BE566915A - - Google Patents

Description

       

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   The invention relates to the transport, by aerodyne, of goods and other loads. Although the invention, understood in its broadest sense, also relates to the transport of passengers loaded and unloaded in groups, in accordance with the invention as well as will be described later, it is considered that the main application of said invention resides in the aerodyne transport of freight, it being understood that, by this term "freight" is meant both live cattle and various other forms of goods. '
Until now it was common practice, as well

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 in the case of aerodynes used for the transport of freight than in that of aircraft intended for the transport of passengers, individually load the elements constituting the load in the compartment of the aerodyne for this purpose,

   said elements being, in arrangements of conventional type, supported by the floor of said compartment, said floor itself forming an integral and fixed part of the structure of the aerodyne.



   During the subsequent unloading of the compartment intended for the transport of the aerodyne load, the passengers or the elements which constitute the cargo leave or are removed therefrom individually or separately.



   Such a method, hitherto usually practiced, of transporting loads by aerodyne, has the following drawbacks: a) When the various elements of the cargo, or each passenger in the case of an aerodyne used for the transport of passengers, must to be loaded and unloaded one by one, the loading and unloading operations require a relatively long time, and this is particularly true in the case of freight transport because, in a cargo hold, the personnel responsible for handling said goods both during loading and unloading can only be few owing to the relative cramped nature of this type of facility.

   b) The useful dimensions of the opening, or openings, for loading and unloading, depending on whether the compartment used for the transport of cargo or passengers has one or more openings provided for these purposes, of the aerodyne are limited in because of the shape of the aerodyne and also because

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 the need to avoid an exaggerated weakening of the structure of the cell which would result from the existence of excessively large openings in such a compartment.

   This consideration necessarily imposes a limitation on the minimum time required to effect the loading and unloading of an aircraft of conventional construction to date, and this is particularly the case when loading and unloading cargo in the manner up to 'now practiced, piece by piece, because it is difficult to pass simultaneously through the opening of the compartment used for transporting the freight more than a relatively small number of elementary units of the load, and this makes has the consequence of significantly increasing the time required for loading and unloading,

   more particularly when the aerodyne is intended solely for the transport of freight and comprises a cargo hold extending over the entire length or over almost the entire length of the fuselage of the aerodyne, said compartment not comprising most often, at one of its ends, only one opening.

   c) Extremely important when it comes to loading and unloading cargo by the hitherto conventional piece-by-piece method, a lot of time must be spent during the actual loading operation in arranging and securing the various individual elements of the load, taking into account the mass and dimensions of each of said elements, inside the compartment of the aerodyne used for the transport of the cargo, so that the overall distribution of the masses of the cargo in said compartment does not in any way compromise the stability of the aerodyne in flight;

   said distribution of freight masses will vary according to the nature of the freight to be transported, the

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      design and performance of the aerodyne used and the type of flight conditions envisaged. ,! ii) d) All of the various preceding factors determine the downtime of an aerodyne used for transporting freight to the loading and unloading points, and in this case a relatively large number of personnel must be provided to carry out the operation. loading or unloading operation, some men inside the compartment and others outside to transport manually, in many cases,

   the individual elements constituting the load by passing them through the opening of said compartment towards the interior or exterior of said compartment, depending on whether it is a question of loading the aerodyne or of unloading it.



   One of the aims of the invention is to provide new or improved means to enable the compartment of the aerodyne used for transporting the load to be loaded or unloaded more quickly, and to carry out the loading more rationally and more economically than this n 'was hitherto possible, said means being more especially applicable to the loading and unloading of freight in the case of an aerodyne used for the transport of freight, and said means making it possible to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks of the method up to here usually employed in the loading and unloading of transport aircraft, and; more particularly of the compartment used as cargo hold of the aerodyne.



   With this object in view, the invention, taken in its broadest sense, relates to an aerodyne comprising a compartment intended to transport the load, said compartment being provided with one or more openings allowing

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 loading and unloading said compartment, said aerodyne being characterized in that the conventional fixed floor supporting the load in said compartment is omitted and that the frames of the airframe itself which extend from it 'a position located against each of said openings and within the compartment for transporting the load along the lower part of said compartment directly support, or form on their upper faces, a plurality of parallel raceways. spaced,

   said raceways being arranged to support the wheels; suitably spaced apart from a wheeled platform established for transporting the load, the arrangement adopted allowing the compartment for carrying the load to be loaded and unloaded entirely by advancing one or more of said platforms mounted on wheels in and out of said compartment and by rolling said platforms in said compartment along said tracks, the weight of the load within said compartment being distributed directly, by means of platforms, wheels and tracks, between said cell frames.



   The arrangement adopted will preferably be such that the single opening, or the openings, of the compartment intended for the transport of the load is, or are, provided, or provided, at one or both ends, respectively front and rear. , of said compartment, the plane of each opening extending transversely with respect to the longitudinal axes of the aerodyne, this arrangement making it possible to transport the

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 wheeled platens by means of any land vehicle up to the opening of the opening,

   each of said platforms being pushed directly on its wheels out of the transport vehicle in a substantially horizontal direction on said runways intended to support said platforms within said compartment provided for transporting the load .



   A characteristic of transport aerodynes provided with the devices established in accordance with the invention resides in the fact that the fixed floor usually provided in the compartment serving for the transport of the load can be omitted. This elimination of the fixed floor not only has the consequence of reducing the weight of the aerodyne itself and of making it possible to save on the materials used for its construction, but also makes it possible to arrange the surfaces of the Aforementioned runways supporting the wheels at a lower level with respect to the compartment used for transporting the load than that of the surfaces capable of supporting the wheels, which are located on the upper face of a conventional fixed floor, if the planks -formed wheels had to roll directly on such a floor.



   Under these conditions, the reduction in the transport capacity of the compartment which one might legitimately expect to see from the use of platforms mounted on wheels is substantially, if not entirely, compensated for due to the elimination of the fixed floor, so that in fact the upper face of each platform, the one on which the load rests, can be arranged substantially at the same level in the transport compartment

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 load than that at which the fixed floor was usually provided until now.



