Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7451951 | Miniature airplane apparatus and method An apparatus is described comprising: an aircraft having one or more control surfaces; and one or more micro-electro mechanical systems (“MEM S”) actuators to control the movement of the one or more control surfaces. ... | 11/18/2008 |
| 7098811 | Method and apparatus for tactile cueing of aircraft controls A method and apparatus for tactile cueing of aircraft controls (21) is disclosed. The apparatus of the present invention warns pilots of approaching limits on certain aircraft performance parameters. The most common warnings are for rotor speed exceeding a mo... | 08/29/2006 |
| 6913226 | Methods and systems for redundant control and/or failure detection Redundant control systems and/or failure detection systems and associated methods are disclosed herein. In one embodiment of the invention, the control system can include a first control link that transmits control inputs between at least one control input device an... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6772054 | Device for operating a controlled member on a rotary-wing aircraft, particularly a helicopter An apparatus for operating a controlled member on a rotary-wing aircraft is provided with at least one control intended to be subject to the action of a pilot of the rotary-wing aircraft and capable of moving a linkage, a device connected to the linkage for operatin... | 08/03/2004 |
| 6616095 | Coupled aircraft rotor system The subject tiltrotor aircraft has three modes of operation: airplane mode, helicopter mode, and transition mode. A tilting mast, which transitions the aircraft between airplane mode and helicopter mode, is controlled by systems that allow selective movem... | 09/09/2003 |
| 6526338 | Electrical fly-by-wire system for operating an aircraft rudder An electrical fly-by-wire system for operating an aircraft rudder includes a low-pass filter, arranged between a rudder bar and an actuator of a rudder. The low-pass filter receives a control command from the rudder bar corresponding to the degree of trav... | 02/25/2003 |
| 6512344 | Control apparatus equipped with back drive A control apparatus comprises a control stick, a sensor for detecting the angular displacement amount of the stick and outputting a position signal, a spring for generating an operation force in accordance with the angular displacement amount based on a n... | 01/28/2003 |
| 6338454 | Aircraft flight control device The present invention relates to a flight control device for an aircraft comprising a control (2) and a means for actuating a controlled member (RP, RQ) to which a command is applied. According to the invention, said device (1) additionally includes a sensor ... | 01/15/2002 |
| 6241182 | Hybrid control system for an aircraft aerodynamic surface System for controlling an aerodynamic surface (1) (flap, aileron, control surface, etc.) of an aircraft. According to the invention, this system comprises: an electric machine (8) which can operate either as a motor or as a generator, the output of which is co... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6224022 | Airplane high lift surface drive system An airplane high lift surface drive system having a first actuator connected to a first high lift surface and a second actuator connected to a second high lift surface, wherein the first actuator is electrically connected to the second actuator in series.... | 05/01/2001 |
| 6206329 | Process and device for the control of the rudder of an aircraft A device for the control of a control surface of an aircraft has at least two actuators (110, 112, 114), each having at least one electric control input (111a, 113a, 115a). At least one of the actuators (115), called the mixed actuator, also has a mechani... | 03/27/2001 |
| 6082672 | Actuator for an aircraft flight control surface An actuator for a primary control surface of an air-craft, the actuator comprising at least one motor of the vibration type mounted in series with at least a second motor which is a piezoelectric, electrostrictive, or magnetostrictive actuator of the dire... | 07/04/2000 |
| 6064923 | Aircraft with reduced wing structure loading An aircraft having a reduced-load wing structure is provided with a controllable canard stabilizer (5G, 5D) at the front end of the aircraft and a controller that controls the canard stabilizer. The controller generates a turn command corresponding to an ... | 05/16/2000 |
| 6000662 | Flying aid device for a fly-by-wire aircraft A flying aid device for a fly-by-wire aircraft which has at least two mechanically independent control columns (M1, M2). The device (1) includes: a system (SO) for detecting multiple control corresponding to simultaneous operation of at least two of the c... | 12/14/1999 |
| 5918836 | Aircraft spoiler blow-down mechanism An electrical mechanical blow-down mechanism for use with an aircraft spoiler avoids possible damage due to high inertial loading when a power failure occurs as the spoiler (10) is moving toward or is at an extended position by means of a structure includ... | 07/06/1999 |
| 5913492 | System for controlling an aircraft control surface tab A system for controlling the tab (6) of an aircraft control surface (3) having a pair of position sensors (12 and 15) that supply information regarding the turning of the control surface (3) and the position of a jack (13), respectively, on the basis of s... | 06/22/1999 |
| 5900710 | System for coupling control columns The present invention relates to a system for coupling at least two control columns (2A, 2B) of a control device (DC) of a machine, especially an aircraft. The coupling system includes for each of the columns (2A, 2B), at least one operating member (13A, ... | 05/04/1999 |
