AIRCRAFT SIDESTICK PRIORITY AND DUAL INPUT CONTROL LOGIC
First Claim
1. A flight control system for an aircraft, comprising:
- a processor that processes a plurality of inputs from the aircraft, that contains a plurality of control laws that control operation of the aircraft, and that provides a plurality of outputs that control a plurality of devices located on the aircraft;
a pair of first input devices, a first one of the first input devices controlled by a pilot of the aircraft, a second one of the first input devices controlled by a co-pilot of the aircraft, each one of the first input devices being operable to input a first control signal to the processor to cause the aircraft to be in a first priority control condition; and
a pair of second input devices located apart from the pair of first input devices, a first one of the second input devices controlled by a pilot of the aircraft, a second one of the second input devices controlled by a co-pilot of the aircraft, each one of the second input devices being operable to input a second control signal to the processor to cause the aircraft to be in a second priority control condition.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a fly-by-wire type of aircraft flight control system having a pair of sidesticks for pilot and co-pilot input, respectively, and having logic that controls the priority of input as between the two sidesticks in certain aircraft flight situations. It allows either the pilot or co-pilot to ensure that his/her sidestick is the only one issuing flight control commands at any one moment in time by first pressing a simple latch button located, for example, on the glareshield in the cockpit and then maneuvering the sidestick in the desired manner to effectuate flight control, e.g., pitch and/or roll, of the aircraft.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A flight control system for an aircraft, comprising:
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a processor that processes a plurality of inputs from the aircraft, that contains a plurality of control laws that control operation of the aircraft, and that provides a plurality of outputs that control a plurality of devices located on the aircraft; a pair of first input devices, a first one of the first input devices controlled by a pilot of the aircraft, a second one of the first input devices controlled by a co-pilot of the aircraft, each one of the first input devices being operable to input a first control signal to the processor to cause the aircraft to be in a first priority control condition; and a pair of second input devices located apart from the pair of first input devices, a first one of the second input devices controlled by a pilot of the aircraft, a second one of the second input devices controlled by a co-pilot of the aircraft, each one of the second input devices being operable to input a second control signal to the processor to cause the aircraft to be in a second priority control condition. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for controlling a priority of input to an aircraft flight control system as between a pilot and a co-pilot each using two input devices associated with the pilot and the co-pilot, respectively, the method comprising the steps of:
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checking first if both the pilot and the co-pilot have simultaneously issued an input command to the flight control system using a first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot; if both the pilot and the co-pilot have simultaneously issued an input command to the flight control system, checking if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested temporary priority of input to the flight control system using the first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot; if neither the pilot nor the co-pilot has requested temporary priority of input to the flight control system, checking if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested permanent priority of input to the flight control system using a second one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot, the second one of the two input devices being located apart from the first one of the two input devices; if neither the pilot nor the co-pilot has requested permanent priority of input to the flight control system, checking second if both the pilot and the co-pilot have simultaneously issued an input command to the flight control system using the first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot; if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested temporary priority of input to the flight control system using the first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot, assigning temporary priority of input to the flight control system to the one of the pilot or the co-pilot that requested temporary priority of input; and if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested permanent priority of input to the flight control system using the second one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot, assigning permanent priority of input to the flight control system to the one of the pilot or the co-pilot that requested permanent priority of input. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer program product for controlling a priority of input to an aircraft flight control system as between a pilot and a co-pilot each using two input devices associated with the pilot and the co-pilot, respectively, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable/executable by a computer, processor or logic circuit to perform a method comprising the steps of:
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checking first if both the pilot and the co-pilot have simultaneously issued an input command to the flight control system using a first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot; if both the pilot and the co-pilot have simultaneously issued an input command to the flight control system, checking if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested temporary priority of input to the flight control system using the first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot; if neither the pilot nor the co-pilot has requested temporary priority of input to the flight control system, checking if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested permanent priority of input to the flight control system using a second one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot, the second one of the two input devices being located apart from the first one of the two input devices; if neither the pilot nor the co-pilot has requested permanent priority of input to the flight control system, checking second if both the pilot and the co-pilot have simultaneously issued an input command to the flight control system using the first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot; if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested temporary priority of input to the flight control system using the first one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot, assigning temporary priority of input to the flight control system to the one of the pilot or the co-pilot that requested temporary priority of input; and if either the pilot or the co-pilot has requested permanent priority of input to the flight control system using the second one of the two input devices associated with either the pilot or the co-pilot, assigning permanent priority of input to the flight control system to the one of the pilot or the co-pilot that requested permanent priority of input.
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33-43. -43. (canceled)
Specification