   Under these conditions, an aerodyne established in accordance with the invention has a load carrying capacity which is not significantly different from that of transport aerodynes of hitherto conventional design and provided with transport compartments of similar dimensions, while at the same time benefiting from all the important advantages listed above and which characterize an arrangement designed in accordance with the invention.



   The above-mentioned saving of space in the compartment used for transporting the load, despite the existence of platforms mounted on wheels, is ensured in particular by the fact that, according to the invention, the Raceways supporting the platforms are mounted directly on some of the cell frames which extend along the lower part of the load carrying compartment, or else by the fact that these Raceways are in reality formed by the upper faces of said members to which the suitable shape is given during their construction.



   There is also a saving in loading and unloading time, which is very substantial in the case of loading and unloading freight, because, instead of having to load and unload separate items of freight or passengers a by one, a large number of passengers or a large number of cargo elements, or a large volume of cargo, can be loaded or unloaded simply in a very short time: this is sufficient to run one or more platforms loaded in or out of

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 compartment used to transport the load.



   In the case of cargo loading, the actual number of men required to load or unload the cargo transport compartment as quickly as possible, in the case of an aerodyne with arrangements established in accordance with the invention, is very reduced:

   it is limited to the staff actually necessary to manually run the platforms, or to operate any winch devices or similar installations suitable for mechanically or so to speak automatically advancing said platforms, such personnel of 'relatively small manpower being sufficient to proceed at leisure, before the arrival of the aerodyne and after its departure, with the loading of the freight on the platforms and the unloading of the said platforms, as appropriate, so that 'it is legitimate to think that it is possible, thanks to the invention, to achieve a very significant saving in manpower in many airports used for freight traffic, and to distribute the work of loading and unloading the freight relatively evenly throughout the working day,

   instead of seeing the actual working periods correspond solely or at least mainly to the stopover time of the aerodyne considered at the airport.



   With regard to the arrangement of aerodynes provided with load carrying elms mounted on wheels according to the invention in order to enable the loading of passengers in said aerodynes to be accelerated, the invention also relates to a. method of loading an aerodyne used for the transport of passengers, which consists in seating, in a place located at a certain distance from the aerodyne, a

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 a certain number of passengers on a corresponding number of seats arranged on a special storytelling platform on wheels, to transport said platform loaded with passengers on a land vehicle from said place to a point close to the loading opening of the compartment transport of the aerodyne load,

     in passing the loaded platforms of the land vehicle, through the loading opening, to a predetermined position within the load carrying compartment of the aerodyne along the runways which , in the absence of any fixed floor ordinarily provided in said compartment, are mounted directly on or are constituted by the upper face of the frames of the cell extending along the base of said compartment, said platform, when is in position in said compartment, serving to distribute the weight of the load, by means of its wheels and the raceways which support them, between said members of said cell.



   In practice, when the invention is implemented with a view to loading passengers on board an aerodyne, the platoforms will be provided with a certain number of seats which are mounted there permanently or in a removable manner, and the passengers themselves sit on these platform-mounted seats, for example as soon as possible after entering the airport building, so that said platforms, with the passengers seated on them,

   can be transported by any suitable land vehicle on which the wheel-mounted platforms can be rolled horizontally such that their wheels engage on intended tracks

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 for this purpose on said land transport vehicles which are then driven to the aerodyne placed at any suitable point on the ground, and the complete platforms, with their passengers still seated, are then rolled into position in the compartment transport of the load, that is to say, in this case, in the passenger cabin on board the aerodyne, in a manner which very closely recalls the aforementioned mode of loading the cargo in the case of a cargo transport aircraft, and the passengers remain,

   for the duration of the flight, seated in the seats originally assigned to them.



   On reaching their destination, passengers will be unloaded by means of a similar operation, but carried out in reverse.



   Such a method of loading and unloading a passenger in and out of an aerodyne assigned to the transport of passengers makes it possible to avoid, at a large airport, the long delay which currently penalizes passengers who do so. must take a conventional road transport vehicle that takes them from the airport buildings to the aerodyne, where they often still have to wait several minutes, time necessary for the passengers to get off the bus one by one, get on one by one in the cabin of the aerodyne, settle there; or get out to get into the road vehicle, depending on whether it is a departure or an arrival.

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   Another object of the invention is to reveal a new method of loading aerodynes assigned to the transport of freight which makes it possible to avoid the aforementioned drawbacks of the conventional method of loading freight, in particular the drawback c), implementation of the method according to the invention making it possible to use a transport aerodyne in the most efficient and economical manner.



   With this further object in view, the invention also provides a method of loading the hold of a cargo transport aerodyne characterized in that the individual elements not constituting the cargo are loaded on one or more platforms mounted on wheels. in specific positions, on said platforms, predetermined by the mass and dimensions of said individual elements and by the flight characteristics of the aerodyne and the shape of its hold, each of said suitably loaded platforms being rolled, so as to occupy a predetermined position in the hold,

   along the runways which are mounted directly on or are formed by the upper face of the frames of the cell extending along the base of the compartment constituting said hold which is devoid of the fixed floor usually provided, each of said platforms , once it is in the predetermined position inside said compartment, serving to distribute the weight of the cargo by means of the wheels and 'the raceways which support them on said chords of the cell of the manner recognized as suitable during preliminary cargo loading operations on each platform.

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   By virtue of the loading method according to the invention described above, it is easily possible to arrange the individual elements of the load in predetermined positions on their transport platform before the execution of the loading operation. proper, because the platform or platforms to be loaded into the aero- dyne and to be placed in relation to the transport compartment in such a way as to guarantee that the overall loading of said compartment does indeed correspond to the optimum loading conditions, that is to say that the maximum quantity of freight is distributed in the most suitable manner appropriate to the flight conditions of the aerodyne considered, to ensure the maximum stability and the best possible performance of the aerodyne. dyne under expected flight conditions.



   . With such a loading method, it will easily be understood that the transfer of the loaded platforms to the required positions within the load transport compartment can be carried out with great rapidity, so that, whatever the weather, previously spent by the personnel to place the cargo on the various platforms equipped with wheels, the downtime of the aero- dyne is reduced to a minimum with regard to the operation of loading the cargo into said aerodyne.



