Textron Innovations Patente

One embodiment is a rotorcraft (100) including a rotor system (120) and a transmission system (300) for providing rotational power to the rotor system (120), the transmission system (300) comprising a housing and a planetary pinion gear (500, 602, 702, 808) disposed in the housing. The rotorcraft (100) further includes a restraint assembly (600, 700, 800) associated with the planetary pinion gear (500, 602, 702, 808), the restraint assembly (600, 700, 800) configured to restrict radial deflection of the planetary pinion gear (500, 602, 702, 808) during operation thereof subsequent to a crack-through failure of the planetary pinion gear (500, 602, 702, 808).

A method (500) for testing actuator pressures, including setting (502) a test actuator and one or more restraining actuators to a quiescent state, where the test actuator and one or more restraining actuators are connected to a same movable element, determining (504) a quiescent pressure delta that is associated with a sum of a first pressure for the test actuator and one or more second pressures for the one or more restraining actuators, disengaging (506) the test actuator from the movable element, where the disengaging includes setting the test actuator to avoid applying pressure to the movable element, determining (510) a test pressure delta that is associated with a sum of third pressures for the one or more restraining actuators after the disengaging of the test actuator, and providing (516) a notification regarding failure of the test actuator according to a relationship between the test pressure delta and a threshold.

A method, system, and device for optimizing fuel usage is provided. The system includes a gauge (1001), a first indicator (1010) on the gauge (1001) representing a current operating condition of a vehicle, and a second indicator (1020) on the gauge (1001) representing an operating condition of the vehicle that correlates with an optimal fuel efficiency of the vehicle in relation to the operating condition shown by the gauge (1001), where the second indicator (1020) is continually updated as ambient operating conditions change, and where the optimal fuel efficiency represents the minimum total fuel used to travel a non-zero distance based on current conditions in which the system is being operated.

An aircraft (12) includes a turboshaft engine (14) for powering the aircraft (12); an inlet barrier filter, IBF, (16) for filtering air at an inlet (26) through which the turboshaft engine (14) draws inlet air; a differential pressure transducer (30) for measuring a differential pressure across the IBF (16) during operation of the aircraft (12); and a flight control computer system configured to, during operation of the aircraft (12), periodically calculate a restriction of an airflow through the IBF (16), periodically determine a rate of change of the restriction of the airflow, compare the rate of change to a threshold rate, and provide an alert to a pilot of the aircraft (12) when the determined rate of change exceeds the threshold rate.

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In an example, a computing apparatus includes a hardware platform, having a processor and a memory, and instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to receive a peak power demand for a landing maneuver of a VTOL aircraft (100) powered at least partly by a battery, receive flight profile data for a flight profile of the VTOL aircraft (100), and configuration data for the VTOL aircraft (100), estimate power consumption of the flight profile in context of the configuration, and estimate a peak power capacity (304, 404) available for the landing maneuver, and provide an error notice if the peak power capacity does not meet the peak power demand.

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A method (500) of modeling and integrating engine installation deltas includes receiving (502) flight data related to an aircraft that includes an engine installed therein. The flight data includes values of an engine parameter. The method also includes determining (504) values of a measured installation delta for the engine based, at least in part, on the flight data. The method also includes determining (506) values of a measured power parameter for the engine based, at least in part, on the flight data. The method also includes generating (510) a mathematical model of a plurality of installation deltas for the engine as a function of the engine parameter, where the plurality of installation deltas include the measured installation delta and an unmeasured installation delta. The method also includes validating (512) the mathematical model based, at least in part, on the values of the measured installation delta. The method also includes generating (516) a performance profile of the engine.

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On embodiment is an apparatus for inhibiting accidental contact by a human with a tail rotor (305) connected to an empennage (300) of an aircraft. The apparatus includes an inverted V-tail connected to an empennage (300) of the aircraft forward of the tail rotor (305), the inverted V-tail stabilizer comprising a first V-tail stabilizer (310) on a side of the empennage (300) to which the tail rotor (305) is connected and a second V-tail stabilizer on a side of the empennage (300) opposite the side of the empennage (300) to which the tail rotor (305) is connected; and a shroud bar (340) having a first end connected to an outboard end of the first V-tail stabilizer (310) and a second end opposite the first end connected to the empennage (300) aft of the tail rotor (305), wherein a horizontal distance from the shroud bar (340) to the tail rotor (305) is greater than a length of an arm of the human.

A system for adaptable trend detection for component condition indicator data includes a sensor (307) operable to measure an operating condition of a vehicle and generate a sensor signal associated with the operating condition and a data server (305) operable to acquire a current condition indicator of a condition indicator set according to the sensor signal, and to determine whether a trend in the condition indicator set is indicated according to at least the current condition indicator, at least one previous condition indicator of the condition indicator set and a volatility of at least a portion of the condition indicator set. The data server is further operable to provide an alert in response to determining that the trend is indicated.

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A flight control computer (FCC) (205) for a rotorcraft (101) includes a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the processor, with the program including instructions for providing main rotor overspeed protection. The instructions for providing the main rotor overspeed protection include instructions for monitoring sensor signals indicating a main rotor RPM, determining a target operating parameter, determining one or more flight parameters in response to a relationship between the main rotor RPM and the target operating parameter indicating a main rotor overspeed condition. Determining the one or more flight parameters includes determining a setting for a flight control device (107; 212) of the rotorcraft (101) that changes the main rotor RPM, controlling positioning of a pilot control according to the flight parameters, and controlling the flight control device (107; 212) of the rotorcraft (101) according to positioning of the pilot control.

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