Parker-Hannifin Corporation

Lewis Boyd

Howard Austerlitz

Russell E Altieri

Stanley Wood

Robert S Benward

Ronald W Bueter

Francisco Lorenzo Aparicio

German Leonardo Diaz Cuevas

A blade tip measurement system includes a case and a blade that rotates within the case, the blade having an outer blade tip surface that has a clearance distance from an inner surface of the case. A light source emits light along an optical path that is directed toward the outer blade tip surface by a lens, and the outer blade tip surface reflects the light back along the optical path. An optical interferometer generates an interference pattern using the reflected light, and a photoreceiver receives the interference pattern. A complex logic device determines the clearance distance of the blade tip surface from the inner surface of the case based on the interference pattern. The interferometer may be a Fabry-Perot optical interferometer formed using a window positioned between the lens and the blade tip surface, or a Michelson interferometer formed using a reference optical path. The system may alternatively include an optical time of flight measurement of the blade tip clearance. The system further may include an abradable substrate having an optical fiber array of optical fibers at different depths, whereby the blade tip clearance is determinable based on which of the optical fibers are abraded as the blade tip rotates.

Optical systems and methods for measuring turbine blade tip clearance

A fluid level measurement system includes a first pressure sensor disposed inside a fluid tank at a first elevation relative to a height axis of the fluid tank, and a second pressure sensor disposed inside the fluid tank at a second elevation relative to the height axis of the fluid tank, the second elevation different from the first elevation. The first pressure sensor and the second pressure sensor are configured to provide a signal indicative of a sensed pressure, and fluid height is calculated from the difference in sensed pressure between the first and second pressure sensors relative to the sensed pressure of either the first or the second pressure sensor.

Aircraft fluid gauging techniques using pressure measurements and optical sensors

An optical storage device for storing data includes at least one optical waveguide for receiving an optical interrogation signal and providing a response to the optical interrogation signal and a plurality of optical elements arranged relative to the at least one optical waveguide. The plurality of optical elements are responsive to the optical interrogation signal provided through the at least one waveguide to return a prescribed data value through the at least one optical waveguide. The plurality of optical elements represent encoded data concerning a function of an optical sensor.

Apparatus and method for storing and retrieving optical sensor calibration data

An aircraft measurement system includes an interrogator and an optical sensor assembly. The optical sensor assembly includes an optical sensor connected along a sensor path to the interrogator, a data storage device, and a control circuit connected along a power path to the interrogator. The sensor assembly also includes an opto-electric device for converting an optical signal to an electric current, connected along the power path between the interrogator and the control circuit, to power the data storage component through the control circuit, and a transmitter operationally connected to the control circuit and connected along a data path to the interrogator, to provide operational data along the data path to the interrogator. The data storage component provides operational data to the interrogator across the data path, and the interrogator is configured to receive sensor data from the sensor across the sensor path.

Optically powered sensor calibration data storage module

The present invention provides a sensor assembly for installation within an opening in a wall separating an interior cavity from an exterior. The sensor assembly includes an exterior housing and a cartridge including a sensor. When the cartridge is correctly positioned within the housing, a flow path is established from the interior cavity to the sensor supported within the cartridge. When the cartridge is not positioned within the housing, the flow path is blocked.

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Bath, United Kingdom

Lewis Boyd