US 12,227,304 B2
Method of automated undocking a passenger boarding bridge from an aircraft
Juan Maria Casado Merino, Santiago de Compostela (ES); Antonio Murias Bermejo, Gijón (ES); Eduardo Perez Vazquez, Asturias (ES); and Eduardo Fernandez Garciá, Asturias (ES)
Assigned to TK Airport Solutions, S.A., Mieres (ES)
Appl. No. 17/250,218
Filed by TK Airport Solutions, S.A., Mieres (ES)
PCT Filed Jun. 26, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/066963
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 16, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/002405, PCT Pub. Date Jan. 2, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 18382477 (EP), filed on Jun. 27, 2018; and application No. 102018212530.9 (DE), filed on Jul. 27, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0253271 A1, Aug. 19, 2021
Int. Cl. B64F 1/305 (2006.01)
CPC B64F 1/3055 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for automatically undocking a passenger boarding bridge from an aircraft, the aircraft having a fuselage that extends in a longitudinal direction and a door disposed in the fuselage, the passenger boarding bridge being initially located in a docked position and having a bridgehead initially aligned with the door, the method comprising the following steps:
detecting a start signal to start the undocking procedure;
in response to detecting the start signal, automatically moving the passenger boarding bridge from the docking position, away from the aircraft by moving the bridgehead in a trajectory that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fuselage and continuously monitoring a distance between the bridgehead and the fuselage;
comparing the monitored distance between the bridgehead and the fuselage to a predetermined safety distance from the aircraft to determine whether the monitored distance is less than the predetermined safety distance from the aircraft; and
in response to the comparison that the monitored distance between the bridgehead and the fuselage is less than the predetermined safety distance from the aircraft, continue automatically moving the passenger boarding bridge from the docking position, away from the aircraft, by moving the bridgehead in the trajectory that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fuselage and inhibiting movement of the bridgehead in other directions that are not perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the fuselage while the monitored distance is less than the predetermined safety distance from the aircraft.