阅读说明：本技术 自动滑行系统、供电系统、飞行器及供电方法 (Automatic taxiing system, power supply system, aircraft and power supply method ) 是由 陆伟铭 张璞 刘杰 王晓梅 杨尚新 郭仕贤 于 2020-04-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种用于飞行器的自动滑行系统,其可包括：自动滑行装置,用于驱动该飞行器滑行；混合电源,该混合电源用于向该自动滑行装置提供电力,该混合电源包括辅助动力装置APU电源和次级辅助电源；以及控制模块,该控制模块基于飞行器滑行构型来选择该混合电源的APU电源和次级辅助电源的组合。该自动滑行系统通过提供次级辅助电源在必要时提供了更高的功率,且具备良好的灵活性。还公开了一种用于自动滑行系统的供电系统、包括自动滑行系统的飞行器以及对自动滑行装置的供电方法。(An automatic taxi system for an aircraft may include: the automatic taxiing device is used for driving the aircraft to taxi; a hybrid power source for providing power to the automatic coaster, the hybrid power source comprising an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) power and a secondary auxiliary power; and a control module that selects a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power of the hybrid power supply based on an aircraft taxiing configuration. The automatic sliding system provides higher power when necessary by providing a secondary auxiliary power supply and has good flexibility. A power supply system for an automatic taxiing system, an aircraft including an automatic taxiing system, and a method of supplying power to an automatic taxiing apparatus are also disclosed.)

1. An automatic taxi system for an aircraft, comprising:

the automatic taxiing device is used for driving the aircraft to taxi;

a hybrid power source for providing power to the automatic taxiing apparatus, the hybrid power source including an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) power source and a secondary auxiliary power source; and

a control module that selects a combination of an APU power and a secondary auxiliary power for the hybrid power supply based on an aircraft taxiing configuration.

2. The automatic taxi system of claim 1, wherein the secondary auxiliary power source is a hydrogen fuel cell.

3. The automatic coasting system of claim 1, further comprising a servo motor that receives a control signal from the control module and uses power from the hybrid power source to drive the automatic coasting device in accordance with the control signal.

4. The automatic taxi system of claim 1, wherein selecting a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power of the hybrid power supply based on an aircraft taxi configuration comprises:

enabling both the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power when the aircraft taxiing configuration is start-up;

when the aircraft taxiing configuration is uniform speed, acceleration or landing, starting the APU power and disabling the secondary auxiliary power;

when the aircraft taxiing configuration is deceleration, enabling the APU power and placing the secondary auxiliary power in a reverse charging state; and

disabling both the APU power supply and the secondary auxiliary power supply and powering the aircraft with a main engine of the aircraft when the aircraft taxiing configuration is emergency.

5. The automatic taxiing system according to claim 1, wherein the automatic taxiing apparatus is located on a landing gear of the aircraft, the landing gear being a truck landing gear.

6. The automatic taxi system of claim 1, wherein the aircraft is a wide-bodied aircraft.

7. A power supply system for an automatic taxi system of an aircraft, comprising:

a hybrid power source for providing power to an automatic coasting device of the automatic coasting system, the hybrid power source including an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) power source and a secondary auxiliary power source; and

a control module that selects a combination of an APU power and a secondary auxiliary power for the hybrid power supply based on an aircraft taxiing configuration.

8. An aircraft, characterized in that it comprises an automatic taxiing system according to one of claims 1-6.

9. A method for supplying power to an automatic taxiing apparatus of an aircraft, wherein the aircraft includes a hybrid power source including an auxiliary power control (APU) power source and a secondary auxiliary power source, the method comprising:

determining an aircraft taxi configuration of the aircraft;

selecting a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power based on the aircraft taxiing configuration; and

providing power to an auto taxi device of the aircraft via the hybrid power source to drive the aircraft to taxi.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting a control signal to a servo motor to drive the auto skid by the servo motor according to the control signal using power from the hybrid power source.

Technical Field

The invention relates to an automatic taxiing system of an aircraft, a power supply system of the automatic taxiing system and the aircraft comprising the automatic taxiing system. The invention also relates to a method for supplying power to an automatic taxiing system of an aircraft.

Background

Landing gear is an important component of an aircraft, such as a civil aircraft, which functions to support the aircraft as well as to enable the aircraft to move on the ground while the aircraft is taking off, landing, running, or moving and parking on the ground. The structural form of the landing gear comprises a two-wheel landing gear, a frame type landing gear and the like. Wherein in a frame landing gear a plurality of wheels are mounted on a frame.

For airlines, the economy and environmental protection of aircraft are important indicators of concern. In recent years, research has begun in the industry for automatic taxiing devices for landing gear. By adopting the automatic sliding device, the consumption of fuel oil can be reduced, the emission of greenhouse gases is further reduced, and the automatic sliding device has good effects in the aspects of economy and environmental protection.

Most of the currently used automatic taxiing apparatuses are driven by electric power, and the existing research on the automatic taxiing apparatuses mainly focuses on an aircraft using a two-wheeled landing gear. The main landing gears adopted by the current mainstream wide-body airplanes, such as civil airplanes of B787, A380, CR929 and the like, are all frame type landing gears.

As for the frame type undercarriage, the undercarriage is mainly applied to a wide-body airplane, the weight of the undercarriage is large, and the power requirement of an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) for driving an automatic sliding device is correspondingly improved. The power of APUs of current wide body aircraft is roughly in the range of 120KW to 150KW, which is calculated to be insufficient to drive automatic taxiing devices adapted to the weight of the wide body aircraft. Furthermore, the power requirements are not the same in the various scenarios during auto taxiing of an aircraft. For example, during constant speed coasting, less power is required; while during start-up the power required is larger.

Accordingly, there is a need in the industry for a power supply system that can provide higher power to the automatic coasting device, suitable for various scenarios during automatic coasting.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. The invention aims to provide an automatic sliding system with high power and high flexibility and a power supply system thereof, thereby solving the problems.

In one aspect, an automatic taxi system for an aircraft is disclosed, which may include: the automatic taxiing device is used for driving the aircraft to taxi; a hybrid power source for providing power to the automatic coaster, the hybrid power source comprising an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) power and a secondary auxiliary power; and a control module that selects a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power of the hybrid power supply based on an aircraft taxiing configuration.

Preferably, the secondary auxiliary power source may be a hydrogen fuel cell.

Preferably, the automatic coasting system further includes a servo motor that receives a control signal from the control module and drives the automatic coasting device using power from the hybrid power source according to the control signal.

Preferably, selecting the combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power of the hybrid power supply based on the aircraft taxiing configuration may include: when the aircraft taxiing configuration is starting, enabling both the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power; when the aircraft taxiing configuration is uniform speed, acceleration or landing, starting the APU power and forbidding the secondary auxiliary power; when the aircraft taxiing configuration is deceleration, starting the APU power supply and putting the secondary auxiliary power supply into a reverse charging state; and disabling both the APU power supply and the secondary auxiliary power supply and powering the aircraft with a main engine of the aircraft when the aircraft taxiing configuration is emergency.

Preferably, the automatic taxiing apparatus is located on an undercarriage of the aircraft, the undercarriage being a frame undercarriage.

Preferably, the aircraft is a wide body aircraft.

In another aspect, a power supply system for an automatic taxi system of an aircraft is disclosed, the power supply system comprising: a hybrid power supply for providing power to an automatic coasting device of the automatic coasting system, the hybrid power supply including an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) power supply and a secondary auxiliary power supply; and a control module that selects a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power of the hybrid power supply based on an aircraft taxiing configuration.

In yet another aspect, an aircraft is disclosed that includes an automatic taxi system as above.

In yet another aspect, a method is disclosed for supplying power to an automatic taxiing apparatus of an aircraft, the aircraft including a hybrid power source including an auxiliary power control apparatus, APU, power and a secondary auxiliary power source, the method comprising: determining an aircraft taxiing configuration of the aircraft; selecting a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power based on the aircraft taxiing configuration; and providing power to an automatic taxiing device of the aircraft through the hybrid power source so as to drive the aircraft to taxi.

Preferably, the method further comprises: transmitting a control signal to a servo motor to drive the auto skid by the servo motor according to the control signal using power from the hybrid power source.

The automatic sliding system, the power supply system and the power supply method thereof provided by one or more embodiments of the invention have the advantages of high power, high flexibility, small occupied space, low weight, easy integration with the existing system and the like.

