U.S. patent application number 09/826953 was filed with the patent office on 2002-01-17 for aircraft door an aircraft fitted with such a door.
Invention is credited to Dazet, Francis, Debanne, Ludovic, Depeige, Alain, Rouyre, Francois.
Application Number | 20020005460 09/826953 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 8849003 |
Filed Date | 2002-01-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020005460 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dazet, Francis ; et
al. |
January 17, 2002 |
Aircraft door an aircraft fitted with such a door
Abstract
The door (10) of an aircraft incorporates a housing (14) able to
receive a slide, in a folded up state. The housing (14) is
delimited between a cover (16) facing outwards from the door (10)
and an intermediate bulkhead (18). The cover (16) is jettisonable
outside the aircraft or able to swivel by its lower edge on a
threshold of the door, by the use of setting de-setting means. In
one embodiment, the housing occupies the greater part of the door
surface.
Inventors: |
Dazet, Francis; (Saint
Alban, FR) ; Depeige, Alain; (Tournefeuille, FR)
; Rouyre, Francois; (Cornebarrieu, FR) ; Debanne,
Ludovic; (Plaisance Du Touch, FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Robert E. Krebs
BURNS, DOANE SWECKER & MATHIS, L.L.P.
P.O. Box 1404
Alexandria
VA
22313-1404
US
|
Family ID: |
8849003 |
Appl. No.: |
09/826953 |
Filed: |
April 6, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
244/137.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10S 244/905 20130101;
B64D 25/14 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
244/137.2 |
International
Class: |
B64D 001/08; B64C
001/22; B64D 009/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 7, 2000 |
FR |
00 04483 |
Claims
1. An aircraft door, including a rigid structure (40) having a face
facing outwards from the aircraft, said rigid structure (40)
incorporating a housing (14) able to receive an emergency
evacuation slide (30), in a folded up state, characterised in that
the housing (14) is delimited, on said face of the rigid structure
(40), by a cover (16) able to open to allow deployment of the slide
(30) outwards from the aircraft.
2. An aircraft door according to claim 1, wherein the housing (14)
extends over the greater part of the door surface.
3. An aircraft door according to claim 2, wherein the housing is
delimited, towards the interior of the aircraft, by an intermediate
bulkhead (18) approximately parallel to the cover (16), so that the
housing (14) has an approximately uniform thickness.
4. An aircraft door according to claim 3, wherein the housing (14)
is delimited laterally and upwards by an inverted U-shaped frame
(19).
5. An aircraft door according to claim 4, wherein the cover (16) is
attached to said frame (19) by detachable fixing means (36), so as
to be able to be ejected outwards from the aircraft.
6. An aircraft door according to any one of claims 4 and 5, wherein
the intermediate bulkhead (18) and the frame (19) are an integral
part of the rigid structure (40).
7. An aircraft door according to any one of claims 4 and 5, wherein
the intermediate bulkhead (18) is an integral part of the rigid
structure (40) and the frame (19) is added onto said structure.
8. An aircraft door according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein
tightness means (42) are provided around the door, approximately in
the extension of the intermediate bulkhead (18).
9. An aircraft door according to any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein
tightness means (42) are provided around the door, approximately in
the extension of said cover (16).
10. An aircraft door according to any one of the previous claims,
wherein said door includes a lower stepped edge, comprising a
closed inner part and an open outer part, communicating with said
volume (14) and offset downwards relative to the closed inner
part.
11. An aircraft door according to claim 1, wherein the cover (16)
is attached to the rigid structure (40) by detachable fixing means
(36) and setting de-setting means (45) are provided between a lower
edge of the cover (16) and the door threshold.
12. An aircraft door according to claim 11, wherein the setting
de-setting means (45) include at least one shackle (44) mounted on
the lower edge of the cover (16), a receptacle (50) formed on the
door threshold and a hook (52) articulated on the door threshold,
so as to be able to trap the shackle between the receptacle and the
hook.
13. An aircraft door according to claim 11, wherein the setting
de-setting means (45) include at least one pin (48') mounted on the
lower edge of the cover (16) and a latch (52') with a slot (54),
swivel mounted on the door threshold, so as to be able to trap said
pin in the latch slot.
14. An aircraft including at least one door (10) according to any
one of the previous claims.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The invention concerns an aircraft door. More exactly, it
concerns a door allowing passengers to access the interior of the
aircraft, said door incorporating an emergency evacuation
slide.
