Flight phase information display system for aircraft passengers

• US 5,208,590 A
• Filed: 09/20/1991
• Issued: 05/04/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: Asinc Incorporated
• Inventors: Pitts, Alexander C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ng, Jin F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SWARTHOUT, BRENT
• Application Number:
  US07/763,370
• Time in Patent Office: 592 Days
• Field of Search: 340/995, 340/990, 340/988, 340/996, 340/971, 340/945, 340/973, 358/103, 358/93, 358/254, 364/460, 364/449, 364/439, 364/444, 364/443, 364/424.06, 73/178 R, 342/451, 434/49
• US Class Current: 340/973
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0015 Arrangements for entertainment or communications, e.g. radio, television
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/00155 Individual entertainment or communication system remote controls therefor, located in or connected to seat components, e.g. to seat back or arm rest
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 23/00 Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more variables of movement, e.g. distance, speed or acceleration

Abstract

A flight-worthy electronics system connecting the airborne electronics of a passenger aircraft to the visual display system of the aircraft provides passengers with a variety of information tailored to phases of the flight plan of the aircraft. For each phase of the flight plan, a different sequence of information is displayed. Thus, for example, during takeoff, the system may display a map showing the flight plan of the aircraft, whereas during descent, the system may alternately display the distance to destination and time to destination. Other information that may be displayed, as desired, is outside air temperature, altitude, and time or distance to a point of interest. The system causes these sequences of displays to appear automatically as determined by the preprogramming of the system.

Claims

1. An information display system for aircraft passengers in an aircraft following a flight plan and having a receiver for receiving flight information and a video display system, the information display system comprising:

memory means for storing a plurality of display screen formats for displaying flight information, and for storing a plurality of display modes, each mode representing a specific sequence of preselected display screen formats, with each display mode corresponding to one phase of the flight plan of the aircraft;

said memory means also storing, for each phase of the flight plan, a plurality of ranges of flight information;

data processor means for determining a current phase of the flight plan by;

comparing the received flight information with the plurality of ranges of flight information stored by the memory means;

determining, out of the plurality of ranges, a current range corresponding to the received flight information; and

identifying the current phase of the flight plan as being the phase corresponding to the current range;

said data processor means also retrieving a sequence of display screen formats for a display mode corresponding to the determined current phase of flight, inserting received flight information into said display screen formats that is appropriate to said display screen formats, and inputting the retrieved sequence of display formats to the video display system for display to the passengers, such that, as each phase of the flight plan is reached, the system displays a new sequence of informative video displays to the passengers; and

wherein the current phases of flight include taxi out, take off, initial climb, climb, en route cruise, proximity to points of interest, descent, approach, land, rollout, and taxi in.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the points of interest include cities along a flight path of the aircraft, landforms, the equator, the international dateline, and the north and south poles.

3. An information display system for aircraft passengers in an aircraft following a flight plan and having a receiver for receiving flight information and a video display system, the information display system comprising:

memory means for storing a plurality of display screen formats for displaying flight information, and for storing a plurality of display modes, each mode representing a specific sequence of preselected display screen formats, with each display mode corresponding to one phase of the flight plan of the aircraft;

said memory means also storing, for each phase of the flight plan, a plurality of ranges of flight information;

data processor means for determining a current phase of the flight plan by;

comparing the received flight information with the plurality of ranges of flight information stored by the memory means;

determining, out of the plurality of ranges, a current range corresponding to the received flight information; and

identifying the current phase of the flight plan as being the phase corresponding to the current range;

said data processor means also retrieving a sequence of display screen formats for a display mode corresponding to the determined current phase of flight, inserting received flight information into said display screen formats that is appropriate to said display screen formats, and inputting the retrieved sequence of display formats to the video display system for display to the passenger, such that, as each phase of the flight plan is reached, the system displays a new sequence of informative video displays to the passengers; and

wherein the flight information includes ground speed, altitude, time from departure airport, distance from departure airport, time to destination airport, and distance to destination airport.

4. An information display system for aircraft passengers in an aircraft following a flight plan and having a receiver for receiving flight information and a video display system, the information display system comprising:

memory means for storing a plurality of display screen formats for displaying flight information, and for storing a plurality of display modes, each mode representing a specific sequence of preselected display screen formats, with each display mode corresponding to one phase of the flight plan of the aircraft;

said memory means also storing, for each phase of the flight plan, a plurality of ranges of flight information;

data processor means for determining a current phase of the flight plan by;

comparing the received flight information with the plurality of ranges of flight information stored by the memory means;

determining, out of the plurality of ranges, a current range corresponding to the received flight information; and

identifying the current phase of the flight plan as being the phase corresponding to the current range;

said data processor means also retrieving a sequence of display screen formats for a display mode corresponding to the determined current phase of flight, inserting received flight information into said display screen formats that is appropriate to said display screen formats, and inputting the retrieved sequence of display formats to the video display system for display to the passengers, such that, as each phase of the flight plan is reached, the system displays a new sequence of informative video displays to the passengers; and

wherein the memory means stores information regarding a plurality of points of interest, the location of each point of interest, and a minimum distance range corresponding to each point of interest, the flight information includes a current location of the aircraft, and the data processor means further includes means for calculating the distance between the current location of the aircraft to a point of interest and for determining whether the distance to the point of interest is less than the minimum distance range corresponding to the point of interest such that a sequence of display screens identifying the point of interest can be displayed to the passengers.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the flight information further includes the ground speed of the aircraft and the data processor means further includes means for calculating the time to a point of interest based on the distance to a point of interest and the ground speed of the aircraft.

6. An information display system for aircraft passengers in an aircraft following a flight plan and having a receiver for receiving flight information and a video display system, the information display system comprising:

memory means for storing a plurality of display screen formats for displaying flight information, and for storing a plurality of display modes, each mode representing a specific sequence of preselected display screen formats, with each display mode corresponding to one phase of the flight plan of the aircraft;

said memory means also storing, for each phase of the flight plan, a plurality of ranges of flight information

data processor means for determining a current phase of flight plan by;

comparing the received flight information with the plurality of ranges of flight information stored by the memory means;

determining, out of the plurality of ranges, a current range corresponding to the received flight information; and

identifying the current phase of the flight plan as being the phase corresponding to the current range;

said data processor means also retrieving a sequence of display screen formats for a display mode corresponding to the determined current phase of flight, inserted received flight information into said display screen formats that is appropriate to said display screen formats, and inputting the retrieved sequence of display formats to the video display stystem for display to the passengers, such that, as each phase of the flight plan is reached, the system displays a new sequence of informative video displays to the passengers, and wherein;

the receiver for receiving flight information receivers sequential messages, each message including a single unit of flight information;

the memory means stores a flight information block having individual fields for storing each of a plurality of individual units of flight information;

the data processor updates the flight information block each time a message is received by inserting the single unit of flight information into a corresponding individual field of the flight information block; and

the data processor retrieves the entire flight information block for use in determining the current phase of the flight.