Method and system for health monitoring of aircraft landing gear

• US 8,262,019 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2011
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Safran Landing Systems Canada Incorporated / Safran Systemes D'Atterrissage Canada Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Messier-Dowty Incorporated (Safran SA)
• Inventors: Schmidt, R. Kyle, Gedeon, Steven A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bonzell, Philip J
• Application Number:
  US13/271,468
• Publication Number:
  US 20120053784A1
• Time in Patent Office: 335 Days
• Field of Search: 244/75.1, 244/76.R, 244/194, 244/103.R, 244/100.R
• US Class Current: 244/100.R
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2045/008 Devices for detecting or indicating hard landing
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/07 for weighing aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005

Abstract

The invention relates to a new method and system for health monitoring of aircraft landing gear. The system includes sensors that are attached to the landing gear structure and equipment (e.g., one or more of brakes, tires, hydraulics, electrical systems and switches) and analyzed to report and alert personnel such as pilots, maintenance personnel, airline operators, ground crew and regulatory authorities of the health of the landing gear and the potential need for service, maintenance or replacement. The system monitors and reports critical health issues as real-time information which can be analyzed in conjunction with an extensive database of information and used to alert pilots or other relevant personnel to the condition of the landing gear and actions that may be required as a result.

Claims

1. An aircraft landing gear health monitoring system for monitoring two or more replaceable landing gear components of the aircraft landing gear, the system comprising:

at least one sensor coupled to at least one of the two or more replaceable components of the aircraft landing gear for measuring real-time data associated with the status of at least one of the two or more replaceable components, the at least one sensor being configured to measure real-time data when the aircraft power is switched on and when the aircraft power is switched off;

at least one processor connected to the at least one sensor for receiving and processing the real-time data to calculate the current condition of the at least one replaceable component of the landing gear by comparing the real-time data to pre-determined health data associated with each component, the pre-determined health data including data relating to the historic condition of the at least one replaceable component, including actual fatigue and historic load conditions, the current condition comprising the probability of failure and the remaining useful life of the at least one replaceable component;

two or more electronic memory devices, each attached to a corresponding one of the two or more replaceable components of the aircraft landing gear system, the two or more electronic memory devices for storing the pre-determined health data related to the structural integrity of the attached replaceable component, wherein replacement of one of the replaceable components also replaces the attached electronic memory device and the pre-determined health data stored thereon, the two or more electronic memory devices each being operable to communicate the stored data to the at least one processor for comparison with the real-time data; and

reporting means operable to receive information from the at least one processor for reporting at least one of the current condition and the real-time data.

2. The health monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein the each of the two or more replaceable components of the aircraft landing gear is selected from the group consisting of tires, brakes, hydraulics, electronics, landing gear doors, oil pressure, oil temperature, oil level, shock strut position, loads, strain gauges, structural integrity, magnetic permeability, brake pressure, aircraft bus data including airplane velocity, position, attitude and altitude.

3. The health monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein the reporting means is selected from the group consisting of a display screen located in the aircraft cockpit, a ground-based system, and a display screen located within the aircraft and accessible by at least one crew member.

4. The health monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one self powered measurement and analysis unit connected to and in communication with the at least one sensor and connected to an aircraft avionics system and configured to receive additional power therefrom when the aircraft avionics system is on, the measurement and analysis unit further operable to supply power to the at least one sensor and to receive and store real-time data from the at least one sensor when the aircraft power is off and further operable to transmit stored data received from the at least one sensor to the at least one processor when the aircraft avionics system is on.

5. The health monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor and the reporting means are independently connected to the aircraft power supply.

6. The health monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor and the reporting means each independently further include a power supply.

7. The health monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the two or more memory devices is integral with the at least one sensor.

8. The aircraft landing gear health monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a communication device operable to communicate with the at least one sensor and the processor, and to receive information relating to the real-time data, and the calculated current condition of the at least one component.

9. The health monitoring system according to claim 1 wherein the processor is further operable to determine subsequent maintenance for the at least one replaceable component in dependence upon the calculated condition.

10. The health monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the real-time data comprises measured loads associated with the at least one replaceable component.

11. The health monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising at least one signal conditioning device operable to receive and process the real-time data from the at least one sensor into a processor readable form and operable to transmit the processed real-time data to the at least one processor.

12. The health monitoring system according to claim 11, wherein the system comprises a plurality of sensors and one signal conditioning device operable to receive real-time data independently from each sensor and operable to transmit the real-time data to the at least one processor.

