Automatic release of a load from a helicopter external cargo suspension system
First Claim
1. A helicopter external cargo suspension system, comprising:
- at least one suspension point for externally suspending cargo from the helicopter;
each suspension point having a load sensor for sensing the weight exerted by cargo at each suspension point and for providing weight signals indicative thereof;
each suspension point having disconnect means responsive to the absence of a disconnect signal for maintaining a connection between the helicopter and cargo via said suspension point and responsive to the presence of said disconnect signal for disconnecting cargo from the helicopter;
signal processing means responsive to said weight signals for determining if a failure mode has occurred, and for providing a disconnect signal to all of said disconnect means if a failure mode is determined.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A helicopter external cargo suspension system (12) has load sensors (19,20) at each suspension point for sensing the magnitude of a load (32) at each suspension point. A delay period (FIG. 6) is determined based on the magnitude of the load, and a load is released if one of the following failure modes occurs for a period which exceed the delay period: one of the suspension points is unloaded, the magnitude of the load exceeds a maximum threshold magnitude, or if the distribution of the load, as indicated by the difference in magnitude at each suspension point, exceeds a difference threshold magnitude. If the magnitude of the load is below a minimum threshold magnitude, the load will be carried by one of the suspension points in response to a failure of the other suspension points.
Alternatively, the load information is converted from crisp values to fuzzy inputs (700) wherein the detected values are fuzzified by assigning a membership weight at discrete points or segments on a normalized scale; a new mode fuzzy output (707) is provided by applying a compositional rule of inference (705) across each fuzzy input (702) and a composite mode selection rule base (710), the new mode fuzzy output (707) is converted into a crisp output by taking the weighted sum of the membership weight at each point on the normalized scale in excess of a threshold value (712), and new mode is determined by comparing the new mode crisp output to a set of new mode membership ranges (FIGS. 8e and 9e).
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A helicopter external cargo suspension system, comprising:
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at least one suspension point for externally suspending cargo from the helicopter; each suspension point having a load sensor for sensing the weight exerted by cargo at each suspension point and for providing weight signals indicative thereof; each suspension point having disconnect means responsive to the absence of a disconnect signal for maintaining a connection between the helicopter and cargo via said suspension point and responsive to the presence of said disconnect signal for disconnecting cargo from the helicopter; signal processing means responsive to said weight signals for determining if a failure mode has occurred, and for providing a disconnect signal to all of said disconnect means if a failure mode is determined. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification