Patent attributes
The invention provides an aircraft wing, comprising a fixed wing and a wing tip device at the tip. The wing tip device is configurable between: (i) a locked flight configuration for use during flight and (ii) a ground configuration for use during ground-based operations. The wing further comprises a locking mechanism for locking the folding wing tip device in the locked flight configuration. A rotatable locking member is associated with one of the folding wing tip device and the fixed wing, and a locking pin associated with the other. The rotatable locking member comprises a guide surface to guide the locking pin to a locked configuration, in which the guide surface is shaped such that the locking pin is urged toward the rotation axis of the rotatable locking member by a camming action of the guide surface on the locking pin, thereby preloading the locking mechanism.