Drawings

There is shown in the drawings, which are incorporated herein by reference, non-limiting preferred embodiments of the present invention, the features and advantages of which will be apparent. Wherein:

figure 1 shows a partial perspective view of a frame type landing gear to which the automatic taxiing system of the present invention is applicable.

Figure 2 shows an enlarged partial perspective view of the frame landing gear of figure 1 showing the construction of the automatic heeling apparatus on the front wheel side.

Figure 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the intermeshing between a worm and a worm wheel.

Fig. 4 is another partially enlarged perspective view of the automatic coasting device, showing the clutch mechanism of the automatic coasting device in detail.

Fig. 5 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing a compression spring in the clutch mechanism shown in fig. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of an automatic taxi system for an aircraft, according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of the operating principle of a hydrogen fuel cell.

FIG. 8 illustrates the combination of APU power and secondary auxiliary power for a hybrid power source employed for each taxiing configuration of an aircraft.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example flow diagram of a method for powering an automatic taxiing apparatus of an aircraft in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings only, and are not to be considered limiting of the scope of the invention. Obvious modifications, variations and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art based on the embodiments shown in the drawings, and the technical features in the described embodiments may be combined arbitrarily without contradiction, all of which fall within the scope of the present invention.

As used herein, the terms "inboard" and "outboard" are used with reference to the landing gear, wherein "inboard" refers to being located relatively inboard of the landing gear and "outboard" refers to being located relatively outboard of the landing gear.

It will be appreciated that in the following description, an aircraft is generally taken as an example, however the invention is not limited to aircraft, but may be applied to any other aircraft requiring an auto taxi function.

As mentioned above, current automatic taxiing systems are mostly based on two-wheeled main landing gear aircraft. At present, wide body airplanes such as B787, A380 and CR929 are frame type main landing gears, and A320 also provides an optional frame type main landing gear for adapting to a severe airport environment. However, the research on the automatic taxiing system of the frame type main landing gear at home and abroad is basically in a blank state. Therefore, it is an urgent need to solve the above-mentioned problems by designing an automatic taxiing system for a frame type main landing gear.

The power requirements of the automatic taxiing apparatus of wide-body aircraft are large. The required drive power is calculated from the data for a certain wide-bodied passenger aircraft as follows:

F_{adhesion force}＝F_{Reaction force}× adhesion coefficient, weight 245900KG, main bearing force of 0.5, adhesion coefficient of 0.5, F_{Adhesion force}＝245900×0.5×0.5＝61475KG；

F_{Driving force}＝F_{Adhesion force}Division by the gear ratio, setting the gear ratio to 16, then F_{Driving force}＝61475×9.8÷16＝37653N；

If P is equal to F · V and V is 20km/h (5.5m/s), P is 37653 × 5.5 is 208 KW.

That is, the driving power required for CR929 is about 208 KW. The drive power required by other wide-body passenger aircraft may vary, but is generally greater relative to narrow-body aircraft.

Through inquiry, the power of the APU of each type of wide-body passenger aircraft is different from 120KW to 150KW, so that although the APU is enough to be used for narrow-body aircrafts, the APU may not be enough to drive large-power aircrafts such as wide-body passenger aircraft to automatically slide. Therefore, there is a need for an automatic coasting system that can provide greater power when necessary.

In the following, a description will first be given of a structural view of a frame type undercarriage of an aircraft including the frame type undercarriage to which the automatic taxiing system of the present invention is best applicable.

Fig. 1 shows a partial perspective view of a frame type landing gear 100 to which the automatic taxiing system of the present invention is applicable. As shown in fig. 1, the frame type landing gear 100 includes a frame 110, and at least two axles 111 are formed on the frame 110. And the frame 110 is connected to the messenger support 112 for connection to an aircraft such as a civil aircraft via the messenger support 112.

A wheel 120 is rotatably fitted on each axle 111. In the configuration shown in fig. 1, the wheels 120 include at least one front wheel 121 and at least one rear wheel 122.

