Adjustable assembly for aircraft rudder, brake and nose landing gear steering control

Claim 1

A claim for use in an aircraft cockpit having a seat and a control panel, a device for controlling the aircraft's rudder, nose landing gear steering system and brakes, said device being positioned generally forwardly of said seat and underneath said control panel, and comprising: a "U"-shaped frame having two spaced, generally upwardly extending legs interconnected by a tranversely extending leg; a pair of foot-operated pedals, one each being mounted to one of said frame's upwardly extending legs; an assembly mounted member, wherein said frame is pivotally mounted to said mounting member for rotation about a first horizontal axis; adjustment means for pivotally moving said frame so that said pedals mounted thereto may be placed in a comfortable position for a seated aircraft operator; linkage means for operationally connecting pedal throw and rotational movement of each of said pedals to aircraft rudder, nose landing gear steering and brake controls, said linkage means including a separate pair of elongated generally upwardly extending control rods for operationally interconnecting each pedal to said controls, wherein an upper end of a first rod of said pair is connected to said pedal in a manner so that said first rod translates either upwardly or downwardly depending on the direction of pedal throw, and an upper end of the second rod of said pair is connected to said pedal in a manner so that said second rod translates either upwardly or downwardly depending on the direction of pedal rotational movement, said linkage means further including a plurality of bell crank members, one for each control rod, wherein each bell crank member is pivotally connected to said assembly mounting member, for rotation about a second horizontal axis that is generally perpendicular to said first axis, and wherein a lower end of each control rod is connected to an outwardly projecting arm of said control rod's respective bell crank member, in a manner so that translational movement of said rod causes said bell crank member to pivot about said second axis, and further, said lower end of said control rod being connected to its respective bell crank member in a manner so that said control rod also pivots in the same direction as said frame in response to pivotal adjustment of said frame.