Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Aeronautical vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-23
2001-11-06
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Aeronautical vehicle
C701S014000, C701S004000, C244S00100R, C244S075100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06314343
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an improved aircraft flight mode selector system for use in connection with aircraft such as airplanes or helicopters, for example. The assembly of this invention includes computer-generated display menus and soft flight mode selector keys which enable the use of a greater number of aircraft flight modes to be accessed from a smaller envelope than is presently possible with existing flight mode selector assemblies.
BACKGROUND ART
Modern aircraft, such as helicopters and the like, include flight mode selector assemblies which enable the flight crew to select various flight characteristics for the aircraft. Flight modes will vary, depending on the type of aircraft, but will generally include altitude preselect switches whereby the pilot can preselect an altitude at which the aircraft will fly; approach preselect switches whereby the pilot can select various ground approach options; altitude hold switches wherein the pilot can maintain an altitude by means of external barometric air pressure readings; and other options too numerous to mention.
Conventional aircraft flight mode selectors include dedicated “on-off” switches and switch indicator lights, with the switch panel being hard wired to the flight control computer. Each switch on the flight mode selector panel controls one facet of the flight mode, thus the more sophisticated the flight mode selector system is, and the more flight mode facets there are, the more complex, bulky and weighty the flight mode selector system becomes. With conventional flight mode selector systems, when additional flight mode options are to added to the system, then additional hard wired switches and on-off indicator lights must be added to the cockpit console. It will be readily appreciated that the addition of further flight control hard wired switches and indicator lights to a cockpit console, as required by conventional systems, is undesirable due to weight, space and complexity constraints.
It would be highly desirable to provide an aircraft flight mode selector and control system which is more compact than present systems; allows the inclusion of a greater number of flight mode options than present systems; and can be augmented with additional selections with minimal effort.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved aircraft flight mode selection and control system which occupies minimal space in the aircraft cockpit, and which provides for an enhanced number of flight mode options for selection by the aircraft's crew. The system of this invention includes a menu display screen which is operable to display a plurality of different flight mode selections. Associated with the display screen are a plurality of bezel soft switches. The soft switches are operable to selectively change the various flight mode selections on the display screen. The display screen also has a plurality of fixed menu switches which are operable to select a particular generic flight mode menu to be displayed on the display screen, and from which particular specific flight modes can be selected by use of the soft switches in the system. Finally, there are a plurality of hard wired annunciator switches and lights associated with the display screen. The annunciator switches are operable to control a subset of flight mode functions that are available at all times and are commonly used. By making them dedicated switches, they are always in the same place and therefore easily found by the pilot. The fact that they are hard wired switches allows them to be easily and quickly accessible without the need to page through menus, and they do not take up space on the menus that could be advantageously used for other functions. The annunciator lights indicate the state (“ON” or “OFF”) of the functions controlled by the hard wired switches.
The flight mode selector assembly is connected to a flight control computer by means of two serial data buses, one for transmitting data from the flight mode selector assembly to the flight control computer, and the other for transmitting data from the flight control computer to the flight mode selector. The flight mode selector assembly is connected to two other aircraft systems, the Automatic Flight Control System (AFCS) control panel, and the Airborne System Computer (ASC). The flight mode selector assembly acts as an intermediary between the AFCS control panel and the ASC, and the flight control computer, passing signals between the flight control computer and the AFCS control panel and the ASC. The serial data buses send information from one component of the assembly to another in the form of data “words”. Different data words are given names or labels so that the receiving device knows what it is receiving. For example, if a sensor measures speed and altitude, it would transmit a word made up of the speed and a numeric label corresponding to “speed”. It would also transmit a different word made up of the altitude and a different numeric label corresponding to “altitude”. If the sensor were to use the three digit label “130” for “speed” and “149” for “altitude”, the receiver would not confuse the two, and the data buses can send a multitude of different flight mode information between which the receiver can readily differentiate.
The flight mode selector assembly consists of a display screen, its associated switches, a processor, a power supply, and circuitry to support the serial buses. The processor includes a look up table which describes the various display indicia which are to be displayed on the display screen in response to commands from the flight control computer. The pilot requests a particular flight mode by pressing a switch on the flight mode selector. Information as to which switch is actuated is transmitted by the processor in the flight mode selector assembly to the flight control computer. If logic in the flight control computer decides that the selected flight mode is viable and can be enabled by the flight control computer, the flight control computer transmits a code over the serial bus to the flight mode selector. The processor in the flight mode selector uses this code in conjunction with the included look up table to alter the display on the display panel. Thus, by actuating one of the hard wired switches or soft switches, the pilot will be able to select different flight modes and see a confirmation of the flight mode selected on the display panel.
The system also has the ability to display a plurality of different predetermined printed meassages directed to the pilot from the flight control computer, which messages instruct the pilot to perform certain functions. Illumination intensity of the display screen indicia can be selective varied by the pilot, and the system has the ability to continuously monitor its functionality. When system functioning problems are diagnosed, a backup system can be activated by the pilot.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved aircraft flight mode selector system which is compact in size, and enables selection of a greater number of flight mode options than are currently available.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide a system of the character described which can be altered and updated without needing to expand the physical envelope of the system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a system of the character described which includes a menu display screen that allows the pilot of the aircraft to select one of several specific flight modes from a generic flight mode descriptor.
It is another object of this invention to provide a system of the character described which includes a flight mode look up table which is consulted by the operating system in order to identify menu display indicia which correspond to switches in the system which have been actuated by the pilot.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5019980 (1991-05-01), Starr et al.
patent: 5416705 (1995-05-01), Barnett
patent: 5844503 (1998-12-01), Riley et al.
patent: 6122141 (2000-08-01), Briffe et al.
patent: 6131
Adams Don L.
Crowley Ann
Novis Ari M.
Provenzano Thomas J.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Hernandez Olga
Jones William W.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
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