Hoist health and usage monitoring system and components thereof
First Claim
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1. A health and usage monitoring system for an aircraft hoist system, comprising:
- a capacitive load cell comprising a load receiving surface and a capacitive assembly coupled to the load receiving surface, the capacitive assembly comprising parallel electrically conductive plates separated by a reversibly deformable spacer construction,wherein the parallel plates comprise aligned apertures providing a passageway through the capacitive load cell for a hoist system cable; and
a processing unit for communication with the capacitive load cell,wherein the reversibly deformable spacer construction has an elastic modulus rendering a change in spacing of the parallel electrically conductive plates under an applied load in a first load range resulting in a measurable change in capacitance of the capacitive assembly,wherein the load cell is positioned between a striker plate and a hook bumper of an interface assembly for the aircraft hoist system.
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Abstract
Health and usage monitoring systems for aircraft hoist systems are described herein. In some embodiments, a health and usage monitoring system comprises a capacitive load cell and a processing unit for communication with the capacitive load cell, the capacitive load cell comprising a load receiving surface and a capacitive assembly coupled to the load receiving surface, the capacitive assembly comprising parallel electrically conductive plates separated by a reversibly deformable spacer construction wherein the parallel plates comprise aligned apertures providing a passageway through the capacitive assembly for the hoist system cable.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A health and usage monitoring system for an aircraft hoist system, comprising:
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a capacitive load cell comprising a load receiving surface and a capacitive assembly coupled to the load receiving surface, the capacitive assembly comprising parallel electrically conductive plates separated by a reversibly deformable spacer construction, wherein the parallel plates comprise aligned apertures providing a passageway through the capacitive load cell for a hoist system cable; and a processing unit for communication with the capacitive load cell, wherein the reversibly deformable spacer construction has an elastic modulus rendering a change in spacing of the parallel electrically conductive plates under an applied load in a first load range resulting in a measurable change in capacitance of the capacitive assembly, wherein the load cell is positioned between a striker plate and a hook bumper of an interface assembly for the aircraft hoist system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An aircraft hoist system, comprising:
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a cable coupled to a cable winding and unwinding apparatus; a hook coupled to the cable through an interface assembly, the interface assembly comprising a hook bumper and a striker plate; and a health and use monitoring system comprising a load cell and a processing unit for communication with the load cell, wherein the load cell is a capacitive load cell positioned in a load path through the interface assembly and comprising a load receiving surface and a capacitive assembly coupled to the load receiving surface, the capacitive assembly comprising parallel electrically conductive plates separated by a reversibly deformable spacer construction wherein the parallel plates comprise aligned apertures providing a passageway through the capacitive assembly for the cable, wherein the reversibly deformable spacer construction has an elastic modulus rendering a change in spacing of the parallel electrically conductive plates under an applied load in a first load range resulting in a measurable change in capacitance of the capacitive assembly, wherein the load cell is positioned between the striker plate and the hook bumper of the interface assembly for the aircraft hoist system. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A method of fitting a health and usage monitoring system to an aircraft hoist system, comprising:
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positioning a load cell in a load path through a cable-hook assembly of the aircraft hoist system; providing a processing unit for communication with the load cell; and coupling the processing unit to the aircraft hoist system; wherein the load cell includes a capacitive load cell comprising a load receiving surface and a capacitive assembly coupled to the load receiving surface, the capacitive assembly comprising parallel electrically conductive plates separated by a reversibly deformable spacer construction wherein the parallel plates comprise aligned apertures providing a passageway through the capacitive assembly for a cable of the aircraft hoist system, wherein the reversibly deformable spacer construction has an elastic modulus rendering a change in spacing of the parallel electrically conductive plates under an applied load in a first load range resulting in a measurable chance in capacitance of the capacitive assembly, wherein the load cell is positioned between a striker plate and a hook bumper of the cable-hook assembly. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification