Patent ID: 8876054

Claim:
A device for defrosting a leading edge of an aircraft, comprising: at least one ejection opening ( 52 ) for ejecting hot air; a pipe ( 56 ) for directing the hot air from a power plant to said ejection opening ( 52 ); a pressure measuring device ( 58 ) inside said pipe ( 56 ); at least one cross-section reduction of said pipe ( 56 ) called a chokepoint ( 62 ) upstream from the pressure measuring device ( 58 ), a normal pressure being high upstream from said chokepoint ( 62 ) and low downstream; and a leak detector comprising said chokepoint ( 62 ) and said pressure measuring device ( 58 ), which allows leak detection by an enhanced pressure variation relative to the low normal pressure downstream from said chokepoint, the enhanced pressure variation being detected by the pressure measuring device ( 58 ), a specific position of the chokepoint relative to the pressure measuring device being configured so that the pressure variation produced by a leak is significant and detectable by the pressure measuring device relative to the normal operating pressure, wherein the chokepoint ( 62 ) has a cross-section (S′) that is larger than a total cross-section (S) of the at least one ejection opening ( 52 ), the cross-section (S′) of the chokepoint ( 62 ) is equal to the ejection cross-section (S) that is increased by a cross-section that corresponds to a margin and to pressure drops that are present in the pipe ( 56 ) between said chokepoint ( 62 ) and the at least one opening ( 52 ), and a sonic impact appears at the chokepoint ( 62 ) so that the leak detector detects the enhanced pressure variation relative to the low normal pressure downstream from said chokepoint ( 62 ), and the sonic impact is dissipated by the time the sonic impact reaches the at least one ejection opening ( 52 ) such that there is no sonic impact at the least one ejection opening ( 52 ).