   The loading process described above, although it is highly advantageous when it is applied to an aerodyne exclusively assigned to the transport of freight, is particularly advantageous when it is implemented in the case of aerodynes which, in addition to the transport of a substantial tonnage of freight are also used for the transport of passengers.



   Frequently, passenger loading

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 is variable, and the cargo load must be adjusted in accordance with the nature of the passenger load; but the loading of passengers is generally known a few hours in advance, and it becomes possible, with the process of loading the freight which is the object of the invention, to arrange in advance the individual elements constituting the cargo on platforms equipped with wheels in accordance with the requirements of the planned passenger loading, and thus ensure the effective transfer of the cargo load into the cargo hold of the aerodyne with maximum speed.



   The method and the means of freight transport perfected by aerodyne according to the invention are of particular importance in the case of freight transport aerodynes which are also suitable for the transport of passengers, and more particularly still in the case of freight transport aircraft. the case of aerodynes whose route includes a certain number of intermediate stops between the two terminuses of the line, stops at which it is desired to load and unload substantial quantities of freight while reducing the downtime of the line to a minimum. Apparatus and passenger waiting time: the invention allows a very substantial reduction in such downtime with remarkable ease.



   It is therefore considered that the invention provides a very interesting solution to the problems of the difficulty of loading which are peculiar to the action and do not arise in connection with other types of vehicles than the aerodynes and which, consequently ,. it is especially advantageous to apply to aerodynes the above-mentioned method of transporting loads by means of platforms provided with

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 wheels, advantages that are also interesting cannot result from the application of the method according to the invention to other forms of transport vehicles, for example to road or rail vehicles.



   The invention can, in any case, be well understood with the aid of the description which follows as well as the appended drawings, which description and drawings are, of course, given above all by way of indication.



   Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of part of a freight transport aircraft constructed in the hitherto conventional manner and comprising a cargo hold provided with a fixed floor, said figure also showing the manner in which the cargo is arranged inside the compartment.



   Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of the base of a part of the compartment for transporting cargo, or cargo hold, shown in FIG. 1.



   Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG.



  1, but which represents the arrangement of a compartment assigned to the transport of freight on board an aerodyne fitted out in accordance with the invention.



   Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken along the axis 4-4 of FIG. 3.



   Fig. 5 is a perspective view of part of the construction shown in FIG. 4.



   Fig. 6 shows in perspective a form of the retainers, supposedly removed, provided at the opposite ends of the compartment shown in FIG. 3 to prevent any longitudinal displacement movement of the platforms on

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 wheels when the compartment is fully loaded.



   Figs. 7 and (') show, respectively, in plan and in end elevation, a form of platform on wheels intended to be used on board an aerodyne serving to transport cargo, a part of which is shown in FIG. 3.



   Fig. 9 is a partial side view, on a large scale, of one of the platforms shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.



   Fig. 10 is a perspective view of one of the wheeled platforms shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.



   Figs. 11 and 12 are views corresponding respectively to FIGS. 3 and 4, but representing the platforms in position.



   Fig. 13 is a perspective view showing the automatic coupling device, assumed to be dismantled, which makes it possible to couple end to end a certain number of platforms such as those shown in FIG. 11.



   Fig. 14 is a schematic side view of an aerodyne assigned to the transport of passengers, showing the manner in which the compartment serving as a cabin for the transport of passengers is arranged for the loading of platforms on wheels in accordance with the invention.



   Fig. 15 is a plan view of a load carrying platform provided with devices for releasably attaching the passenger carrying seats thereto for use in the manner shown in FIG. 14.

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   Fig. 16 is a view similar to that of FIG.



   15, but representative, the passenger seats set up.



   Fig. 17 is an enlarged perspective view showing the device employed for releasably securing the seats to the platform shown in Figs. 15 and 16.



   Fig. 18 is a plan view, on an even larger scale, of part of the seat fixing device shown in FIG. 17.



   Figs. 19 and 20 are sectional views passing respectively through the axes 19-19 and 20-20 of FIG. 18, but with part of a seat leg shown in posi- tion on fig 19.



   Fig. 21 is a schematic perspective view of a freight transport aerodyne provided with an opening made in a side wall of the cargo hold for loading the platforms mounted on wheels.



   Fig. 22 is a perspective view, on a large scale, of a device for preventing the longitudinal movement of the platforms in the cargo hold of the aerodyne shown in FIG. 21.



   Fig. 23 is a plan view of a kind of wheeled cradle for loading through said side wall of the aerodyne shown in FIG. 21.



   \
The rod 24 is an end elevation view of the cradle shown in FIG. 23 and showing the platform mounted on wheels in position on said carriage during loading of the aerodyne shown in FIG. 21.



   Fig. 25 is a schematic perspective view

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 similar, in broad outline, to fig. 21 but showing a variant of the method of loading an aerodyne from the side.



   Figs. 26, 27 and 28 are perspective views showing three stages of the loading of the aerodyne shown in FIG. 25.



   If we now refer first of all to figs. 1 and 2 of the attached drawing boards, it is noted that the figure 1 represents a part of an aerodyne 30 assigned to the transport of freight in the fuselage 31 of which is fitted a hold or compartment 32 for goods, which compartment cargo is provided, at the front end or at the rear end of the aerodyne, with an opening 33 for loading and unloading and which has a door or a pair of doors 34 mounted (or mounted) with hinges in the usual way.



   The lower part of this compartment is constituted by a fixed floor 35 which extends continuously from front to rear over the whole of the width of said compartment, this floor being constituted, in the known manner, elements of suitable shape made of metal, wood or any other suitable construction material and of relatively great thickness so as to be able to withstand, without breaking said elements, the weight of the cargo distributed inside the hold, a part of this freight being shown at 36 in FIG. 1.



   These constituent elements of the floor are rigidly fixed in the known manner to the upper face of the frames 37 which constitute integral parts of the structure of the aerodyne and which extend below the structure.

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 floor of compartment 32 used for transporting freight.



   In the case of an aerodyne thus constructed and fitted out in the known manner, and as has already been explained, the elements 36 which constitute the freight are loaded individually or piece by piece through the opening. 33 and on the floor 35 of the cargo compartment, then arranged manually by the personnel in charge of loading so as to ensure correct loading of the aerodyne, taking into account the requirements aimed at maximum stability depending on the mass and dimensions individual elements which constitute the freight, the unloading being effected by a similar method but in reverse order.



   The cargo hold 32 will be fitted with rings or other conventional fixing devices making it possible to tie down and immobilize the individual elements constituting the load by means of cables, for example; any relative movement of the cargo with respect to the compartment itself is thus prohibited and prevented during the flight, but such fastening devices are conventional and have not been shown.



   In contrast to the known layout arrangements shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, figs. 3 to 6 show how the conventional aerodyne assigned to the transport of goods described above is modified so as to allow the implementation of the invention.



   If we refer more particularly to FIGS.



  3 to 5, it will be seen that the fixed floor 35 serving to support the load in the conventional arrangement shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 have been deleted so as to leave the

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 lower part of the hold 32 uncovered, excepted at the height of the positions corresponding to the frames, of the cell.



   These frames include, like one. can see it in fig. 4, a plurality of parallel spaced elements 3'7 which extend longitudinally, i.e. in a front to rear direction, from the threshold 38 of the cargo opening 33, up to the rear end 39 of said hold and even beyond, said elements 37 extended and longitudinally / being connected to each other at intervals along its length by other transverse elements 40, only a few of which have been shown in FIG. 3.



   These members 37 which extend longitudinally comprise, in the known manner, webs 41 (see FIG. 5) extending vertically, and reinforcement flanges 42 have been formed along their upper and lower edges. U-shaped which increase its rigidity and form an integral part of said members 37; on the horizontal portion 43 forming the base of the upper reinforcement flanges of some of these chords
37, it has been fixed, for example by means of rivets 44, the raceways 45 whose cross section takes the form of a shallow rectangular U section.



   The bases of these U-shaped profiled raceways are fixed using rivets 44 or other fixing cores to the portions 43 constituting the base of the adjacent reinforcing sole 42.



   In this way, a number of such raceways 45 are provided - it is convenient to provide

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 four in all - which extend continuously, parallel to each other spaced apart, the entire length of the compartment assigned to the transport of freight, namely from the threshold 38 of the front opening of said compar- to the rear end 39 of said timent / compartment, and it will be good to arrange the two central rolling tracks 45a at a smaller spacing with respect to each other than with respect to each of the two outer raceways 45b.



   Although the floor intended, in a compartment designed in the hitherto conventional manner, to support the load and which has been shown at 35 in FIGS. 1 and 2 has been deleted, it is possible, in practice, to provide covering sheets arranged at the locations corresponding to the position of the conventional floor extending between the adjacent raceways 45, for the simple purpose of covering the openings remaining between said raceways 45 as a result of the omission of the conventional floor, said coating sheets serving simply to protect against the accumulation of dust or the formation of air currents and not performing any function relating to mechanical resistance of the assembly (cell rigidity, load support, etc.).



   The platforms mounted on wheels which serve to support the individual elements constituting the freight are shown in FIGS. 7 to 12; if we first refer to fig. 7 to 10, said platforms, which are represented at 46, each comprise a kind of substantially rectangular plate 47 intended to support the load and which is itself constituted by a certain number of elongated rectangular elements 48 each constructed in the form of a plate or flat metal sheet, as shown in fig.

   9, so as to

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 present- a flat upper face intended to support the load, said elements being for @ us a certain number of reinforcing webs 49, forming an integral part of the element and spaced in parallel, said webs being able to be formed 4 ' 4, a single piece with the upper portion of each of said -elements 48 following a bending or extrusion extrusion operation, for example.



   A certain number of these elements 48 are arranged horizontally side by side and contiguous, as clearly against FIG. 7, so as to constitute the -plateau 47 of the platform, and said elements 48 are held assembled to each other by means of parts 50, elements profiled from metal strip and whose section affects the shape of 'a so-called "top hat" placed in an inverted position, intended to support the wheels, the soles of said parts 50 being fixed on the bases of the webs 49 so as to extend transversely to the length of the individual elements 48.



   These parts 50 for supporting the wheels are spaced from each other in a horizontal direction by a distance corresponding to the spacing of the aforementioned raceways 45 which form part of the arrangement of the transport compartment. load, and each of said parts supports a plurality of wheels 51, and preferably three, intended themselves to support the platform, the arrangement adopted being such that two of the three wheels associated with each of the parts 50 are arranged at the immediate vicinity of the opposite ends 52,53 of the platform 46 mounted on wheels so as to support said ends 52,53,

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 in the manner clearly shown in FIG. 7.



   As can be seen in FIG. 7, each of the three wheels 51 of any one of the parts 50 has its axis of rotation aligned horizontally with the axes of rotation of the other corresponding wheels of the other parts 50 of the platform.



   The arrangement adopted is such that the wheels 51 which are mounted on each of the parts 50 intended to support the wheels of the platform 46 are adapted to move along one of the corresponding raceways 45 arranged at the lower part of the platform. compartment used for the transport of freight, so that the platform is directly supported by those of the members 37 of the cell which extend longitudinally and on which said raceways 45 rest; the platforms are thus supported by means of the wheels 51 and the raceways 45, in the absence of any fixed floor supporting the load.



   The wheels 51 are supported by axles bearing on the other hand in the sides of the "U" profiles forming part of the elements 50, the section of which takes the shape of an upturned "top hat", the soles of said elements being cut to the height of the positions occupied by the wheels.



   As can be seen in FIG. 12, the total height of each platform 46, as it can be measured between the upper face of its plate 47 and the lower part of each wheel 51, is not not substantially greater than the thickness of the conventional load bearing floor 35 which is shown

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 in fig. 2;

   the upper face of said floor would in fact occupy the position shown schematically by the broken line 35 visible in FIG. 12,
Under these conditions, the use of platforms 46 mounted on wheels does not have the effect of reducing appreciably the total height of the space available which can receive the load placed in the cargo compartment of 1 '. aerodyne, the reduction in height being of the order of five to eight centimeters, that is to say of the order of about 3%, which is a very small reduction in view of the very important advantages resulting from of the implementation of the arrangements according to the invention.



