Patent Application
20210223071
This application claims the benefit of Indian Application No. 202011001977 filed Jan. 16, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The following description relates to electromechanical displays and, more particularly, an energy efficient electromechanical display for gauges.
In an aircraft, instrumentation is provided to pilots and copilots to help them navigate and fly. In this way, information can be presented to the pilot and the copilot. This information includes, but is not limited to, pressure information, temperature information, humidity information, fuel status information, etc., all of which do not change very frequently during the course of a given flight.
Though analog-based gauges of an aircraft typically do not have power consumption issues, there can be other issues related to accuracy and information storing, processing, sharing, etc., which are troublesome for analog-based gauges. When these parameters are displayed in digital-based systems, however, whether the actual displays are analog or digital, power consumption is an issue. This is especially true in an event the system is powered with a battery supply.
When analog gauges are used in electronic systems, a needle to display a measured quantity is driven by coils and gears and the coils need to be continuously energized to hold the needle position in order to display the measured value. This leads to substantial power consumption as the measured value is almost static. In digital displays, the digital display consumes power continuously irrespective of whether the information is refreshed or not.
According to an aspect of the disclosure, a gauge device is provided and includes an analog display to signify a measured valued, a motor and worm gear arrangement which is configured to retain a current state of the analog display when de-energized or to change the analog display when energized and a control system. The control system is configured to normally de-energize the motor and worm gear arrangement and to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement only in accordance with a calculated state of the analog display differing from the current state by at least a threshold level.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the measured value includes a vehicle parameter that changes too slowly for human perception and the vehicle parameter includes one or more of pressure information, temperature information and fuel level information.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the analog display includes a numbered background and a needle disposed to point to any portion of the numbered background to signify the measured value.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the motor and worm gear arrangement includes a bi-directional motor, a worm gear disposed on an output shaft of the bi-directional motor and a gear train operably interposed between the worm gear and the analog display.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the gauge device further includes a battery from which power is drawn to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the control system includes one or more sensors to provide readings of the measured value.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the control system includes a motor driver configured to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement, a position encoder configured to generate a first signal indicative of the current state of the analog display and a microcontroller. The microcontroller is configured to receive the signal from the position encoder, to recognize the current state from the first signal, to calculate the calculated state of the analog display in accordance with readings of the measured value, to compare the calculated and current states and to generate a second signal that instructs the motor driver to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement based on comparison results.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the threshold level is a level of change that is barely perceptible to a human.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a gauge device is provided and includes an analog display to signify a measured value, a motor and worm gear arrangement to retain a current state of the analog display when de-energized and to drive a change in the analog display when energized and a control system. The control system is configured to normally maintain the motor and worm gear arrangement in a state in which the motor and worm gear arrangement is de-energized in accordance with a calculated state of the analog display differing from the current state by less than a threshold level and to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement only in accordance with the calculated state differing from the current state by at least the threshold level.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the measured value includes a vehicle parameter that changes too slowly for human perception and the vehicle parameter includes one or more of pressure information, temperature information and fuel level information.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the analog display includes a numbered background and a needle disposed to point to any portion of the numbered background to signify the measured value.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the motor and worm gear arrangement includes a bi-directional motor, a worm gear disposed on an output shaft of the bi-directional motor and a gear train operably interposed between the worm gear and the analog display.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the gauge device further includes a battery from which power is drawn to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the control system includes one or more sensors to provide readings of the measured value.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the control system includes a motor driver configured to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement, a position encoder configured to generate a signal indicative of the current state of the analog display and a microcontroller. The microcontroller is configured to receive the first signal from the position encoder, to recognize the current state from the first signal, to calculate the calculated state of the analog display in accordance with readings of the measured value, to compare the calculated and current states and to generate a second signal that instructs the motor driver to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement based on comparison results.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the threshold level is a level of change that is barely perceptible to a human.
