US 2026/0235462 A1 · TORQUE MEASUREMENT BASED ON BEARING CONTACT ANGLE CONTROLLED BY GEAR FORCE REACTION

Abstract

Torque measurement systems for aircraft propulsion systems include a gear assembly having a shaft and a bearing assembly configured to rotationally support the shaft within a housing. The bearing assembly includes an inner bearing raceway arranged on the shaft, an outer bearing raceway arranged on the housing, a rolling element arranged between the bearing raceways and configured to travel along a path defined between the bearing raceways, and a bearing cage arranged between the bearing raceways. The rolling element is configured drive rotational movement of the bearing cage. An axial load member is arranged to apply an axial load to the outer bearing raceway, a rotational velocity sensor is configured to measure a rotational velocity of the bearing cage, and a controller is configured to calculate a transferred toque of the gear assembly based on a detected rotational velocity of the bearing cage.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A torque measurement system of an aircraft propulsion system, comprising:

a gear assembly comprising:
a shaft configured to be rotated within a housing;
and
a bearing assembly configured to rotationally support the shaft within the housing, wherein the bearing assembly comprises:
an inner bearing raceway arranged on the shaft;
an outer bearing raceway arranged on the housing;
a rolling element arranged between the inner bearing raceway and the outer bearing raceway, wherein the rolling element is configured to travel along a path defined between the inner bearing raceway and the outer bearing raceway;
and
a bearing cage arranged between the inner bearing raceway and the outer bearing raceway, wherein the rolling element is configured drive rotational movement of the bearing cage;
an axial load member arranged to apply an axial load to the outer bearing raceway;
a rotational velocity sensor configured to measure a rotational velocity of the bearing cage;
and
a controller configured to calculate a transferred toque of the gear assembly based on a detected rotational velocity of the bearing cage.

10 more elements

A method for monitoring torque on a gear shaft of an aircraft propulsion system, the method comprising:

arranging a rolling element and a bearing cage between an inner bearing raceway and an outer bearing raceway, wherein the inner bearing raceway is arranged on the gear shaft and the outer bearing raceway is arranged on a housing that supports the gear shaft;
applying an axial load to the outer bearing raceway with an axial load member;
measuring a rotational speed of the bearing cage with a rotational velocity sensor;
and
calculating a transferred torque of the gear shaft based on the measured rotational speed of the bearing cage.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Torque measurement based on bearing contact angle controlled by gear force reaction

Life of this patent

Torque measurement based on bearing contact angle controlled by gear force reaction

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20