The frame landing gear 100 also includes a self-taxiing apparatus 130. The automatic sliding device 130 includes a motor 140 as a driving mechanism, and the motor 140 is, for example, a servo motor. Specifically, although not shown in the drawings, a transmission structure such as a gear train for amplifying the output torque of the motor 140 may be preferably included in the motor 140.

The motor 140 of the illustrated automatic skating device 130 includes at least two output shafts, each of which is connected to a gear train and is connected to the front wheel 121 and the rear wheel 122 through a corresponding gear train, so that the motor 140 can drive the front wheel 121 and the rear wheel 122 at the same time. And preferably, the two output shafts of the motor 140 may be rotated synchronously, thereby enabling synchronous driving of the front and rear wheels 121 and 122.

The two drive shafts of the motor 140 and the transmission mechanism between the drive shafts and the front and rear wheels 121 and 122 may be identical in structure. The transmission mechanism between one output shaft and the wheel will be described in detail with reference to the front wheel 121 in fig. 2, but the transmission mechanism between the other output shaft and the rear wheel 122 may be of the same structure, and will not be described again.

As shown in fig. 2, an output shaft 141 of the motor 140 is connected to one end of the worm 131. In the preferred construction shown in the drawings, the output shaft 141 and the worm 131 are interconnected by a spline structure. Specifically, the output shaft 141 is formed with external splines 151, the worm 131 is formed with corresponding internal splines 152, and the external splines 151 and the internal splines 152 are engaged with each other to connect the worm 131 and the output shaft 141. It is contemplated that the arrangement of the male and female splines 151, 152 may be reversed, i.e., male spline 151 formed on worm 131 and female spline 152 formed on output shaft 141, again enabling connection between worm 131 and output shaft 141. By means of the splined connection, a better load capacity can be given to the worm 131 and the output shaft 141, so that a greater torque can be transmitted.

Of course, other ways of achieving the connection between the worm 131 and the output shaft 141 are possible. For example, an internal thread and an external thread may be provided on the worm 131 and the output shaft 141, respectively, and the connection therebetween may be achieved by a thread structure. Alternatively, the worm 131 and the output shaft 141 may be connected by an interference fit such as engagement.

The gear train further includes a worm gear 132, the worm gear 132 being fixedly attached to the front wheel 121, such as by fasteners such as screws, to the front wheel 121, such that the worm gear 132 rotates with the front wheel 121. The worm 131 includes a spiral portion on the other end away from the output shaft 141, and is engaged with the worm wheel 132 through the spiral portion. Thus, the rotational movement of the output shaft 141 of the motor 140 can be transmitted to the worm wheel 132 via the worm 131, thereby rotating the front wheel 121.

Fig. 3 shows the structure of the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132, particularly the engagement therebetween, more clearly in a partially enlarged form. Preferably, the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132 are of a multi-start transmission structure, whereby the number of starts can be selected according to the required driving force, thereby increasing the transmission ratio and thus the driving power for the front wheel 121.

Further, the autorun 130 for the frame landing gear 100 further includes a clutch mechanism 160, by which clutch mechanism 160 the motor 140 with the transmission mechanism disposed between the motor 140 and the wheel 120 can be moved between an engaged position (or first position) and a disengaged position (or second position). In the engaged position, the worm 131 meshes with the worm wheel 132 and transmits the rotary motion of the output shaft 141 of the motor 140 to the worm 131, thereby driving the front wheel 121 in rotation, and in the disengaged position, the worm 131 is separated from the worm wheel 132.

As shown in fig. 4, the clutch mechanism 160 includes an actuator 164, one end of the actuator 164 is connected to the motor 140 through an outer flange 161, and the other end of the actuator 164 is connected to the connection plate 170 through an inner flange 162. The connection plate 170 is connected to the frame 110 by bolts that may be common, for example, with the frame locator and the lower torque arm. Also, a connecting member 171 is interposed between the web 170 and the frame 110, and the connecting member 171 is adjustable so that the distance between the web 170 and the frame 110 can be adjusted.