   The elements 48 which constitute the plate 47 of each platform are also kept assembled together over at least part of the length of each platform by bars 54 whose profile takes the shape of a "T". "inverted and which are fixed on the upper surface of the elements 48 constituting said platform, in the immediate vicinity of the lateral sides of the platform,
Any lateral movement of the wheel-mounted platforms of a dangerous magnitude is prevented both by the side flanks 55 of the raceways 45 which affect a "U" shaped profile, and also, to a greater extent, by lateral retaining elements 56 which extend along the opposite sides of the compartment used for the transport of the cargo, near the lower part of said compartment,

   and which are shown in FIGS. 11 and 12; these lateral retaining elements are profiles in the form of an angle, the vertical flange 57 of which is arranged so as to come into contact with the lateral rim

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 adjacent to the platform and the upper horizontal wing 58 of which protrudes above the upper face of the adjacent rim of the platform positioned so as to prevent the latter from moving upward relative to the rest of the mass of the aerodyne. Such an arrangement is very effective in preventing the platform 46 from bouncing up and down and up and down both when the aerodyne is in flight and when taking off or landing.



   Further, the wing 58 of each of said latux members prevents the platform from tilting as it is introduced into or out of the compartment.



   A certain clearance clearly visible in fig, 12 is provided between the two side flanges of each platform and the adjacent lateral retaining element 56, and a similar clearance is provided between the cheeks of the wheels 51 and the side flanks 55 of the wheels. raceways 45.



   The ends of each platform 46 are preferably cut in a cutaway along their side flanges as seen at 59 to facilitate the insertion of the platform into the cargo transport compartment and for ease of use. prevent any jamming against the side retaining elements 56,
The plate 47 of each platform is provided, on its upper face, with a number of fixing rings 60 of known shape intended to enable cables to be engaged therein intended to secure the elements of the freight on said platform. form.



   The platforms 46 are designed to fit into the cargo transport compartment or to

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 exit by rolling them along the rolling tracks 45 in a substantially horizontal direction, passing them through the opening 33 of said compartment, said rolling tracks 45 extending to the threshold 38 of each opening 33 and being supported by the longitudinal members 37 of the cell with which they are associated.



   The length of the platform 46 mounted on wheels may vary depending on the length of the compartment of the aerodyne intended for the transport of cargo. In most transport aircraft, the length of said compartment is considerably greater than its width. Under these conditions, and so that the dimensions of the platform 46 remain within the limits required to ensure the convenience of its use, the platforms are constructed of such a length that several of said platforms can be placed end to end. butt in the compartment.

   Fig. 11 will show that, for the known type of aerodyne in question, a length has been adopted for each platform 46 such that the compartment 32 can accommodate four of them arranged end to end, the total length of the four. platforms corresponding, approximately, to the total length of said compartment.

   Under these conditions, as shown in fig. 11, when the four platforms are completely retracted, one after the other, into the compartment, the front end of the platform introduced first will come into contact with the stops 61 provided for in the compartment. the rear end of the compartment (see also fig. 6) while, when the doors 34 are closed, the adjustable shock-absorbing screw retainers 62 (see fig. 3 and 6) arranged on the

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 internal face of said doors 34 will come to bear against
The adjacent end of the platform introduced last.

   The screws of the shock absorbers 62 are previously adjusted so as to ensure that their heads will exert exactly the correct pressure on the adjacent platform, so that the four platforms are tightly held between the retainers 61 and the shock absorbers 62.



   From the foregoing description it will be understood that, when the platforms 46 have been introduced into the compartment intended for the transport of freight and when the doors 34 have been closed, the wings 58 will prevent any significant movement of said platforms from the bottom up. while the wings 57 will prevent any significant lateral movement of said platforms and that the retainers 61 and
62 will act jointly to prevent any longitudinal movement of said platforms. These platforms will therefore be securely held in position inside the compartment 32, and it will have been sufficient, for this, to slide them one after the other in said compartment and close the doors 34 thereof;

     this saves the time and manpower which would have been necessary to actuate improvised fastening devices intended to hold each of the platforms in place before takeoff of the aerodyne, and to release the platforms after landing.



   If it is desired that the aerodyne can be provided with an opening 33 at each of the two ends of the compartment 32, that is to say at the front and at the rear of said compartment and not only to one of his

 <Desc / Clms Page number 27>

 ends as shown in the figures, and that one of these openings can be used as a loading opening, the other serving as an unloading opening, or else if it is desired that each of the two openings can fulfill both functions, and it being accepted that two such openings have been provided, each of their doors may carry retainers-shock absorbers 62;

   a plurality of platforms mounted on wheels and arranged end to end will then be able to find space and any longitudinal movement inside the compartment will be prohibited for them, the simple stops 61 provided at one end of said compartment in the previous arrangement being able to then be removed since the shock absorbers take their place.

   Obviously, when the aerodyne has a relatively short compartment and when a relatively long wheeled platform is to be used, a single platform may be held between the retainers 61 and 62. or between a pair of retainers-shock absorbers 62, depending on whether the aerodyne has one door or two doors for loading and unloading said compartment,
Each platform 46 may be provided with self-acting devices for coupling one platform to another when several platforms are inserted one after the other in the compartment 32.

   For this purpose, and as can be seen clearly in FIG. 13, the front and rear ends of the platform are respectively provided with complementary members of a coupling device which can be conveniently released, As can be seen in FIG. 13, one of the two

 <Desc / Clms Page number 28>

 Complementary components essentially consist of a "U" -shaped flange 63 fixed to the lower face of the platform in the immediate vicinity of the front edge of said platform, this flange comprising a fixed vertical pin 64. L ' another complementary member consists of another "U" shaped flange 65 fixed to the underside of the platform, near the rear end of said platform.

