Propeller blade synchrophasing using phonic wheel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10745110-B2
Application number	US-201816024678-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 29, 2018
Priority date	Jun 29, 2018
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

Herein provided are systems and methods for synchrophasing multi-engine aircraft. A phonic wheel is coupled to a first propeller of a first engine of the aircraft. A sensor is disposed and configured for producing a signal in response to passage of first and second position markers on the phonic wheel. A control system is communicatively coupled to the sensor for obtaining the signal, and configured for: determining an expected delay between two subsequent signal pulses of the signal; identifying from within the plurality of signal pulses a particular pulse associated with the second position marker; determining, based on a particular time at which the particular pulse associated with the second position marker was produced, that a rotational position of the first propeller corresponds to a reference position at the particular time; and performing at least one synchrophasing operation for the aircraft based on the rotational position of the first propeller.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for synchrophasing a multi-engine aircraft, comprising:
a phonic wheel coupled to a first propeller of a first engine of the aircraft, the phonic wheel comprising a plurality of circumferentially uniformly-spaced first position markers disposed on an outer circumferential surface of the phonic wheel and a second position marker disposed on the outer surface, the second position marker disposed circumferentially closer to a selected one of the first position markers than to the remaining first position markers and being indicative of a reference position of the propeller, the phonic wheel configured to rotate during operation of the first engine;
a sensor adjacent the phonic wheel and configured for producing a signal in response to passage of the first position markers and the second position marker, the signal comprising a plurality of signal pulses corresponding to the passage of the plurality of first position markers and of the second position marker during rotation of the phonic wheel; and
a control system communicatively coupled to the sensor for obtaining the signal, and configured for:
determining, based on the plurality of signal pulses, an expected delay between two subsequent pulses of the plurality of signal pulses, the expected delay representative of the spacing of the plurality of first position markers;
identifying from within the plurality of signal pulses a particular pulse associated with the second position marker, the particular pulse having a delay shorter than the expected delay;
determining, based on a particular time at which the particular pulse associated with the second position marker was produced, that a rotational position of the first propeller corresponds to the reference position at the particular time; and
performing at least one synchrophasing operation for the aircraft based on the rotational position of the first propeller.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system being configured for performing at least one synchrophasing operation comprises:
transmitting a position signal, indicative of the rotational position of the first propeller, to a central control of the aircraft;
obtaining, from the central control, an engine control signal generated by the central control based on the position signal, the engine control signal comprising instructions for causing a predetermined operating parameter of at least one of the first engine and the first propeller to be adjusted to maintain a predetermined phase angle for the first propeller; and
adjusting, based on the engine control signal, at least one operating parameter of the at least one of the first engine and the first propeller.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein transmitting the position signal, indicative of the rotational position of the first propeller, to the central control of the aircraft further causes the central control to generate, based on the position signal, instructions for causing a predetermined operating parameter of at least one of a second engine and a second propeller of the aircraft to be adjusted to maintain a predetermined phase angle difference between the first propeller and the second propeller.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is a first control system, wherein the first control system being configured for performing at least one synchrophasing operation comprises:
transmitting a position signal to a second control system associated with a second propeller of the aircraft;
obtaining, from the second control system, an engine control signal generated by the second control system based on the position signal, the engine control signal comprising instructions for causing a predetermined operating parameter of at least one of the first engine and the first propeller to be adjusted to maintain a predetermined phase angle for the first propeller; and
adjusting, based on the engine control signal, the predetermined operating parameter of the at least one of the first engine and the first propeller.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein transmitting the position signal, indicative of the rotational position of the first propeller, to the second control system further causes the second control system to generate, based on the position signal, instructions for causing a predetermined operating parameter of at least one of a second engine and a second propeller of the aircraft to be adjusted to maintain a predetermined phase angle difference between the first propeller and the second propeller.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured for:
obtaining at least one position signal from at least one supplementary control system, each of the at least one supplementary control system associated with a respective supplementary engine and supplementary propeller of the aircraft and each of the at least one position signal indicative of a rotational position of the respective supplementary propeller of the aircraft;
generating at least one engine control signal based on the at least one position signal, the at least one engine control signal comprising instructions for causing a respective predetermined operating parameter of at least one of each supplementary engine and each supplementary propeller to be adjusted to maintain a predetermined phase angle difference between the first propeller and the at least one supplementary propeller; and
transmitting each of the at least one engine control signal to the respective supplementary control system.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is further configured for:
obtaining at least one position signal from at least one supplementary control system, each of the at least one supplementary control system associated with a respective supplementary engine and supplementary propeller of the aircraft and each of the at least one position signals indicative of a rotational position of the respective supplementary propeller of the aircraft; and
adjusting a predetermined operating parameter of at least one of the first engine and the first propeller to maintain a predetermined phase angle difference between the first propeller and the at least one supplementary propeller.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the control system is further configured for:
generating at least one engine control signal based on the at least one position signal, the at least one engine control signal comprising instructions for causing a respective predetermined operating parameter of at least one of each supplementary engine and each supplementary propeller to be adjusted to maintain a predetermined phase angle difference between the first propeller and the at least one supplementary propeller; and
transmitting each of the at least one engine control signal to the respective supplementary control system.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one synchrophasing operation comprises at least one of adjusting a speed of rotation of the first engine, a speed of rotation of the first propeller, and a pitch of the first propeller.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second position marker is angled with respect to the first position markers.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second position marker is angled with respect to the position markers of the first plurality of position markers.

12. A method for performing synchrophasing in a multi-engine aircraft, comprising:
obtaining a signal, comprising a plurality of signal pulses, from a sensor adjacent a phonic wheel, the plurality of signal pulses produced in response to sensing a presence of position markers disposed on an outer surface of the phonic wheel coupled to a first

Assignees

• Pratt & Whitney Canada

Inventors

• Yakobov Ella
• Jarvo James R
• Tabar Roja

Classifications

• B64D31/12 Primary

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• F02C6/20

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• F05D2270/804

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• F05D2260/70

  Adjusting of angle of incidence or attack of rotating blades · CPC title

• B64C11/50

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