Rapid acting electro-pneumatic anti-G suit control valve
First Claim
1. An anti-G suit valve system for an anti-G suit, comprising:
- (a) means for delivering pressurized air to the anti-G suit;
(b) means for activating the pressurized air delivering means;
(c) acceleration measuring means;
(d) differentiating means for determining from the output of the acceleration measuring means the rate of change of acceleration over time; and
,(e) means for comparing the output of the acceleration measuring means to a first preselected acceleration value, for comparing the output of the differentiating means to a second preselected rate of change of acceleration over time value and for energizing the activating means for the pressurized air delivering means when both the output from the acceleration measuring means and the output from the differentiating means exceed, respectively, the first and second preselected values, wherein this means includes timing means responsive to the start of energization for controlling the length of time the activating means remains energized.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A novel anti-G suit valve system is disclosed which provides very rapid response to imminent high acceleration. The disclosed embodiments of the new valve system can be retrofitted to existing mechanical anti-G valves to create a hybrid valve system capable of achieving the desired qualities of fast triggering of the valve in response to imminent acceleration and maximum rate inflation of the anti-G suit. The new valve system measures acceleration and, by differentiation, the rate of change of acceleration. When both acceleration and rate of change of acceleration exceed preselected values, a solenoid mounted in place of the press-to-test button on a mechanical anti-G valve is energized for a preselected period of time to fully depress the valve spindle, providing maximum rate delivery of pressurized air. The hybrid valve reverts to normal operation at the end of the preselected period of time. Another embodiment monitors an aircraft computer control system digital data bus and adds the requirement of detecting preselected signal values from the data bus to trigger the delivery of pressurized air. A modification of this embodiment requires only the detection of the preselected data bus signal values to intitiate maximum rate delivery of pressurized air for the preselected period of time. The anti-G suit valve system may also be operated by manually determining the imminent likeihood of high acceleration and manually actuating the maximum rate delivery of pressurized air. The valve automatically ceases delivery of the manually actuated pressurized air delivery after a preselected period of time.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. An anti-G suit valve system for an anti-G suit, comprising:
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(a) means for delivering pressurized air to the anti-G suit; (b) means for activating the pressurized air delivering means; (c) acceleration measuring means; (d) differentiating means for determining from the output of the acceleration measuring means the rate of change of acceleration over time; and
,(e) means for comparing the output of the acceleration measuring means to a first preselected acceleration value, for comparing the output of the differentiating means to a second preselected rate of change of acceleration over time value and for energizing the activating means for the pressurized air delivering means when both the output from the acceleration measuring means and the output from the differentiating means exceed, respectively, the first and second preselected values, wherein this means includes timing means responsive to the start of energization for controlling the length of time the activating means remains energized. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An anti-G suit valve system for an anti-G suit for use in an aircraft having a data bus, comprising:
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(a) means for delivering pressurized air to the anti-G suit; (b) means for maximumly activating the pressurized air delivering means to deliver pressurized air at substantially the maximum rate of the pressurized air delivering means; (c) means for monitoring the data bus, for comparing the value of at least one preselected signal from the data bus to a preselected value for that signal and for energizing the maximumly activating means for the pressurized air delivering means when the presence of the preselected value of the preselected signal from the data bus monitoring means is detected, wherein this means includes timing means responsive to the start of energization for controlling the length of time the activating means remains energized.
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5. An anti-G suit valve system for an anti-G suit, comprising:
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(a) means for delivering pressurized air to the anti-G suit; (b) means for maximumly activating the pressurized air delivering means to deliver pressurized air at substantially the maximum rate of the pressurized air delivering means; and
,(c) manually controlled means for energizing the activating means for the pressurized air delivering means, the energizing means including timing means responsive to the start of energization for controlling the length of time the activating means remains energized.
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6. An anti-G suit valve system for an anti-G suit for use in an aircraft having a data bus, comprising:
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(a) means for delivering pressurized air to the anti-G suit; (b) means for activating the pressurized air delivering means; (c) acceleration measuring means; (d) differentiating means for determining from the output of the acceleration measuring means the rate of change of acceleration over time; and
,(e) means for comparing the output of the acceleration measuring means to a first preselected value, for comparing the output of the differentiating means to a second preselected value, for monitoring the data bus to compare the value of at least one preselected signal to a third preselected value for that signal and for energizing the activating means for the pressurized air delivering means when the output for the acceleration measuring means and the output from the differentiating means exceed, respectively, the first and second preselected values; and
, the presence of the third preselected value of the preselected signal from the data bus monitoring means is detected, wherein this means includes timing means responsive to the start of energization for controlling the length of time the activating means remains energized.
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7. A method of controlling delivery of pressurized air to an anti-G suit in an aircraft, comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining the immediate likelihood of a rapid increase in acceleration of the aircraft in a preselected direction; and
,(b) activating a substantially maximum rate delivery of pressurized air to the anti-G suit for a preselected period of time after said determination is made. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification