Device and method for filling an oil reservoir of an aircraft engine
AssigneeSafran Aircraft Engines
InventorsMathieu Jean Jacques SANTIN, Clément DUPAYS, Bellal WAISSI
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In order to fill a reservoir while avoiding laborious manual filling operations, there is added to the existing device, including a supply duct, a pump and a measuring probe, a stop valve designed to interrupt the filling as soon as the desired level has been reached, which is detected for example by an air intake which controls the closure of the valve. Two level indicators are added and make it possible to ascertain either that optimum filling has been achieved or that a malfunction is present in the system. Application to the systems for oil filling of aircraft engine reservoirs from another reservoir arranged within the aircraft, generally common to all the engines.
Claims21
1-20. (canceled)
An oil tank filling device for filling an oil tank of an aircraft engine, comprising a supply duct leading to the tank of the engine and supplied with oil by another tank disposed in the aircraft at a distance from the engine, a pump placed on the supply duct, a filling processing module, connected to a probe of an oil level in the tank and giving height indications of said oil level, wherein the supply duct comprises a filling shut-off valve located between the pump and the tank, the oil tank filling device comprises a device for closing the shut-off valve, independent of the probe and the filling processing module, sensitive to oil rising to an optimum fill level of the tank, and the filling processing module comprises a tank overfill indicator and a tank nominal fill indicator, said indicators being controlled when the oil reaches an overfill level above the optimum fill level and a nominal fill level below the optimum fill level, respectively, and the optimum fill level is distant from the nominal fill level and the overfill level by differences in level both corresponding to a measurement uncertainty (−ε, +ε) ascribed to the probe.
A method for filling an oil tank equipped with a filling device comprising a supply duct leading to the tank of the engine and supplied with oil by another tank disposed in the aircraft at a distance from the engine, a pump placed on the supply duct, a filling processing module, connected to a probe of an oil level in the tank and giving height indications of said oil level, wherein the supply duct comprises a filling shut-off valve located between the pump and the tank, the filling device comprises a device for closing the shut-off valve, independent of the probe and the filling processing module, sensitive to oil rising to an optimum fill level of the tank, and the filling processing module comprises a tank overfill indicator and a tank nominal fill indicator, said indicators being controlled when the oil reaches an overfill level above the optimum fill level and a nominal fill level below the optimum fill level, respectively, and the optimum fill level is distant from the nominal fill level and the overfill level by differences in level both corresponding to a measurement uncertainty (−ε, +ε) ascribed to the probe, the method comprising steps of:
- determining an amount of oil to be delivered to the tank based on an initial oil level measurement given by the probe;
- delivering said amount;
- and checking with the indicators whether the oil tank has been filled successfully.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.