APU troubleshooting system
First Claim
1. A method of diagnosing a failure of an aircraft auxiliary power unit comprising the steps of:
- downloading fault data from a memory of an electronic control unit of the auxiliary power unit to a computer;
comparing the fault data to a plurality of fault patterns accessible to the computer to determine a likelihood of the cause of the failure; and
producing an output in accordance with the likelihood of the cause of the failure.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method, and computer program product assist a technician in troubleshooting an aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU). A portable computer is couplable of download the fault data captured in a memory of the ECU. The fault data corresponds to one or more instances of APU failure. The computer is further programmed to compare the fault data to predetermined fault patterns stored in a database. Each record of the database has one of the fault patterns, a corresponding fault indication, and a corresponding service recommendation indication. The computer is further programmed so that when a record in which the fault pattern matches the fault data is found, the corresponding fault indication and service recommendation are retrieved from the database and provided to the technician via the computer'"'"'s display or other suitable output mechanism.
155 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of diagnosing a failure of an aircraft auxiliary power unit comprising the steps of:
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downloading fault data from a memory of an electronic control unit of the auxiliary power unit to a computer; comparing the fault data to a plurality of fault patterns accessible to the computer to determine a likelihood of the cause of the failure; and producing an output in accordance with the likelihood of the cause of the failure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for assisting a technician in troubleshooting an aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU), comprising the steps of:
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said technician coupling a portable computer to an electronic control unit (ECU) of the APU; said computer downloading fault data captured in a memory of said ECU, said fault data corresponding to an instance of APU failure; said computer comparing said fault data to predetermined fault patterns stored in a database in said computer, said database defined by a plurality of records, each record having one of said fault patterns, a corresponding fault indication, and a corresponding service recommendation indication; and said computer providing to said technician a fault indication and a service recommendation indication corresponding to one of said fault patterns matching said fault data. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for assisting a technician in troubleshooting an aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU), comprising:
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a portable computer couplable to an electronic control unit (ECU) of the APU and programmed to include downloading means, comparing means and indicating means; said downloading means for downloading fault data captured in a memory of said ECU, said fault data corresponding to an instance of APU failure; said comparing means for comparing said fault data to predetermined fault patterns stored in a database in said computer, said database defined by a plurality of records, each record having one of said fault patterns, a corresponding fault indication, and a corresponding service recommendation indication; and said indicating means for providing to said technician a fault indication and a service recommendation indication corresponding to one of said fault patterns matching said fault data. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer program product for assisting a technician in troubleshooting an aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU), said computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable medium carrying thereon; downloading means for downloading fault data captured in a memory of said ECU, said fault data corresponding to an instance of APU failure; comparing means for comparing said fault data to predetermined fault patterns stored in a database in said computer, said database defined by a plurality of records, each record having one of said fault patterns, a corresponding fault indication, and a corresponding service recommendation indication; and indicating means for providing to said technician a fault indication and a service recommendation indication corresponding to one of said fault patterns matching said fault data. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
Specification