According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method of operating a gauge device is provided and includes maintaining a motor and worm gear arrangement in a de-energized state to retain a current state of an analog display to signify a measured value, calculating a calculated state of the analog display in accordance with readings of the measured value, determining whether a difference between the current and calculated states is above a threshold level, energizing the motor and worm gear arrangement to achieve the calculated state only in an event the difference between the current and calculated states is above the threshold level and de-energizing the motor and worm gear arrangement once the calculated state is achieved.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the measured value includes a vehicle parameter that changes too slowly for human perception and the vehicle parameter includes one or more of pressure information, temperature information and fuel level information.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the threshold level is a difference that is barely perceptible to a human.
In accordance with additional or alternative embodiments, the energizing and the de-energizing includes battery power management.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the disclosure, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the disclosure are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
As will be described below, an analog display gauge is provided and includes a needle that signifies a measured value or quantity, a motor and a worm gear arrangement where the worm gear arrangement is driven by the motor to position the needle to signify a particular measured value or quantity and a power source to power the motor. The motor, with the worm gear arrangement, is only energized to draw power from the power source if there is a sudden and/or significant change in the measured value or quantity so that, in the absence of such a change, the needle retains its current position and no power is drawn from the power source. Where the power source is a battery or another similar device, the energizing of the motor with the worm gear arrangement only in an event of a sudden change in the measure value or quantity preserves charge and allows the battery to have a longer life.
With reference to
Although the analog display 110 can take multiple forms, the following description will relate to the case in which the analog display 110 is configured as shown in
As shown in
The motor and worm gear arrangement 201 are configured to assume a de-energized state or an energized state. In the de-energized state, the motor 210 is effectively non-operative so that the shaft 114 and the needle element 113 are kept still and a current state of the analog display 110 is maintained. In the energized state, the motor 210 is operated in either the forward or the reverse mode whereby the motor and worm gear arrangement 201 drive a change in the analog display 110.
With continued reference to
The control system 401 can be local or remote (wired or wireless) from the motor and worm gear arrangement 201 and is configured to normally maintain the motor and worm gear arrangement 201 in a state in which the motor and worm gear arrangement 201 is de-energized and does not draw power from the battery 402. This condition persists in accordance with a calculated or target state of the analog display 110, which is calculated in accordance with readings of the measured value received by the control system 401 from the one or more sensors 403, differing from the current state of the analog display 110 by less than a threshold level. The threshold level can be, but is not required to be, a level of change that is barely perceptible to a human. That is, in the case of the analog display 110 being provided as shown in
The battery 402 can be provided as a single-charge battery or as a rechargeable battery and, in either case, the battery 402 has a limited amount of charge available to energize the motor and worm gear arrangement 201 at any particular time.
As shown in
With the control system 401 configured as described above, the control system 401 only energizes the motor and worm gear arrangement 201 to draw limited power from the battery 402 when the calculated or target state of the analog display 110 differs from the current state of the analog display 110 by the threshold level. In this way, the control system 401 limits an amount of power drawn from the battery 402, which, in turn, extends a life of the battery 402. This effect is particularly apparent in a case where the measured value is a value that changes very slowly (i.e., by a degree which is imperceptible to a human, such as pressure, temperature, humidity, fuel status, etc.)
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In accordance with embodiments, the energizing and the de-energizing of the motor and worm gear arrangement can include battery power management operations to reduce energy consumption and increase battery and total product life.
Technical effects and benefits of the features described herein are the provision of a gauge device that combines the benefits of analog and digital technologies to integrate high accuracy digital sensors that require low power and offer increased battery life with reduced or zero power consumption when not in use. As explained above, although the gauge device includes a digital system, it does not consume power for displaying a same sensor value as the worm gear arrangement will retain the needle position without any power applied and battery power is effectively used to drive the motor only when required.
While the disclosure is provided in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the disclosure is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the disclosure can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Additionally, while various embodiments of the disclosure have been described, it is to be understood that the exemplary embodiment(s) may include only some of the described exemplary aspects. Accordingly, the disclosure is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202011001977 | Jan 2020 | IN | national |
