5. Air cushions for floor handling

5.1 Description

For information on how this type of cushion works, please refer to the article on air cushions in the Mechanical Engineering treatise.

Figure 6 describes the cushion from France's only manufacturer of air cushions for ground handling.

The cushion is equipped with a suspension system that enables it to better adapt to differences in ground level, both in heave and in rotation (ball joint effect). The attitude of this suspension can be adjusted by the number of orifices, which determines the pressure drop between the suspension and the cushion itself. These cushions are usually incorporated into a chassis (figure