On-board device for measuring the mass and the position of the center of gravity of an aircraft
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to an on-board device for measuring the mass and the position of the center of gravity of an aircraft having a plurality of landing gears (T 1 , T 2 ), each landing gear (T 1 , T 2 ) being provided with at least one contact member ( 2 ) having a deformable element ( 3 ) that is deformable under the action of the weight of the aircraft when the aircraft is standing on a surface, and is remarkable in that the formable element ( 3 ) is provided with a bar ( 4 ) having an eddy current sensor ( 6 ) at its free end.
1. An on-board device for measuring the mass and the position of the center of gravity of an aircraft having a plurality of landing gears, each landing gear being provided with at least one contact member, said device comprising:
a hollow deformable element connected to a respective contact member, said deformable element deformable under the action of the weight of the aircraft when the aircraft is standing on a surface;
a bar arranged inside said deformable element; and
an eddy current sensor attached to a free end of said bar,
wherein said sensor measures a distance between itself; and a face of said deformable element.
2. A device according to claim 1 , wherein said face is a top face of said deformable element.
3. A device according to claim 1 , wherein said contact element ( 2 ) is a wheel and said deformable element ( 3 ) is the wheel spindle.
4. A device according to claim 1 , including processor means (M) arranged inside the aircraft to receive a main signal from each sensor ( 6 ) in order to determine the mass and the position of the center of gravity said aircraft.
5. A device according to claim 1 , including two additional measurement means (M 2 ) arranged inside the fuselage of the aircraft respectively for determining the pitch angle and the roll angle of said aircraft.
6. A device according to claim 5 , wherein said additional measurement means (M 2 ) are inclinometers.
7. A device according to claim 5 , wherein said processor means receives a secondary signal coming from each of said additional measurement means (M 2 ), said secondary signals enabling it to optimize the calculated position for the center of gravity relative to the frame of reference of the aircraft.
8. A device according to claim 1 , including a wireless transceiver (E) on each of said landing gear (T 1 , T 2 ) for feeding electricity to each of the sensors ( 6 ) and for transmitting said main signals to said processor means (M).
9. An on-board device for measuring the mass and the position of the center of gravity of an aircraft having a plurality of landing gear, each said landing gear being provided with at least one contact member, said device comprising:
a hollow deformable element connected to a respective contact member, said deformable element being deformable under the action of a weight of the aircraft when the aircraft is standing on a surface;
a bar arranged inside said deformable element, said bar having a first free end and a second fixed end; and
an eddy current sensor attached to said free end of said bar as a longitudinal extension of said bar.
10. An on-board device for measuring the mass and the position of the center of gravity of an aircraft having a plurality of landing gear, each said landing gear being provided with at least one contact member, said device comprising:
a hollow deformable element connected to a respective contact member, said deformable element being deformable under the action of a weight of the aircraft when the aircraft is standing on a surface;
a bar arranged inside said deformable element; and
a single eddy current sensor, said single eddy current sensor being attached to a free end of said bar.