Brake condition monitoring
First Claim
1. An aircraft wheel braking apparatus monitoring system for monitoring the condition of carbon-carbon aircraft wheel braking apparatus, the braking apparatus having facing friction surfaces and actuation means for urging the friction surfaces towards one another, said monitoring system being operable for detecting, recording and categorizing actuations of the braking apparatus and for distinguishing, from other actuations of the braking apparatus, wear generating actuations wherein the friction surfaces come into contact with one another to generate significant wear of those surfaces, said monitoring system also being operable for providing a signal indicative of the category of said wear generating actuations and for providing information regarding the braking apparatus performance in response to said signal, and said monitoring system is further operable for predicting future performance of braking applications.
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Accused Products
Abstract
System and method for monitoring the applications of the brakes, e.g. of an aircraft to determine brake condition and operate a brake maintenance programme or charge a brake system user. It is desirable to have accurate information for determining the condition and predicting the life of carbon-carbon brake discs. This is important for safety as well as commercial reasons. The number of landings of an aircraft is often used as a determinant for such as lifetime warranties for brake discs and recommended maintenance periods. However, at least for carbon disc brakes, this may not be entirely accurate. For example such brake discs also wear during taxiing. The system and method herein includes monitoring each actuation of the brakes and making a separate record of each actuation of the brakes in which there is relative movement of the facing friction surfaces that cause wear, and from that separate record determining brake usage. The monitoring may include measuring changes and processing the signals to distinguish between those which fall below and those which are above a threshold value. Herein there is also described, a method and apparatus for monitoring a braking system comprising sensing a plurality of braking parameters having values dependent upon wear in the system and different faults of the system, and identifying and recording wear and faults based on combinations of values of said parameters.
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Citations
40 Claims
- 1. An aircraft wheel braking apparatus monitoring system for monitoring the condition of carbon-carbon aircraft wheel braking apparatus, the braking apparatus having facing friction surfaces and actuation means for urging the friction surfaces towards one another, said monitoring system being operable for detecting, recording and categorizing actuations of the braking apparatus and for distinguishing, from other actuations of the braking apparatus, wear generating actuations wherein the friction surfaces come into contact with one another to generate significant wear of those surfaces, said monitoring system also being operable for providing a signal indicative of the category of said wear generating actuations and for providing information regarding the braking apparatus performance in response to said signal, and said monitoring system is further operable for predicting future performance of braking applications.
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22. A method of monitoring the condition of carbon-carbon aircraft wheel braking apparatus, the braking apparatus having facing friction surfaces and actuation means for urging the friction surfaces towards one another, said method comprising:
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detecting, recording and categorizing actuations of the braking apparatus; distinguishing, from other actuations of the braking apparatus, wear generating actuations wherein the friction surfaces come into contact with one another to generate significant wear of those surfaces, the wear generating actuations resulting in different degrees of wear of those surfaces, said method further comprising providing a signal indicative of the category of said wear generating actuations and for providing information regarding the braking apparatus performance in response to said signal, and wherein said method further comprises predicting future performance of the braking apparatus in the same or different categories of braking applications. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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- 25. An aircraft wheel braking apparatus monitoring system for monitoring the condition of carbon-carbon aircraft wheel braking apparatus, the braking apparatus having facing friction surfaces and actuation means for urging the friction surfaces towards one another, said monitoring system being operable for detecting, recording and categorizing actuations of the braking apparatus including at least two from a set of aircraft braking apparatus actuations consisting of braking when landing, braking when taxiing, braking when stationary, braking prior to undercarriage retraction and braking during a rejected take off and for distinguishing, from other actuations of the braking apparatus, wear generating actuations wherein the friction surfaces come into contact with one another to generate significant wear of those surfaces, said monitoring system also being operable for providing a signal indicative of the category of said wear generating actuations and for providing information regarding the braking apparatus performance in response to said signal, and said monitoring system is further operable for predicting future performance of braking applications.
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39. A method of monitoring the condition of carbon-carbon aircraft wheel braking apparatus, the braking apparatus having facing friction surfaces and actuation means for urging the friction surfaces towards one another, said method comprising:
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detecting, recording and categorizing actuations of the braking apparatus including at least two from a set of aircraft actuations consisting of braking when landing, braking when taxiing, braking when stationary, braking prior to undercarriage retraction and braking during takeoff; distinguishing, from other actuations of the braking apparatus, wear generating actuations wherein the friction surfaces come into contact with one another to generate significant wear of those surfaces, the wear generating actuations resulting in different degrees of wear of those surfaces, said method further comprising providing a signal indicative of the category of said wear generating actuations and for providing information regarding the braking apparatus performance in response to said signal, and wherein said method further comprises predicting future performance of the braking apparatus in the same or different categories of braking applications. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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Specification