Power and data transfer to hub sensors

• US 9,511,855 B2
• Filed: 01/22/2014
• Issued: 12/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (Martin Marietta Corporation)
• Inventors: Bajekal, Sanjay, Soldner, Nicholas Charles, Chaudhry, Zaffir A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Deberadinis, Robert
• Application Number:
  US14/161,323
• Publication Number:
  US 20150203197A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,049 Days
• Field of Search: 307/104
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/32 Rotors
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/44 for aircrafts
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

Embodiments are directed to a method comprising: providing, by a coil embedded in a structure of a rotor hub composed of a paramagnetic material, power to at least one sensor, and receiving, by the coil, data from the at least one sensor. Embodiments are directed to a system comprising: a coil embedded in a structure of a rotor hub composed of a paramagnetic material, and a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the coil and configured to receive power from the coil.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, by a coil embedded in a structure of a rotor hub composed of a paramagnetic material, power to at least one sensor; and

receiving, by the coil, data from the at least one sensor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the paramagnetic material comprises titanium.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

demodulating the received data; and

transferring the demodulated data to an avionics bay.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the power is provided to the at least one sensor over a distance of at least 2 meters.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is embedded in the structure.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is embedded in a second structure, and wherein an air gap is present between the structure and the second structure.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the structure is built around the coil using an additive manufacturing technique.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a center frequency shift of a Q-factor for a second coil associated with the at least one sensor.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

using, by the coil, a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique with pulse width modulation (PWM) to receive the data based on the center frequency shift of the Q-factor for the second coil.

10. A system comprising:

a coil embedded in a structure of a rotor hub composed of a paramagnetic material; and

a plurality of sensors communicatively coupled to the coil and configured to receive power from the coil.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the paramagnetic material comprises titanium.

12. The system of claim 10, further comprising:

circuitry embedded in the structure configured to;

demodulate data received by the coil from the sensors; and

cause the demodulated data to be transferred to an avionics bay.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the power is received by at least one of the sensors over a distance of approximately 2 meters.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the sensors is embedded in the structure.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein at least one of the sensors is embedded in a second structure composed of a second paramagnetic material, and wherein an air gap is present between the structure and the second structure.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the paramagnetic material and the second paramagnetic material are different.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the structure is configured to be built around the coil using an additive manufacturing technique.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the structure is configured to be coated or sealed following the inclusion of the coil.

19. The system of claim 10, wherein the coil is configured to receive data from the sensors using a frequency division multiplexing (FDM) technique combined with pulse width modulation (PWM) based on an identification of a center frequency shift of a Q-factor for each of a plurality of coils that are associated with a respective one of the plurality of sensors.