[0002] The invention also concerns an aircraft fitted with at least
one door of this type.
THE PRIOR ART
[0003] On aircraft intended for transporting passengers, the
regulations lay down that emergency evacuation slides must be
present which are able to allow the rapid evacuation of passengers
in the event of an accident.
[0004] Emergency evacuation slides are usually constituted by
inflatable structures, which are stored in the folded up state, in
a location provided for this purpose within the aircraft.
[0005] Furthermore, the locations in which the slides are stored
are selected in order that, in the event of an accident, the slides
are deployed underneath at least some of the exits from the
aircraft, able to be opened under accident conditions. These exits
may be doors usually used for the loading and unloading of
passengers or emergency exits usable only in accident
conditions.
[0006] The requirements stated above lead aircraft builders either
to incorporate the locations for storing the slides in the doors
liable to be used in the event of an accident, or to incorporate
these locations in the fuselage, just beneath the doors or in
fairings, close to the doors.
[0007] In the first case, the most commonly used solution consists
in housing the emergency evacuation slide under a cover forming a
bulge towards the interior of the aircraft, in the lower part of
the door. When the door is closed after loading the passengers, the
cabin personnel set a system allowing the slide housed in the
bottom of the door to be mechanically attached to the threshold of
the latter.
[0008] In the event of an accident, the slide is therefore attached
to the threshold of the door. When the latter is opened, the slide
deploys automatically outwards from of the aircraft by inflating
when activated by means provided for this purpose, generally under
the threshold of the door.
[0009] Among the documents which illustrate this mode of storing
slides will be cited as examples the documents U.S. Pat. No.
3,771,749, U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,729, WO-A-84/01140 and
WO-A-96/40556.
[0010] The particular drawback of this conventional solution is its
requirement for the slide to be passed through a slot formed in the
bottom of the door, when the latter is opened in an emergency
evacuation situation. The time required for the slide to be
deployed therefore increases its volume. And this is all the larger
the greater the size of the aircraft and, particularly the greater
the height of the door relative to the ground. Indeed, the volume
of the folded slide increases naturally with its deployed length,
which must allow the door threshold to be connected with the ground
in all the positions liable to be adopted by the aircraft in the
event of an accident.
[0011] Furthermore, given that deployment of the slides is usually
effected through slots formed in the bottom of the doors, the
slides are necessarily stored in housings which are also located in
the bottom of the doors. This entails the presence of bulges in the
bottom of the doors, into the passenger cabin. These bulges
translate into a loss of room and prevent seats from being placed
immediately behind doors designed in this way.
[0012] Moreover, in the case of very long slides, the volume taken
up by the bulges formed at the bottom of the doors may render the
mechanisms usually providing the opening of the doors unusable.
Indeed, the projection serving to house the slide would then
interfere with the door frame. In this circumstance, recourse to
another solution is imperative.
[0013] It is also known, as shown particularly in the document
EP-A-0 518 461, for emergency evacuation slides to be housed in
locations incorporated in the aircraft fuselage, underneath door
thresholds.
[0014] This solution does not have the drawbacks of the previous
one since the volume serving to house the slide is dissociated from
the door. However, it leads to additional apertures being made in
the aircraft fuselage, on the same cross-section as the door
apertures. To avoid embrittlement of the aircraft structure at this
level, braces have to be provided, which is not without consequence
on the mass and the cost of the plane.
[0015] Furthermore, the document EP-A-0 009 379 describes an
emergency exit allowing evacuation from a building, a boat or an
aircraft. It includes a fixed rectangular frame, a housing forming
a door, whose lower edge is articulated on the frame and an
inflatable slide housed in the casing. Activating a bolt triggers
the swivelling of the casing outwards and the inflation of the
slide.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The precise object of the invention is an aircraft door
whose original design allows it to incorporate an emergency
evacuation slide of great length without increasing in an
unacceptable way its deployment time, while avoiding having to
resort to a separate location, incorporated under the door
threshold, in the aircraft fuselage.
[0017] According to the invention, this outcome is obtained by
means of an aircraft door, including a rigid structure having one
face turned outwards from the aircraft, said rigid structure
incorporating a housing able to receive an emergency evacuation
slide, in a folded up state, characterised in that the housing is
delimited, on said face of the rigid structure, by a cover able to
open to allow deployment of the slide outwards from the
aircraft.
