The present disclosure relates to a system for detecting the position and/or the operating state of a movable component of an aircraft, wherein the system has one movable component, two actuators, two motion sensors, one asymmetry sensor, one drive train, and one monitoring device; wherein the component can be actuated by the at least two mutually offset actuators; wherein at least one motion sensor is provided for one respective actuator; wherein the motion sensor can monitor a mechanical movement of the drive train; wherein the monitoring device is connected to the motion sensors and to the asymmetry sensor, and wherein the system is configured such that an initialization of the monitoring device and/or of the motion sensors and/or of the asymmetry sensor can take place after a booting of the system and/or when the component has adopted a fully retracted and/or a fully extended position.

An aircraft includes a fuselage, each wing with a movable flap element arranged on the wing, having a sensor element providing a sensor signal corresponding to vibrations on the flap element, and being movable between a retracted and an extended positions, drive means having a movable driven output connected by an actuation assembly with each of the flap element and configured such that a movement of the output effects a movement of each of the flap element between the extended and retracted positions. A control unit is adapted to compare for each sensor element during operation of an excitation means the amplitude of the vibrations in the frequency interval detected by that sensor element with a predetermined threshold of that sensor element and to provide a failure signal when for at least one sensor signal the amplitude is below the threshold of that at least one sensor signal.

A drive assembly for driving a movable flow body of an aircraft comprises an electric motor having a two sets of independent windings, two motor control electronics units coupled with the windings and a control computer, two actuators couplable with a first or second section of the flow body, a first and a second transmission shaft, wherein the transmission shafts each have a first and a second end, wherein the electric motor is coupled with the first ends of the transmission shafts, wherein the second ends of the transmission shafts are coupled with the respective actuator, and wherein the drive assembly is designed to selectively move and hold the movable flow body into a plurality of extended positions and a retracted position relative to a fixed structural component of the aircraft by selectively moving and holding the first actuator and the second actuator.

An apparatus and a method of determining a state of an actuator in an airplane. The apparatus includes a mirror coupled to the actuator, wherein a location of the mirror is dependent on the state of the actuator, a shaft for moving the mirror upon a change in the state of the actuator, and a processor. Incident light is reflected off of the mirror to create a reflected light. The processor receives the reflected light from the mirror, detects a change in a parameter of the reflected light generated by moving of the mirror, and determines the state of the actuator based on the change in the parameter.

An actuation system comprises a plurality of actuators, a common power drive unit for driving the actuators and a transmission line transmitting drive from the common drive unit to the plurality of actuators. A clutch is arranged in the transmission line between the power drive unit and the plurality of actuators for selectively disconnecting the power drive unit from the plurality of actuators. At least one sensor is provided for sensing an abnormal load condition in the actuation system. The at least one sensor is operatively coupled to a clutch control which is configured such that when the at least one sensor senses an abnormal load condition, the clutch control is operative to disengage the clutch so as to disconnect the power drive unit from the plurality of actuators. A brake is operative to brake the actuators upon disengagement of the clutch.

A drive system for driving a movable flow body having a drive unit, a shaft, a torque sensing device, a no-back friction unit, and an axial bearing. The drive unit is coupled with the shaft to rotate the shaft, the torque sensing device is coupled with at least one of the drive unit and the shaft to detect a torque transferred from the drive unit into the shaft, the no-back friction unit is arranged between the axial bearing and an axial support means of the shaft, such that an axial load of the shaft is supported by the axial bearing, and the no-back friction unit is configured to substantially not counteract a rotation of the shaft in a first direction of rotation of the shaft and to apply a friction-induced additional torque to the shaft in an opposite second direction of rotation.

An integrated torque limiter/no-back device for use in an actuator with an input shaft, an output, and a gear reduction. The device includes an input ramp, an output ramp coupled to the gear reduction, a combined ramp disposed between the input ramp and the output ramp, a first plurality of balls arranged between the input ramp and the combined ramp, a second plurality of balls arranged between the combined ramp and the output ramp, a pin, and a brake. The pin extends from the input ramp to the combined ramp and coupled to the input shaft. The combined ramp, the output ramp, and the second plurality of balls therebetween are configured to operate as a torque limiter by causing the combined ramp and the output ramp to separate and the output ramp to engage the brake when the torque from the input shaft exceeds a torque threshold.

Methods and systems for detecting skew in a wing slat of an aircraft are provided. At least one pair of sensors associated with the wing slat is excited via at least one first electronic device. In response to the exciting and at the at least one first electronic device, at least one pair of signals indicative of at least one pair of state-change counts for the at least one pair of sensors is obtained. The at least one pair of state-change counts is transmitted to at least one second electronic device communicatively coupled to the at least one first electronic device. At the at least one second electronic device, a skew level of the wing slat is determined based on the at least one pair of state-change counts.

Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture for a distributed aircraft actuation system are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a collection engine to obtain first monitoring information corresponding to a first set of control surfaces of an aircraft, the first set including a first control surface on a first side of the aircraft and a second control surface on a second side of the aircraft, the second side opposite the first, and obtain second monitoring information corresponding to a second set of control surfaces of the aircraft, the second set including a third control surface on the first side and a fourth control surface on the second side. The example apparatus further includes a non-responsive component detector to determine if one of the control surfaces is non-responsive based on the first and the second monitoring information, and a command generator to deactivate the first set when the non-responsive component detector determines that the first control surface is non-responsive while the second set remains active.

A motion indicator includes a housing and a plunger extending from a first housing end of the housing and axially movable relative to the housing. The plunger is biased into an axially extended position via a plunger biasing element, and is configured to detect motion of a component adjacent to a plunger tip. A push button is located at a second housing end of the housing and is axially moveable relative to the housing. The push button is biased toward an axially extended position via a biasing element. A retaining assembly is configured to retain the push button in an axially retracted position. The retaining assembly is configured to release the push button and allow the button biasing element to urge the push button toward the axially extended position when the plunger is urged toward a retracted position via motion of the component adjacent to the plunger tip.