   Said flange 65 supports a fixed vertical stud 66 disposed in alignment with stud 64; on said stud 66 is mounted, so as to rotate therein, a tongue 67 projecting rearwardly and the free end of which is cut in the visible manner at 67a. On the same stud 66 is also mounted, so as to rotate therein, a lever 68 comprising a bifurcated arm which extends in the same direction as the tongue 67 and the free end of which has a rounded nose cut in the shape of a hook. 68a which partially covers the bevelled end 67a of the tongue. The lever 68 also comprises an arm extending forwards and on which is attached a traction cable 69.

   A spring 70, working in tension, is fixed, by one of its ends, to the tongue 67 and, by the other end, to the bifurcated arm of said lever 68: it acts normally by maintaining the nose 68a cut out in the shape of a hook in the position which makes it cover the end 67a bevelled of the tongue 67.



   With the form of coupling which has just been described, when the first platform 46 has been fully introduced into the compartment 32 of the aerodyne.

 <Desc / Clms Page number 29>

 so that its front end has come into contact with the retainers 61, and when the next platform is introduced into said compartment, its front end coming very close to the rear end of the first platform , the pin 64 mated to the flange 63 fixed to the front end of the second platform engages in the kind of handle formed between the end 67a bevelled of the tongue 67 and the rounded, hook-shaped nose 68a of the lever 68 disposed at the rear end of the first platform,

   The thrust exerted by led, stud 64 will cause the tongue 67 and the lever 68 to move away from each other in spite of the antagonistic action of the spring 70, so that said stud will then pass between the two and s 'will advance to the point where the cutout tongue and hook, returned by the spring 70, will resume their original overlapping position by immobilizing said pin 64, the two platforms thus being reached against each other . A similar hitching action will occur when the following platforms take place in compartment 32.



     The advantage resulting from the coupling from one platform to another when said platforms come to take place in the compartment 32 lies in the fact that, when the aerodyne has reached its destination and it is desired to extract the , s platforms of said compartment, a simple pull exerted on the platform closest to the doors 34 is sufficient to cause the other platforms to exit at the same time. Since said platforms, once loaded, are of considerable weight

 <Desc / Clms Page number 30>

 rable, this overall extraction can be performed by pulling on the first platform by means of a cable connected to a mechanical drive device such as a winch, for example.



   When the platforms have been extracted from the compartment 32, they can be separated from each other by simply exerting a traction on the cables 69. It will be seen that, when the stud 64 is engaged between the tongue 67 and the lever 68, said stud acts as a stop with respect to said tongue 67 so that, despite the presence of the spring 70, a pull exerted on the cable 69 will suffice to force the lever 68 to move away of the tongue, which has the effect of disengaging the hitch.



   Although, from the foregoing, it has been shown that the platforms can be hitched to each other by the simple fact of their introduction into the compartment 32, it should be clearly understood that said platforms can be coupled before their introduction into said compartment, traction exerted on
 EMI30.1
 / having, where one or is on 1, ya4e the platform / rear then serving to move the whole of the '!, train of platforms' in a single block and to insert it in the compartment.



   The equipment described so far makes it possible to carry out very conveniently, quickly and in complete safety, the handling and transport of freight and goods from one location to another when all the operations involve the use. of a freight transport aircraft.

   The freight to be transported can therefore be placed and secured on the necessary number of platforms 46

 <Desc / Clms Page number 31>

 mounted on wheels and available in warehouses, shops, stations, etc .; said loaded platforms can be placed in groups on road vehicles which transport them to the departure airport, they can be transferred in groups from road vehicles in compartment 32 of the aerodyne at the departure aerodrome , and when the aerodyne has reached its destination airport, the loaded platforms can be transferred in groups from the aerodyne onto new road vehicles which transport them to the final point of distribution of the goods;

   it is thus possible to carry out all the loading, transfer and unloading operations without affecting the stowage of the elements of the freight arranged on the loaded platforms, and consequently very quickly and with all desirable guarantees that the elements of the freight will not be damaged in transit.



   If we now refer to fig. 14 to 20, it will be understood how it will be possible, thanks to the addition of simple accessories, to use the platforms 46, when desired, to support seats intended for the transport of passengers, for example troops or civilian passengers, instead of using them for freight transport.



   With a view to the use immediately above-mentioned, each platform 46 is provided with a plurality of sockets indicated generally at 71 in FIGS, 15 and 17 to 19, said sockets being arranged in groups of four to correspond to the four legs of a seat, said groups being distributed over the surface

 <Desc / Clms Page number 32>

 top of the platform. As can be seen with more details in fig. 18 to 20, each socket 71. is constituted by a housing generally indicated at 72 and provided with a cover 73, said housing and cover being housed in an opening made in the upper surface of the platform 46 of such so that the cover comes flush with said surface and is held in position by means of screws 74.

   The cover 73 has a hole 75 of ovoid shape, so that one end portion of said hole is wider than the other end portion.



   Housing 72 contains a locking plate 76 which extends across and below the widest end portion of hole 75 in cover 73. The rim of locking plate 76 facing the end portion the narrowest of the hole 75 has a shape such that it has a concavity 77 surmounted by a lip 78 projecting in the direction of the narrowest end portion of the hole 75, a part of the free rim of said lip comprising a recess in the form of an arc of a circle 78a (refer more particularly to fig. 18). The lower part of the side of the locking plate located opposite the concavity has a chamfer 79.

   In the upper face of the locking plate, a slot 80 has been machined intended to receive the tip of a screwdriver, said slot 80 being situated midway between the ends of the plate and being accessible through the hole 75 made in the screwdriver. cover 73.



   The locking plate 76 is connected, by means

 <Desc / Clms Page number 33>

 from pivot points 81, to washers 82 mounted on the upper ends of coil springs 83 working in compression and disposed below the end portions of said locking plate, the lower ends of said springs resting on the base of the housing 72 and surrounding small studs 84 fixed to said base. The springs 83 normally act so as to press the locking plate 76 from the bottom up so that the end portions of said plate come to rest tightly against the underside of the cover 73 on either side of the hole 75 which rests. found in said cover.