The clutch mechanism 160 further includes at least one compression spring 163, such as two compression springs 163 shown in fig. 4, disposed on both sides of the actuator 164. Compression spring 163 is supported at one end on web 170 and thus indirectly on frame 110, and at the other end on motor 140. As a preferred construction, there is also provided a spring guide shaft, specifically as shown in fig. 5, comprising an outer spring guide shaft 165 and an inner spring guide shaft 166. The outer spring guide shaft 165 is preferably coupled to the motor 140 by an outer flange 161, while the inner spring guide shaft 166 is preferably coupled to a web 170 by an inner flange 162, as shown more clearly in fig. 5.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, in one preferred construction, including three outer flanges 161 and three inner flanges 162, two sets of spring guide shafts (each including an outer spring guide shaft 165 and an inner spring guide shaft 166) and one compression spring 163 are secured to the attachment plate 170 and the motor 140, respectively. With continued reference to fig. 5, it can be seen that there is a gap 167 between the outer spring guide shaft 165 and the inner spring guide shaft 166. The gap 167 is preferably adjustable, and by adjusting the gap 167 between the outer spring guide shaft 165 and the inner spring guide shaft 166, the preload of the compression spring 163 can be adjusted. In this way, the clutch mechanism may have sufficient space for movement, thereby allowing more flexibility in designing the automatic skating device 130. In one particular case, a gap of 25mm is initially reserved between the outer spring guide shaft 165 and the inner spring guide shaft 166.

Preferably, the outer spring guide shaft 165 and the inner spring guide shaft 166 are hollow or have a through hole provided therein. Cables for electrically powered components such as motor 140 may pass through holes in outer spring guide shaft 165 and inner spring guide shaft 166 and exit into frame 110 for connection to power sources, controls, etc. within the aircraft. In this way, the automatic coasting device 130, and in particular the motor 140 thereof, may be powered, sent control signals, etc. to effect control and operation of the automatic coasting device 130 for starting, stopping, accelerating, decelerating, etc.

It is further preferred that a displacement sensor is built into the actuator 164, which may be connected, for example, to a controller in the aircraft, and that signals are sent to the controller regarding the amount of displacement of the actuator 164 and receive feedback control signals to effect closed loop control of the operation of the actuator 164 and thus the clutch mechanism.

The structure of the frame landing gear 100 and in particular its automatic taxiing apparatus 130 has been described in detail above. The installation process of the frame landing gear 100 will be further described in conjunction with the structure disclosed above.

First, the connection plate 170 is mounted to the frame 110, and specifically, the connection plate 170 is mounted to the frame 110 by bolts shared with the frame positioner and the lower torque arm. Thereafter, a connecting member 171 is interposed between the connecting plate 170 and the frame 110.

Next, three inner flanges 162 are mounted to the connection plate 170, for example, by fasteners such as screws, bolts, etc. to mount the inner flanges 162. One of the inner flanges 162 is used for an actuator 164, and the other two inner flanges 162 are connected to or integrally formed with an inner spring guide shaft 166 for mounting the two compression springs 163.

Two compression springs 163 are respectively fitted to the corresponding inner spring guide shafts 166. Next, three outer flanges 161 are mounted on the motor 140. One of the outer flanges 161 corresponds to the one of the inner flanges 162 described above for mounting the actuator 164. The other two outer flanges 161 are installed corresponding to those two inner flanges 162 for the compression springs 163, and outer spring guide shafts 165 are connected or integrally formed. The installed outer spring guide shaft 165 is nested within the compression spring 163.

During installation of the actuator 164, both ends of the actuator 164 are connected to the corresponding outer flange 161 and inner flange 162, respectively. Specifically, the actuator 164 is connected at one end to the outer flange 161 and at the other end to the inner flange 162. The connection may be achieved by means such as bolts, snap-fit, etc.

The worm 131 is connected to the output shaft 141 of the motor 140, such as by a mating arrangement of external and internal splines 151 and 152 formed on the worm 131 and output shaft 141. The worm wheel 132 is attached to the wheel 120 (front wheel 121 and rear wheel 122) by means of, for example, a screw, a bolt, or the like.

The preload of the compression spring 163 is adjusted, for example, by adjusting a gap 167 between the outer spring guide shaft 165 and the inner spring guide shaft 166, so that a certain distance is maintained between the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132. For example, a spacing of about 10mm may be maintained between the worm 131 and the worm gear 132.

At this point, the automatic glider 130 on the frame landing gear 100 is properly installed. The operator may then inspect and commission the automatic glider 130 on the frame 110.

