Boeing Assigned Patent for Condition-based Maintenance Systems and Methods

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 6 -- Boeing, Chicago, has been assigned a patent (8,212,673) developed by Glen E. Whittaker, Florissant, Mo., for "condition-based maintenance systems and methods."

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: "Systems and methods are described for condition-based maintenance of mechanical systems. In one embodiment, a method for performing condition-based maintenance on a mechanical system includes providing a radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag on a component of the mechanical system, sensing one or more operating conditions during operation of the mechanical system, calculating a service life increment of the component based on the one or more operating conditions, and adjusting a service life value stored on the RFID tag. After operation of the mechanical system has ceased, the method includes scanning the service life value stored on the RFID tag, and determining whether at least one of an inspection, a maintenance, and a repair of the component is needed based on the service life value. The mechanical system may be an aircraft, and the operating conditions may include aerodynamic conditions, loads, accelerations, and movements of the aircraft during flight."

The patent application was filed on July 3, 2007 (11/773,371). The full-text of the patent can be found at http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=8,212,673&OS=8,212,673&RS=8,212,673

Written by Satyaban Rath; edited by Hemanta Panigrahi.

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