Automatic method to identify aircraft types
First Claim
1. A method to automatically classify the type of aircraft moving on the ground by automatically determining sufficient physical characteristics unique to the landing gear of each given type of aircraft, said characteristics being the nominal major wheelbase, the total number of axles, and the spacing of the main carriage axles, comprising the steps of:
- providing a system comprising a sensor set, a data transmission link, a processor, and a data read-out device;
said sensor set comprising two sensor systems located at a known distance apart which are activated by the wheels of the aircraft and produce a sequence of signal pulses, said data transmission link to transmit the signal pulses to the processor, said processor to generate signals representative of the type of aircraft, the location of the sensor set, the time of an event, the direction of travel of the aircraft and the speed of the aircraft in response to time intervals between signal pulses, and wheelbase characteristics from a look-up table in the memory bank of said processor, and said data read-out device to indicate the type of aircraft, the location of the sensor set, time of an event, direction of travel of the aircraft, and the speed of the aircraft.
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Abstract
Two sensors spaced at a known separation produce signal pulses when activated by the wheels of a taxiing aircraft. The signals are transmitted to a processor in which the wheelbase of the aircraft can readily be calculated. Since specific aircraft types have unique wheelbase dimensions and characteristics, the type of aircraft passing the sensors is determined in a processor. Also, the time, direction, and speed of the aircraft can be determined and logged by the processor.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method to automatically classify the type of aircraft moving on the ground by automatically determining sufficient physical characteristics unique to the landing gear of each given type of aircraft, said characteristics being the nominal major wheelbase, the total number of axles, and the spacing of the main carriage axles, comprising the steps of:
- providing a system comprising a sensor set, a data transmission link, a processor, and a data read-out device;
said sensor set comprising two sensor systems located at a known distance apart which are activated by the wheels of the aircraft and produce a sequence of signal pulses, said data transmission link to transmit the signal pulses to the processor, said processor to generate signals representative of the type of aircraft, the location of the sensor set, the time of an event, the direction of travel of the aircraft and the speed of the aircraft in response to time intervals between signal pulses, and wheelbase characteristics from a look-up table in the memory bank of said processor, and said data read-out device to indicate the type of aircraft, the location of the sensor set, time of an event, direction of travel of the aircraft, and the speed of the aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
- providing a system comprising a sensor set, a data transmission link, a processor, and a data read-out device;
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6. Apparatus for determining selected parameters related to aircraft type having characteristic landing gear comprising
first sensing means positioned adjacent a runway or taxiway travelled by the aircraft type for producing pulses upon detecting passage of wheels on the aircraft type past a first known position along the runway or taxiway, second sensing means positioned adjacent said runway or taxiway and spaced from the first sensing means a known distance along the pathway for producing pulses upon detecting the passage of wheels on the aircraft type past a second known position along the pathway, data transmission means connected to the first and second sensing means for communicating pulses produced by the first and second sensing means to processor means, aircraft type processor means connected to the data transmission means for generating signals representative of selected parameters related to the aircraft type in response to time intervals between pulses produced by the sensing means, data display means connected to the processor means for displaying data representative of the selected parameters related to the aircraft type in response to the signals generated by the processor means.
- 20. A method for classifying type of aircraft by determining landing gear characteristics comprising sensing the passage of wheels of the aircraft past a first known position along a runway or taxiway travelled by the aircraft, generating pulse signals in response to the sensed passage of the wheels past the first known position, sensing the passage of wheels of the aircraft past a second known position along the runway or taxiway, the second known position spaced from the first known position a known distance along the runway or taxiway, generating pulse signals in response to the sensed passage of the wheels past the second known position, measuring the time intervals between pulse signals, generating signals representative of selected parameters related to the aircraft in response to the measured time intervals, and displaying data representative of the selected parameters related to the aircraft in response to the signals representative of the selected parameters.
Specification