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EP-4470911-B1 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF AIRCRAFT LIFT CONTROL

EP4470911B1EP 4470911 B1EP4470911 B1EP 4470911B1EP-4470911-B1

Inventors

  • HICKS, Luke Casey
  • CHANDRASEKARAN, Aswin Chandar Nambi Kuppusamy
  • NYAMAGOUDAR, Vinayak M.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240321

Claims (15)

  1. An aircraft (104) comprising: actuators (108) coupled to a lift device (106) for modifying the aerodynamic shape of a wing of the aircraft (104) to increase or decrease lift generated by the wing; a lift device control interface (120) disposed on a flight deck of the aircraft (104) and configured to receive a pilot input, wherein the lift device control interface (120) includes a control lever (240) movable between lever positions; and a flight control system (122) configured to: generate a command (210) corresponding to a target lift device position (263); send the command (210) to the lift device control interface (120) to move the control lever (240) to a target control lever position to indicate the target lift device position (263); and send a control signal (212) to the actuators (108) to set the lift device (106) to the target lift device position (263).
  2. The aircraft of claim 1, comprising a line-replaceable unit that includes the flight control system (122) and/or the lift device control interface (120).
  3. The aircraft of any preceding claim, wherein each lever position corresponds to a respective lift device position.
  4. The aircraft of claim 3, wherein the lift device control interface (120) is configured to, responsive to the command, use a motor (244) to move the control lever (240).
  5. The aircraft of claim 3 or 4, further comprising one or more sensors (248) configured to generate sensor data (264) indicating a detected position of the control lever (240), wherein the pilot input corresponds to a movement of the control lever (240) to the detected position, and wherein the flight control system (122) is configured to send, based on the sensor data (264), a second control signal to the actuators (108) to set the lift device (106) to a second target lift device position that corresponds to the detected position of the control lever (240).
  6. The aircraft of any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the lift device control interface (120) includes a clutch (242) that is configured to transfer a first force from a motor (244) to the control lever (240).
  7. The aircraft of claim 6, wherein the clutch (242) is configured to slip responsive to a second force from the control lever (240).
  8. The aircraft of any preceding claim, wherein the flight control system (122) is configured to generate the command (210) when an auto-lift mode is engaged.
  9. The aircraft of claim 8, wherein the flight control system (122) is configured to disengage the auto-lift mode responsive to the pilot input.
  10. A method (500) comprising: determining (502), at a flight control system (122) of an aircraft (104), a target lift device position (263); sending (504), from the flight control system (122) to a lift device control interface (120) of the aircraft (104), wherein the lift device control interface (120) includes a control lever (240) movable between lever positions, a command (210) to move the control lever (240) to a target control lever position to indicate the target lift device position (263) at the lift device control interface (120); and sending (506) a control signal (212) from the flight control system (122) to actuators (108) to set a lift device (106) of the aircraft (104) to the target lift device position (263) to modify the aerodynamic shape of a wing of the aircraft (104) to increase or decrease lift generated by the wing.
  11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, at the flight control system (122) from the lift device control interface (120), sensor data corresponding to a first pilot input indicating a second target lift device position; and based at least on the first pilot input, sending a second control signal from the flight control system (122) to the actuators (108) to set the lift device (106) to the second target lift device position.
  12. The method of claim 11, wherein the lift device control interface (120) is configured to, responsive to the command, use a motor (244) to move the control lever (240).
  13. The method of claim 11 or 12, further comprising generating sensor data (264) indicating a detected position of the control lever (240) using one or more sensors (248), wherein the pilot input corresponds to a movement of the control lever (240) to the detected position, and sending using the flight control system (122), based on the sensor data (264), a second control signal to the actuators (108) to set the lift device (106) to a second target lift device position that corresponds to the detected position of the control lever (240).
  14. The method of any one of claims 11 to 13, further comprising generating the command (210) using the flight control system (122) when an auto-lift mode is engaged.
  15. The method of claim 14, further comprising disengaging the auto-lift mode responsive to the pilot input using the flight control system (122).

Description

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure is generally related to aircraft lift control. BACKGROUND Aircraft flap control levers are used by pilots to control the position of flaps, which are movable surfaces on the wings of an aircraft that are used to change the shape and lift characteristics of the wings during different phases of flight. For example, during takeoff, the flaps are typically extended to a specific position to increase lift and improve the aircraft's takeoff performance. Similarly, during landing, the flaps are extended to a specific position to increase lift and lower the aircraft's approach speed. Having the pilot operate the flap control lever increases pilot workload while the pilot is also managing many other tasks during takeoff and landing. US2019161203A1, in accordance with its abstract, states in an embodiment, a method of indicating flight modes of a rotorcraft includes: detecting a change in flight mode of the rotorcraft from a previous flight mode to an active flight mode, the active flight mode and the previous flight mode each being from one of a first subset or a second subset of a plurality of flight modes; determining whether the active flight mode and the previous flight mode are from different subsets of the plurality of flight modes; and updating one or more flight mode indicators on an instrument panel of the rotorcraft in response to the active flight mode and the previous flight mode being from different subsets of the plurality of flight modes. US2019072958A1, in accordance with its abstract, states aircraft and associated methods, apparatus, system and storage devices for automatically positioning of lift control devices such as high lift devices including slats and flaps so an aircraft equipped with this technology will not need to count on the crew to command the lift control devices. US2015105945A1, in accordance with its abstract, states a system for controlling a high-lift device of an aircraft may include an interface for placement in a flight deck of an aircraft. The interface may include an edge control device for controlling a position of the high-lift device. The interface may be operable to select any of a plurality of control device positions. Each one of the plurality of control device positions may correspond to a different flight phase of the aircraft. The edge control device may be operable to engage, in response to a selection of a first control device position, a command mode for actuating the high-lift device in an automated manner based on the flight phase associated with the first control device position. US2015088340A1, in accordance with its abstract, states a system for optimizing a flap setting of an aircraft may include a flap optimizing computer configured to compute an optimum flap setting for one or more flaps of an aircraft. The system may further include a flap control system communicatively coupled to the flap optimizing computer. The flap control system may be operable to select any one of a plurality of flap settings including a designated flap setting. The flap control system may be configured to automatically command the one or more flaps from a first position to a second position corresponding to the optimum flap setting in response to the selection of one of the plurality of flap settings using the flap control system. SUMMARY There is described herein an aircraft comprising: actuators coupled to a lift device for modifying the aerodynamic shape of a wing of the aircraft to increase or decrease lift generated by the wing; a lift device control interface disposed on a flight deck of the aircraft and configured to receive a pilot input, wherein the lift device control interface includes a control lever movable between lever positions; and a flight control system configured to: generate a command corresponding to a target lift device position; send the command to the lift device control interface to move the control lever to a target control lever position to indicate the target lift device position; and send a control signal to the actuators to set the lift device to the target lift device position. There is described herein a method comprising: determining, at a flight control system of an aircraft, a target lift device position; sending, from the flight control system to a lift device control interface of the aircraft, wherein the lift device control interface includes a control lever movable between lever positions, a command to move the control lever to a target control lever position to indicate the target lift device position at the lift device control interface; and sending a control signal from the flight control system to actuators to set a lift device of the aircraft to the target lift device position to modify the aerodynamic shape of a wing of the aircraft to increase or decrease lift generated by the wing. The aircraft may comprise a line-replaceable unit that includes the flight control system configured to gen