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US 6,659,392 B2Granted
Visual indication of uninstalled control panel functions
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorsMark L. Goldberg, Ken L. Snodgrass
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A standardized control panel for aircraft provides manually operable controls that are configured to activate an aircraft function if the requested aircraft function is installed on the aircraft or, are otherwise configured to activate a visual indicator if the requested aircraft function is absent from the aircraft.
Claims19
An apparatus for indicating when a requestable mechanism is absent in an aircraft, said apparatus comprising:
- an aircraft control panel;
- at least one manually operable control housed in said aircraft control panel;
- a first switch coupled to said control panel, said first switch being configured to activate said requestable mechanism;
- and
- a second switch coupled to said control panel, said second switch being configured to activate a visual indicator, wherein said at least one manually operable control is coupled to said first switch when said requestable mechanism is present in said aircraft and wherein said at least one manually operable control is coupled to said second switch when said requestable mechanism is absent from said aircraft.
2 more elements
An aircraft apparatus comprising:
- an aircraft control panel;
- a plurality of manually operable controls housed in said aircraft control panel;
- a plurality of switches coupled to said control panel, wherein a first switch of said plurality of switches is configured to activate at least one requestable mechanism, and wherein a second switch of said plurality of switches is configured to activate at least one visual indicator, wherein at least one of said plurality of manually operable controls is coupled to said first switch when said requestable mechanism is present in said aircraft and wherein said at least one of said plurality of manually operable controls is coupled to said second switch of said plurality of switches when said requestable mechanism is absent from said aircraft;
- and
- a display panel coupled to said control panel via said second switch of said plurality of switches, said display panel being configured to display said at least one visual indicator.
2 more elements
A method of indicating when a requestable mechanism in an aircraft is not present in an aircraft comprising the steps of:
- actuating a manually operable control on a control panel;
- activating said requestable mechanism if said requestable mechanism is installed in said aircraft;
- and
- activating a visual indicator to indicate the absence of said requestable mechanism if said requestable mechanism is not installed in said aircraft.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.