Aircraft cockpit portable component gas sensor

• US 10,725,007 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2017
• Issued: 07/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: Bartosz, Lance R., Mantese, Joseph V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gibson, Randy W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kidanu, Gedeon M
• Application Number:
  US15/847,141
• Publication Number:
  US 20190187115A1
• Time in Patent Office: 952 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 13/00 Arrangements or adaptations of air-treatment apparatus for aircraft crew or passengers, or freight space , or structural parts of the aircraft treatment rooms with artificial climate for medical purposes A61G10/02; respiratory apparatus in general A62B; for vehicles in general B60H
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/0075 Adaptations for use of electronic flight bags in aircraft; Supports therefor in the cockpit
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 43/00 Arrangements or adaptations of instruments arrangements of cameras B64D47/08; aeronautical measuring instruments per se G01C
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 45/00 Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for camouflage F41H3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/004 CO or CO2
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0049 Halogenated organic compounds
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/0063 using a threshold to release an alarm or displaying means
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/14 Toxic gas alarms G08B21/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/08 using communication transmission lines G08B13/19658, G08B21/0286, G08B25/016 take precedence

Abstract

A system includes a portable air sensing device and an electronic interface device. The portable air sensing device is configured to sense a concentration of component gas in surrounding air and wirelessly transmit the sensed concentration. The electronic interface device is positioned within a cockpit of an aircraft and is communicatively coupled with the portable air sensing device. The electronic interface device is configured to receive the wirelessly transmitted concentration from the portable air sensing device, and generate, for display, an indication of the received concentration in relation to a defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a portable air sensing device configured to sense a concentration of a component gas in surrounding air and wirelessly transmit the sensed concentration; and

an electronic interface device positioned within a cockpit of an aircraft and communicatively coupled with the portable air sensing device, the electronic interface device configured to;

receive the wirelessly transmitted concentration from the portable air sensing device;

generate, for display, an indication of the received concentration in relation to a defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas; and

generate an alert in response to determining that the received concentration exceeds the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas;

wherein the alert comprises a recommended remedial action; and

wherein the recommended remedial action comprises activation of an environmental control system of the aircraft.

2. The system of claim 1,

wherein the component gas comprises carbon dioxide gas.

3. The system of claim 1,

wherein the component gas comprises at least one of carbon monoxide, tricresyl phosphate (TCP), a volatile organic compound (VOC), and ozone.

4. The system of claim 1,

wherein the electronic interface device is a tablet interface module of an electronic flight bag (EFB) system configured to display aircraft operating manual information, flight crew operating manual information, and navigational charts.

5. The system of claim 1,

wherein the electronic interface device is configured to generate the indication of the received concentration data in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas as a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) based web page.

6. The system of claim 1,

wherein the portable air sensing device is further configured to wirelessly transmit time data identifying a time when the concentration of the component gas was sensed.

7. The system of claim 6,

wherein the electronic interface device is further configured to receive the wirelessly transmitted time data from the portable air sensing device;

and

wherein the electronic interface device is configured to generate, for display, the indication of the received concentration of the component gas in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas as a time series of concentrations in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a display device communicatively coupled with the electronic interface device and configured to receive and display the indication of the concentration of the component gas in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas.

9. The system of claim 8,

wherein the display device is a portable computing device.

10. The system of claim 8,

wherein the display device is communicatively coupled with the electronic interface device to receive the indication of the concentration of the component gas in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas via wireless communications.

11. A system comprising:

a portable air sensing device configured to sense a concentration of a component gas in surrounding air and wirelessly transmit the sensed concentration and time data identifying a time when the concentration of the component gas was sensed;

an electronic interface device positioned within a cockpit of an aircraft and communicatively coupled with the portable air sensing device, the electrical interface device configured to;

receive the wirelessly transmitted concentration of the component gas and time data from the portable air sensing device;

generate, for display, an indication of the received concentration of the component gas in relation to the time data; and

generate an alert in response to determining that the received concentration exceeds the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas;

wherein the alert comprises a recommended remedial action; and

wherein the recommended remedial action comprises activation of an environmental control system of the aircraft; and

a portable computing device having a display, the portable computing device communicatively coupled to the electronic interface device and configured to display the indication of the received concentration of the component gas in relation to the time data.

12. The system of claim 11,

wherein the component gas comprises at least one of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, tricresyl phosphate (TCP), a volatile organic compound (VOC), and ozone.

13. The system of claim 11,

wherein the portable computing device comprises a portable tablet computer.

14. The system of claim 13,

wherein the electronic interface device is configured to generate the indication of the received concentration of the component gas in relation to the time data via a web page;

and

wherein the portable tablet computer is configured to execute a web browser application to access the web page via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) communications.

15. A method comprising:

sensing, by a gas sensor of a portable air sensing device, concentration of a component gas in surrounding air;

wirelessly transmitting, by the portable air sensing device, the sensed concentration of the component gas;

receiving, by an electronic interface device positioned within a cockpit of an aircraft, the sensed concentration of the component gas wirelessly transmitted by the portable air sensing device;

generating, by the electronic interface device, an indication of the received concentration of the component gas for display in relation to a defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas; and

generating, by the electronic interface device, an alert in response to determining that the received concentration of the component gas exceeds the defined maximum concentration of the component gas;

wherein the alert comprises a recommended remedial action; and

wherein the recommended remedial action comprises activation of an environmental control system of the aircraft.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

wirelessly transmitting, by the portable air sensing device, time data identifying a time when the concentration of the component gas was sensed; and

receiving, by the electronic interface device, the wirelessly transmitted time data from the portable air sensing device;

wherein generating the indication of the received concentration of the component gas for display comprises generating the indication of the received concentration of the component gas in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration of the component gas as a time series of concentrations in relation to the defined threshold maximum concentration presented in a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) based web page.