Patents by Inventor Nicolas Certain

Nicolas Certain 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: 11203419
    Abstract: A regulator device for regulating a control setpoint for a speed of rotation, written NR, for at least one main rotor of a rotorcraft, the rotorcraft including at least one measurement member for taking measurements representative of a current vertical elevation of the rotorcraft relative to a reference level Ref; and measurement means serving to measure at least one vertical component of a travel speed of the rotorcraft relative to the air surrounding the rotorcraft, the regulator device for regulating the control setpoint of the speed including management means for automatically controlling the control setpoint for the speed in accordance with at least two predetermined control relationships that are distinct from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Inventors: Setareh Taheri, Nicolas Certain
  • Patent number: 10752342
    Abstract: A regulator device for regulating a speed of rotation, of a shaft of a gas generator of at least one turboshaft engine of a rotorcraft. The rotorcraft has at least one main rotor for regulating at least lift and/or propulsion for said rotorcraft in the air; a control member for controlling a collective pitch of the blades of said at least one main rotor, said control member serving to generate a control setpoint for said collective pitch; at least one turboshaft engine suitable for driving rotation of said at least one main rotor, said at least one engine producing, at least temporarily, a drive torque that is transmitted to said at least one main rotor; and measurement means for taking at each instant a measurement of said drive torque transmitted by said at least one engine to said at least one main rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Setareh Taheri, Nicolas Certain
  • Patent number: 10358232
    Abstract: A method and a device for detecting that a rotorcraft is approaching a vortex domain. After previously determining a limit advance speed threshold and a limit vertical speed threshold defining a limit for said rotorcraft entering into a vortex domain, a predictive advance speed and a predictive vertical speed for said rotorcraft are calculated, said predictive vertical speed being calculated differently depending on the value of said instantaneous advance speed. Thereafter, said predictive advance speed and said predictive vertical speed are compared with said thresholds, which may be thresholds with hysteresis, in order to determine whether said rotorcraft is approaching a vortex domain, and if so to signal this situation to a pilot of said rotorcraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 23, 2019
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Nicolas Certain, Lionel Pignier
  • Publication number: 20180312250
    Abstract: A regulator device for regulating a control setpoint for a speed of rotation, written NR, for at least one main rotor of a rotorcraft, the rotorcraft including at least one measurement member for taking measurements representative of a current vertical elevation of the rotorcraft relative to a reference level Ref; and measurement means serving to measure at least one vertical component of a travel speed of the rotorcraft relative to the air surrounding the rotorcraft, the regulator device for regulating the control setpoint of the speed including management means for automatically controlling the control setpoint for the speed in accordance with at least two predetermined control relationships that are distinct from each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Publication date: November 1, 2018
    Applicant: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Setareh TAHERI, Nicolas CERTAIN
  • Publication number: 20180178908
    Abstract: A regulator device for regulating a speed of rotation, of a shaft of a gas generator of at least one turboshaft engine of a rotorcraft. The rotorcraft has at least one main rotor for regulating at least lift and/or propulsion for said rotorcraft in the air; a control member for controlling a collective pitch of the blades of said at least one main rotor, said control member serving to generate a control setpoint for said collective pitch; at least one turboshaft engine suitable for driving rotation of said at least one main rotor, said at least one engine producing, at least temporarily, a drive torque that is transmitted to said at least one main rotor; and measurement means for taking at each instant a measurement of said drive torque transmitted by said at least one engine to said at least one main rotor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2017
    Publication date: June 28, 2018
    Applicant: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Setareh TAHERI, Nicolas CERTAIN
  • Patent number: 9984581
    Abstract: A piloting assistance method for avoiding an obstacle with a rotorcraft flying along a current speed vector (Vect0). An alert is generated by using a speed vector of the rotorcraft referred to as a “calculation” speed vector (Vect1) in order to determine whether the rotorcraft might impact an obstacle. During a correction stage and at each calculation iteration, the calculation speed vector (Vect1) is determined using a horizontal component and a vertical component, the vertical component being a function of a current vertical speed of the rotorcraft relative to the ground corrected with a corrective term, the corrective term being a function of a product of a current path speed of the rotorcraft multiplied by the derivative of the path speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Richard Pire, Marianne Gillet, Nicolas Certain
  • Publication number: 20170369181
    Abstract: A method and a device for detecting that a rotorcraft is approaching a vortex domain. After previously determining a limit advance speed threshold and a limit vertical speed threshold defining a limit for said rotorcraft entering into a vortex domain, a predictive advance speed and a predictive vertical speed for said rotorcraft are calculated, said predictive vertical speed being calculated differently depending on the value of said instantaneous advance speed. Thereafter, said predictive advance speed and said predictive vertical speed are compared with said thresholds, which may be thresholds with hysteresis, in order to determine whether said rotorcraft is approaching a vortex domain, and if so to signal this situation to a pilot of said rotorcraft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2017
