Aircraft control selector levers
AssigneeHamilton Sunstrand Corporation
InventorsSamuel Neff, Christopher Dias, Andrew Hanley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Selector lever systems of aircraft are provided. The selector lever systems include a selector lever configured to control operation of one or more aircraft control surfaces, the selector lever having a handle configured to enable manual operation of the selector lever, a touch sensor arranged on the handle, and a controller arranged in communication with the touch sensor, the controller configured to at least one of generate a notification when a signal is received from the touch sensor and unlock the selector lever from a locked state.
Claims20
A selector lever system of an aircraft, the selector lever system comprising:
- a selector lever configured to control operation of one or more aircraft control surfaces, the selector lever having a handle configured to enable manual operation of the selector lever;
- a touch sensor arranged on the handle, wherein the touch sensor is configured to detect the presence of a hand of a user placed on the touch sensor, and the touch sensor is configured to generate a signal indicating the presence of a hand of a user on the handle;
- and
- a controller arranged in communication with the touch sensor, the controller configured to at least one of generate a notification associated with the selector lever when the signal is received from the touch sensor and unlock the selector lever from a locked state when the signal is received from the touch sensor.
A method of controlling a selector lever of an aircraft, the method comprising:
- detecting a predetermined contact with a touch sensor on a handle of the selector lever, the selector lever configured to control operation of one or more aircraft control surfaces, wherein the touch sensor is configured to detect the presence of a hand of a user placed on the touch sensor, and the touch sensor is configured to generate a signal indicating the presence of a hand of a user on the handle;
- and
- at least one of generating a notification associated with the selector lever in response to the detected predetermined contact and unlocking the selector lever from a locked state in response to the detected predetermined contact.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.