[0018] This original design makes it possible to provide a very
rapid deployment of the slide, whatever its size, which makes the
invention particularly adapted to the case of aircraft of very
large size, in which the passenger cabin floor is a long way from
the ground.
[0019] In a first embodiment of the invention, the housing in which
the emergency evacuation slide is stored extends over the greater
part of the door surface. This particular arrangement of the
housing in which the emergency evacuation slide is folded away,
over the greater part of the door surface, allows its thickness to
be appreciably reduced, relative to a housing located in the door
bottom, for an identical volume. Consequently, there is no
significant projection towards the interior of the aircraft.
[0020] In this first embodiment of the invention, the housing is
delimited to advantage towards the interior of the aircraft by an
intermediate bulkhead approximately parallel to the cover, so that
the housing has an approximately uniform thickness. Preferably, the
housing is also delimited laterally and upwards by an inverted
U-shaped frame.
[0021] In this case, the cover is to advantage attached to the
frame by detachable fixing means so as to be able to be ejected
outwards from the aircraft.
[0022] The back bulkhead is still an integral part of the rigid
door structure. According to circumstances, the frame is also an
integral part of the rigid structure or is added to this
structure.
[0023] Furthermore, tightness means are provided, in a usual way,
around the door. According to circumstances, these tightness means
may be located either approximately in the extension of the
intermediate bulkhead, or approximately in the extension of the
cover. This latter solution is preferred, since it allows the
aerodynamic noises generated by the cavity formed by the
door-fuselage interstice to be reduced.
[0024] To advantage, the door also includes a lower stepped edge,
comprising a closed inner part and an open outer part,
communicating with the volume in which the slide is received and
offset downwards relative to the closed inner part, so as to form a
step. This arrangement makes it possible to increase slightly the
volume available for the slide, without increasing too much the
size of the aperture made in the aircraft fuselage.
[0025] According to a second embodiment of the invention, the cover
is attached to the rigid structure by detachable fixing means and
setting de-setting means are provided between a lower edge of the
cover and the door threshold.
[0026] In this case, the setting de-setting means may include at
least one shackle mounted on the lower edge of the cover, a
receptacle formed on the door threshold and a hook articulated on
the door threshold, so as to be able to trap the shackle between
the receptacle and the hook.
[0027] As a variant, the setting de-setting means may also include
at least one pin mounted on the lower edge of the cover and a
slotted latch, swivel mounted on the door threshold, so as to be
able to trap said pin in the latch slot.
[0028] Furthermore, another object of the invention is an aircraft
including at least one door as defined above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0029] There will now be described, as non-restrictive examples,
different embodiments of the invention, with reference to the
appended drawings, in which:
[0030] FIG. 1 is a perspective view which shows diagrammatically,
from the outside of an aircraft, an access door whose cover has
been intentionally omitted so as to show the volume in which a
slide may be placed, according to the invention;
[0031] FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section view of the door shown in
FIG. 1;
[0032] FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross-section view of the door in
FIG. 1, showing a first embodiment of the invention;
[0033] FIG. 4 is a horizontal cross-section view comparable to FIG.
3, showing a second embodiment of the invention;
[0034] FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross-section view comparable to
FIGS. 3 and 4, showing a third embodiment of the invention;
[0035] FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing an aircraft door made
according to a fourth embodiment of the invention, after opening of
the cover and deployment of the slide;
[0036] FIG. 7 is a cross-section view showing on a larger scale one
of the mechanisms able to attach the cover to the door threshold,
in the embodiment in FIG. 6, in normal operation;
[0037] FIG. 8 is a view comparable to FIG. 7, showing the mechanism
after opening of the cover; and
[0038] FIG. 9 is a view comparable to FIG. 8, showing a variant of
the fourth embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE Invention
[0039] In FIG. 1 has been shown diagrammatically an aircraft door
10 according to the invention. The door 10 is a door allowing
passengers to access the cabin provided to receive them within the
aircraft. Only a part of the floor 12 of this cabin appears in FIG.
1.
[0040] The door 10 has generally an approximately rectangular
shape, and it is formed in a curve so that its outer surface is
located in the extension of the outer surface of the fuselage 11,
when it is closed. The door 10 then blocks an aperture of
complementary shape provided in the fuselage 11 of the aircraft and
provides an undisturbed aerodynamic flow of air around the
plane.
[0041] In a known way, the door 10 includes a rigid structure one
face of which facing outward from the aircraft is flush with the
outer surface of the fuselage when the door is closed. According to
the invention, the rigid structure of the door includes, on the
side of its outer face, a recess forming a housing 14 in which is
received an emergency evacuation slide 30 (FIG. 2), in a folded up
state.
