Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Aeronautical vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-16
2001-08-07
Zanelli, Michael (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Aeronautical vehicle
C340S980000, C345S007000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06272404
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flight path display apparatus which displays a flight path on a head-up display installed in a cockpit of an aircraft.
2. Description of Related Art
Hitherto there is provided a head-up display unit which is mounted in front of a canopy of a cockpit of an aircraft and has an image combining panel through which the light from the outside view and projected information of the aircraft data are combined, so that a pilot can obtain the aircraft flight data information while seeing the outside view.
There also exists a flight path display apparatus which indicates a target flight path by superimposing on the image combining panel of the head-up display to assist the pilot in landing to an airport for example. The pilot can land safely even under low visibility due to bad weather by controlling the aircraft so as to fly along this indicated flight path. When the aircraft is a fixed wing aircraft, for example, an approach course to an airport is straight approach and an approach angle is about 3°.
In contrary to that, an approach course of a helicopter is not a simple straight approach but is an approach of a three-dimensional curve and an approach angle also varies considerably from 3° to 12° because it has to approach while avoiding slapping noise and also avoiding flight paths of other aircraft for example. It is also difficult to enlarge the area of the image combining panel of the head-up display unit because the cockpit of the helicopter is narrow and the equipment thereof must be small. Accordingly, the field of view of the existing head-up display unit is very narrow. Further, because the helicopter can change the flight direction easily, there has been a problem that the target flight path is gone outside of the image combining panel and is lost when the aircraft nose is pointing some different direction from the target flight path even if it is flying near the target flight path. Such circumstance becomes a big problem under low visibility, e.g., when the ground surface is not visible in particular.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is hence an object of the present invention to provide a flight path display apparatus which allows a pilot to keep a target flight path, in particular, even under low visibility.
The invention provides a flight path display apparatus comprising:
storage means for storing flight path data of the predetermined flight paths;
aircraft flight data measuring means for measuring a position and attitude of an aircraft;
computing means for calculating to display the position of the target flight path based on the predetermined flight path data and the aircraft flight data.; and
head-up display means having projecting means for projecting the target flight path, and an image combining panel which is disposed in front of a pilot head and displaying the projected target flight path image by superimposing on the outside view,
wherein a target mark indicative of a direction toward the target flight path from the center of a display area of the image combining panel is indicated on the image combining panel when the displayed position of the target flight path image is gone outside of the display area of the image combining panel.
According to the present invention, the target flight path is projected on the image combining panel of the head-up display unit. This target flight path image is calculated based on the position and attitude of the aircraft obtained from the aircraft flight data measuring means and based on the predetermined flight path data and is indicated on the image combining panel which is provided in front of a pilot head with being superimposed on the outside view. Accordingly, the pilot can control the aircraft along the indicated target flight path while looking forward. It also allows the pilot to control the aircraft along the target flight path even under low visibility condition.
When the aircraft is pointing in the direction different from the target flight path, the displayed position of the target flight path image is gone outside of the display area of the image combining panel. In this case, the direction toward the target flight path from the center of the display area of the image combining panel is indicated on the image combining panel by the target mark. Accordingly, the target flight path image appears on the image combining panel by turning the aircraft in the direction indicated by this target mark. Thus, the pilot can find the target flight path readily without losing it even when no target f-light path image is displayed on the image combining panel under low visibility.
In the invention it is preferable that the computing means calculates a distance between the target flight path and the aircraft position and changes the display pattern corresponding to the distance.
According to the invention, the display pattern is changed corresponding to the distance between the aircraft position and the target flight path, so that the pilot can readily understand the distance to the target flight path, thus reducing the workload, even when the target flight path is not indicated on the image combining panel.
In the invention it is preferable that the target flight path image is composed of a plurality of path marks and each path mark inclines corresponding to the attitude of the aircraft supposed when the aircraft is positioned at each path mark.
According to the invention, each path mark of the target flight path image inclines corresponding to the supposed attitude of the aircraft, e.g., the bank angle, as described above, so that the pilot can fly the aircraft along the flight path by controlling so that the bank angle of the aircraft coincides with each indicated path mark.
In the invention it is preferable that when the flight path is turning, a turn mark indicative; of an angle of turn is indicated on the image combining panel.
According to the invention, because the turn mark indicates the angle of turn, the pilot can understand the angle of turn and can anticipate the turn ending position from that even if the flight path turns significantly and a turn ending position is gone outside of the display area of the image combining panel. Thereby, the workload of the pilot can be reduced.
In the invention it is preferable that the computing means calculates a distance between a landing spot and the aircraft and erases the display of the image combining panel when the distance becomes shorter than a predetermined distance.
According to the invention, the display of the image combining panel is erased when the aircraft approaches the landing spot. Normally, the pilot lands visually by contact flight when the aircraft approaches near the landing spot and the landing spot is visible. While the display image of the head-up display unit might become annoying in such a case, such annoyance is removed and the pilot workload during landing may be reduced by the invention because the display of the image combining panel is erased when the distance between the landing spot and the aircraft becomes shorter than the predetermined distance.
In the invention it is preferable that the pilot is allowed to erase some part of the display of the image combining panel selectively.
According to the invention, the pilot can erase the display selectively, so that it is possible to show the flight path clearly by erasing a display of heading when the path marks overlap with the display of heading and the target flight path is hardly recognized for example.
In the invention it is preferable that a relative positional relationship between the position of the aircraft and a landing/take-off spot and a landing/take-off flight path are displayed on the side of an altitude indicating section of the image combining panel during landing/taking off, and the landing/take-off spot is displayed at the edge of the display area on the side of the landing/take-off spot when the landing/take-off spot is gone outside of the display area of the image combining panel.
According to the inve
Amano Takaki
Yamakawa Eiichi
Advanced Technology Institute of Commuter-Helicopter, Ltd.
Gibson E.
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
Zanelli Michael
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