For example, the actuator 164 may be controlled to move the worm 131 toward the worm gear 132 and into engagement with the worm gear 132. In one particular instance, a distance of about 10mm is initially maintained between the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132, and then when the actuator 164 is actuated, the worm 131 is moved toward the worm wheel 132 by about 18mm such that the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132 intermesh.

During this time, the operator can check whether there is an excessive clearance between the worm portion of the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132 or whether interference occurs. After determining that the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132 are properly engaged, the driving motor 140 is operated to check whether the automatic coasting device 130 can normally drive the wheel 120 to rotate.

During the installation and debugging process, if any problem exists, the power supply can be cut off at any time, when the power supply is cut off, the motor 140 stops running, and the actuator 164 of the automatic sliding device 130 returns to the preset idle position, so that the meshing between the worm 131 and the worm wheel 132 is disengaged.

The frame landing gear is described in detail above. The automatic taxiing system of the present invention is best located on the above-described frame landing gear because of the smaller space on the frame landing gear and the greater power requirements for a wide range passenger aircraft, which the present invention is well suited to solve.

However, the automatic taxiing system, the power supply system and the power supply method thereof are not only suitable for wide-body airplanes, but also suitable for other types of aircrafts. Embodiments of the present invention are applicable whenever an aircraft requires an automatic taxi system, and still achieve advantages such as high power, high flexibility, small footprint, low weight, easy integration with existing systems, etc.

Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram of an automatic taxiing system 600 for an aircraft is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 6, system 600 may include an automatic skid 602. The automatic taxiing apparatus 602 is used for driving the aircraft to taxi. For example, the auto taxi device 602 may be coupled to a wheel 630 of the aircraft and drive the wheel 630 to taxi the aircraft.

Preferably, the automatic skating device 602 may be the automatic skating device 130 described above. Alternatively, the automatic heeling apparatus 602 may be other types of heeling apparatuses.

The system 600 may also include a hybrid power supply 604. The hybrid power supply 604 is used to provide power to the automatic taxiing apparatus. The hybrid power source 604 may include an auxiliary power unit APU power source 610. APU power is a power source commonly used in aircraft today to drive taxiing devices. As shown in FIG. 6, the APU power supply 610 may include an APU 614 and a generator 616. The details of APU power supply 610 are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail herein. However, as noted above, in some cases, the power provided by the APUs may be insufficient, and it is desirable to implement a power supply that can provide higher power.

Thus, in an embodiment of the present invention, the hybrid power supply 604 also includes a secondary auxiliary power supply 612. Depending on the taxiing configuration of the aircraft, the secondary auxiliary power supply and the APU power cooperate to provide more power to the aircraft when needed, and to shut down or reverse charge when not needed, as will be described in detail below.

However, there are design difficulties in selecting the secondary auxiliary power supply, which are generally:

a. space-the auto-taxiing apparatus of a wide-bodied aircraft has many parts, and occupies most of the available space of the landing gear and the vicinity, so the volume of the secondary auxiliary power supply cannot be too large;

b. weight-the maximum driving power of the automatic sliding system needs to be calculated, and proper power is selected according to the weight-energy ratio, so that the weight of the secondary auxiliary power supply is as small as possible while the power margin design is ensured;

c. configuration-due to differences in aircraft slip configurations (start, acceleration, uniform speed, deceleration, landing, emergency, etc.), the power combining logic of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power should preferably be determined;

d. safety — since the secondary auxiliary power supply is typically mounted on the landing gear, it should be ensured that the gas exhaust and operating temperature of the secondary auxiliary power supply do not have a negative impact on the landing gear, wheels and brakes;

e. maintainability-care should be taken to reduce maintenance costs as much as possible.

In view of the above, in the embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable to select a hydrogen fuel cell as the secondary auxiliary power source. The hydrogen fuel cell is used as a power supply with large specific energy, less discharge, low noise and high reliability, can well meet the requirements of space, weight, configuration, safety and maintainability, and the hydrogen as the fuel of the cell can be separated from the aviation kerosene by a decomposition device.

Referring to fig. 7, a schematic diagram of the operating principle of a hydrogen fuel cell is shown.

