Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft control – Pilot operated
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-07
2001-07-24
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3641)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft control
Pilot operated
C244S229000, C244S00100R, C244S197000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264146
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to flight and/or weapons control systems for aircraft, and more particularly to a portable controller adapted to be held by a non-pilot crew member for enabling the non-pilot crew member to remotely communicate with the flight and/or weapons control systems of the aircraft.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
With many present day aircraft, and particularly military aircraft such as military rotorcraft, various important flight control weapons and sensor switches are located on the “collective” or the “side arm” controller (commonly known as “grips”) in the cockpit of the aircraft. With military fly-by-wire aircraft, such aircraft are extremely responsive to small inputs on the collective and side arm controller. The crew member who is not flying the aircraft (i.e., the “non-pilot” crew member) cannot therefore make any control inputs. More specifically, the non-pilot crew member cannot have his/her hands on the collective or side arm controller.
To address the above-described problem, some aircraft dedicate large amounts of panel space to replicate the grip switches. However, in many aircraft, such as military rotorcraft which make use of small cockpits having a large amount of glass, the amount of available control panel surface for mounting additional flight control, weapons control and sensor switches is highly restricted.
Another drawback with cockpits of military aircraft is that they are often extremely small and do not always allow for positioning or laying out of the various displays used in the aircraft for maximum ergonomic convenience. Often, the required locations of various controls that are needed for the pilot and/or crew member to enter text data to support digital communications are not located physically close to where the entered data ultimately appears on a related display system in the cockpit. This can also contribute to increased crew stress and significantly increased eye and hand motions for performing the needed flight and weapons control inputs and the inputs for controlling the various sensors of the aircraft.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide some form of portable or hand-holdable controller which would permit the non-pilot crew member of an aircraft to enter flight control data and/or commands, weapons systems commands and/or other various commands relating to control of the sensors of the aircraft without having to access the related controls on the grips of the aircraft, and further without requiring additional controls, displays or other items to be mounted on the control panel of the aircraft.
It would also be highly desirable to provide a portable controller capable of being easily held by the non-pilot crew member or easily rested on a leg of the non-pilot crew member, and which further may be configured to communicate with selected flight and/or weapons control systems remotely so as not to interfere with operation of the same controls by the crew member piloting the aircraft, and further without requiring the controller to be disconnected and reconnected at various interface points on the control panel of the aircraft.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a portable controller which is very compact, low in weight, includes a keyboard and other various controls, and allows the non-pilot crew member access to and control over the various flight and/or weapons control systems of the aircraft without interfering with use of those control systems by the crew member piloting the aircraft.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above objects are provided by a portable controller in accordance with the preferred embodiments of the present invention. The preferred embodiments form a portable, hand-holdable controller which the crew member who is not piloting an aircraft can either hold in one or both hands or attach to one leg. The controller is interfaced with the control panel of the aircraft via a suitable interface cable which allows the controller to communicate with the various flight, weapons control and/or sensors of the aircraft without the non-flying crew member having to access these controls on the collective or side arm controller of the aircraft, and thus eliminating the possibility of unintended flight control inputs being accidentally made.
The portable controller of the present invention includes a housing which is easily held by one or both hands of the non-pilot crew member and further shaped so as to permit convenient resting on a thigh of the non-pilot crew member when he/she is in the seated position. The housing includes a keyboard, a cursor (i.e., “slew”) control, and preferably a mode select switch. The cursor control allows the non-pilot crew member to move the cursor on various displays, such as a multipurpose display (MPD) or a multi-function display (MFD) of the aircraft in remote fashion. The keyboard allows the non-pilot crew member to enter flight commands and/or flight data to various flight control systems, also in remote fashion.
The mode select switch, if incorporated, allows the portable controller to be switched between various independent flight control systems of the aircraft. In this manner, the portable controller of the present invention can communicate with several independent flight control systems without the need for disconnecting and reconnecting its interface cable to the various systems on the control panel of the aircraft.
In a preferred embodiment the portable controller also includes a trigger for allowing the non-pilot crew member to launch various weapons if the aircraft is a military aircraft. For military applications, additional switches can be provided for controlling the weapons bay of the aircraft and various other weapons related functions.
In an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention the mode select switch is not used, and separate cursor control switches are used to independently interface with different display systems of the aircraft. This embodiment also incorporates a small display panel for viewing data or commands input from the controller.
The portable controller of the present invention in its various embodiments thus enables remote control over a wide variety of flight/weapons/sensor control systems of the aircraft by the non-pilot crew member. The portable controller also allows for much more convenient input of various flight/weapons/sensor control inputs by enabling these inputs to be made more quickly and with fewer repetitive hand motions than would otherwise be required if the non-pilot crew member was required to input the commands at the control panel of the aircraft.
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Capron Gerard F.
Hill Terrence L.
Best Christian M.
Harness & Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.
Jordan Charles T.
The Boeing Company
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