Patent ID: 11933420
Assignee: WOODWARD, INC.
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  B | IPC B  F

Claim 0:
1. A method of operating a redundant control system of a vehicle, the redundant control system comprising one or more actuator housings and a plurality of actuator pistons coupled to the one or more actuator housings, each of the actuator pistons mechanically coupled to one another and a common output device, the method comprising:
in a flight-operation mode of the redundant control system,
driving a first actuator piston of the plurality of actuator pistons to move relative to at least one of the one or more actuator housings with a first primary stage of a plurality of primary stages, the first primary stage functioning independent of any other primary stage; and

in a ground-operation mode of the redundant control system,
driving the first actuator piston to move relative to at least one of the one or more actuator housings with an auxiliary stage;
driving a bypass valve and a servo valve of a second primary stage to move in response to driving the first actuator piston to move, wherein the bypass valve includes a frame and a spring-biased spool coupled to move relative to the frame, and wherein driving the bypass valve to move comprises routing fluid from the at least one housing to a pilot valve of the bypass valve as the first actuator piston moves relative to the at least one housing, the pilot valve operatively coupled to move the spring-biased spool relative to the frame in response by hydraulic fluid pressure; and
detecting movement of the bypass valve and the servo valve of the second primary stage.