Aeronautics and astronautics – Miscellaneous
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-14
2001-07-24
Barefoot, Galen L. (Department: 3644)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Miscellaneous
C244S121000, C244S129100, C348S117000, C340S945000, C340S963000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264135
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of aviation safety equipment, and specifically concerns apparatus that allows the cockpit crew of an inflight aircraft to visually monitor using at least one externally mounted digital video camera the positioning and deployment of various flight control surfaces. It further includes connection to the flight data recorder to provide a visual record of data in the event of a crash for subsequent analysis of functioning or malfunctioning of the various flight control surfaces. This facilitates postcrash National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) or similar investigative agency determination of crash causes and safety improvements.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has always been an object of aviators to improve the monitoring and control of inflight aircraft, as well as to utilize the experience of prior flights to improve the safety of aircraft and the techniques of safe aircraft operation. In the present day of high capacity aircraft, when an airliner crashes the loss of life is often enormous.
Much investigative attention in such tragedies is then frequently focused on the so-called “black boxes” carried by all modern airliners, which are more properly called the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. The flight data recorder comes in various models depending on the age of the aircraft in which it was installed. That is because the Federal Aviation Adminstration (FAA) has mandated an increasing number of variables to be monitored in order to provide an ever increasing amount of data for postcrash investigation, and because constantly improving technology has made the collection of so much data readily achievable. The cockpit voice recorder records on a loop the last time period of sounds in the cockpit including the speech of the pilots and sounds made by cockpit instruments and ambient conditions.
In the last several years, single airliner crashes (as opposed to two or more aircraft in a collision) over deep water without readily apparent causes have led to ever increasing emphasis on the importance of the control, real time monitoring, and recording of data concerning the operating parameters of the aircraft immediately prior to crashing. In part that is because such catastrophic aircraft failures usually leave no one alive to assist in the investigation of the cause or causes.
In addition, although cockpit instruments provide some real time information on the positioning of external various flight control surfaces, and flight data recorders provide some information on such positioning after a crash, pilots cannot actually see many of the flight control surfaces either from the cockpit or from other windows in the plane. This is particularly true of all the vital control surfaces on the tail of the aircraft including elevators, rudder and trim tabs.
At the same time great strides have been made in the field of cameras, particularly digital video cameras and lenses. Miniaturization of such cameras and sophisticated control techniques makes it feasible to mount, control and operate them with a minimum of space and in very hostile environments. This, in turn, allows use of such cameras in the conditions found outside of a modern airliner in flight and at cruise altitude, e.g., with airspeeds to nearly 600 miles per hour and outside air temperatures down to about 60 or 70 degrees below zero fahrenheit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Bearing in mind the foregoing, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a means for the cockpit crew of an inflight aircraft to remotely visually monitor the positioning and deployment of various flight control surfaces.
It is another object of the present invention to provide at least one externally mounted digital video camera on the exterior of an aircraft to furnish the source of data for both visual real time monitoring of external control surfaces of an inflight aircraft, and for recording such data in the flight data recorder.
It is related object of the present invention to provide improved safety in the aviation industry by providing visual data that can be used both by pilots in real time to troubleshoot control problems of aircraft in flight, and by crash investigators to more positively identify and correct external flight control surface anomalies after crashes have taken place.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide all of the foregoing objects and advantages using small, reliable, streamlined, lightweight and relatively inexpensive equipment that will accomplish the foregoing without any significant degradation in the speed or efficiency of the aircraft or its cost of manufacture and maintenance.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the following descriptions and the appended drawings.
In accordance with a principal aspect of the invention there is provided at least one miniature digital video camera in a streamlined configuration mounted on or in proximity to the vertical stabilizer of an aircraft and in communication preferably with both remote digital video recording apparatus and at least one cockpit video monitor. The preferred embodiment would employ two video cameras, one on anterior or front of the tail assembly, and one of the posterior or rear of it. One alternative embodiment would consist of only one video camera, fastened to an extension of the tail assembly. The second preferred embodiment would include two video cameras, one of which would be mounted on the posterior end of the tail assembly, the other on the underside of the plane, just behind the wings. Other locations are within the contemplation of the inventor.
The video camera(s) may alternatively be equipped with direction control means to facilitate pointing the lens at all different control surfaces including but not limited to rudder, elevators, trim tabs, engine thrust reversers, ailerons, flaps, air brakes, spoilers, landing gear, and the like. The remote digital video recording apparatus will preferably be a part of the flight data recorder so that postcrash investigators will be able to see the deployment and positioning of control surfaces during the time immediately preceding the crash. A plurality of such miniature digital video cameras may be employed to allow simultaneous monitoring of tail assembly, wings and undercarriage without using direction control means, since doing so may sacrifice some views for postcrash investigation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4816828 (1989-03-01), Feher
patent: 5283643 (1994-02-01), Fujimoto
patent: 5667170 (1997-09-01), Moss et al.
patent: 6009356 (1999-12-01), Monroe
Barefoot Galen L.
Vanderwall Robert J.
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