Patent ID: 6675920
Filing Date: 2004-01-13
Classification: B60T,B64F,Y10S

Abstract:
A towing vehicle for aircraft, comprisinga platform supported by wheels and having first and second ends, at least one operator's cabin which comprises control elements for steering, accelerating and braking the towing vehicle, a coupling member configured as a tow rod for creating a detachable connection between the aircraft and the towing vehicle, a coupling element for the tow rod provided at at least one of the ends of the vehicle, hydraulic or pneumatic brakes (46, 46â€²) acting on at least two wheels of the vehicle for braking the towing vehicle, wherein the braking control element is a brake pedal (10, 10â€²) which actuates the brakes (46, 46â€²) either directly or via a control circuit, a position or angle sensor (12, 12â€²) for converting the position or angle of the brake pedal (10, 10â€²) into an electric desired value control signal which controls at least one electro-hydraulic brake valve using an electric signal transmission link (26, 26â€²), wherein the control circuit for the brakes (46, 46â€²) includes an electronic computer as control device (14), which is supplied with at least the position information from the brake pedal (10, 10â€²) as a control value, wherein the coupling element includes a sensor (16) for providing the tow angle between an aircraft and a tow vehicle and a sensor (16) for sensing the tug or pressure forces between an aircraft and the towing vehicle, wherein the towing vehicle includes at least one sensor (16) for vehicle speed and at least one sensor (16) for steering wheel position, wherein the sensors (16) provide electrical signals as parameters for the control of the braking and/or propulsion forces of the towing vehicle, which are supplied to the control device (14) as input signals, and wherein the control device (14) includes an electronic memory unit, in which characteristic curves can be stored for the control of braking and/or propulsion depending upon the values provided by the sensors (16).