Method for using aircraft wheel tyre pressure to improve aircraft energy efficiency and drive system performance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10773797-B2
Application number	US-201715433900-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2017
Priority date	Dec 4, 2014
Publication date	Sep 15, 2020
Grant date	Sep 15, 2020

Abstract

A method is provided that enhances wheel drive assembly acceleration, heat reduction, and energy efficiency performance during ground travel in aircraft equipped with landing gear wheel-mounted drive assemblies to move aircraft on the ground without reliance on the aircraft's engines or external tow vehicles. Inflation pressure levels of tyres on the landing gear wheels are monitored with pressure and/or temperature sensors to determine and maintain an optimum defined high inflation pressure level for the specific kind of aircraft tyre or the aircraft. A clutch-activated drive assembly may be prevented from transferring torque and driving the aircraft when the optimum high inflation pressure levels are not present in the tyres during ground travel. Tyre pressures may be manually or automatically adjusted in response to processed sensor information to maintain the optimum high inflation pressure level in all tyres as the aircraft is driven with the drive assemblies or with engine thrust.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method that controls ground travel of aircraft equipped with and driven by landing gear wheel-mounted drive assemblies controllable to drive the aircraft without reliance on aircraft main engines or external tow vehicles in response to landing gear wheel tyre inflation pressure, comprising:
a. mounting landing gear wheel drive assemblies within a housing located completely within a space formed by inboard and outboard wheel sections of one or more nose landing gear wheels or one or more main landing gear wheels, wherein each landing gear wheel drive assembly comprises an engageable clutch assembly operable to transfer torque to a drive motor through a drive system and drive the one or more nose or one or more main landing gear wheels to move the aircraft when the clutch assembly is engaged, and the landing gear wheel drive assemblies are controllable to drive the aircraft during ground travel without reliance on aircraft main engines or external tow vehicles;
b. providing inflatable tyres on each of the nose landing gear wheels and on each of the main landing gear wheels on the aircraft, and positioning tyre inflation pressure sensors and tyre temperature sensors in or on each of the nose and main landing gear wheel inflatable tyres to obtain and communicate pressure and temperature information from the tyre inflation pressure sensors and the tyre temperature sensors to a processor on the aircraft programmed to receive, process, analyze, and log the pressure and temperature information from the tyre inflation pressure sensors and the tyre temperature sensors and to communicate the processed, analyzed, and logged pressure and temperature data to a cockpit of the aircraft;
c. inflating each of the nose and main landing gear wheel inflatable tyres to a high inflation pressure level recommended to be optimum for the inflatable tyres or for the aircraft, wherein the optimum high inflation pressure level produces a lower drag force and rolling resistance than the drag force and rolling resistance produced by an optimum low inflation pressure level for the inflatable tyres or the aircraft;
d. operating the engageable clutch assembly and engaging the clutch assembly to transfer torque to the drive motor through the drive system to drive the one or more nose landing gear wheels or the one or more main landing gear wheels, and driving the aircraft with each of the nose and main landing gear wheel inflatable tyres at the optimum high inflation pressure level;
e. monitoring the tyre inflation pressure level and temperature of each of the nose and main landing gear wheel inflatable tyres with the tyre inflation pressure sensors and the tyre temperature sensors, communicating the tyre pressure and tyre temperature information to the processor, processing, analyzing, and logging the tyre inflation pressure and tyre temperature information, and communicating the tyre inflation pressure level and temperature information to the aircraft cockpit; and
f. continuing to drive the aircraft with the landing gear wheel drive assemblies during ground travel unless the communicated processed tyre inflation pressure level or tyre temperature information indicates that the inflatable tyres on the nose and main landing gear wheels do not have the optimum high tyre inflation pressure level and the aircraft should not be driven, and then disengaging the clutch assembly to stop torque transfer to the drive motor and to the one or more nose landing gear wheels or the one or more main landing gear wheels, and discontinuing ground travel.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a deviation from the optimum high tyre inflation pressure level for the inflatable tyres on two of the one or more nose landing gear wheels, and communicating the deviation to a crew in the aircraft cockpit during aircraft ground travel.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the optimum high inflation pressure level comprises about 230 psi, the optimum low inflation pressure level comprises about 190-210 psi, and drag force at the optimum high inflation pressure level is 12% lower than at the low optimum inflation pressure level.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising programming the tyre inflation pressure sensors and the processor to compare the tyre inflation pressures of the inflatable tyres on two of the one or more nose landing gear wheels, communicating the inflation pressures to the processor and to the cockpit crew, and adjusting the tyre inflation pressures with apparatus for automatically adding nitrogen gas to a tyre with a lower than the optimum low inflation pressure level or releasing gas from a tyre with an inflation pressure level that is higher than the optimum high inflation pressure level so that the tyre inflation pressures of both nose landing gear wheel inflatable tyres are equal and are at the optimum high tyre inflation pressure level.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating the tyre inflation pressures of each of the inflatable tyres on the nose landing gear wheels and each of the inflatable tyres on the main landing gear wheels to the processor at selected intervals during a number of flight cycles or a during period of time when the aircraft is driven on the ground by the one or more nose or one or more main landing gear wheel-mounted drive assemblies, logging the tyre inflation pressures, and analyzing the logged tyre inflation pressures of each of the inflatable nose and main landing gear wheel inflatable tyres on the aircraft for the number of flight cycles or during the period of time.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising communicating, logging, and analyzing only the tyre inflation pressures of the inflatable tyres on the nose landing gear wheels to the processor at the selected intervals for the number of flight cycles or during the period of time.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising disengaging the clutch assembly, and stopping transfer of torque through the landing gear wheel-mounted drive assemblies so that the aircraft cannot be driven by the landing gear wheel-mounted drive assemblies when the tyre inflation pressures communicated to the processor exceed the optimum high inflation pressure level or are below the optimum low inflation pressure level on any one of the nose and main landing gear wheel inflatable tyres.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the optimum high tyre inflation pressure level comprises an inflation pressure level of about 230 psi and the optimum low tyre inflation pressure level comprises an inflation pressure level of about 190 to 210 psi.

Assignees

• Borealis Tech Ltd

Inventors

• Vana Jan
• Cox Isaiah W
• Cox Joseph J
• Edelson Jonathan S
• Cox Nechama

Classifications

• B64C25/36 Primary

  Arrangements or adaptations of wheels, tyres or axles in general · CPC title

• Y02T50/80

  Energy efficient operational measures, e.g. ground operations or mission management · CPC title

• B60C23/0408

  transmitting the signals by non-mechanical means from the wheel or tyre to a vehicle body mounted receiver · CPC title

• B64C25/405

  Powered wheels, e.g. for taxing · CPC title