System for reducing carbon brake wear
First Claim
1. A system for enabling a pilot to reduce brake wear on aircraft fitted with a plurality of carbon brakes, comprising:
- a switch mechanism for sensing application of said plurality of carbon brakes and for generating a brake application count signal indicating application of said plurality of carbon brakes;
a microprocessor operative to receive said brake application count signal and to tally a cumulative brake application count of the number of times the brakes have been applied during a preselected interval responsive to said count signal, said microprocessor being operative to reduce the cumulative brake application count by one third to one half to generate an adjusted brake application count in the event that the aircraft braking system includes a taxi brake select feature that selectively releases some but not all of said plurality of carbon brakes;
a data retrieval system configured to store said adjusted brake application count; and
a monitor displaying to a pilot in real time a count display of the adjusted brake application count and an indication of a temperature of said brakes, indicating to the pilot to use the brakes less often and with more intensity during taxiing, and to maintain more heat in the brakes while the temperature of said brakes is below a threshold temperature.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A brake monitoring system is described for use on aircraft having carbon brakes. The system displays the number of times the brakes have been applied in a preselected counting interval such as during each takeoff and landing cycle. By raising the pilot'"'"'s awareness of the number of times the brakes have been applied, a more efficient brake use is encouraged in view of the knowledge that carbon brake wear is substantially a function of the number of applications rather than the total energy that is converted thereby. Additionally, the monitoring system provides an indication of the temperature of the brakes which encourages the pilot to maintain a minimum temperature therein beyond which wear is reduced.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A system for enabling a pilot to reduce brake wear on aircraft fitted with a plurality of carbon brakes, comprising:
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a switch mechanism for sensing application of said plurality of carbon brakes and for generating a brake application count signal indicating application of said plurality of carbon brakes; a microprocessor operative to receive said brake application count signal and to tally a cumulative brake application count of the number of times the brakes have been applied during a preselected interval responsive to said count signal, said microprocessor being operative to reduce the cumulative brake application count by one third to one half to generate an adjusted brake application count in the event that the aircraft braking system includes a taxi brake select feature that selectively releases some but not all of said plurality of carbon brakes; a data retrieval system configured to store said adjusted brake application count; and a monitor displaying to a pilot in real time a count display of the adjusted brake application count and an indication of a temperature of said brakes, indicating to the pilot to use the brakes less often and with more intensity during taxiing, and to maintain more heat in the brakes while the temperature of said brakes is below a threshold temperature. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification