System and method for controlling traveling direction of aircraft

• US 6,671,588 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2001
• Issued: 12/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Arakawa, Kazuya, Otake, Yukio
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tan Q.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Dalena
• Application Number:
  US10/026,901
• Publication Number:
  US 20030125848A1
• Time in Patent Office: 733 Days
• Field of Search: 701/3, 701/16, 701/18, 244/103.R, 244/103.W, 244/111, 244/175, 244/17.13, 244/191, 244/195, 244/75.R, 244/100.R, 244/183, 318/583, 318/586, 318/489
• US Class Current: 701/3
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 25/48 differentially operated for steering purposes

Abstract

The present invention is structured such that, as for travelling on the ground, there is provided a braking mechanism capable of braking wheels by the use of a single brake pedal or a braking mechanism capable of braking the wheels by flare out operation of a control stick, while automatic control of traveling direction is performed in flight using a yaw damper. In addition, a larger braking force is automatically generated, without manual operations by a pilot, for landing gear mounted on the side of an airframe toward which direction of an aircraft is to be changed as compared with the braking force applied to landing gear on the other side.

Claims

1. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft that is installed with a plurality of landing gear on right and left sides of its airframe,

wherein a larger braking force is applied to landing gear wheels on a side toward which the control stick is operated than a braking force acting on landing gear wheels on the other side, in the case of a control stick being operated toward the right or left side directions of the airframe.

2. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, the aircraft being installed with a plurality of landing gear on right and left sides of its airframe, comprising:

a detection means capable of detecting an operation state of a control stick; and

a braking mechanism capable of supplying braking force to each of the plurality of landing gear wheels on the right and left sides,

wherein a larger braking force is supplied by the braking mechanism to landing gear wheels on a side toward a direction of which the control stick is operated than is supplied to landing gear wheels on the other side, based upon the operation state of the control stick detected by the detection means, for cases in which the control stick is operated toward the right or left side directions of the airframe.

3. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising a single brake pedal installed within a cockpit of an aircraft, which is capable of simultaneously performing braking of a plurality of landing gear wheels mounted on the right and left sides of an airframe,

wherein braking of the aircraft is performed by operating the single brake pedal.

4. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 3,

wherein the working pressure applied to a braking mechanism for landing gear wheels mounted on a side that is opposite to the side to which a control stick is operated is set to become less than the working pressure applied to a braking mechanism for landing gear wheels mounted on the side to which the control stick is operated, in the cases in which the single brake pedal has been stepped on and thus the speed of an aircraft has become equal to or less than the predetermined speed.

5. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 4, comprising detection means for detecting the stepping operation on the single brake pedal,

wherein the working pressure applied to a braking mechanism for landing gear wheels mounted on a side that is opposite to the side to which a control stick is operated is set to become lower than the working pressure applied to a braking mechanism for landing gear wheels mounted on the side to which the control stick is operated, when it is determined by the detection means that the brake pedal has been stepped on and braking has been thus effected.

6. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 3,

wherein a single braking pedal capable of supplying braking force to the wheels installed on landing gear is mounted within a cockpit of an aircraft instead of rudder pedals, and a yaw damper mechanism is installed in an airframe so that automatic yawing control of a rudder installed in a vertical tail of the aircraft is performed while the aircraft is in flight.

7. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 6,

wherein the detection means capable of detecting the operation state of a control stick is capable of detecting the direction of control stick operation as well as the amount of control stick operation, and braking force is applied to braking mechanisms for wheels mounted to the landing gears on the right and left sides of an airframe, based upon information relating to the direction and the amount of control stick operation if the control stick is operated to the left or right side of the airframe.

8. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, further comprising a detection means being capable of detecting the operation state of the control stick,

wherein performance of flare out operation of a control stick is taken as a condition to perform braking of a plurality of right and left side landing gear wheels mounted on an airframe, for cases in which the detection means that is capable of detecting the operation state of the control stick detects flare out operation as the aircraft lands.

9. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising detection means capable of detecting speed of an aircraft,

wherein a larger braking force can be made to act on landing gear wheels on a side toward which a control stick is operated, as compared with that acting on landing gear wheels on the other side, for cases in which the aircraft speed of the aircraft is judged to be equal to or less than a predetermined speed based upon speed information detected by the detection means.

10. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 9,

wherein a working pressure supplied to a braking mechanism for landing gear wheels mounted on a side to which a control stick is operated is made larger than a working pressure supplied to a braking mechanism for landing gear wheels mounted on the side opposite to the side to which the control stick is operated.

11. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 9,

wherein an engine throttle opening is controlled to become larger for cases in which a braking force acting on landing gear wheels mounted on a side to which a control stick is operated is larger than the braking force acting on landing gear wheels mounted on the opposite side, based upon information from the detection means capable of detecting operation of the control stick.

12. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising detection means capable of detecting a housing state of landing gear,

wherein a larger braking force is made to act on landing gear wheels on a side toward which a control stick is operated, as compared with that acting on landing gear wheels on the other side, in the case of the landing gear being determined to be projected from an airframe based on information detected by the detection means.

13. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising detection means capable of detecting speed of an aircraft and detection means capable of detecting a landing gear housing state,

wherein a larger braking force acts on landing gear wheels on a side toward which a control stick is operated than that acting on landing gear wheels on the other side, when the landing gear is projected from the airframe and the aircraft is determined to be traveling at or below the predetermined speed, based upon information from both of the detection means.

14. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising detection means capable of detecting engine throttle opening,

wherein in cases where it is determined that the engine throttle opening is equal to or less than a predetermined value based on information detected by the detection means, a larger braking force can be made to act on_landing gear wheels on a side toward which a control stick is operated than the braking force applied to landing gear wheels on the other side.

15. A system for controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising detection means capable of detecting aircraft engine manifold pressure,

wherein a larger braking force can be made to act on landing gear wheels on a side toward which a control stick is operated as compared with that applied to landing gear wheels on the other side, for cases in which the manifold pressure is determined to be equal to or less than a predetermined value based on information detected by the manifold pressure detection means.

16. A method of controlling traveling direction of an aircraft that is installed with a plurality of landing gear on the right and left sides of its airframe, comprising the steps of:

detecting a direction of operation and an amount of operation of a control stick which is performed by a pilot in a direction to the right or left side of the airframe;

detecting the speed of the aircraft; and

determining whether or not the speed of the aircraft is equal to or less than a predetermined value,

wherein the method further comprises the steps of;

determining the side, when the speed of the aircraft is less than or equal to the predetermined value, to which the direction of travel of the aircraft is to be changed, based on the direction of operation of the control stick,

computing an amount of brake operation based on the amount of operation of the control stick; and

supplying the computed amount of braking to landing gear wheels mounted on the side of the airframe to which the direction of travel is to be changed.

17. A method of controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 16, further comprising a step of detecting a displacement direction and a displacement amount of the aircraft_in a yawing direction of the airframe,

wherein when the speed of the aircraft is judged to be larger than the predetermined value, the method further comprises the step of computing an amount of operation of rudder provided in a vertical tail of the airframe based on the displacement direction and the displacement amount of the aircraft in the yawing direction, and then operating the rudder based on the amount of rudder operation.

18. A method of controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 16, further comprising a step of computing an amount of throttle opening of engine increase based upon the direction and the amount of the control stick operation by the pilot in the right or left directions of the airframe,

wherein for cases in which the computed amount of braking operation is supplied to the landing gear wheels on the side to which the aircraft is to change its direction of travel, the throttle is controlled based on the computed amount of throttle opening increase.

19. A method of controlling a direction of travel of an aircraft according to claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

detecting an amount of flare out operation of the control stick by the pilot;

detecting a throttle opening;

determining whether or not the throttle opening is equal to or larger than a predetermined value; and

computing an amount of braking operation based on the amount of flare out operation for cases in which the throttle opening is equal to or less than a predetermined value and the speed of the aircraft is equal to or larger than a predetermined value,

wherein the computed amount of braking operation is supplied to all of the landing gear wheels mounted on the right and left sides of the airframe.

20. A method of controlling a direction of travel of an aircraft according to claim 16, further comprising the steps of:

detecting engine manifold pressure;

determining whether or not the throttle opening is equal to or larger than a predetermined value;

determining whether or not the engine manifold pressure is equal to or less than a predetermined value in a case where the throttle opening is judged to be equal to or larger than the predetermined value; and

computing an amount of braking operation based on the amount of flare out operation, in a case where the throttle opening is equal to or larger than the predetermined value of throttle opening, the engine manifold pressure is equal to or less than the predetermined value of engine manifold pressure, and the speed of the aircraft is equal to or larger than a predetermined value,

wherein the computed amount of braking operation is supplied to all of the landing gear wheels mounted on the right and left sides of the airframe.

21. A method of controlling a direction of travel of an aircraft that is installed with a plurality of landing gear on the right and left sides of its airframe, the method comprising steps of:

detecting a direction and an amount of operation of a control stick performed by a pilot in a direction to the right or left side of the airframe;

detecting the speed of the aircraft;

detecting that braking operations have been performed by the pilot; and

determining whether or not the speed of the aircraft is equal to or less than a predetermined value,

wherein the method further comprises the steps of;

determining, based on the direction of operation of the control stick, to which side of the aircraft the direction of travel is to be changed, when the speed of the aircraft is less than or equal to the predetermined value and it is determined that the braking operations have been performed;

computing an amount of braking pressure reduction based on the amount of operation of the control stick for cases in which the braking operations have been performed; and

supplying the computed amount of braking pressure reduction to landing gear wheels mounted on the side of the airframe that is opposite to the side to which the direction of travel is to be changed.

22. A method of controlling traveling direction of an aircraft according to claim 21, further comprising a step of computing a throttle opening increase amount based on the direction and amount of operation of a control stick performed by a pilot in direction to the right or left of the airframe,

wherein the throttle is controlled based on the computed throttle opening increase amount for cases in which the computed amount of braking pressure reduction is supplied to the landing gear wheels mounted on the side of the airframe that is opposite to the side to which the direction of travel is to be changed.