Radar-barometric altitude indicator
First Claim
1. An instrument for use in aircraft comprising:
- a dial face having graduations;
a mechanism including a movable pointer cooperating with said graduations to provide a corrected barometric altitude reading;
a first index movable along said graduations;
manually operable knob means coupled to said first index for positioning said first index at any desired location along said graduations to provide an altitude reading representative of the altitude of an aircraft landing strip typically relative to sea level;
second index means movable along said graduations;
first means for receiving a signal representative of radar altitude;
second means for receiving a first signal representative of barometric altitude;
third means for combining the signals received from said first and second means for positioning said second index at a position along said graduations to provide an instantaneous reading relative to said movable pointer of the height of the aircraft above the terrain over which the aircraft is passing whereby the separation distance between said first and second indices represents the difference in height between the aircraft landing strip whose height has been set into said instrument and the height of the terrain below the aircraft, said first and second indices cooperating to provide a self-checking feature to determine the accuracy of the information introduced into the instrument and of the operation of the instrument such that the first and second indices should be superimposed upon one another before touchdown of the aircraft on the aforesaid landing strip.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aircraft instrumentation having inherent self-checking features. Radar and barometric altitude information are displayed on the dial face of a single instrument. A cooperating dial and first pointer displays barometric altitude. A manually settable indicator "bug" cooperates with the dial to provide a presentation of the height of the airstrip relative to sea level. A second indicator "bug" of a different shape from the landing field bug is servo-driven from both radar and barometric altitude signal inputs to provide a presentation of aircraft altitude relative to the terrain beneath the aircraft. The angle between the barometric altitude pointer and servoed radar altitude "bug," measured counterclockwise, constitutes the distance of the aircraft above the airstrip or other terrain which the aircraft is passing over. Upon touchdown both "bugs" should be in exact coincidence, thereby serving as a self-check upon accuracy of the instrumentation.
27 Citations
7 Claims
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1. An instrument for use in aircraft comprising:
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a dial face having graduations; a mechanism including a movable pointer cooperating with said graduations to provide a corrected barometric altitude reading; a first index movable along said graduations; manually operable knob means coupled to said first index for positioning said first index at any desired location along said graduations to provide an altitude reading representative of the altitude of an aircraft landing strip typically relative to sea level; second index means movable along said graduations; first means for receiving a signal representative of radar altitude; second means for receiving a first signal representative of barometric altitude; third means for combining the signals received from said first and second means for positioning said second index at a position along said graduations to provide an instantaneous reading relative to said movable pointer of the height of the aircraft above the terrain over which the aircraft is passing whereby the separation distance between said first and second indices represents the difference in height between the aircraft landing strip whose height has been set into said instrument and the height of the terrain below the aircraft, said first and second indices cooperating to provide a self-checking feature to determine the accuracy of the information introduced into the instrument and of the operation of the instrument such that the first and second indices should be superimposed upon one another before touchdown of the aircraft on the aforesaid landing strip. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification