Adjustable Mounting Assemblies For Groups Of Seats In Aircraft Or Other Vehicles

Abstract

An adjustable mounting for a group of chairs or other articles comprises a pair of beams supported from a floor or other load bearing structure. The chair mountings are secured in selected positions in channels extending along the beams. The beam support are secured in selected positions in other channels extending along the beams, the positions of the floor supports being independent of the position of the floor mountings.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to adjustable mounting assemblies for groups of articles, and more particularly to adjustable mounting assemblies for groups of seats in aircraft or other vehicles.

In the cabin of an aircraft or other vehicle for example, it is necessary to utilise the maximum available space, and to ensure that the seats are anchored to an appropriate structure, and preferably it should be possible to adjust quickly the arrangement of the seats according to the requirements.

In the case of aircraft, the seats must be very firmly anchored and the position of the anchorage must correspond to the fixed position of load-bearing elements in the aircraft structure. Additionally it is often necessary to modify the relative position of the seats for example to totally or partially change the seats category from first class to economy class or vice-versa.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, there is provided in a mounting assembly for a group of articles, a pair of beams, mounting means for each article of the group secured in independent selected positions along the beams, and means supporting the beams, the supporting means being secured in independent selected positions along the beams.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating an arrangement of seats in an aircraft cabin;

FIG. 2 is a section, to an enlarged scale, taken on line II--II of FIG. 1, and showing seats carried by a mounting assembly in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line III--III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross-section of the mounting assembly;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the mounting assembly;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of a beam of the mounting assembly;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a shoe of the mounting assembly;

FIG. 8 is an underneath plan view of the shoe;

FIG. 9 is a section taken on line IX--IX of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are perspective views of modified forms of supports in the mounting assembly; and

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a modified form of cradle for use in the mounting assembly of three forms of anchoring assemblies.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 2, an aircraft cabin comprises a wall 1, and a floor 3 having a load-bearing structure 3A for anchoring seats 5. The profile of the wall 1 in longitudinal and transverse section, and thus the profile of the lateral edge of the floor 3, is dependent upon the shape of the fuselage and not upon required arrangement of the seats 5. The seats 5 are in the form of armchairs having an adjustable back part and are assembled throughout the cabin in several different arrangements, i.e., in groups 5A of three seats arranged side by side, or in groups 5B, 5C or 5D of two seats arranged side by side and differently spaced from one another. The seats are mounted on the floor 3 through a mounting arrangement which permits independent adjustment of the lateral spacing and the position of the seats of the various groups of seats and the spacing and the position of the seat anchorage. Thus a wide range of adjustment is possible, even although the various components may be mass produced. Each group of seats is mounted on a pair of beams 7 of identical cross-section; in the embodiment shown the beams 7 are tubular to provide light-weight beams, but could alternatively be solid. The beams 7 as shown, are generally circular in cross-section but can alternately be of other suitable shape. Each beam 7 is provided with at least two longitudinally extending undercut channels 7A, the channels 7A suitably being of dovetail section and diametrically opposed.

The beams 7 of each group of seats are anchored to the structure 3A through two supports 9, each of the supports 9 being arranged to hold the two beams 7 in such a manner that the latter are laterally spaced by a distance corresponding to the lateral spacing between supports 10 provided in each seat 5. The supports 9 are assembled in any conventional manner on the floor and carry at their upper ends concave cradles 9A which receive the beams 7. The supports 10 carry cradles 10A through which the seat 5 is mounted on the beams 7.

To provide an adjustable connection between the cradles 9A and the corresponding beams 7, a shoe 12 slidable along each channel 7A and having side walls complementary to those of the channel is secured to a respective cradle 9A of screws 14. The screws 14 pass through holes in the cradles 9A and are threadedly engaged with the shoe 12; by tightening the screws 14, the shoes 12 can be firmly clamped in wedging engagement against the side walls of the channels 7A. A similar arrangement using shoes 12A engaged with screws 14A passing through holes in the cradles 10A is provided to effect an adjustable connection between the cradles 10A and the beams 7.

It is apparent that the supports 9 can carry the beams 7 irrespective of the spacing and the position of the supports 9 with respect to the floor and irrespective of the required length of beams 7. The seats of each group can be moved laterally with respect to one another and with respect to the floor and walls of the cabin in any desired manner; it is possible to arrange a different number of seats in each group according to the requirements, and also to replace when necessary, the beams 7 by other beams of different length. In particular, the seats can be grouped as shown in FIG. 1 or can be grouped to provide different numbers of seats on either side of the central gangway of the cabin. As will be apparent, the width and position of the central gangway can be adjusted as required, by appropriately positioning the various groups of seats.

There is shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 a light-weight shoe, such as the shoe 12, which is especially suitable for use in aircraft. The shoe is hollow, is of channel section, and is reinforced by internal webs 12X. Threaded holes for the screws 14 are formed in projections extending from the base wall of the shoe.

In FIGS. 10 and 11 there are shown alternative embodiments of supports combined with the beams 7 to meet specific requirements, the supports comprising tubular elements to which the cradles are welded and are connected by means of webs or the like. FIG. 12 shows an exploded view of a modified form of cradle of a seat-mounting support or of a beam-mounting support. The cradle 22 shown in FIG. 12 has lugs 22A for the linkage for instance of a hydraulic cylinder for governing the inclination of the back part of the seat. The beams 7 can also be used to support seat accessories and supplementary devices.

The mounting assembly particularly described enables mass production of the seats in a desired size or sizes, and of the various components of the assembly. A wide range of adjustment is possible and the assembly can readily be demounted; the beams 7 can be replaced by beams of different lengths to vary the number of chairs. Chairs of different sizes can be used, also with the capability of adjustment of the spacing between the chairs. The supports can all be similar and arranged in several positions according to the positioning requirements in the cabin.

The positioning of the seats can readily be adjusted and a substantial reduction in cost is provided by mass producing the components and standardising the components to as high a degree as is possible.

Additionally means such as back part inclination devices, or safety belts for example can be fixed to the beams or sections.

The mounting assembly in accordance with the invention can be used for mounting objects other than seats

Claims

I claim:

1. In a mounting assembly for a group of articles, a pair of beams, mounting means for each article of the group secured in selected positions along the beams, and means supporting the beams, the supporting means being secured in selected positions along the beams independent of the positions of the mounting means, each of said beams having a pair of longitudinally-extending channels, the mounting means being slidable along one channel of each of said beams, and the support means being slidable along the other channel of each of said beams.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said channel comprises outwardly convergent side walls, said assembly further comprising

shoe means slidable within each channel, and

screw means connecting each said mounting means and supporting means to a respective shoe means and rotatable to selectively clamp the shoe means in wedging engagement with the side walls of the channel.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein each said mounting means and supporting means comprises a cradle facing each said beam, said cradles being clamped against the beams when the associated shoe means is clamped in the channel.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein each said beam is tubular, and the channels are diametrically opposed and are of dovetail section.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the shoe means have a cross-section complementary to that of the channels and are of hollow construction, each said shoe means including

transverse reinforcing ribs.