13. The health monitoring system according to claim 11, wherein the system comprises a plurality of sensors and a plurality of signal conditioning devices, each signal conditioning device operable to receive real-time data from one of the sensors.

14. An aircraft landing gear health monitoring system for monitoring a plurality of replaceable landing gear components of the aircraft landing gear system, the system comprising:

a plurality of sub-systems each comprising;

a plurality of sensors each independently connected to separate replaceable components of a pre-determined sub-system of the aircraft landing gear and operable to measure real-time data associated with the status of each replaceable component when the aircraft power is switched on and when the aircraft power is switched off; and

a processor connected to the plurality of sensors for receiving the real-time data therefrom and operable to determine the current condition of the sub-system by comparing the real-time data to pre-determined stored health data associated with each replaceable component of the sub-system, the pre-determined health data including data relating to the historic condition of each replaceable component, including actual fatigue and historic load conditions, the current condition comprising the probability of failure and the remaining useful life of the sub-system;

each replaceable component of the landing gear structure including an electronic memory device attached thereto for storing the pre-determined health data associated with the replaceable component to which it is attached, wherein replacement of one of the replaceable components also replaces the attached electronic memory device and the pre-determined health data stored thereon, the electronic memory device being operable to transmit the stored data to at least one of the sensors, associated with the component, and the processor; and

a reporting device connected to each of the sub-systems for receiving data therefrom and operable to report at least one of the real-time data and the current condition of each of the sub-systems.

15. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, wherein the processor of one sub-system is operable to receive real-time data from at least one of a processor of another sub-system and a sensor of another sub-system for use in the calculation of the current condition of the sub-system to which the processor relates.

16. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, further comprising at least one communication device connected to the plurality of sub-systems and to each respective reporting device to relay information therebetween.

17. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, wherein the reporting device is operable to report the current condition of each component within each sub-system.

18. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, wherein the reporting device is at least one of a display device located in the aircraft cockpit, a ground-based system, and a display device located within the aircraft and accessible by at least one crew member.

19. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, wherein the plurality of sub-systems are connected to the aircraft power for recharging and are operable to transmit the recorded data to an aircraft avionics system when the aircraft avionics system is on.

20. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of sub-systems further comprise at least one memory device for storing at least one of the real-time data and the analysed data.

21. The health monitoring system according to claim 14, wherein the at least one of the plurality of replaceable components of the aircraft landing gear system is selected from the group consisting of tires, brakes, hydraulics, electronics, landing gear doors, oil pressure, oil temperature, oil level, shock strut position, loads, strain gauges, structural integrity, magnetic permeability, brake pressure, aircraft bus data including airplane velocity, position, attitude and altitude.

22. A method for monitoring and diagnosing the health of an aircraft landing gear system having two or more replaceable components, the method comprising the steps of:

(i) measuring real-time data associated with the status of at least one replaceable component of the aircraft landing gear system;

(ii) transmitting the real-time data to a processor for processing;

(iii) processing the real-time data and pre-determined health data associated with the at least one replaceable component, the pre-determined health data including data relating to the historic condition of the at least one replaceable component, including actual fatigue and historic load conditions, to calculate a current condition of the at least one replaceable component, the current condition comprising the probability of failure and the remaining useful life of the at least one replaceable component for determining if any maintenance is required;

(iv) recording the calculated condition of the at least one replaceable component and storing the calculated condition on an electronic memory device attached to the at least one component, each of the two or more replaceable components having an attached electronic memory wherein replacement of the at least one replaceable component also replaces the attached electronic memory device and the pre-determined health data stored thereon; and

(v) reporting at least one of the real-time data, the calculated condition and any required maintenance.

23. The method according to claim 22, further comprising the additional step of transmitting at least one of the real-time data, the calculated condition and any required maintenance to a ground-based master landing gear database.

24. The method according to claim 22, wherein the reporting step (v) includes reporting to at least one of the aircraft personnel and the ground-based personnel.

25. The method according to claim 22, comprising performing steps (i) through (iv) while the aircraft is in flight.

26. The method according to claim 22, comprising performing steps (i) through (iv) while the aircraft is on the ground.

27. The method according to claim 22, wherein recording real-time data further comprises recording real-time data associated with the status of a plurality of components contained within a pre-determined sub-system of the aircraft landing gear system and wherein calculating the current condition further comprises calculating the current condition of the sub-system.