Cargo restraint sensor system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10988258-B2
Application number	US-201815956669-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2018
Priority date	Apr 18, 2018
Publication date	Apr 27, 2021
Grant date	Apr 27, 2021

Abstract

A cargo restraint system and associated methods may include sensing assemblies associated with cargo latches in a cargo hold of an aircraft. In some embodiments, the sensing assemblies include sensors configured to sense information relating to the cargo latches, wireless communication circuits configured to transmit the sensed information to a central controller, and batteries powering the wireless communication circuits. A wireless power transmission system may be configured to wirelessly broadcast power to the sensor assemblies to charge the batteries. In some embodiments, the cargo latches are transitionable between an extended configuration for cargo restraint and a retracted configuration for cargo loading and unloading, and the sensors are configured to sense whether the cargo latches are in the extended configuration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cargo restraint system comprising:
a plurality of cargo latches, each of the plurality of cargo latches mounted to a same floor of a cargo hold of an aircraft and including a respective pawl transitionable between an extended configuration and a retracted configuration;
a plurality of sensing assemblies, each of the plurality of sensing assemblies associated with a respective one of the plurality of cargo latches, wherein each of the plurality of sensing assemblies includes one or more sensors and a wireless communication circuit powered by a battery in communication with a battery charging circuit, the wireless communication circuit configured to transmit sensed information relating to the associated cargo latch;
an infrared transmitter disposed in the cargo hold and configured to illuminate the plurality of sensing assemblies with an infrared signal; and
a central controller configured to receive transmissions from each wireless communication circuit of the plurality of sensing assemblies and, in response, to produce human-perceptible information associated with each of the cargo latches;
wherein each battery charging circuit of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies has an infrared receiver portion configured to convert the infrared signal from the infrared transmitter into an electric current usable to charge the battery.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infrared transmitter is powered by a ground-based electrical system via a wired electrical system of the aircraft.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies include a first sensor configured to sense whether the respective pawl is in the extended configuration.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies includes a water detector.

5. The system of claim 1 , each of the plurality of sensing assemblies further comprising processing logic in communication with the one or more sensors and configured to control the transmission of the sensed information.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication circuit is configured to transmit using a Bluetooth protocol.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of cargo latches has a unique identifier, and the wireless communication circuit is configured to transmit the unique identifier with the sensed information.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the central controller includes a memory, a data store in the memory containing the unique identifiers stored in association with location information for each of the plurality of cargo latches.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication circuits of the plurality of sensing assemblies comprise a mesh network.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infrared transmitter is configured to illuminate the plurality of sensing assemblies individually.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the infrared transmitter is configured to track a position of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the infrared signal is time-varying.

13. A method comprising:
sensing information related to a plurality of cargo latches, each of the plurality of cargo latches mounted to a same floor of a cargo hold of an aircraft and including a respective pawl transitionable between an extended configuration and a retracted configuration, using a plurality of sensing assemblies each associated with one of the plurality of cargo latches;
illuminating the plurality of sensing assemblies with an infrared signal, using an infrared transmitter disposed in the cargo hold;
converting the infrared signal from the infrared transmitter into an electric current usable to charge a respective battery of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies;
receiving a wireless transmission from each of the plurality of sensing assemblies, each transmission including sensed information relating to the associated cargo latch; and
in response to receiving the wireless transmission, producing human-perceptible information associated with each of the plurality of cargo latches at a central control station.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising controlling transmission of the sensed information based on one or more criteria, using respective processing logic of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein receiving a wireless transmission from each of the plurality of sensing assemblies includes receiving a unique identifier of the associated cargo latch.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the infrared transmitter is configured to illuminate the plurality of sensing assemblies substantially simultaneously using a wide beam.

17. A cargo restraint system comprising:
a plurality of cargo latches, each of the plurality of cargo latches mounted to a same floor of an aircraft cargo hold;
a plurality of sensing assemblies, each of the plurality of sensing assemblies associated with a respective one of the plurality of cargo latches, wherein each of the plurality of sensing assemblies includes one or more sensors and a wireless communication circuit powered by a battery in communication with a battery charging circuit, the wireless communication circuit configured to transmit sensed information relating to the associated cargo latch; and
an infrared transmitter disposed in the cargo hold and configured to illuminate the plurality of sensing assemblies with an infrared signal;
wherein each of the battery charging circuits of each of the plurality of sensing assemblies has an infrared receiver portion configured to convert the infrared signal from the infrared transmitter into an electric current usable to charge the battery.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein each of the plurality of cargo latches includes a pawl transitionable between an extended configuration and a retracted configuration.

19. The system of claim 17 , further comprising a central controller configured to receive transmissions from each of the wireless communication circuits of the plurality of sensing assemblies and, in response, to produce human-perceptible information associated with each of the cargo latches.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein each of the plurality of sensing assemblies includes a Hall effect sensor configured to sense a position of the cargo latch.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Weisfelner Justin Louis

Classifications

• H04W84/18

  Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks · CPC title

• B64D2221/00

  Electric power distribution systems onboard aircraft · CPC title

• B64D45/00

  Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B64D9/003 Primary

  Devices for retaining pallets or freight containers · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title