Patent ID: 11858656
Assignee: BOREALIS TECHNICAL LIMITED
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  Y | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method that automatically integrates docking and parking pilot-controllable taxi drive system-driven aircraft and guides the pilot-controllable taxi system-driven aircraft into and out of designated airport terminal parking locations to dock and park in an orientation parallel to the airport terminal without reliance on airport ground personnel, comprising:
a. at an airport terminal with a plurality of aircraft parking locations, providing an aircraft parking location receiving device and multiple extendible passenger loading bridges at each parking location, the multiple passenger loading bridges being spaced and positioned to connect with corresponding multiple forward and rear doors of each aircraft parked at a parking location with a longest axis of the aircraft oriented parallel to the airport terminal, and providing a loading bridge receiving and transmitting device mounted on each said extendible passenger loading bridge;
b. equipping aircraft with landing gear wheel-mounted pilot-controllable taxi drive systems, providing pilot-controllable taxi drive system cockpit controls to maneuver the equipped aircraft into the parallel parking orientations, an on-aircraft monitoring system comprising ground travel monitoring and sensing devices mounted in exterior locations on the equipped aircraft to obtain and communicate real time aircraft ground travel information to cockpit indicators, an on-aircraft processor in real time communication with the on-aircraft monitoring system, the cockpit controls and indicators, and the pilot-controllable taxi drive systems, and aircraft door receiving and transmitting devices located at each forward door and rear door on opposite sides of the equipped aircraft, further providing an airport terminal docking and parking system with a docking and parking processor in integrating real time communication with the on-aircraft processor, the aircraft parking location receiving devices, the loading bridge receiving and transmitting devices, and the aircraft door receiving and transmitting devices, and assigning each equipped aircraft to dock at a designated one of the plurality of airport terminal parking locations;
c. programming the docking and parking processor to integrate real time communications from the on-aircraft processor, the aircraft parking location receiving devices, the loading bridge receiving and transmitting devices, and the aircraft door receiving and transmitting devices to automatically identify an equipped aircraft assigned to dock at a designated parking location, to guide said identified equipped aircraft to dock and park in the parallel orientation at the designated parking location, and connect the multiple extendible passenger loading bridges to corresponding multiple forward and rear doors on an airport terminal-facing side of the identified equipped aircraft;
d. driving an equipped aircraft with the pilot-controllable taxi drive systems and cockpit controls and the on-aircraft monitoring system assisting a pilot to maneuver the equipped aircraft through an airport ramp area to the assigned airport terminal parking location, while the on-aircraft processor receives, integrates, and transmits real time information from the on-aircraft monitoring system and the pilot-controllable taxi drive system to the cockpit; and
e. identifying the equipped aircraft as assigned to dock at the designated airport terminal parking location with real time information transmitted to the aircraft parking location receiving device, guiding the identified equipped aircraft to maneuver into the parallel parking orientation with the pilot-controllable taxi drive systems, communicating real time position information for the identified equipped aircraft to the loading bridge receiving and transmitting devices and the aircraft door receiving and transmitting devices, and connecting each of the multiple passenger loading bridges to each corresponding forward aircraft door and rear aircraft door.