Pulsed aircraft actuator

US4387432A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION · US

Inventors

• William C. Fischer · Monroe, US
• Don L. Adams · Bartlesville, US
• David J. Verzella · Guilford, US
• Stuart C. Wright · Woodbridge, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 30, 1981
• Grant date: Jun 7, 1983
• Expiry date: Mar 30, 2001

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G05D1/0833
• WIPO field: Control
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

In an aircraft automatic flight control system, proportional commands (54, 55) provided to fast, limited authority inner loop actuators (12, 13) are integrated (41), and when the integrator output indicates that the inner loop actuators 12, 13 have been driven a certain percentage of their authority, a comparator (130, 132) activates a pulse generator (137, 138) to provide timed excitation of an actuator (150), thereby to position the aircraft control system outer loop by a commensurate increment. Driving the actuator for a longer time than the desired pulse width is detected (165-169) and causes automatic shutdown (190) of the actuator. Resetting the integrator at the start of each pulse (162, 104), and pulse-controlled gating of the pulse circuits (172, 135, 136) allow sensing of authority transitions which occur within a pulse, and permit a subsequent pulse in response thereto.