerably closer to the wing panel and thus the flare naturally closer to the panel 1.

The embodiment shown in fig. 6 has a connector 4 of the type: it has a flow controller connector 51 mounted to the web. In addition to the above-described advantages of mounting the tube to the web of the connector, this arrangement also avoids any holes being formed in the crown 52 of the FSD2, which may be desirable in certain circumstances. The connector 4 is sealed with respect to the saddle 37 by a peripheral seal 54 disposed in a groove 55 of the connector. The seal 54 is supported on a sacrificial layer 56 of fiberglass material. Between the saddle 37 and the connector 4 similar sacrificial layers 57, 58, 59 of fibreglass material are positioned, all of which can be machined, as previously described, to ensure perfect fitting of the connector 4 on the saddle 37.

A flow controller in the form of a tube 61 is attached to the flow controller connector 51 by a fastener 60. The tube is similarly sealed to the flow controller connector 51 by a peripheral seal 62. It can be seen that the tube 61 emerges from the flow controller connector 51 immediately adjacent the panel 1 and no 90 ° connector is required to guide the tube across the wing.

Fig. 7 and 8 show a connector according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the connector 4 defines a discharge chamber 63 surrounding the FSD 2. The exhaust chamber 63 is sealed from the FSD2 by a peripheral flange 64 that extends just around the connector 4. The fluid-tight seal between the flange 64 and the FSD is obtained by using a liquid sealant (not shown) or by employing an elastomeric seal (again, not shown) in a groove of the type shown in previous figures. The webs 65, 66 of the connector have a cylindrical configuration with fasteners (not shown) disposed between posts 67, 68. This design provides excellent rigidity and space efficiency for the connector 4, wherein the columnar structure enables the exhaust chamber 63 to extend to each side of the FSD2, while providing for the use of fasteners through the holes 71 in the surrounding flange 64.

It can be observed that the diameter of the orifice 69 of the flow controller connector 70 is greater than the height of the web 24 of the FSD 2. Thus, the use of the discharge chamber 63 for the connector 4 enables a pipe side-to-side connection to the connector 4 having a diameter greater than the height of the web 24. The bore 72 in the crown 73 of the FSD may be elongated or doubled, if desired, to achieve the desired overall size, since its size and shape is not associated with the size and shape of the orifice 69 of the flow control connector 70.

As such, rather than connecting the tube directly into the bore in the FSD as in the previous embodiment, the present embodiment provides design flexibility by employing the exhaust chamber 63 to transfer interstitial gas between the bore 72 in the FSD and the flow controller connector 70 in the connector 4. As such, the direction in which the tube (not shown) attached to the flow controller connector 70 emerges from the connector 4 is not limited by the positioning of the bore in the FSD.

The flexibility provided by this embodiment is further illustrated in fig. 9 and 10. Here, the flow controller connector 74 is located on the crown 75 of the connector 4 so that a pipe (not shown) connected to the flow controller connector 74 can be led directly down from the FSD 2. It can be observed that the holes 76, 77 in the FSD2 are formed in the webs 78, 79 of the FSD2 rather than in the crown 80 thereof. This positioning of the apertures 76, 77 may be used to avoid penetration of the crown 80 and the consequent loss of crown strength. Also, if desired, the apertures 76, 77 may be elongated to obtain a desired open area.

Turning now to fig. 11, 12, 13 and 14, another embodiment of a connector is shown. FIG. 11 is a schematic general perspective view of an aircraft fuel tank interior of a portion of a fuel vent system according to the present invention. The FSD2, which extends in the spanwise direction of the aircraft wing, has attached a connector 4 according to this embodiment of the invention. The connector 4 has attached to it a flow controller in the form of a vent tube 7 by fasteners (not shown) which pass through holes 111 to attach the flange 85 of the tube 7 to the connector 4. The snorkel 7 extends in the chord direction of the wing below another hat section wing stringer 81, and the snorkel 7 is attached to this stringer 81 by a bracket 82. A drain float valve 83 is attached to an end 84 of the snorkel 10. The float valve 83 allows void gas from above the fuel (not shown) in the tank to flow into the pipe 7 when the fuel is below a preset level. This prevents fuel from entering the breather pipe 7 as much as possible.