[0042] More exactly, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the
housing 14 is delimited between a cover 16 (FIG. 2) embodying an
outer wall of the door 10, facing outwards from the aircraft and an
intermediate bulkhead 18, embodying the back of the housing 14. The
intermediate bulkhead 18 is approximately parallel to the cover 16,
in such a way that the thickness of the housing 14 is approximately
uniform, or constant. Moreover, in this case, the thickness of the
housing 14 is approximately equal to or slightly greater than half
the total thickness of the door 10, as shown particularly in FIG.
2. This arrangement allows the housing in which the slide is stored
to occupy the greater part of the door surface.
[0043] It should be noted that, as a variant, the housing 14 may be
delimited externally by a non structural casing placed on the door,
such as a leading edge fairing on a tailless aircraft or else a
wing-to-fuselage attachment fairing. The volume thus created then
makes it possible to receive, wholly or not, the slide in its
folded up state, without really reducing the thickness of the
structural part of the door.
[0044] The housing 14 has an approximately rectangular shape and
extends over the greater part of the height and over the greater
part of the width of the door 10.
[0045] More exactly, the housing 14 is delimited laterally and
upwards by a frame 19. This frame 19 includes an upper bulkhead 20
and two lateral bulkheads 22.
[0046] Given that the housing 14 extends over the greater part of
the surface of the door 10, it may have a volume equal to or
greater than that of the housings usually provided to receive
slides within aircraft, in the bottom of each of the doors, without
it being necessary to increase overmuch the thickness of the door
10 relative to the thickness of a door not fitted with such a
housing. Consequently, an appreciable space is freed within the
cabin intended to receive passengers, in particular close to the
floor 12. It particularly becomes possible to install seats
immediately behind the door. Moreover, conventional opening control
mechanisms can be retained.
[0047] Of course, the outer surface of the cover 16, which
constitutes the greater part of the outer surface of the door 10,
is located, without discontinuity, in the extension of the outer
surface of the aircraft fuselage.
[0048] Setting means (not shown) allowing the slide to be attached
mechanically to the door threshold when the door is closed after
passengers have boarded may be of the same type as those fitted to
existing aircraft. The same is true of the means allowing the slide
to be deployed automatically by inflation, under accident
conditions. As has been shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2, these
means may particularly include a tank 24 placed underneath the
floor 12 and containing a gas such as nitrogen. This tank 24 is
connected by a flexible pipe 26 and a venturi tube 28 to the slide
30, when the setting means are activated.
[0049] The cover 16 forming the outer wall of the door 10 is
preferably attached to the door frame 19 by detachable fixing means
36 allowing it to be automatically ejected when the slide inflation
procedure is initiated. As an example which is in no way
restrictive, these fixing means may be of the same type as those
which attach to the fuselage the cover closing the volume serving
to receive the folded up slide in the document EP-A-0 518 461.
[0050] When the inflation process of the slide 30 is triggered, the
cover 16 is ejected. The slide 30 is then inflated. Lastly, the
door 10 is opened to allow the passengers to evacuate the
plane.
[0051] The means serving to control the opening and closing of the
door 10 may be constituted by any means known to the man skilled in
the art, liable to be used for this purpose on an aircraft door.
They do not form part of the invention and will not therefore be
described.
[0052] As shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, one of the uprights of
the frame 19, delimited between one of the lateral bulkheads 22 and
the corresponding lateral edge of the door, is sufficiently wide to
allow the incorporation into it of a fibre optic bulkhead fitting
32 for example and a handle 34 accessible from outside the
aircraft.
[0053] In order to increase the height of the housing 14 available
for the slide 30 without otherwise increasing the aperture formed
in the fuselage, the lower edge of the door 10 may be step shaped,
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This lower stepped edge then includes an
upper part 38a, towards the interior of the aircraft and a low part
38b, towards the exterior of the aircraft. These two parts 38a and
38b of the lower edge of the door are separated by the intermediate
bulkhead 18. The upper part 38a is closed and located above the
floor 12 of the cabin. The lower part 38b is open and emerges
directly in the housing 14. It is located above a step 12a, located
below relative to the aircraft cabin floor 12.
[0054] A description will now be given, with reference in
succession to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, of three particular embodiments of
the door according to the invention.