   At the same time, the springs 83 allow the locking plate to be lowered up and down, while the pivot points 81 then allow said plate to assume an inclined position. In addition, since the upper ends of the springs 83 are free, except that they are in connection with the locking plate 76 by the intermediary of the washers 82 and the pivot points 81 , said springs allow the movement of said locking plate in the direction of the length of the hole 75 made in the cover 73.



   Together with the locking plate 76 there is provided a locking bar 85 which is also contained in the housing 72 and extends transversely inside said casing, said locking bar 85 normally being in some way. tightly wedged in the space between the locking plate 76 and the adjacent end wall 72a of the housing, so that it prevents any movement of said plate

 <Desc / Clms Page number 34>

 locking in the direction of said wall.

   The upper part of the face of the locking bar which is against the locking plate has a chamfer 86, and the width of said bar is such that part of the bar is exposed through the widest end portion. the hole 75 threatens in the cover 73, this part thus exposed itself comprising a slot 87 intended to receive the tip of a screwdriver.



   The locking bar 85 is mounted, in order to be able to move up and down, on vertical studs 88 fixed inside the housing 72, said bar being normally held in the high position, in which it comes to rest. against the underside of cover 73 by means of coil springs 89 working in compression and which surround said studs 88,
The seats take the form of armchairs, generally indicated at 90 in fig. 16, each of said armchairs having four legs which co-operate with a group of four sockets 71.

   One of these feet is indicated at 91 in fig. 17 and 19 - As can be seen in these figures, the lower end portion of each foot has a cylindrical widening 92, the lower face of which is rounded as seen at 92a. An annular groove 93 is formed in the widening 92 between the upper and lower ends of the latter, the inner wall of said groove being machined to the same radius as the narrowest end portion of the hole 75 made in the cover 73 of the housing 72 As can be seen in fig. 19, the

 <Desc / Clms Page number 35>

 part of the widening which is above the groove 93 is of a slightly larger diameter than the part which is below said groove.



   The widening 92 and the grooves 93 existing on the four legs 91 of an armchair 90 are provided to engage in a corresponding group of sockets 71 formed in the platform 46, so that said armchair is located sort of locked onto the platform, yet easily removable. Fig.



  19 shows a foot 91 fixed in its socket 71 and it is easy to see, by considering this drawing, that, the parts being in this position, the part of the cover 73 of the casing 72 which forms the periphery of the end portion la narrower of the hole 75 engages the part of the groove 93 located on one side of the widening 92, while the portion 78a cut in an arc of a circle of the lip 78 of the locking plate 76 comes in 'engage in the part of the groove 93 located on the opposite side of the widening 92.

   It can also be seen that the locking bar 85 occupies its highest position, that is to say the one in which it fills the space between the locking plate 76 and the wall 72a of the housing, said bar therefore acting in such a way as to lock the locking plate in the engaged position and to prevent any movement of the chair foot in the direction of the length of the hole 75.

   Given, moreover, that the part of the cover situated at the height of the narrower end of the hole 75 fits tightly and over a considerable length around the corresponding part of

 <Desc / Clms Page number 36>

 the groove 93, while the part 78a cut in an arc of a circle of the lip 78 of the locking plate 76 also adapts closely to the groove 93, of which it engages a significant length, the foot 91 is prohibited. any lateral movement. Since the top of the enlargement 92 is of a larger diameter than the inner wall of the groove 93, the cover 73 provides a bearing surface of substantial length around the bottom of the foot 91, preventing thus any rocking movement.



   If it is accepted that the armchairs 90 have not been placed on the platform 46 and that the constituent parts of the sockets 71 occupy the positions shown in FIGS. 18 and 20, here is the procedure that should be adopted to engage a 91 foot in its embotture:
The foot 91 is placed on its socket in such a way that the rounded underside 92a of the enlargement 92 begins to enter the hole 75 of the cover.
73 and also bears on the locking plate 76.

   The foot is then pushed up and down so as to cause the lower part of the enlargement 92 to penetrate the hole 75, this movement at the same time forcing the locking plate 76 to lower notably despite the opposing thrust of the springs 83 while simultaneously tilting, under the effect of the curvature of the inferior face 92a of the enlargement 92, around the axis materialized by the pivot points 81.

   When the enlargement
92 has entered the hole 75 so that the groove
93 is at the edge of the lid portion

 <Desc / Clms Page number 37>

 73 surrounding the narrower end of the hole, the foot is moved in a direction which away from the wall 72a of the casing 72, so that said portion of the rim of the cover comes to engage in the groove 93.



  The tip of a screwdriver is then inserted into the slot 87 machined in the locking bar 85 and a thrust is exerted to force said bar to slide up and down on its guide pins 88 despite the opposing thrust of the pins. springs 89. When the bar 85 has been lowered sufficiently so that it ceases to prevent free movement of the locking plate 76, the springs 83 push the locking plate 76 up and down until it comes to rest. again flush with the underside of the cover 75 and bear against said surface, the lip 78 of the plate then coming to rest opposite the groove 93. The screwdriver is then released from the cast iron 87, so as to let the springs 89 push back the locking bar 85 which rises and comes to reoccupy its initial position.

   During this upward movement, the chamfer 86 machined on the locking bar engages the chamfer 79 machined on the locking plate 76; the assembly then acts as a cam which forces the locking plate to move in the direction of the widening 92, and the lip 78 enters the groove 93. The foot 91 is then firmly locked in its position. socket 71.



   To release the foot 91 from the socket 71, we will operate as follows
The tip of a screwdriver is inserted into the slot 87 of the locking bar 85, and a push is exerted

 <Desc / Clms Page number 38>

 to force said bar to descend along its guide studs 88 despite the opposing action of the springs 89, the bar being lowered sufficiently so that it ceases to prevent free movement of the locking plate 76.

   The foot 91 is then pushed towards the wall 72a of the housing 72, so that the locking plate is moved in the same direction and is therefore brought into a position which causes it to pass over the bar. blocking 85, which prevents the upward return movement of said bar: The screwdriver tip is then removed from the slot 87 machined in the blocking bar and is placed in the cast iron 80 of the locking plate 76 to maintain this last in its covering position. The movement previously imparted to the foot 91 towards the wall 72a of the housing 72 has already served to completely disengage the groove 93 from the portion of the rim of the lip 73 surrounding the narrower end of the hole 75.