| 5694014 | Active hand controller redundancy and architecture A hand controller system which provides the proper feel of the hand controller during aircraft operation. In both non-redundant and redundant embodiments, torque, and position measurements are made from the hand controller movements and processed to provi... | 12/02/1997 |
| 5233252 | Motor having integral detent The motor provided includes a unique laminated stator core and a means for changing the continuity of the magnetic circuit. The stator core structure is split into two part-cylindrical elements which define spaces between their opposing ends. Flux gates f... | 08/03/1993 |
| 5213282 | Maneuver feel system for a rotary wing aircraft A helicopter fly-by-wire flight control system (21) includes a model following control system architecture which provides the pilot with maneuvering feel. Maneuvering feel is generated by varying the gain of a rate model (52) in the control system to sche... | 05/25/1993 |
| 5128671 | Control device having multiple degrees of freedom A hand-held joystick has spaced-apart groups of accelerometers and is free to move or rotate on multiple axes. Each group has, for example, three mutually perpendicular accelerometers, with each one producing an electrical signal responsive to linear acce... | 07/07/1992 |
| 5076517 | Programmable, linear collective control system for a helicopter A helicopter programmable collective control system includes a motorized collective control stick 2 used in conjunction with a multi-axis control stick 30, with the multi-axis control stick 30 as the default collective controller. A collective control sig... | 12/31/1991 |
| 5065962 | Digital power controller A digital power controller for an aircraft having a computer controlled propulsion system is disclosed. A movable handle is in electronic communication with a computer of the propulsion system. The handle is positionable is a neutral location for maintain... | 11/19/1991 |
| 4982918 | Force sensitive aircraft throttle with feedback A force control throttle suitable for military or civil aircraft which is stowable in a console when not required for use. Fore and aft forces applied to the throttle handle by the pilot are sensed by pressure transducers which generate, in response, sig... | 01/08/1991 |
| 4964599 | System for controlling roll and yaw of an aircraft System for controlling roll and yaw of an aircraft. The system includes a device capable of elaborating, from electric signals respectively representative of the position of a first voluntary actuation member, the rolling speed, the attitude, the yaw spee... | 10/23/1990 |
| 4793576 | Operating the control surfaces in aircraft Control surfaces in an aircraft are biparted, and one portion is acted upon by a mechanical signal transmission system in a redundant manner, the other one by an electrical signal transmission system normally operating in parallel; different construction ... | 12/27/1988 |
| 4765568 | Method and system for controlling the elevator assemblies of an aircraft A fly-by-wire control system for the elevator assemblies of an aircraft is quipped with a mechanical auxiliary control (8) and with a synchronizing coupling (10). The electrical control links connecting the controlling computers to the elevator drives are ... | 08/23/1988 |
| 4745815 | Non-jamming screw actuator system A non-jamming ballscrew actuator system which includes an inner screw, an intermediate ballscrew internally threaded on the inner screw, and an outer ballscrew nut rotatably mounted about the ballscrew. An actuator is operatively associated with a load to... | 05/24/1988 |
| 4575027 | Electromechanical actuator system with anti-jamming features An actuator system for controlling the position of an aerodynamic control surface of an aircraft is disclosed. The actuator system (10) comprises a rotary actuator (12) rotatably mounted to the aircraft structure (20) with the actuator having an output me... | 03/11/1986 |
| 4227319 | Flight-control electro-hydraulic simulator The invention relates to the simulation of an aircraft's flight controls and particularly the mechanical reactions produced on the pilot's controls. The reaction force is produced by a servo-controlled, hydraulic actuator whose piston moves a distance X w... | 10/14/1980 |
| 4132378 | Control system for aircraft A control system for generating a control signal at a first station, transmitting the control signal to a second station, and processing the control signal at the second station to provide a controlled output. At least some of the processing equipment at ... | 01/02/1979 |
| 4079902 | Aircraft control surface actuator An aircraft steering surface actuator has an electric motor, a reduction gear and a step-by-step control mechanism in the form of a cam-operated breaker in the electric motor power supply circuit. The breaker automatically deenergizes the electric motor w... | 03/21/1978 |
| 4004537 | Steering mechanism A manual steering wheel or the like is connected through a rotatable flexible cable and a double-acting free wheeling clutch to a rotatable element controlling the position of a steering member such as a boat's rudder. A servo motor is also connected thro... | 01/25/1977 |
| 3981461 | System for controlling the position of the anchorage point of the piloting channel of an aircraft The invention relates to the automatic stabilisation of aircraft, inter alia helicopters. The position of the anchorage point of piloting channels, inter alia for roll and pitch, is determined by trim motors disposed inside mechanical relays. On the basis... | 09/21/1976 |
