초록 ▼

An engine thrust management system comprising an engine control device, an aircraft flight manual, a flight management device and a cockpit instrument device. The engine control device is operable to calculate a percent maximum available thrust parameter and a percent indicated thrust parameter. The

An engine thrust management system comprising an engine control device, an aircraft flight manual, a flight management device and a cockpit instrument device. The engine control device is operable to calculate a percent maximum available thrust parameter and a percent indicated thrust parameter. The aircraft flight manual is operable to calculate a required thrust parameter. The flight management device is operable to calculate a percent thrust setting target parameter and a percent commanded thrust parameter. The percent commanded thrust is the amount of thrust requested by an aircraft operator. The percent commanded thrust is varied by the operator according to the value of the percent thrust setting target parameter and the value of the percent indicated thrust parameter in order to produce optimal thrust. The engine thrust management system promotes operating efficiency by eliminating redundant processes found in conventional thrust management systems and is applicable to a wide variety of engines and aircraft, thus promoting common cockpit display architecture.

대표청구항 ▼

1. An aircraft engine thrust management system comprising:an engine control device operable to calculate a percent indicated thrust parameter representative of the amount of thrust being produced by an engine; a flight dispatch information system operable to calculate a required thrust parameter rep

1. An aircraft engine thrust management system comprising:an engine control device operable to calculate a percent indicated thrust parameter representative of the amount of thrust being produced by an engine; a flight dispatch information system operable to calculate a required thrust parameter representative of the amount of thrust required to carry out a particular flight operation; a flight management computer for calculating a percent thrust setting target parameter representative of the percent amount of thrust required to carry out a particular flight operation; and a cockpit display for displaying the percent thrust setting target parameter, the percent indicated thrust parameter and a percent commanded thrust parameter representative of an amount of thrust requested to perform a particular flight operation; wherein the percent commanded thrust is the amount of thrust requested by an aircraft operator to perform a particular flight operation; and wherein the percent commanded thrust is altered by the operator to approximately equal the percent thrust setting target parameter to produce optimal thrust for a particular flight operation. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the percent maximum available thrust parameter, percent indicated thrust parameter, percent thrust setting target parameter, and percent commanded thrust parameter are displayed to the aircraft operator using a cockpit information display.3. The system of claim 1, wherein said electronic engine control device receives aircraft sensor signals to calculate a maximum rated thrust.4. The system of claim 1, wherein said electronic engine control device receives engine sensor signals to calculate a maximum rated thrust.5. The system of claim 1, wherein said engine electronic control device receives the percent commanded thrust parameter and calculates a commanded thrust based upon, at least in part, the percent commanded thrust parameter.6. The system of claim 5, wherein said engine electronic control device is operable to calculate an engine produced thrust parameter based upon, at least in part, the commanded thrust parameter.7. The system of claim 6, wherein said engine electronic control device is operable to calculate the percent indicated thrust parameter based upon, in part the engine produced thrust parameter.8. The system of claim 1, wherein said aircraft flight manual calculates the required thrust parameter using dispatch information.9. The system of claim 8, wherein said dispatch information comprises at least one of the following parameters: aircraft payload weight, aircraft drag, runway length, altitude, and external ambient conditions.10. The system of claim 1, wherein said flight management device calculates the percent thrust setting target using at least one of the required thrust parameter and a maximum available thrust parameter.11. A method for managing aircraft engine thrust comprising:calculating a percent indicated thrust parameter representative of a percentage amount of thrust currently being produced by an aircraft engine; calculating a percent thrust setting target representative of a percent amount of thrust required to perform a particular flight operation; calculating a percent commanded thrust parameter representative of a percent amount of thrust requested to perform a particular flight operation; displaying the percent thrust setting target, the percent indicated thrust parameter, and the percent commanded thrust parameter on a cockpit display; and varying the percent commanded thrust parameter as required such that the percent indicated thrust parameter generally tracks the percent thrust setting target to produce an optimal amount of thrust for a particular operation. 12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:calculating a first maximum rated thrust parameter based upon signals from an aircraft sensor signal; and calculating a second maximum rated thrust parameter based upon signals from an engine sensor signal. 13. The method of claim 11, wherein said altering step is continued until the percent commanded thrust parameter at least approximately equals the percent thrust setting target.14. The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying at least one of the percent thrust setting target, the percent indicated thrust parameter, the percent commanded thrust parameter, and the percent maximum available thrust parameter on a cockpit display.15. The method of claim 11, wherein said calculating the percent maximum available rated thrust parameter step is performed by an engine electronic control device and redundantly in a flight management computer for failure detection.16. The method of claim 11, wherein said calculating the percent indicated thrust parameter step is performed by an engine electronic control device.17. The method of claim 11, wherein said calculating the percent thrust setting target step is performed by a flight management computer.18. The method of claim 11, wherein said calculating the required thrust parameter step is performed using an aircraft flight manual.19. A method for controlling the thrust of an aircraft comprising:referencing a percent thrust setting target parameter displayed on a cockpit display, the percent thrust setting target parameter representing the percent amount of thrust required to perform a specific flight operation; and varying a percent commanded thrust parameter displayed on the cockpit display, the percent commanded thrust parameter representing the percent amount of thrust requested to perform the specific flight operation, so that the percent commanded thrust parameter at least substantially approximates the percent thrust setting target; wherein an engine produces optimal engine thrust to perform a particular operation in response to said varying step, the intensity of the engine thrust represented by a percent indicated thrust parameter which is displayed on the cockpit display. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein said altering step further comprises altering the percent commanded thrust parameter using a control device.21. The method of claim 19, further comprising referencing a percent maximum available thrust parameter representing maximum rated thrust as determined by an aircraft sensor and an engine sensor to insure proper operation of the engine.22. The method of claim 21, wherein the maximum available thrust parameter is calculated by an engine electronic control.23. The method of claim 19, further comprising displaying the percent commanded thrust parameter, the percent thrust setting target, and the percent indicated thrust on a cockpit display instrument.24. The method of claim 19, further comprising using a flight management computer to calculate the percent commanded thrust parameter and the percent thrust setting target.25. The method of claim 19, further comprising calculating a required thrust parameter using an aircraft flight manual.