Patent DE835035C successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
Patent EP0066923A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0066923A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Aircraft structural integrity assessment system
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1982-05-17
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2002-05-17
Abstract
Abstract A system is provided for collecting and interpreting data indicative of the effect of at least one of the plurality of forces acting on an aircraft or helicopter structure (112). The system comprises one or more structural moment detectors (111), and electronic circuitry (114) for processing and manipulating signals derived from the detector or detectors (111) in such a manner as to produce secondary signals indicative of the effect being monitored. In one embodiment, the electronic circuity associated with each structural moment detector ( 1 11) is provided in the same housing as the detector to form a unitary device termed a structural information detector.
Inventors
- 👤 David R. Scott
- 👤 Thomas S. Rhoades
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-05 03:51
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01M; G01M11/00; G01M11/08; G01M11/081; E; E02; E02B; E02B17/00; E02B17/0034; G01B; G01B11/00; G01B11/16; G01D; G01D5/00; G01D5/26; G01D5/28; G01D5/30; G01H; G01H9/00; G01M5/00; G01M5/0016; G01M5/0033; G01M5/0066; G01M5/0075; G01M5/0091; G01V; G01V1/00; G01V1/16; G01V1/18
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
139 words
A system for collecting and interpreting data indicative of the effect of at least a selected one of a plurality of forces acting on an aircarft stucture (112), characterised in that said system comprises, in combination: a) at least one structural moment detector (111) carried by said structure (112) for generating output signals in response to said plurality of forces acting on said structure (112) ; b) processing means (114) for processing said output signals to modify the information content thereof, including, where necessary,rejecting components of said signals indicative of the effects of extraneous forces other than said selected one; and c) signal-manipulating means (114) for manipulating the processed signals output by the processing means to provide secondary signals responsive to the condition of said structure (112) as a result of the application of said selected force or forces.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
139 words
A system for collecting and interpreting data indicative of the effect of at least a selected one of a plurality of forces acting on an aircarft stucture (112), characterised in that said system comprises, in combination: a) at least one structural moment detector (111) carried by said structure (112) for generating output signals in response to said plurality of forces acting on said structure (112) ; b) processing means (114) for processing said output signals to modify the information content thereof, including, where necessary,rejecting components of said signals indicative of the effects of extraneous forces other than said selected one; and c) signal-manipulating means (114) for manipulating the processed signals output by the processing means to provide secondary signals responsive to the condition of said structure (112) as a result of the application of said selected force or forces.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
159 words
A system according to Claim 1, characterised.in that the or each said structural moment detector (111) and its associated processing and signal-manipulating means (114)is constituted by a respective structural information detector (410), said detector (410) comprising, in combination: a) a housing (412) adapted to be attached to the surface of the aircraft structure (112); b) optical means (413) within said housing (412) for detecting the relative orientation (413a) of spaced surface coordinate vectors (416a) of said structure , and for generating primary signals (413b) in response to changes in said orientation; c) circuit means (414c) within said housing (412) for converting said primary signals (413b) to a form usable by signal-processing electronics; and d) signal-processing electronics means (415) within said housing (412), including computational software, for processing the converted primary signals (414b) to secondary signals (415a) which embody useful information which directly indicates the effect of at least one of a plurality of forces (F) acting on said structure.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
41 words
A system according to Claim '2, characterised in that the optical means (413) , circuit means (414c), and signal-processing electronics means (415) of the structural information detector (410) are carried by a single-piece semiconductor substrate (451) received within said housing (412).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
201 words
A system according to Claim 2, characterised in that the housing (412) of the structural information detector (410) comprises first and second housing sub-assemblies (440,446) and in that: a) said first housing sub-assembly (440) contains said circuit means (441), said signal-processing electronics means (441), and those components of said optical means (413) which include a light source (442), a plurality of photovoltaic detectors (443) and a collimating lens (444); the light source (442) and photovoltaic detectors (443) being carried on the inner face of a hollow barrel portion (445 ) of said first housing sub-assembly ( 44 0) and said collimating lens (4 44 ) being carried proximate the open end of said barrel portion (445); b) said second housing sub-assembly (44 6 ) contains, as another component of said optical means (413), a plane surface mirror (447) carried on the inner end (448) of a barrel portion (449)of the second housing sub-assembly (446), the two said housing barrel portions (445, 449) being shaped and dimensioned to mate one within the other with an interference fit therebetween to form a unitary structurally-integrated device; and c) said first and second housing sub-assemblies (440,446) are mountable at spaced points on the aircraft structure.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
205 words
A system according to Claim 2, characterised in that the said optical means (410) of the structural information detector comprises: a) an elongate light-transmission member (4 61 ) formed of a light-transmitting flexible material and having a light-transmitting/ receiving end (463) and a reflecting end; b) a concentrating lens (462) formed in the reflecting end of the member (461); c) a light source (464) carried by said light-transmitting/receiving end (463) of the member, the light source (464) being positioned such as to direct light through the member ( 46 1) toward said reflecting end; d) light-receiving means (465) carried by the light-transmitting/receiving end (463) of the member, the light-receiving means (465) being arranged to receive light transmitted through said member from the light source (464) to the concentrating lens (462) and reflected thereby back through said member to the light-receiving means (465), and to generate electrical signals in response to the received light; and e) means for connecting the said ends of the light-transmission member ' (461) to spaced points on the aircraft structure such that bending of the structure causes corresponding bending of the light-transmission member (461) and, in turn, causes a variation in the amount of light received by the light-receiving means (465).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
19 words
An aircraft characterised in that it is provided with a system according to any one of the preceding claims.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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