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US 11,799,280 B1Granted
Aircraft group power cable management and monitoring systems and methods, including high current power supply arc fault protection
AssigneeInnovative Electrical Design, Inc.
InventorsPreston D. Shultz, Michael Marvin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aircraft ground power cable management and monitoring systems and methods including arc fault protection. Disclosed systems are especially well-suited for high power systems such as 400 Hz aircraft ground power supply systems and cable assemblies.
Claims16
An aircraft ground power cable management and monitoring system, comprising:
- at least one aircraft ground power cable assembly having a unique cable assembly identifier, an aircraft connection end and a power supply connection end, plural insulated power conductors, at least one voltage sensor associated with each of said plural insulated power conductors disposed adjacent the aircraft connection end to sense output voltage in each said plural insulated power conductor and a communication wire associated with each said voltage sensor and power conductor extending from its associated voltage sensor to the power supply connection end;
- at least one power supply with arc fault protection to which said at least one ground power cable assembly is connectable at said power supply connection end,
- a database configured to store said unique cable assembly identifier associated with date, location and operational information with respect said at least one ground power cable assembly;
- and
- a processor and at least one memory communicating with said at least one power supply, at least one ground power cable assembly and said database, said memory containing instructions executable on said processor for installation of at least one said aircraft ground power cable assembly and for ground power operation with said aircraft ground power cable assembly installed,
- wherein said installation instructions comprise instructions for prompting for entry of said cable assembly unique identifier and gate number, prompting for confirmation of completion of installation tests performed on said installed aircraft ground power cable assembly, and recording of entered data in said database;
- and
- wherein said installation instructions comprise instructions for prompting for entry of an aircraft to be powered identifier, monitoring of a number of power cycles applied to said cable assembly, monitoring of power levels applied and voltage drop through said cable assembly and recording entered and monitored data in said database.
5 more elements
A method of installing, monitoring and delivering ground power to an aircraft with a ground power cable assembly comprising;
- connecting a ground power cable assembly to a power supply communicating with a control processor and database;
- recording a unique cable identifier associated with the installed cable assembly in the database;
- prompting the user through a user interface communicating with the control processor to enter a gate number for the installed ground power cable assembly and recording the gate number in the database;
- prompting the user through the user interface to confirm completion of at least one installation test and recording installation test data in the database;
- prompting the user through the graphical user interface to initiate a ground power operation for an aircraft through the installed cable;
- prompting the user to enter the aircraft identification number;
- recording a number of usage cycles for the installed aircraft ground power cable in the database;
- monitoring voltage drop through the ground power cable assembly and power delivered and recording voltage drop and power delivered in the database;
- and
- automatedly prompting the user or terminating ground power delivery when an alert condition is detected by the control processor based on monitored parameters.
7 more elements
A high current, multi-phase arc fault protection system, comprising:
- multiple phase lines corresponding in number to the number of phases;
- a current divider disposed in each phase line configured to divide input current into a larger current fraction and a smaller current fraction through electrically parallel current paths;
- an arc fault protection breaker disposed in each said smaller fraction current path, said arc fault protection breakers having a current capacity less than the input current and greater than the smaller current fraction;
- a current sensor in each said smaller fraction current path;
- a multi-phase relay switch connected across each said phase line;
- and
- a relay switch actuator communicating with each said voltage sensor, said relay switch actuator configured to actuate the multi-phase relay switch to disconnect each said phase line simultaneously upon receiving a signal from one said voltage sensor indicating a voltage break in one said smaller faction current path.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.