Method and system for planning repair of an aircraft engine

• US 6,067,486 A
• Filed: 02/01/1999
• Issued: 05/23/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Ovington, Brian Thomas, Eaker, Charles Edward, Livingston, Steven Thomas, Aragones, James Kenneth, Kornfein, Mark Mitchell, Irving, Russell Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hernandez, Olga
• Application Number:
  US09/241,168
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• Field of Search: 701/29, 701/30, 340/500
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A method and system for planning repair or overhaul of an aircraft engine. This invention retrieves engine configuration data for a plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine, retrieves service requirement data for at least one of the plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine, and automatically determines a remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine from the configuration data and the service requirement data.

Claims

1. An article of manufacture comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for causing the planning of repair of an aircraft engine, the computer readable program code means in said article of manufacture comprising;

retrieving engine configuration data for a plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine;

retrieving service requirement data for at least one of the plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine;

automatically determining a remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine from said engine configuration data and said service requirement data; and

generating a planning document for repairing the aircraft engine according to the determined remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

2. The article of manufacture of claim 1, wherein said retrieving engine configuration data comprises retrieving a predetermined build level, and further comprising automatically determining whether the remaining life of the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine is less than the predetermined build level.

3. A system for planning repair of an aircraft engine, comprising:

means for retrieving engine configuration data for a plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine;

means for retrieving service requirement data for at least one of the plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine;

means for automatically determining a remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine from said engine configuration data and said service requirement data; and

means for generating a planning document for repairing the aircraft engine according to the determined remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said means for retrieving engine configuration data comprises means for retrieving a predetermined amount of use for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts since new, and said means for retrieving service requirement data comprises means for retrieving a maximum amount of use permitted for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said means for automatically determining the remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts comprises means for automatically subtracting the predetermined amount of use of the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts since new from the maximum amount of use permitted for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein said means for retrieving engine configuration data comprises ascertaining an identification of the aircraft engine and means for retrieving an identification for each of the life limited parts from a first data storage unit corresponding to the identification of the aircraft engine.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said means for retrieving service requirement data comprises means for retrieving service requirement data from a second data storage unit corresponding to each of the identifications for the life limited parts.

8. The system of claim 3, wherein said means for retrieving engine configuration data comprises means for retrieving a predetermined build level, and further comprising means for automatically determining whether the remaining life of the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine is less than the predetermined build level.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising means for automatically identifying at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine having a remaining life less than the predetermined build level.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising means for automatically providing a work order identifying at least one work task for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts having a life less than the predetermined build level.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising means for ascertaining an engine module for each of the life limited parts, means for retrieving service requirement data for each of the engine modules, and means for automatically presenting the service requirement data arranged by the engine module for evaluation by a service manager.

12. A computer implemented method for planning repair of an aircraft engine, comprising:

retrieving engine configuration data for a plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine;

retrieving service requirement data for at least one of the plurality of life limited parts for the aircraft engine;

automatically determining a remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine from said engine configuration data and said service requirement data; and

generating a planning document for repairing the aircraft engine according to the determined remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein said retrieving engine configuration data comprises retrieving a predetermined amount of use for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts since new, and said retrieving service requirement data comprises retrieving a maximum amount of use permitted for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 13, wherein said automatically determining the remaining life for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts comprises automatically subtracting the predetermined amount of use of the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts since new from the maximum amount of use permitted for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein said retrieving engine configuration data comprises ascertaining an identification of the aircraft engine and retrieving an identification for each of the life limited parts from a first data storage unit corresponding to the identification of the aircraft engine.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15, wherein said retrieving service requirement data comprises retrieving service requirement data from a second data storage unit corresponding to each of the identifications for the life limited parts.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 12, wherein said retrieving engine configuration data comprises retrieving a predetermined build level, and further comprising automatically determining whether the remaining life of the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine is less than the predetermined build level.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 17, further comprising automatically identifying at least one of the plurality of life limited parts of the aircraft engine having a remaining life less than the predetermined build level.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 17, further comprising automatically providing a work order identifying at least one work task for the at least one of the plurality of life limited parts having a life less than the predetermined build level.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 17, further comprising ascertaining an engine module for each of the life limited parts, retrieving service requirement data for each of the engine modules, and automatically presenting the service requirement data arranged by the engine module for evaluation by a service manager.