Wireless landing gear monitoring system
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring a performance characteristic of a wheel of a mobile platform, the method comprising:
- using rotation of the wheel during operation of the mobile platform to impart motion to an electric current generating device being carried on the wheel, to thus generate an electric current;
using said electric current to power a wheel performance characteristic sensor, that in turn senses a wheel performance characteristic and provides a real time signal indicative of the wheel performance characteristic;
communicating said signal via wireless signals to a receiver located on the mobile platform remotely from the wheel; and
using said wireless signals to communicate to said receiver mapping information and an identity marker used to specifically identify a positional location of said wheel within a larger plurality of said wheels, by disrupting the wireless signal.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless landing gear monitoring system for an aircraft. The monitoring system includes a wireless, e.g. radio frequency (RF), hubcap transceiver powered by a rechargeable battery combined with a super-capacitor, all mounted to an inside surface of a wheel hubcap of the aircraft. Additionally, the system includes a permanent magnet generator (PMG) mounted to the inside surface of the hubcap that charges the battery when the wheel is rotating. The hubcap transceiver communicates with at least one distant, or remote, transceiver inside the aircraft, a tire pressure sensor mounted to a wheel rim, and a Hall-effect wheel speed transducer mounted to the hubcap. The tire pressure sensor uses an extremely low power wireless transmitter to communicate with the hubcap transceiver, which then sends wheel speed and tire pressure data to the distant transceiver.
-
Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A method for monitoring a performance characteristic of a wheel of a mobile platform, the method comprising:
-
using rotation of the wheel during operation of the mobile platform to impart motion to an electric current generating device being carried on the wheel, to thus generate an electric current;
using said electric current to power a wheel performance characteristic sensor, that in turn senses a wheel performance characteristic and provides a real time signal indicative of the wheel performance characteristic;
communicating said signal via wireless signals to a receiver located on the mobile platform remotely from the wheel; and
using said wireless signals to communicate to said receiver mapping information and an identity marker used to specifically identify a positional location of said wheel within a larger plurality of said wheels, by disrupting the wireless signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method for mapping and monitoring aircraft landing gear systems, said method comprising:
-
using the rotation of a subject aircraft landing gear wheel to drive a permanent magnet generator (PMG) mounted to a hubcap coupled to the subject landing gear wheel;
operating a wheel speed sensor, mounted to the hubcap, using a current output by the PMG;
communicating subject landing gear wheel rotational speed data, provided by the wheel speed sensor, to at least one remotely located transceiver using wireless signals;
acquiring mapping data and an identity marker used to identify a positional location of the subject landing gear wheel with respect to other landing gear wheels within the landing gear by disrupting the wireless signal communicated to the remotely located transceiver; and
storing the mapping data and the identity marker in the remotely located transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method for mapping a location within an aircraft landing gear for each of a plurality of wireless landing gear monitoring systems, said method comprising:
-
mounting a hubcap transceiver included in each monitoring system to a respective one of a plurality of landing gear wheel hubcaps;
transmitting a wireless signal including a marker signal from the hubcap transceiver to at least one of a plurality of distant transceivers coupled to the aircraft;
acquiring mapping data pertaining to a positional location of at least one of the hubcap transceivers by activating a mapping command utilizing a maintenance display terminal, using the maintenance display terminal to select a specific landing gear monitoring system to be mapped and disrupting the wireless signal transmitted from the hubcap transceiver of the landing gear monitoring system selected to be mapped; and
displaying the mapping data on the maintenance display terminal such that the positional location of the hubcap transceiver is illustrated. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A method for mapping a location within an aircraft landing gear for each of a plurality of wireless landing gear monitoring systems, wherein each monitoring system is carried on a respective one of a plurality of landing gear wheel hubcaps, said method comprising:
-
transmitting a wireless signal including a marker signal from a hubcap transceiver included in each monitoring system to at least one of a plurality of remote transceivers coupled to the aircraft, wherein each marker signal contains a signal characteristic unique to the respective monitoring system from which it is transmitted;
activating a mapping command at a maintenance display terminal adapted to communicate with each remote transceiver;
selecting, using the maintenance display terminal, a specific landing gear monitoring system to be mapped;
disrupting the wireless signal transmitted from the hubcap transceiver of the landing gear monitoring system selected to be mapped;
identifying the disrupted wireless signal using the remote transceiver;
correlating the identified disrupted wireless signal and associated marker signal to the landing gear monitoring system selected to be mapped and storing data expressing the correlation in the remote transceiver;
transmitting the correlation data from the remote transceiver to the maintenance display terminal;
transmitting the correlation data from the remote transceiver to at least one other remote transceiver and storing the information in the other remote transceiver; and
monitoring the operational status of the landing gear wheel associated with the selected monitoring system, via the maintenance display terminal.
-
Specification