Fig. 12, 13 and 14 show details of the connector 4 shown in fig. 11. Referring to fig. 14, the connector 4 has a configuration generally similar to those discussed above, having a generally hat-shaped cross-section defining a passage 28 therethrough. However, this connector differs from the connector shown in fig. 1-6 by including a transition region 86 that controls fluid flow through the 90 ° bend. It can be seen that this arrangement occupies vertically less space in use than the embodiment shown in figures 1 to 5. In fig. 1 to 5, the elbow connector 8 controls the fluid flow through the same 90 ° but takes up more vertical space and guides the pipe 7 connected to the elbow connector 8 considerably further from the panel 1 and therefore lower in the fuel tank. The use of a separate elbow connector 8 is also avoided. A one-way valve 88 depends downwardly from the lower end 87 of the connector 4. The valve vents unwanted liquid from the fuel vent system.

Turning now to fig. 15-18, a connector 4 according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown. The connector has a discharge chamber 89 and a flow controller in the form of a float valve 90 that selectively blocks an opening 91 to the discharge chamber 89. It can be observed that the discharge chamber 89 extends only around two sides of the FSD2, the crown 26 and a web 25.

This design effectively eliminates the need for a separate fuel vent pipe because the inlet for void gas into the connector is moved from the end 84 of the pipe, such as shown in fig. 11, to the connector 4 itself. It will be observed that the opening 91 is located close to the flange 92 of the connector and that, in use, the flange 92 will be in close proximity to the upper wing panel to which the flange 92 is attached. It can be seen that the connector 4 provides an extremely clean entrance and exit to the FSD 2. The connector 4 provides a simple, compact, lightweight and space-saving design solution for the inlet to the ventilation system as long as the fluid inlet into the ventilation system is not required at a location of the wing spaced from the FSD in the chordwise direction.

Referring to fig. 16, it can be seen that the exhaust chamber 89 provides a fluid connection between the bore 93 in the FSD2 and the opening 91 in the exhaust chamber 89. The flow controller float valve 90 includes an arm 94 that rotates on a flow controller connector in the form of a pivot 95, and the arm 94 has a valve plate 96 that selectively covers and seals the aperture 91 depending on the position to which the float 97 is urged by the fuel in the tank. Thus, as shown in fig. 17, a lower fuel level will enable the float 97 to pivot downward and the valve plate 96 to pivot away from the opening 91 in the discharge chamber 89. The void gas may then enter or exit the FSD2 of the venting system through the connector 4. If the fuel level rises, as shown in FIG. 16, the float 97 will pivot upward such that the valve plate 96 eventually closes and seals the opening 91 in the drain chamber 89, preventing fluid from flowing into or out of the vent system.

In fig. 19, a wing 17 and a ventilation system 98 according to the invention are shown. The wing 17 includes four fuel tanks 16, 18, 19 and 20, with a fuel breather system 98 passing through all four tanks. Three FSDs 99, 100, 112 extend through the boxes 18, 19 and 20 along the upper wing cover 1. The centre tank 16 within the fuselage 101 of the aircraft has a fuel vent pipe 102, the fuel vent pipe 102 extending from the centre tank 16 into the wing tanks 18 to connect to the FSD112 via the connector 103 of the invention. In the tank 18, a fuel vent pipe 104 feeds into the FSD 99 via a connector 105. In the tank 19, a fuel vent pipe 106 feeds into the FSD100 via a connector 107. The FSDs 99, 100, 112 all enter the buffer bin 20. The FSD 99, 100, 112 may be open-ended with a hole formed in the crown or web, or may employ a connector and breather tube for venting to atmosphere. The buffer tank 20 is typically in communication with NACA piping or the like 108 to vent the tank to atmosphere.

The embodiments described herein are various non-limiting examples of how the invention may be implemented. Any feature described in relation to any one embodiment may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other of the embodiments. Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

The word "or" as used herein is to be understood as meaning "and/or" unless otherwise indicated.