Apparatus and method for determining aircraft tire pressure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11667162-B2
Application number	US-202117515061-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 29, 2021
Priority date	Dec 10, 2020
Publication date	Jun 6, 2023
Grant date	Jun 6, 2023

Abstract

An apparatus configured to determine the pressure of an aircraft tire at a reference temperature. The apparatus includes a processing system configured to: obtain a measured tire pressure and a measured temperature associated with the measured tire pressure; and determine a tire pressure at the reference temperature by adjusting the measured tire pressure using a predetermined temperature characteristic, a square root of the measured temperature and a square root of the reference temperature. The predetermined temperature characteristic is a gradient of the relationship between square root of temperature and tire pressure.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus configured to determine a pressure of an aircraft tire at a reference temperature, the apparatus comprising a processing system configured to:
obtain a measured tire pressure in the aircraft tire and a measured temperature associated with the measured tire pressure; and
determine the tire pressure at the reference temperature by adjusting the measured tire pressure using a predetermined temperature characteristic, a square root of the measured temperature and a square root of the reference temperature, wherein the predetermined temperature characteristic is a gradient of a relationship between the square root of tire temperature and tire pressure.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing system is configured to:
compare the tire pressure to a threshold; and
provide an alert based on the comparison.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the measured tire pressure and the measured temperature correspond to a point in a flight cycle where an ambient temperature of an aircraft to which the aircraft tire is mounted is at or near a minimum of the ambient temperature during the flight cycle.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined characteristic is derived from past data of the measured tire pressure and the measured temperature.

5. The apparatus according of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined characteristic is specific to one or more of an aircraft model, a tire type and a wheel type of an aircraft.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the processing system is configured to:
estimate a future tire pressure corresponding to a predetermined future time period using the tire pressure at the reference temperature and a predetermined time characteristic, wherein the predetermined time characteristic comprises a gradient and an offset for the predetermined future time period.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined time characteristic is derived from past measurement data of the measured tire pressure and the measured temperature.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the processing system is further configured to determine whether the future tire pressure is below a threshold and provide an alert if the future tire pressure is below the threshold.

9. A method of determining a pressure of an aircraft tire at a reference temperature, the method comprising:
obtaining a measured tire pressure in the aircraft tire and a measured temperature associated with the measured tire pressure; and
determining a tire pressure at the reference temperature by adjusting the measured tire pressure using a predetermined temperature characteristic, a square root of the measured temperature and a square root of the reference temperature, wherein the predetermined temperature characteristic is a gradient of a relationship between the square root of tire temperature and tire pressure.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising providing an alert based on a determination that the tire pressure at the reference temperature is below a threshold.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the measured tire pressure and the measured temperature correspond to a point in a flight cycle, of an aircraft to which the aircraft tire is mounted, where an ambient temperature of the aircraft is at or near a minimum ambient temperature during the flight cycle.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined temperature characteristic is derived from past data of the measured tire pressure and the measured temperature.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the predetermined temperature characteristic is specific to one or more of an aircraft model, a tire type, and a wheel type.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
estimating a future tire pressure at a predetermined future time period using the tire pressure at the reference temperature and a predetermined time characteristic, wherein the predetermined time characteristic comprises a gradient and an offset for the predetermined future time period.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the predetermined time characteristic is derived from past measurement data of the measured tire pressure and the measured temperature.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising providing an alert when a determination is made that the future tire pressure is below a threshold.

17. An aircraft maintenance system comprising:
a communication interface configured to obtain a measured tire pressure of a tire on an aircraft and a measured temperature associated with the measured tire pressure; and
a processor configured to estimate a tire pressure at a reference temperature based on the measured tire pressure and using a predetermined temperature characteristic, a square root of the measured temperature, and a square root of the reference temperature;
wherein the predetermined temperature characteristic is a gradient of the relationship between the square root of temperature and tire pressure.

Assignees

• Airbus Sas

Inventors

• Puntambekar Anand

Classifications

• B60C23/0444

  Antenna structures, control or arrangements thereof, e.g. for directional antennas, diversity antenna, antenna multiplexing or antennas integrated in fenders · CPC title

• B60C23/0477

  Evaluating waveform of pressure readings · CPC title

• B60C23/0486 Primary

  comprising additional sensors in the wheel or tyre mounted monitoring device, e.g. movement sensors, microphones or earth magnetic field sensors · CPC title

• B60C23/0433

  Radio signals · CPC title

• B60C2200/02

  for aircrafts · CPC title