    Publication date: December 28, 2017
    Applicant: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Nicolas CERTAIN, Lionel PIGNIER
  • Patent number: 9815561
    Abstract: A device for regulating the speed of rotation of at least one main rotor of a rotorcraft, which speed is known as the speed NR. Such a rotorcraft comprises at least one manual flight control member for delivering a collective pitch control setpoint C for the blades of the at least one main rotor, the control setpoint C being a function of a current position of the at least one control member; and detector means enabling a current state to be detected from at least two distinct states of the rotorcraft, namely a “ground” state in which the rotorcraft is in contact with the ground, at least in part, and a “flight” state in which the rotorcraft is at least being sustained in the air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Jean-Baptiste Vallart, Setareh Taheri, Nicolas Certain
  • Patent number: 9728092
    Abstract: A method of determining the speed of the wind to be taken into account for determining a maximum authorized takeoff weight of an aircraft. A measured speed TASmes of the local wind is calculated from at least one current speed TASinst of the local wind and an observed speed TASobs of the local wind on the basis of weather observations and on the basis of a heading value. The measured speed TASmes is compared with the observed speed TASobs in order to determine a calculated speed TASperfo of the local wind while also making use of at least one instability criterion of the local wind as supplied by the weather observations and weather forecasts. The calculated speed TASperfo is then for taking into account in order to optimize the maximize authorized takeoff weight of the aircraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Etienne Poudrai, Nicolas Certain, Bernard Spinosi
  • Publication number: 20170088281
    Abstract: A device for regulating the speed of rotation of at least one main rotor of a rotorcraft, which speed is known as the speed NR. Such a rotorcraft comprises at least one manual flight control member for delivering a collective pitch control setpoint C for the blades of the at least one main rotor, the control setpoint C being a function of a current position of the at least one control member; and detector means enabling a current state to be detected from at least two distinct states of the rotorcraft, namely a “ground” state in which the rotorcraft is in contact with the ground, at least in part, and a “flight” state in which the rotorcraft is at least being sustained in the air.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Applicant: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Jean-Baptiste VALLART, Setareh TAHERI, Nicolas CERTAIN
  • Publication number: 20160351060
    Abstract: A piloting assistance method for avoiding an obstacle with a rotorcraft flying along a current speed vector (Vect0). An alert is generated by using a speed vector of the rotorcraft referred to as a “calculation” speed vector (Vect1) in order to determine whether the rotorcraft might impact an obstacle. During a correction stage and at each calculation iteration, the calculation speed vector (Vect1) is determined using a horizontal component and a vertical component, the vertical component being a function of a current vertical speed of the rotorcraft relative to the ground corrected with a corrective term, the corrective term being a function of a product of a current path speed of the rotorcraft multiplied by the derivative of the path speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2016
    Publication date: December 1, 2016
    Inventors: Richard PIRE, Marianne GILLET, Nicolas CERTAIN
  • Patent number: 9415881
    Abstract: A method of calculating and displaying the true airspeed of a rotorcraft. At least one omnidirectional airspeed sensor is installed at the top of a tail fin of the rotorcraft. The true airspeed of the rotorcraft flying at speeds that are lower than or equal to at least one airspeed threshold of the rotorcraft is calculated by correcting the measurements supplied by the airspeed sensor installed at the top of the tail fin as a function of the effects produced by the air stream generated by rotation of the main rotor of the rotorcraft on the characteristics of the speed of the air stream measured by the tail fin airspeed sensor. For this purpose, a correction rule calibrated in test flight is advantageously applied to correct the measurements supplied by the airspeed sensor installed at the top of the tail fin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Airbus Helicopters
    Inventors: Nicolas Certain, Olivier Delecroix
  • Publication number: 20160210869
    Abstract: A method of determining the speed of the wind to be taken into account for determining a maximum authorized takeoff weight of an aircraft. A measured speed TASmes of the local wind is calculated from at least one current speed TASinst of the local wind and an observed speed TASobs of the local wind on the basis of weather observations and on the basis of a heading value. The measured speed TASmes is compared with the observed speed TASobs in order to determine a calculated speed TASperfo of the local wind while also making use of at least one instability criterion of the local wind as supplied by the weather observations and weather forecasts. The calculated speed TASperfo is then for taking into account in order to optimize the maximize authorized takeoff weight of the aircraft.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2016
    Publication date: July 21, 2016
    Inventors: Etienne POUDRAI, Nicolas CERTAIN, Bernard SPINOSI
  • Patent number: 9394053
    Abstract: An aircraft having a cockpit, said cockpit including a canopy provided with transparent surfaces fastened to bars, a central console, and two seats arranged transversely on either side of the central console. The aircraft includes at least one support (31, 33) connected to the central console and at least one display unit for displaying multiple indications for assisting piloting, each display unit being carried by at least one support (31, 32, 33, 34) interposed between a bar and a theoretical position of the eye of a person sitting on one of said two seats, each support (31, 32, 33, 34) visually masking a bar at least in part, in order to optimize the visibility to the outside of the cockpit as made available to that person, the theoretical position being defined by the manufacturer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: Airbus Helicopters
    Inventors: Jean-Pierre Baudry, Nicolas Certain
  • Publication number: 20150360794
    Abstract: A method of calculating and displaying the true airspeed of a rotorcraft. At least one omnidirectional airspeed sensor is installed at the top of a tail fin of the rotorcraft. The true airspeed of the rotorcraft flying at speeds that are lower than or equal to at least one airspeed threshold of the rotorcraft is calculated by correcting the measurements supplied by the airspeed sensor installed at the top of the tail fin as a function of the effects produced by the air stream generated by rotation of the main rotor of the rotorcraft on the characteristics of the speed of the air stream measured by the tail fin airspeed sensor. For this purpose, a correction rule calibrated in test flight is advantageously applied to correct the measurements supplied by the airspeed sensor installed at the top of the tail fin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2015
    Publication date: December 17, 2015
    Inventors: Nicolas CERTAIN, Olivier DELECROIX
  • Publication number: 20140291444
    Abstract: An aircraft having a cockpit, said cockpit including a canopy provided with transparent surfaces fastened to bars, a central console, and two seats arranged transversely on either side of the central console. The aircraft includes at least one support (31, 33) connected to the central console and at least one display unit for displaying multiple indications for assisting piloting, each display unit being carried by at least one support (31, 32, 33, 34) interposed between a bar and a theoretical position of the eye of a person sitting on one of said two seats, each support (31, 32, 33, 34) visually masking a bar at least in part, in order to optimize the visibility to the outside of the cockpit as made available to that person, the theoretical position being defined by the manufacturer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Publication date: October 2, 2014
    Applicant: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS
    Inventors: Jean-Pierre BAUDRY, Nicolas CERTAIN
  • Patent number: 7530786
    Abstract: The invention relates to a rotor for a rotorcraft having foldable hinged blades, the rotor comprising a hub (10), each blade being connected to the hub via a sleeve, each sleeve being hinged about a pitch axis (15) relative to the hub, the rotor including a respective lag damper (14) associated with each blade, each damper being hinged both to the hub and to the corresponding sleeve, the rotor including a system for controlling the pitch of the blades via respective pitch levers (16) secured to each of the sleeves; the rotor includes two abutments designed to co-operate with tooling for blocking the pitch of the blades, a first abutment presenting a bearing surface (35, 36) matching a shape of revolution about an axis (18) of revolution, and a second abutment (33, 39, 70) designed to act axially along said axis of revolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2009
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Nicolas Certain, Christophe Perrin
  • Publication number: 20070065284
    Abstract: The invention relates to a rotor for a rotorcraft having foldable hinged blades, the rotor comprising a hub (10), each blade being connected to the hub via a sleeve, each sleeve being hinged about a pitch axis (15) relative to the hub, the rotor including a respective lag damper (14) associated with each blade, each damper being hinged both to the hub and to the corresponding sleeve, the rotor including a system for controlling the pitch of the blades via respective pitch levers (16) secured to each of the sleeves; the rotor includes two abutments designed to co-operate with tooling for blocking the pitch of the blades, a first abutment presenting a bearing surface (35, 36) matching a shape of revolution about an axis (18) of revolution, and a second abutment (33, 39, 70) designed to act axially along said axis of revolution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 18, 2006
    Publication date: March 22, 2007
    Inventors: Nicolas Certain, Christophe Perrin
  • Patent number: 6481965
    Abstract: On the rotor, between each blade and the member for linking with the hub, an electrical connecting cable comprises a first section of which one part is held above that one of the two blade pins which is the detachable pin whose withdrawal allows the folding of the blade by pivoting about the other blade pin forming a pivot pin, by a holding arrangement tied to this detachable pin, in the flight position of the blade. This section of cable is released from its holding arrangement before the withdrawal of the latter and of the detachable blade pin, which precedes the folding, in such a way that this section of cable deforms naturally on following the pivoting of the blade. After deployment of the blade, a part of the section of cable is again held in the holding arrangement, in the flight position of the blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: Eurocopter
    Inventors: Nicolas Certain, Eric Coisset
  • Publication number: 20020081202
    Abstract: On the rotor, between each blade and the member for linking with the hub, an electrical connecting cable comprises a first section of which one part is held above that one of the two blade pins which is the detachable pin whose withdrawal allows the folding of the blade by pivoting about the other blade pin forming a pivot pin, by holding means tied to this detachable pin, in the flight position of the blade. This section of cable is released from its holding means before the withdrawal of the latter and of the detachable blade pin, which precedes the folding, in such a way that this section of cable deforms naturally on following the pivoting of the blade. After deployment of the blade, a part of the section of cable is again held in the holding means, in the flight position of the blade.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2001
    Publication date: June 27, 2002
    Inventors: Nicolas Certain, Eric Coisset