Method and apparatus for braking and maneuvering

Abstract

Aircraft landing gear comprised of a wheel hub motor/generator includes alternating rotors and stators mounted with respect to the wheel support and wheel. The invention in certain embodiments can provide motive force to the wheel when electrical power is applied, e.g. prior to touch-down, thus decreasing the difference in relative velocities of the tire radial velocity with that of the relative velocity of the runway and reducing the sliding friction wear of the tire. After touchdown the wheel hub motor/generator may be used as a generator thus applying a regenerative braking force and/or a motorized braking action to the wheel. The energy generated upon landing may be dissipated through a resistor and/or stored for later use in providing a source for motive power to the aircraft wheels for taxiing and ground maneuvers of the aircraft. Methods and apparatuses for nose gear steering and ABS braking using the disclosed invention are described.

1 . A wheeled vehicle having electric motor/generators, comprising:
 at least one rotor and at least one stator arranged such that a gap exists between said rotor and said stator, said rotor being operably connected to a wheel of said wheeled ground vehicle for rotation and said stator member being operably connected to an axle or torque tube of said wheeled ground vehicle for non-rotational support, the rotor member comprising a permanent magnet structure with an associated magnetic flux field and the stator member comprising current carrying conductors;   said stator and said rotor being configured such that interaction of their respective magnetic flux fields causes at least one of:
 (a) conversion of electrical energy into rotational torque energy when electrical power is applied in controlled directions, sequences, and power levels at input terminals of said current carrying conductors so as to create an associated magnetic flux field within the current carrying conductors that interacts with said rotor magnetic flux field thus applying magnetic torque to said rotor of said wheel, and 
 (b) the conversion of rotational torque energy of said wheel into electrical energy when relative motion exist between the permanent magnets within the rotor and the current carrying conductors within the stator electrical power is generated at terminals of said current carrying conductors so as to create an associated magnetic flux field within the current carrying conductors that interacts with said rotor magnetic flux field thus applying magnetic counter torque to said rotor; 
   said stator and said rotor being further configured to receive electrical power at a stator coil in such a manner as to apply a braking effect by motoring the rotor associated with said stator coil so as to oppose the rotor's rotational motion.   
     
     
         2 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein the wheeled vehicle comprises a vehicle that is one of: an aircraft, a train, a bus, a truck, and a car. 
     
     
         3 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein:
 said permanent magnet structure is segmented into alternating poles of north and south poles interacting with said current carrying conductors, said current carrying conductors being constructed of coils and controlled by an electrical control system such that the stator coils are associated with the same number of rotor poles and wherein the coils of the stator section are similarly sized with that of the associated permanent magnets within the rotor.   
     
     
         4 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein:
 said permanent magnet structure is constructed of permanent magnets that are in the same vector direction known as homopolar magnets with a north and/or south pole interacting with said current carrying conductors which is composed of electrically conductive material that is arranged so as to create at least one of: motor action and generator action by interacting with said rotor permanent magnet flux field wherein the supplied electrical power is from an electrical power source through an electrical control system such that said electrically conductive material is supplied with direct current power and controlled as to power level, direction and duration via electrical connections and an electrical control system to accomplish at least one of: motor action and generator action.   
     
     
         5 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein:
 generator action is provided to the wheel motor/generator by means of an electrical power connection from the stator field coils to the regenerative braking and polyphase rectification control and as the relative motion occurs between the stator and rotor sections a polyphase power signal is generated within the wheel motor/generator stator coils and this power signal is sent to the regenerative braking and polyphase rectification control which converts the varying polyphase power signal into a DC signal based upon control signals generated from the processor which is dependent upon the input user control signals from the user brake and motoring input control wherein processor control signal is such that power storage and/or power dissipation is required then the DC power signal is sent from the regenerative braking and polyphase control to the power storage device and/or onboard power supply for later use and/or sent to a power dissipation resistor for the dissipation of the generated electrical power.   
     
     
         6 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 5 , wherein:
 The regenerative braking and polyphase rectification control may also be used to provide polyphase electrical power to the motorized braking control which is controlled by processor control signals in applying motorized braking commands wherein polyphase power signals are applied to stator field coils of wheel motor/generator so as to supply electrical power increasing the braking effect by motoring the rotor in the opposite direction to that of the rotor rotational direction thus providing for a motorized braking effect.   
     
     
         7 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein:
 motor action is provided to the wheel motor/generator by means of Hall effect sensors used to indicate the position of the permanent magnets within the rotor disk wherein the magnets are alternating north and south poles and aligned with associated stator field coils wherein the position information of the rotor disk is sent to the processor for proper timing of control signals which are sent to the optical isolators which are then sent to the polyphase brushless commutation driver control which applies power from the power storage device and/or onboard power supply to the stator field coils such that a motor action is produced either in the forward or reverse directions dependent upon the input from the user brake and motoring input control which provides information to the processor through the optical isolators so as to initiate user input for forward or reverse motor action within the in wheel motor/generator and the input from the parking brake controller to the processor is such that it indicates whether the parking brake system is engaged or not and an alarm will activate if the parking brake is engaged and user input from the user brake and motoring input control is initiating motor action and if the parking brake is disengaged the processor will allow motor action in the forward or reverse direction as per the user input from the user brake and motoring input control.   
     
     
         8 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein:
 the control systems are configured to store the generated electrical power from the wheel motor/generator thus providing regenerative braking wherein a few moments later the stored energy is applied to the wheel motor/generators via the control system to cause motor action in the opposite direction than that of the rotational direction of the rotor, thus providing motorized braking.   
     
     
         9 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 8 , wherein:
 the system is configured to repeat the regenerative braking process during a single braking event.   
     
     
         10 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 3 , wherein:
 ABS control algorithms account for non-linearity in brake torque due to temperature variation and dynamics of the magnetic flux field interactions wherein external disturbances such as changes in frictional coefficient and contact surfaces are accounted for, and the influences of tire wear and system components aging wherein these influential factors effect mathematical models used to control the highly dynamic nature of ABS to make control achievable wherein the system is then modified to attain the desired control status as defined by test wherein influential dynamic factors are accounted for in a rule-based description of ABS allowing for an “intelligent” control and for faster development of system code.   
     
     
         11 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein:
 ABS control algorithms account for non-linearity in brake torque due to temperature variation and dynamics of the magnetic flux field interactions wherein external disturbances such as changes in frictional coefficient and contact surfaces are accounted for, and the influences of tire wear and system components aging wherein these influential factors effect mathematical models used to control the highly dynamic nature of ABS to make control achievable wherein the system is then modified to attain the desired control status as defined by test wherein influential dynamic factors are accounted for in a rule-based description of ABS allowing for an “intelligent” control and for faster development of system code.   
     
     
         12 . The wheeled vehicle in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein:
 the generated electrical output power is dissipated within an energy dissipation device through a control system such that the stator coil windings supply an output power signal that is applied to said energy dissipation device.