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US 2003/0193411 A1Published application
Electronic flight instrument displays
AssigneeChelton Flight Systems Inc.
InventorRicardo A. Price
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AssigneeChelton Flight Systems Inc.
InventorRicardo A. Price
Estimating the term…
The present invention is directed to novel primary flight displays, moving map displays and engine parameter displays for aircraft cockpits. These displays process data gathered from various aircraft sensors and, using an various electronic databases, generate intuitive symbols that aid the pilot. The present invention also uses various novel algorithms that use data gathered from inexpensive sensors to derive parameters normally requiring far more expensive sensors.
A flight display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
A flight display for an electronic instrument system comprising a flight path marker that conforms to a three dimensional background.
A flight display for an electronic instrument system comprising a display of obstructions formed by transforming location and dimension of the obstruction, stored in electronic media, into perspective points taking into account aircraft position.
A panel flight display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
A flight display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
A flight display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
A flight display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a display of aircraft attitude;
An angle of attack display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a colored bar having:
An angle of attack display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a color bar having a first colored region adjacent to a second, colored region wherein the boundary between said regions reflects a target angle of attack for the best angle of climb.
An angle of attack display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a colored bar having a first colored region adjacent to a second colored region wherein the boundary between said regions reflects a target angle of attack for best rate of climb.
An angle of attack display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a colored bar having:
An angle of attack display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a colored bar having a first colored region adjacent to a second colored region wherein the boundary between said regions reflects a target angle of attack for maximum time cruise flight.
An angle of attack display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a colored bar having a first colored region adjacent to a second colored region wherein the boundary between said regions reflects a target angle of attack for maximum range cruise flight.
A moving map display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
A moving map display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
A moving map display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising:
An engine parameter display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising at least one circular indicating gauge, said gauge having at least one colored area, said colored area fluctuating in size and color as a function of a magnitude of an engine parameter.
An engine parameter display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising at least one indicating gauge, said gauge having at least one quadrangular colored area, said colored area fluctuating in size and color as a function of a magnitude of an engine parameter.
An engine parameter display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising at least one indicating gauge having two or more quadrangles, the size of each said quadrangle fluctuating as a function of a magnitude of a different engine parameters, the engine parameters being related, wherein the largest quadrangle is visually distinct from the other quadrangles.
An engine parameter display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising at least one indicating gauge having two or more quadrangles, the size of each said quadrangle fluctuating as a function of a magnitude of a different engine parameters, the engine parameters being related, wherein the smallest quadrangle is visually distinct from the other quadrangles.
An engine parameter display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising at least one indicating gauge having a graph with one axis reflecting time and a second axis reflecting a parameter value wherein the value of a parameter associated with the gauge is charted in a time-lapse fashion.
A display for an electronic flight instrument system wherein the displayed angle of attack is derived from values of acceleration in the vertical axis and airspeed.
A display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a display of attitude wherein the pitch component of the attitude display is derived from values of acceleration in the vertical axis, airspeed, vertical speed, and bank.
A display for an electronic flight instrument system comprising a display of attitude wherein the bank component of the attitude display is derived from values of airspeed and aircraft rate of turn.
A method for deriving the instantaneous track and groundspeed of an aircraft in turning flight comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Combined instruments indicating more than one navigational value, e.g. for aircraft; Combined measuring devices for measuring two or more…: flight…
Measuring distances, levels or bearings
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of electronic flight instrument displays and, in particular, to primary flight displays, moving map displays, and engine parameter displays presented on electronic screens in aircraft cockpits.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows the primary flight display according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows the primary flight display according to the present invention with the terrain display turned off.
FIG. 3 shows the moving map display according to the present invention.
1. The Primary Flight Display
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the primary flight display of the present invention is disclosed. The primary flight display includes a heading scale 1 across the top. The heading scale is preferably aligned with magnetic North although it can also be aligned with true North. The digits 2 of the heading scale are spaced so that, at an aircraft roll angle of zero, the digits conform to the three-dimensional primary flight display background 3. The background 3 is generated from terrain elevation and obstruction elevation data stored in electronic memory. In the preferred embodiment, provision is made for the pilot to be able to selectively enable and disable terrain and obstruction rendering. In some cases, it is preferable to deselect terrain and obstruction rendering to enhance readability of navigation symbology. The heading scale 1 includes a heading carat 4 aligned with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, and a track pointer 5 aligned with the aircraft's track across the earth. A waypoint marker is also displayed on the heading scale at a point that corresponds with the selected waypoint 7. When the selected waypoint 7 is not visible on the background 3, the waypoint marker is replaced by an arrow 6 at either the right-most or left-most limit of the heading scale 1 to indicate the shortest direction of turn to the selected waypoint 7.
The primary flight display further includes a pitch scale 8 and horizon line 9 that rotate in conjunction with the background 3 according to the aircraft's roll angle. The increments on the pitch scale 8 are spaced to conform to the background 3. In the preferred embodiment, the pitch scale has 5 degree increments with a special reference line 10 located at −3 degrees to correspond to a normal aircraft landing approach angle. Pointer bars 11 at the ends of each numbered pitch scale bar 12 indicate the direction to the horizon.