METHOD OF MONITORING THE PRESSURE OF AN AIRCRAFT TIRE

• US 20160272021A1
• Filed: 03/21/2016
• Published: 09/22/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: BILL, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 10,596,867 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 2200/02 for aircrafts
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0408 transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0474 Measurement control, e.g. setting measurement rate or calibrating of sensors; Further processing of measured values, e.g. filtering, compensating or slope monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0476 Temperature compensation of measured pressure values
• CPC Class Codes: B60C 23/0486 comprising additional sensors in the wheel or tyre mounted monitoring device, e.g. movement sensors, microphones or earth magnetic field sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 11/00 Measuring temperature based upon physical or chemical changes not covered by groups G01K3/00, G01K5/00, G01K7/00 or G01K9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 17/00 Devices or apparatus for measuring tyre pressure or the pressure in other inflated bodies
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 17/02 Tyres

Abstract

A method of monitoring the pressure of a tire of an aircraft, the method including: taking two or more pressure readings from the tire at different times; calculating an estimated deflation rate based on the pressure readings; and calculating a time for the tire to deflate to a reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate. Two or more temperature readings are each associated with one of the pressure readings, and the estimated deflation rate is calculated by normalising each pressure reading based on its associated temperature reading and a common reference temperature to obtain a temperature-normalised pressure reading, and calculating the estimated deflation rate based on the temperature-normalised pressure readings. The estimated deflation rate is compared with a threshold, and a warning provided if the estimated deflation rate exceeds the threshold.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring the pressure of a tire of an aircraft, the method comprising:

taking two or more pressure readings from the tire at different times; and

calculating an estimated deflation rate of the tire based on the two or more pressure readings.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising comparing the estimated deflation rate with a threshold and providing a warning if the estimated deflation rate exceeds the threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising calculating a time for the tire to deflate to a reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising displaying the time for the tire to deflate to the reference pressure level.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the time for the tire to deflate to the reference pressure level is calculated by reducing a selected one of the pressure readings with respect to a lower temperature to obtain a temperature-adjusted pressure level, and calculating a time for the tire to deflate from the temperature-adjusted pressure level to the reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating a first time for the tire to deflate to a first reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate, and calculating a second time for the tire to deflate to a second reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising simultaneously displaying the first and second times on a single display device.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising for each pressure reading taking an associated temperature reading, wherein the estimated deflation rate is calculated by normalising each pressure reading based on its associated temperature reading and a common reference temperature to obtain a temperature-normalised pressure reading, and calculating the estimated deflation rate based on the temperature-normalised pressure readings.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the pressure readings is an in-flight pressure reading taken from the tire when the aircraft is in flight with the tire unloaded, and the estimated deflation rate is calculated by adjusting the in-flight pressure reading to take account of the tire being unloaded to obtain a load-adjusted in-flight pressure reading, and calculating the estimated deflation rate based on the load-adjusted in-flight pressure reading.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the in-flight pressure reading is normalised based on its associated temperature reading and the common reference temperature and also adjusted to take account of the tire being unloaded, to obtain a temperature-normalised and load-adjusted in-flight pressure reading, and the estimated deflation rate is calculated based on the temperature-normalised and load-adjusted in-flight pressure reading.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated deflation rate is calculated based on three or more pressure readings taken from the tire at different times.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated deflation rate is calculated by a computer system.

13. Apparatus for monitoring the pressure of a tire of an aircraft, the apparatus comprising:

a pressure sensor for taking pressure readings from the tire at different times; and

a computer system configured to calculate an estimated deflation rate based on two or more of the pressure readings.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the computer system is configured to estimate a time for the tire to deflate to a reference pressure level based on the estimated deflation rate.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the computer system is configured to compare the estimated deflation rate with a threshold, and provide a warning if the estimated deflation rate exceeds the threshold.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a temperature sensor for taking temperature readings, wherein the estimated deflation rate is calculated by normalising each pressure reading based on an associated temperature reading from the temperature sensor and a common reference temperature to obtain a temperature-normalised pressure reading, and the computer system is configured to calculate the estimated deflation rate based on the temperature-normalised pressure readings.

17. A method to monitor a gas temperature in a tire of an aircraft, the method comprises:

measuring a pressure of a gas in the tire of the aircraft at each of two or more different points in time;

transmitting the measured pressures to a computing device;

calculating by the computing device a rate of deflation of the tire based on the measured pressures and the points in time at which the measurements were performed, and

displaying an alert on a display device associated with the computing device if the rate of deflation is greater than a threshold rate of deflation.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

measuring a temperature of the gas in the tire at each of the two or more different points of time;

calculating by the computing device, for each of the two or more different points of time, an adjusted pressure in the tire based representing a predicted gas pressure in the tire for the gas at a reference temperature, wherein the reference temperature is used to calculated the adjusted pressure for all of the two or more different points of time, and

the calculation of the rate of deflation is performed using the adjusted pressures each corresponding to one of the two or more different points of time.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein at least one of the different points in time corresponds to a time during which the aircraft is in flight and the tire is not supporting the aircraft, and the method further comprises:

calculating by the computing device an adjusted pressure based on the measured pressure corresponding to the time during which the tire is not supporting the aircraft, wherein the adjusted pressure represents a predicted gas pressure in the tire if the tire where supporting the aircraft, and

the calculation of the rate of deflation is performed using the adjusted pressure for the time during which the tire is not supporting the aircraft.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

measuring a temperature of the gas in the tire at each of the two or more different points of time;

calculating by the computing device, for each of the two or more different points of time, an temperature adjusted pressure in the tire based representing a predicted gas pressure in the tire for the gas at a reference temperature, wherein the reference temperature is used to calculated the temperature adjusted pressure for all of the two or more different points of time, and

the calculation of the rate of deflation is performed using the temperature adjusted pressures each corresponding to one of the two or more different points of time.