As shown in fig. 7, the hydrogen used by the hydrogen fuel cell 704 may be derived from aviation kerosene. The jet fuel may come, for example, from a fuel tank or from an external fuel injection port. Subsequently, at the fuel processing system 702, fuel hydrogen is chemically separated from the aviation kerosene. The exhaust gases produced in the process are discharged via an exhaust gas discharge line. The heat generated in the process is also dissipated through the heat dissipation system.

The fuel hydrogen gas is input to the hydrogen fuel cell 704. In the hydrogen fuel cell 704, the fuel hydrogen gas electrochemically reacts with the oxygen in the input air and then passes through the proton exchange membrane to generate electric energy. The generated electrical energy is then stored in capacitor 706.

In addition, the capacitor 706 may also absorb energy during deceleration of the aircraft, thereby creating a reverse charge to the hydrogen fuel cell. The process can fully utilize the energy of the aircraft during deceleration, and reduce the consumption of aviation kerosene.

When the starting power demand of the automatic sliding device is large, the electric energy is quickly released by the capacitor to assist in power supply, so that larger power can be provided for the automatic sliding device. This is particularly advantageous for, for example, wide body airliners and the like.

The system 600 may also include a control module 606. The control module 606 is communicatively coupled to the hybrid power source. The control module 606 may transmit a power control signal to the hybrid power source to select a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power of the hybrid power source based on a taxiing configuration of the aircraft. The control module may be, for example, a logic control card, or may be other processors such as an FPGA, ASIC, CPU, or the like. The control module 606 may select a combination of APU power and secondary auxiliary power depending on the taxi configuration of the aircraft.

The taxiing configuration of an aircraft refers to the phase that the aircraft is in during taxiing. For example, the aircraft taxi configuration may be start-up, acceleration, cruise, deceleration, landing, emergency, etc.

In addition, the control module 606 may also transmit control current signals to the servo motors to control the operation of the servo motors, as will be described further below.

Referring to FIG. 8, a combination of APU power and secondary auxiliary power for a hybrid power source for each taxiing configuration of an aircraft is illustrated.

As shown in fig. 8, when the aircraft is in a taxi configuration for launch, a high torque may be provided. At this time, both the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power may be enabled. Generally, the power required by the aircraft in the starting phase is significantly large, and for some large aircraft such as a wide-body passenger plane, it is difficult to provide enough power by means of an APU power supply only, which is also a main obstacle that an automatic taxiing system is difficult to be applied to the large aircraft such as the wide-body passenger plane. In the invention, the APU power supply and the secondary auxiliary power supply are used for providing power when the wide-body passenger plane is started, so that the larger power requirement required during starting is met, and the automatic sliding system can be provided on the wide-body passenger plane.

A low torque may be provided when the aircraft is in a taxi configuration for uniform speed, acceleration or landing. At this point, the APU power may be enabled and the secondary auxiliary power may be disabled. During the period of the aircraft taxiing at a constant speed, accelerating taxiing or landing, the requirement of the aircraft on power is relatively small, and the power provided by the APU power supply is sufficient. At this time, to save power of the secondary auxiliary power supply, the secondary auxiliary power supply may be disabled and only the APU power may be enabled.

When the aircraft is in a taxiing configuration, the torque is reversed. At this point, the aircraft may be powered using only the APU power supply. At this point, in some examples, the secondary auxiliary power supply may be disabled. Preferably, if the secondary auxiliary power source is reverse chargeable (for example, when the secondary auxiliary power source is a rechargeable power source such as a hydrogen fuel cell), the secondary auxiliary power source is placed in a reverse charging state, i.e., the energy generated by the aircraft brakes is used to charge the secondary auxiliary power source.

When the aircraft taxiing configuration is emergency, a careful strategy should be taken to provide high torque, and it is likely that the combination of APU power and secondary auxiliary power will not provide sufficient power. At this point, both the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power may be disabled, and the aircraft is powered by its main engines 802.

The aircraft taxi configuration may be received from a taxi switch of the cockpit (e.g., taxi switch 618 in fig. 6). For example, a taxi switch may be operated by an aircraft pilot to control a taxi configuration of the aircraft. The taxi configuration of the aircraft may be determined in other ways, such as by an automatic control system of the aircraft.

