Cabin pressure control system, method of controlling the actual pressure inside a cabin and outflow valve
AssigneeNord-Micro AG & Co. Ohg
InventorsFriedrich-Joachim Scheerer, Thomas Willenbrink
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention relates to a cabin pressure control system (10), a method of controlling the actual pressure inside a cabin (50) and an outflow valve (14; 15; 16; 17), especially for use in said system (10) or said method. The invention provides communication of actual cabin pressure to the outflow valve (14; 15; 16; 17) and additionally a common data exchange line (22) connecting the components of the cabin pressure control system (10). The system (10) is highly redundant and reliable, guarantees the desired sophisticated pressure control even if one or several components fail and allows complete elimination of the previously used fully pneumatic safety valves.
Claims19
A cabin pressure control system for a cabin surrounded by an ambient atmosphere comprising:
- at least one pressure sensor measuring actual pressure inside a cabin and generating an actual pressure signal;
- at least one controller connected to the at least one pressure sensor, the controller calculating a drive signal based on the actual pressure and an ambient pressure of an atmosphere surrounding the cabin or a pressure differential between the actual pressure and the ambient pressure;
- and
- at least one outflow valve connected to the at least one controller and the at least one pressure sensor and receiving the drive signal and the actual pressure signal, the outflow valve controlling the pressure differential.
A cabin pressure control system for a cabin surrounded by an ambient atmosphere comprising:
- at least one pressure sensor measuring actual pressure inside a cabin and generating an actual pressure signal;
- at least one additional sensor measuring an ambient pressure of an atmosphere surrounding the cabin and generating an ambient pressure signal;
- at least one controller connected to the at least one pressure sensor and to the at least one additional sensor, the controller calculating a drive signal based on the actual pressure and the ambient pressure of an atmosphere surrounding tho cabin or a pressure differential between the actual pressure and the ambient pressure;
- at least one outflow valve connected to the at least one controller and the at least one pressure sensor and receiving the drive signal and the actual pressure signal, the outflow valve controlling the pressure differential;
- and
- a data exchange line connected to the at least one pressure sensor, the at least one additional sensor, the at least one controller, and the at least one outflow valve.
A method of controlling an actual pressure inside a cabin surrounded by an ambient atmosphere comprising:
- measuring an actual pressure inside the cabin and generating an actual pressure signal;
- measuring an ambient pressure of an atmosphere surrounding the cabin and generating an ambient pressure signal;
- calculating or measuring a pressure differential between the actual pressure and the ambient pressure and generating a pressure differential signal;
- communicating the actual pressure signal and the ambient pressure signal, or the actual pressure signal and the pressure differential signal to a controller which calculates a drive signal for an outflow valve;
- communicating the actual pressure signal to the outflow valve;
- and
- using the drive signal and the actual pressure signal to control the outflow valve to maintain the pressure differential between a predetermined upper level and a predetermined lower level.
An outflow valve for controlling a pressure differential between an actual pressure in a cabin and an ambient pressure of an atmosphere surrounding the cabin comprising:
- a valve;
- a drive connected to the valve;
- a first pressure signal input receiving a drive signal from a controller;
- a second pressure signal input receiving an actual pressure signal from a sensor;
- and
- a logic unit responsive to the drive signal and the actual pressure signal for actuating the drive.
A cabin pressure control system for a cabin surrounded by an ambient atmosphere comprising:
- a plurality of pressure sensors measuring actual pressure inside a cabin and each sensor generating an actual pressure signal;
- a plurality of controllers connected to the pressure sensors, the controllers each calculating a drive signal based on the actual pressure and an ambient pressure of an atmosphere surrounding the cabin or a pressure differential between the actual pressure and the ambient pressure;
- a plurality of outflow valves connected to the controllers and the pressure sensors and receiving the drive signal and the actual pressure signal, the outflow valves controlling the pressure differential;
- a common data exchange line connected to the controllers, sensors and outflow valves, and
- at least one additional sensor connected to the data exchange line for measuring the ambient pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.