Method and apparatus for aligning equipment on board a carrier vehicle and particularly on board an aircraft

Claim 1

A device for use in aligning a piece of equipment on board a vehicle equipped with at least one computer working in conjunction with said piece of equipment, said device comprising: a reference pattern assembly positionable in the vehicle so as to materialize the reference axis system of said vehicle; and a specific pattern assembly representative of the piece of equipment to position and positionable in the vehicle at the position of said equipment.

Claim 2

A device for use in aligning a piece of equipment on board a vehicle equipped with at least one computer working in conjunction with said piece of equipment, said device comprising: a reference pattern assembly positionable in the vehicle so as to materialize the reference axis system of said vehicle; and a specific pattern assembly representative of the piece of equipment to position and positionable in the vehicle at the position of said equipment.

Claim 4

The device as claimed in one of claims 1 or 2, wherein said reference pattern assembly and each of said specific pattern assemblies are respectively provided with optical cubes or similar, capable of materializing respectively the reference axes of said vehicle and the reference axes of said pieces of equipment.

Claim 5

A method for aligning a piece of equipment on board a vehicle equipped with at least one computer working in conjunction with said piece of equipment, comprising the following steps: (a) disposing on board said vehicle a reference pattern assembly having first optical means and representative of the reference axis system of said vehicle; (b) disposing on board said vehicle, at the position to be occupied by said piece of equipment, a specific pattern assembly having second optical means and representative of said piece of equipment; (c) using a theodolyte distance measuring system of the processing type for measuring the position parameters of said specific pattern assembly with respect to said reference pattern assembly, said theodolyte distance measuring system operatively associated with said first and second optical means; (d) storing said position parameters in a memory; (e) associating said memory with said computer; and, (f) removing said specific pattern assembly and substituting into the position previously occupied by said specific pattern assembly said piece of equipment, whereby the position parameters previously measured in connection with said specific pattern assembly will now reflect the positioning of said piece of equipment and whereby said computer will be able to calculate the relative position parameters between said piece of equipment and said reference axis system of said vehicle.

Claim 6

A method for aligning a piece of equipment on board a vehicle equipped with at least one computer working in conjunction with said piece of equipment, comprising the following steps: (a) disposing on board said vehicle a reference pattern assembly having first optical means and representative of the reference axis system of said vehicle; (b) disposing on board said vehicle, at the position to be occupied by said piece of equipment, a specific pattern assembly having second optical means and representative of said piece of equipment; (c) using a theodolyte distance measuring system of the processing type for measuring the position parameters of said specific pattern assembly with respect to said reference pattern assembly, said theodolyte distance measuring system operatively associated with said first and second optical means; (d) storing said position parameters in a memory; (e) associating said memory with said computer; and, (f) removing said specific pattern assembly and substituting into the position previously occupied by said specific pattern assembly said piece of equipment, whereby the position parameters previously measured in connection with said specific pattern assembly will now reflect the positioning of said piece of equipment and whereby said computer will be able to calculate the relative position parameters between said piece of equipment and said reference axis system of said vehicle.

Claim 10

A method for aligning a specific piece of equipment on board a vehicle, said vehicle being equipped with at least one computer operatively connected with said piece of equipment, said method comprising the steps of: (a) disposing on board said vehicle a reference pattern assembly having first optical means, said first optical means being capable of establishing a reference axis system representative of the position of said vehicle in three-dimensional space; (b) disposing on board said vehicle, while said vehicle is under construction, a specific pattern assembly, said specific pattern assembly being positioned at the approximate desired location for the eventual positioning of said piece of equipment, said specific pattern assembly having second optical means, said second optical means being capable of establishing a reference axis system representative of the position of said specific pattern assembly in three-dimensional space; (c) utilizing optical means to measure the geometric relationship between said reference axis system associated with said reference pattern assembly and said reference axis system associated with said specific pattern assembly, said geometric relationship constituting a position parameter associated with said piece of equipment; (d) storing said position parameter in a memory; (e) operatively connecting said memory with said computer on board said vehicle; (f) removing said specific pattern assembly; and, (g) affixing said piece of equipment to said vehicle in the position previously occupied by said specific pattern assembly, whereby the position parameter previously measured in connection with said specific pattern assembly will now reflect the geometric relationship between said piece of equipment and said reference axis system representative of the position of said vehicle in three-dimensional space and whereby said computer will be able to utilize said position parameter to align said piece of equipment with said vehicle.

Claim 11

A method for aligning a specific piece of equipment on board a vehicle, said vehicle being equipped with at least one computer operatively connected with said piece of equipment, said method comprising the steps of: (a) disposing on board said vehicle a reference pattern assembly having first optical means, said first optical means being capable of establishing a reference axis system representative of the position of said vehicle in three-dimensional space; (b) disposing on board said vehicle, while said vehicle is under construction, a specific pattern assembly, said specific pattern assembly being positioned at the approximate desired location for the eventual positioning of said piece of equipment, said specific pattern assembly having second optical means, said second optical means being capable of establishing a reference axis system representative of the position of said specific pattern assembly in three-dimensional space; (c) utilizing optical means to measure the geometric relationship between said reference axis system associated with said reference pattern assembly and said reference axis system associated with said specific pattern assembly, said geometric relationship constituting a position parameter associated with said piece of equipment; (d) storing said position parameter in a memory; (e) operatively connecting said memory with said computer on board said vehicle; (f) removing said specific pattern assembly; and, (g) affixing said piece of equipment to said vehicle in the position previously occupied by said specific pattern assembly, whereby the position parameter previously measured in connection with said specific pattern assembly will now reflect the geometric relationship between said piece of equipment and said reference axis system representative of the position of said vehicle in three-dimensional space and whereby said computer will be able to utilize said position parameter to align said piece of equipment with said vehicle.