As shown in fig. 6, the system 600 may also include a servo motor 608. The servo motor may be, for example, a brushless servo motor. The servo motor 608 can receive control signals from the control module and use power from the hybrid power source to drive the auto-matic skid 602 based on the control signals.

The servo motor 608 may include a PID component 620, a current regulation component 622, a power amplifier 624, a motor 626, and the like. The control module transmits a control current signal to the servo motor, a current feedback loop and PID control are arranged in the servo motor, the control current signal is converted into a voltage signal to drive the motor after power amplification, and the motor drives the sliding device. In addition, power control and speed control can be achieved by feeding back a speed signal to the control module via a wheel speed sensor on the wheel (e.g., wheel speed sensor 628 in fig. 6).

In another embodiment of the present invention, a power supply system for an automatic taxi system of an aircraft is also disclosed. For example, the auto-taxi system may be the auto-taxi system 600 described above with reference to fig. 6. The power supply system may include a hybrid power supply 604 and a control module 606 as previously described. The hybrid power supply 604 may be used to provide power to the automatic skidder device of the automatic skidder system, and includes an Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) power supply and a secondary auxiliary power supply. The control module 606 may select a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power for the hybrid power source based on the aircraft taxiing configuration. The detailed description of the hybrid power supply 604 and the control module 606 can be referred to above, and will not be repeated herein.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, an aircraft is also disclosed that may include an auto taxi system (e.g., auto taxi system 600) as described above.

Referring to FIG. 9, an example flow diagram of a method 900 for powering an automatic taxiing apparatus of an aircraft is shown, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The aircraft comprises a hybrid power supply comprising an auxiliary power control unit APU power supply and a secondary auxiliary power supply. The hybrid power supply may be the hybrid power supply 604 described above.

The method 900 may include: at step 902, an aircraft taxiing configuration of the aircraft may be determined. For example, the aircraft taxi configuration may be received from a taxi switch of the cockpit. For example, a taxi switch may be operated by an aircraft pilot to control a taxi configuration of the aircraft. The taxi configuration of the aircraft may be determined in other ways, such as by an automatic control system of the aircraft.

The method 900 may also include: at step 904, a combination of the APU power and the secondary auxiliary power may be selected based on the aircraft taxiing configuration. The detailed description of this step can be found in reference to fig. 7 and the related description.

The method 900 may also include: at step 906, power may be provided to an auto taxi of the aircraft via the hybrid power source to drive the aircraft to taxi.

Preferably, the method may further comprise: a control signal may be transmitted to a servo motor to drive the auto skid by the servo motor using power from the hybrid power source according to the control signal

The present application also discloses a computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the method of the embodiments described herein.

Additionally, a system comprising means for implementing the methods of the embodiments described herein is also disclosed.

It is to be understood that methods according to one or more embodiments of the present description can be implemented in software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

It should be understood that the embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, and that the same or similar parts in the various embodiments may be referred to one another, with each embodiment being described with emphasis instead of the other embodiments. In particular, as for the apparatus and system embodiments, since they are substantially similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and reference may be made to some descriptions of the method embodiments for relevant points. It is to be appreciated that the present specification discloses a number of embodiments, and that the disclosure of such embodiments may be understood by reference to each other.

It should be understood that the above description describes particular embodiments of the present specification. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims may be performed in a different order than in the embodiments and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processes depicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In some embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing may also be possible or may be advantageous.

It should be understood that an element described herein in the singular or shown in the figures only represents that the element is limited in number to one. Furthermore, modules or elements described or illustrated herein as separate may be combined into a single module or element, and modules or elements described or illustrated herein as single may be split into multiple modules or elements.

It is also to be understood that the terms and expressions employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and that the embodiment or embodiments of the specification are not limited to those terms and expressions. The use of such terms and expressions is not intended to exclude any equivalents of the features shown and described (or portions thereof), and it is recognized that various modifications may be made within the scope of the claims. Other modifications, variations, and alternatives are also possible. Accordingly, the claims should be looked to in order to cover all such equivalents.

Also, it should be noted that while the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments are merely illustrative of one or more embodiments of the present invention, and that various changes and substitutions of equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore, it is intended that all such changes and modifications to the above embodiments be included within the scope of the appended claims.