Patents by Inventor Nicholas CRANE

Nicholas CRANE has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11919626
    Abstract: A controller for a hydraulic braking system for an aircraft is disclosed. The hydraulic braking system includes a first accumulator and a second accumulator, the controller configured to: receive first signals including first pressure data from a first pressure transducer associated with the first accumulator, receive second signals including second pressure data from a second pressure transducer associated with the second accumulator, monitor the received first and second signals to determine whether a predetermined condition has been met, and issue a warning indicating a loss of integrity of the hydraulic braking system in response to a determination that one or more predetermined conditions has been met. A hydraulic braking system for an aircraft and method to determine the integrity of a hydraulic braking system are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Nicholas Crane, Adrian Harrison
  • Patent number: 11514728
    Abstract: A drive system 20, 20? for rotating a wheel 11, 11? of an aircraft landing gear 10, 10?, is disclosed having a drive element 24, 24?, a motor 21, 21? operable to rotate the drive element, and a driven gear 25, 25? adapted to be attached to the wheel. The drive system has a drive configuration in which the drive element is capable of meshing with the driven gear to drive the driven gear, wherein the drive system further comprises a transmission error measurement apparatus 30, 40, the apparatus configured to obtain, over time, measurement data of one or more characteristics of the drive system when in the drive configuration, the measurement data providing an indication of a transmission error between a torque commanded by the motor and a resulting torque at the driven gear. An aircraft 100 and a method of providing an indication of a transmission error in a drive system is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Nicholas Crane, Arnaud Didey
  • Publication number: 20220266991
    Abstract: A controller for a hydraulic braking system for an aircraft is disclosed. The hydraulic braking system includes a first accumulator and a second accumulator, the controller configured to: receive first signals including first pressure data from a first pressure transducer associated with the first accumulator, receive second signals including second pressure data from a second pressure transducer associated with the second accumulator, monitor the received first and second signals to determine whether a predetermined condition has been met, and issue a warning indicating a loss of integrity of the hydraulic braking system in response to a determination that one or more predetermined conditions has been met. A hydraulic braking system for an aircraft and method to determine the integrity of a hydraulic braking system are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 6, 2022
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Inventors: Nicholas CRANE, Adrian HARRISON
  • Patent number: 11345466
    Abstract: A controller for a hydraulic braking system for an aircraft is disclosed. The hydraulic braking system includes a first accumulator and a second accumulator, the controller configured to: receive first signals including first pressure data from a first pressure transducer associated with the first accumulator, receive second signals including second pressure data from a second pressure transducer associated with the second accumulator, monitor the received first and second signals to determine whether a predetermined condition has been met, and issue a warning indicating a loss of integrity of the hydraulic braking system in response to a determination that one or more predetermined conditions has been met. A hydraulic braking system for an aircraft and method to determine the integrity of a hydraulic braking system are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS OPERATIONS LIMITED
    Inventors: Nicholas Crane, Adrian Harrison
  • Patent number: 11260961
    Abstract: A hydraulic system 300 for an aircraft including a backup hydraulic pressure source 216 to provide hydraulic pressure to a brake 222 in the event of a failure condition of a primary hydraulic brake pressure source. The hydraulic system 300 also includes a landing gear backup system to provide hydraulic pressure to enable extension and/or retraction of landing gear 100. The backup hydraulic pressure source 216 is arranged to provide hydraulic pressure to the landing gear backup system in the event of a failure condition of a primary landing gear hydraulic pressure source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventors: George Howell, Nicholas Crane
  • Patent number: 10569864
    Abstract: A control apparatus 300 for controlling a steering system 301 of an aircraft landing gear, the aircraft landing gear being configurable in a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration. The steering system 301 includes a wheel arrangement 202 including one or more wheels. The control apparatus 300 is arranged to perform a control process which includes: receiving one or more signals from one or more sensors 302a, 302b indicating a position of the wheel arrangement 202 when the landing gear is in the stowed configuration; determining whether a predetermined condition is satisfied in relation to the position of the wheel arrangement 202; and, in response to determining that the predetermined condition is satisfied, performing an adjustment process to control the steering system 301 to adjust the position of the wheel arrangement 202.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: Airbus Operations Limited
