Control system for controlling a shut-off valve of an aircraft, an aircraft equipped with such a control system, and an associated control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11220350-B2
Application number	US-202017094928-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2020
Priority date	Nov 14, 2019
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

Abstract

A control system for controlling a shut-off valve of an aircraft. The shut-off valve is configured to open a bypass circuit that is initially closed. This circuit makes it possible to feed air to an aircraft engine without going via an air filter associated with an air intake. The control system comprises: a manual control member for controlling the shut-off valve, this member being actuatable manually so as to cause the bypass circuit to open; and a computer configured to compute a current value of a level of clogging TC of an air filter. The control system further comprises a comparator for comparing the current value of the level of clogging TC with a first threshold value TC1 and with a second threshold value TC2, and an alerter for generating a first sensory signal and a second sensory signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system for controlling a shut-off valve of an aircraft, the shut-off valve being configured to open a bypass circuit, the bypass circuit being initially closed, once opened the bypass circuit being suitable for feeding air to at least one engine of the aircraft without going via at least one air filter equipping an air intake, the control system comprising: a manual control member for controlling the shut-off valve, the manual control member being actuatable manually by a pilot of the aircraft so as to cause the bypass circuit to open; a first measurement member for taking a differential pressure measurement Δpt between a reference pressure and a pressure measured downstream from the at least one air filter in the air intake; a second measurement member suitable for determining a value for the operating power P of the at least one engine; and at least one computer configured to compute a current value of a level of clogging TC of the at least one air filter, the level of clogging TC being a function of the differential pressure measurement Δpt, and of a first predetermined limit Δpc and of a second predetermined limit Δpd to the value of the operating power P of the at least one engine, the first limit Δpc being a predetermined lower limit equal to a differential pressure value for a clean air filter at the value of the operating power P of the at least one engine, the second Limit Δpd being a predetermined upper limit equal to a differential pressure value for a dirty air filter at the value of the operating power P of the at least engine, the first measurement member and the second measurement member being respectively connected to the at least one computer; wherein the control system further comprises: at least one comparator for comparing the current values of the level of clogging TC with a first threshold value TC 1 ; and with a second threshold value TC 2 , the second threshold value TC 2 being greater than the first threshold value TC 1 ; and at least one alerter for generating a first sensory signal, the first sensory signal being generated when the current value of the level of clogging TC reaches the first threshold value TC 1 , and a second sensory signal, the second sensory signal being generated when the current value of the level of clogging TC reaches the second threshold value TC 2 , the first sensory signal being distinct from the second sensory signal.

2. The control system according to claim 1 ;
wherein the control system further comprises a processing unit for automatically generating a control signal for controlling a safety actuator, the safety actuator being suitable for actuating the shut-off valve so as to cause the bypass circuit to open automatically, the control signal being generated when the current value of the level of clogging TC is greater than or equal to a third threshold value TC 3 , the third threshold value TC 3 being greater than the second threshold value TC 2 .

3. The control system according to claim 1 ;
wherein the at least one alerter comprises a single alerter for generating the first sensory signal and the second sensory signal.

4. The control system according to claim 3 ;
wherein the single alerter is chosen from among the group comprising screens, light sources, holographic devices, dials with needles, and displays worn by a pilot, such as spectacles, goggles, ophthalmological lenses and a helmet visor.

5. The control system according to claim 1 ;
wherein the at least one alerter comprises a first alerter for generating the first sensory signal and a second alerter for generating the second sensory signal, the second alerter being distinct from the first alerter.

6. The control system according to claim 5 ;
wherein the first and second alerters are chosen from among the group comprising screens, light sources, holographic devices, dials with needles, and displays worn by a pilot, such as spectacles, goggles, ophthalmological lenses and a helmet visor.

7. An aircraft having at least one engine for driving at least one lift rotor in rotation, the aircraft having an air intake equipped with the at least one air filter for feeding air to the at least one engine, the aircraft having the bypass circuit for feeding air to the at least one engine without going through the at least one air filter, and the shut-off valve configured to open the bypass circuit, the bypass circuit being initially closed; wherein the aircraft includes the control system for controlling the shut-off valve according to claim 1 .

8. A control method for controlling a shut-off valve of an aircraft, the shut-off valve being configured to open a bypass circuit, the bypass circuit being initially closed, the bypass circuit being suitable for feeding air to at least one engine of the aircraft without going via at least one air filter equipping an air intake, the control method comprising:
a first measurement step for taking a differential pressure measurement Δpt between a reference pressure and a pressure measured downstream from the at least one air filter in the air intake;
a second measurement step for determining a value for the operating power P of the at least one engine; and
at least one computation step for computing a current value of a level of clogging TC of the at least one air filter, the level of clogging TC being a function of the differential pressure measurement Δpt, and of a first predetermined limit Δpc and of a second predetermined limit Δpd to the value of the operating power P of the at least one engine, the first limit Δpc being a predetermined lower limit equal to a differential pressure value for a clean air filter at the value of the operating power P of the at least one engine, and the second limit Δpd being a predetermined upper limit equal to a differential pressure value for a dirty air filter at the value of the operating power P of the at least one engine;
wherein the control method further comprises:
at least one comparison step for comparing the current value of the level of clogging TC with a first threshold value TC 1 and with a second threshold value TC 2 ; the second threshold value TC 2 being greater than the first threshold value TC 1 ; and
an alert step generating a first sensory signal when the current value of the level of clogging TC lies in the range extending from the first threshold value TC 1 to the second threshold value TC 2 and a second sensory signal when the current value of the level of clogging TC is greater than or equal to the second threshold value TC 2 .

9. The control method according to claim 8 ;
wherein the method further comprises an actuation step during which a pilot of the aircraft actuates a manual control member for manually controlling the shut-off valve, the manual control member being suitable for causing the bypass circuit to open, provision being made so that the actuation step may be implemented when the first sensory signal is generated, and the actuation step must be implemented when the second sensory signal is generated.

10. The control method according to claim 8 ;
wherein the method further comprises an automatic control step for automatically controlling the shut-off valve so as to cause the bypass circuit to open automatically when the current value of the level of clogging TC is greater than or equal to a third threshold value TC 3 , the third threshold value TC 3 being greater than the second threshold value TC 2 .

11. The control method according to claim 8 ;
wherein the alert step generates the first sensory signal and the second sensory signal on a single alerter.

12. The control method according to claim 8 ;
wherein the alert step gen

Assignees

• Airbus Helicopters

Inventors

• Bigeard Antoine

Classifications

• B64D45/00 Primary

  Aircraft indicators or protectors not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• B64D31/06

  actuated automatically · CPC title

• B64D33/02 Primary

  of combustion air intakes · CPC title

• F02M35/082

  By-pass means · CPC title

• F02M35/1038

  for temperature or pressure · CPC title