Aircraft icing sensors
First Claim
1. A method of detecting the presence of icing on a surface comprising:
- a) developing a radio frequency;
b) transmitting the radio frequency down a surface mounted surface gap transmission line;
c) receiving the transmitted radio frequency after transmission along said surface mounted surface gap transmission line;
d) measuring the propagation delay of said radio frequency received from said surface mounted surface gap transmission line in said step b) of transmitting; and
determining the presence of icing from a parameter directly related to the propagation delay measured in step d).
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Accused Products
Abstract
An icing sensor utilizes a surface gap transmission line along which a radio frequency is transmitted. The phase delay of the radio frequency along the transmission line is dependent upon the dielectric constant presented at the surface in the gap between the transmission line electrodes. Accordingly, changes of dielectric constant affect phase delay of the transmitted frequency. This phase delay may be used to detect the difference between ice, water and snow as well as the presence of freezing point depressing fluids such as ethylene glycol. When the sensor is mounted on an aircraft control surface, the presence and likelihood of icing conditions may be predicted. Through the use of one or more temperature, freezing point depressing fluids/water mixture determined from dielectric constant, and rate of change of the dielectric constant, it is possible to predict the time delay until icing begins. Thus, the sensor of the present application may safely reduce the effort and expense in aircraft deicing.
98 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method of detecting the presence of icing on a surface comprising:
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a) developing a radio frequency; b) transmitting the radio frequency down a surface mounted surface gap transmission line; c) receiving the transmitted radio frequency after transmission along said surface mounted surface gap transmission line; d) measuring the propagation delay of said radio frequency received from said surface mounted surface gap transmission line in said step b) of transmitting; and determining the presence of icing from a parameter directly related to the propagation delay measured in step d). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of deicing an aircraft surface comprising:
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a) providing a surface gap transmission line sensor on the aircraft surface; b) using the surface gap transmission line sensor to detect the presence of ice based upon a measurement dependent on the dielectric constant of material on the surface measured by said sensor; c) using a freezing point depressing fluid having a dielectric constant substantially different from the dielectric constant of ice to remove/inhibit ice until said surface gap transmission line sensor indicates that ice is no longer present. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for detecting the presence of icing on a surface comprising:
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a surface mounted surface gap transmission line; a radio frequency source, operatively connected to said surface mounted surface gap transmission line, and supplying a radio frequency thereto; a detector, operatively connected to said surface mounted surface gap transmission line, and detecting the propagation delay of said radio frequency along said surface mounted surface gap transmission line; and means for determining the presence of icing from the propagation delay detected by said detector. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An icing detection system for detecting the presence of icing on a surface comprising:
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a surface mounted surface gap transmission line; a radio frequency source connected to said surface mounted surface gap transmission line; a phase detector, connected to said surface mounted surface gap transmission line and to said energy source, and detecting a phase difference between the radio frequency provided by said source and the radio frequency propagated along said surface mounted surface gap transmission line; and an icing detector, responsive to said phase difference detected by said phase detector, and determining the presence of icing based on said phase difference. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of identifying a substance comprising:
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a) disposing a surface gap transmission line in contact with said substance; b) developing a radio frequency; c) transmitting the radio frequency down an surface mounted surface gap transmission line d) receiving the radio frequency after transmission along said surface gap transmission line; e) measuring the propagation delay of said radio frequency down said surface gap transmission line; f) determining the identity of the substance from the time of propagation measured in step e). - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
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Specification