    Inventors: Robert Tangye, Cecile Lea Lourdes Garaygay, Nicholas Crane
  • Publication number: 20190263508
    Abstract: A drive system 20, 20? for rotating a wheel 11, 11? of an aircraft landing gear 10, 10?, is disclosed having a drive element 24, 24?, a motor 21, 21? operable to rotate the drive element, and a driven gear 25, 25? adapted to be attached to the wheel. The drive system has a drive configuration in which the drive element is capable of meshing with the driven gear to drive the driven gear, wherein the drive system further comprises a transmission error measurement apparatus 30, 40, the apparatus configured to obtain, over time, measurement data of one or more characteristics of the drive system when in the drive configuration, the measurement data providing an indication of a transmission error between a torque commanded by the motor and a resulting torque at the driven gear. An aircraft 100 and a method of providing an indication of a transmission error in a drive system is disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2019
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Inventors: Nicholas CRANE, Arnaud DIDEY
  • Publication number: 20190248478
    Abstract: A controller for a hydraulic braking system for an aircraft is disclosed. The hydraulic braking system includes a first accumulator and a second accumulator, the controller configured to: receive first signals including first pressure data from a first pressure transducer associated with the first accumulator, receive second signals including second pressure data from a second pressure transducer associated with the second accumulator, monitor the received first and second signals to determine whether a predetermined condition has been met, and issue a warning indicating a loss of integrity of the hydraulic braking system in response to a determination that one or more predetermined conditions has been met. A hydraulic braking system for an aircraft and method to determine the integrity of a hydraulic braking system are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2019
    Publication date: August 15, 2019
    Inventors: Nicholas CRANE, Adrian HARRISON
  • Publication number: 20190002091
    Abstract: A control apparatus 300 for controlling a steering system 301 of an aircraft landing gear, the aircraft landing gear being configurable in a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration. The steering system 301 includes a wheel arrangement 202 including one or more wheels. The control apparatus 300 is arranged to perform a control process which includes: receiving one or more signals from one or more sensors 302a, 302b indicating a position of the wheel arrangement 202 when the landing gear is in the stowed configuration; determining whether a predetermined condition is satisfied in relation to the position of the wheel arrangement 202; and, in response to determining that the predetermined condition is satisfied, performing an adjustment process to control the steering system 301 to adjust the position of the wheel arrangement 202.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2018
    Publication date: January 3, 2019
    Inventors: Robert TANGYE, Cecile Lea Lourdes GARAYGAY, Nicholas CRANE
  • Publication number: 20180370616
    Abstract: A hydraulic system 300 for an aircraft including a backup hydraulic pressure source 216 to provide hydraulic pressure to a brake 222 in the event of a failure condition of a primary hydraulic brake pressure source. The hydraulic system 300 also includes a landing gear backup system to provide hydraulic pressure to enable extension and/or retraction of landing gear 100. The backup hydraulic pressure source 216 is arranged to provide hydraulic pressure to the landing gear backup system in the event of a failure condition of a primary landing gear hydraulic pressure source.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2018
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: George HOWELL, Nicholas CRANE
  • Publication number: 20150360524
    Abstract: A tire assembly includes a tire having a pneumatic cavity, first and second sidewalls extending respectively from first and second tire bead regions to a tire tread region, the first sidewall having at least one bending region operatively bending when radially within a rolling tire footprint, and a chafer component with an air passageway defined by an air tube resiliently deforming segment by segment between an expanded condition and an at least partially collapsed condition in response to respective segment by segment deformation of the sidewall when radially within the rolling tire footprint. The tire assembly pumps a constant volume of air for every revolution of the tire thus providing a linear pumping rate regardless of dead volumes in the tire.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2014
    Publication date: December 17, 2015
    Inventors: Thulasiram Gobinath, Robert Leon Benedict, Richard Nicholas Crane