[0055] In a first embodiment, shown in horizontal cross-section in
FIG. 3, the intermediate bulkhead 18 is an integral part of a rigid
structure 40 embodying the part of the door facing the interior of
the aircraft. On the other hand, the frame 19 is added onto this
structure 40 and has no specific rigidity.
[0056] Furthermore, in this embodiment in FIG. 3, tightness between
the pressurised cabin and the outside of the aircraft is provided
by a seal 42 placed around the door, approximately in the extension
of the intermediate bulkhead 18. The housing 14 in which the slide
is received is then not pressurised.
[0057] In a second embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4, the
intermediate bulkhead 18 and the frame 19 form an integral part of
the rigid structure 40 of the door 10. In this case, the seal 42
placed around the door 10 is located approximately in the extension
of the cover 16 forming the outer wall of the door 10. The housing
14 in which the slide is received is then located in the
pressurised zone of the aircraft.
[0058] In a third embodiment of the invention shown
diagrammatically in FIG. 5, the door structure is similar to that
in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and the seal is arranged in the
same way as in the second embodiment described with reference to
FIG. 4.
[0059] More exactly, the back bulkhead 18 forms an integral part of
the rigid structure 40 of the door 10, whereas the frame 19 is
added onto this rigid structure.
[0060] On the other hand, the seal 42 is placed around the door 10
approximately in the extension of the cover 16 forming its outer
wall.
[0061] A description will now be given of a fourth embodiment of
the invention with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8. To simplify matters,
the corresponding components are denoted by the same numerical
references.
[0062] In this case, the housing 14 is formed in the bottom part of
the rigid structure of the door 10, within a bulge 13 which
projects into the passenger cabin, as on existing doors. However,
according to the invention, this housing 14 is delimited by a cover
16 on the outer face of the door.
[0063] The cover 16 is normally made integral with the rigid
structure by fixing means (not shown) able to allow rapid opening
of the cover when the slide stored in the folded away state in the
housing 14 is to be deployed to provide an emergency evacuation
from the aircraft. These fixing means may be of the same type as
those which attach the cover 16 to the rigid door structure in the
embodiments described previously with reference to FIGS. 1 to
5.
[0064] Moreover, setting de-setting means 45 are provided between
the lower edge of the cover 16 and the door threshold. These
setting de-setting means 45 allow the lower edge of the cover to be
attached to the door threshold when the door is closed and allow
any attachment between these components to be eliminated when the
door is to be opened to provide the loading and unloading of
passengers.
[0065] In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the setting
de-setting means 45 include two shackles 44 articulated on the
lower edge of the cover 16 by approximately horizontal pins 46. At
its lower end, each shackle 44 includes a rod 48, also
approximately horizontal.
[0066] When the door 10 is closed, the rod 48 is supported against
a receptacle 50 formed on the door threshold. A hook 52 articulated
on the door threshold may then be manoeuvred by the cabin
personnel, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 7, to trap the rod 48
between the receptacle 50 and the hook 52. Thus a swivelling
attachment is created between the cover 16 and the door
threshold.
[0067] In this way, when the setting de-setting means 45 are set
and an emergency evacuation of the aircraft is to be carried out,
the detachable fixing means (not shown) which attach the cover 16
to the rigid structure of the door are automatically detached and
the cover swivels downwards, to pass from the position shown in
FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8. The slide is deployed then
very rapidly outside the aircraft through the large cross-section
aperture thus provided in the door.
[0068] When the door is to be opened to allow passengers to access
the aircraft, the setting de-setting means 45 are de-set by the
cabin crew, in a known way, by manoeuvring the hooks 52.
[0069] The embodiment variant in FIG. 9 is distinguished
essentially from the embodiment in FIGS. 6 to 8 by the fact that
the setting de-setting means 45 include in this case at least one
approximately horizontal pin 48' fixed to the lower edge of the
cover 16 and a latch 52' swivel mounted on the door threshold. The
latch 52' has a slot 54, in a circle arc, open at one of its ends.
Swivelling the latch 52' in a clockwise direction allows the pin
48' to be trapped, which has the effect of attaching in swivelling
way the lower edge of the cover 16 to the door threshold.
De-setting is obtained by swivelling the latch 52' in the reverse
way.
[0070] Clearly, the invention is not limited to the embodiments
which have just been described by way of examples. Thus, it will be
understood particularly that the step 12a may be eliminated or
replaced by an inclined floor, without departing from the context
of the invention.
* * * * *