  While the tip of the screwdriver remains engaged in the slot 80 of the locking plate 76, the foot is moved far enough from the wall 72a to release the groove 93 of the lip 78 being an integral part of the locking plate, the widening 92 of the foot being thus placed in a position in which the groove 93 is disengaged both from the cover 73 and from the lip 78. The foot is consequently completely released and it is possible, by lifting it, to remove it from the socket. turo 7T.



   Fig. 14 illustrates, in a more or less schematic manner, a known type of transport aerodyne sccond

 <Desc / Clms Page number 39>

 freight in which, here, access to the compartment 32 intended for the transport of freight, for loading and unloading, is obtained by means of an opening made at the rear end of the fuselage, one of the doors of said opening being indicated in broken lines at 34.



   The base of the compartment 32 of the aerodyne shown in FIG. 14 is provided with raceways 45 intended to support platforms, as in the construction methods shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.



   Fig. 14 allows to show a plurality of platforms 46 mounted on wheels; said platforms have been equipped with seats 90 and they are shown during the operation which consists in transferring them to the compartment 32 of the aerodync from a road vehicle in the form of a trailer 94 which has been provided with Raceways 95 corresponding to the raceways 45 of the compartment 32 of the aerodyne. A part of the tractor to which the trailer 94 is hitched is shown at 96 in FIG. 14.

   It will be understood, by examining this figure, that, the doors 34 having been placed in the open position, the trailer 94 has already been moved back, carrying its load of platforms 46, to the position in which its rear end comes rest against the threshold of the port of compartment 32; two of the platforms 46 have already been introduced into the compartment 32, a third is in the process of passing the trailer into the compartment and a fourth is still on the trailer. In this example, the load level of trailer 94 is lower than that of compartment 32.

   Under these conditions, to allow the platforms to pass so

 <Desc / Clms Page number 40>

 continuous and smoothly from the trailer to the compartment, a temporary gangway 97 has been placed between the rear end of the trailer and the threshold of the compartment door, said gangway comprising runways 98 which correspond to the paths of bearing 45 of the compartment 32 and to the tracks 95 of the trailer 94.



   It will be understood that, despite the fact that FIG.



    14 has been used to describe the transfer operation during which the platforms are passed from the road vehicle to the aerodyne, it can equally well be used to describe the reverse operation, during which one passes said platforms from compartment 32 to trailer 94.



   Fig. 21 shows, here again in a more or less schematic way, a third known type of goods transport aerodyne in which access to the hold 32, with a view to loading and unloading, is obtained by means of two openings provided with doors and formed in one side of the fuselage, said openings being shown in 99 in broken lines, one being arranged near the front end of compartment 32 while the other is located near the rear end of said compartment.

   In this aerodyne, as already described, the fixed floor, normally intended to support the load, has been omitted, and the compartment 32 is provided with runways 45 and side retaining elements 56. as explained above, and said side retaining members extend lengthwise of compartment 32 as in the previous constructions. However, in this case, the

 <Desc / Clms Page number 41>

 wings 57 and 58 of the retainers 56 do not extend continuously from one end to the other of said compartment 32, but are interrupted so that they terminate at the level of the side edges of the openings 99 formed in the side walls of said compartment.



   Further, in the case of an aerodyne designed for loading from the side like that shown in Fig. 21 instead of being intended to be loaded from the end as shown in Figs. 3 and 14, the retainers 61 and 62 described with the aid of FIG. 3 and which are intended to prevent the platforms 46 from any untimely longitudinal movement inside the compartment cease to be suitable, and different means should be sought to achieve a similar result, For this, and as shown by fig. 22, one of the side retainers 56 is provided with a plurality of holes 100 arranged at intervals along said member and, for their use in conjunction with said holes, a plurality of pegs are provided, the length of which is provided. one is shown at 101 in FIG.

   22 also, When the desired number of platforms have been placed in the compartment, the pegs 101 are inserted into the chosen holes 100 of the elements 56 and temporarily engage in holes provided for this purpose in one of the side edges of the elements. platforms, which has the effect of preventing said platforms from any untimely longitudinal displacement. If the multiple platforms are arranged in the compartment 32 so as to be in end-to-end contact with each other, it will be understood that it is sufficient to proceed to the locking of the two.

 <Desc / Clms Page number 42>

 extreme platforms by means of pins 101 to prevent any longitudinal displacement to all the platforms.



   Due to the mobility of the platforms 46 when placed inside the compartment 32 of the aerodyne shown in FIG. 21, said platforms can be set up and maintained inside said compartment in positions such that all the requirements relating to the position of the center of gravity and deduced from the observations or measurements made during loading are satisfied. .



   It will be appreciated that, with the arrangement shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, the use of a coupling device of the type described with the aid of FIG, 13 ceases to be useful because it is not possible, when the aerodyne is provided with an opening in one of its side walls for loading and unloading, to pass a train of platforms coupled to each other as can be done when the aerodyne is provided with openings arranged at the front or rear end of the compartment, as in the construction methods described above.



   When the opening intended for loading and unloading is made in one of the side walls of compartment 32 as in the case illustrated in FIG. 21, it will be understood that it is impossible to load the platforms 46 in said compartment 32 by a simple rolling movement.

   It is indeed first of all necessary to insert the platforms by a lateral movement through the openings 99,

 <Desc / Clms Page number 43>

 
A method of inserting the platforms through the openings 99 formed in a. side wall of the compartment consists in using a forklift truck, the arms of the fork of said truck being first of all engaged under a platform 46, then raised to raise said platform to the loading level ;

   at this moment, the carriage is moved forward so that the axes of the platform wheels are directed transversely to the length of the raceways 45 of the compartment 32 and until said arms of the supporting fork the platform pass it through the opening 99 and place it in a correct position on said raceways.



  The arms of the fork are then lowered to engage the platform wheels in the raceways 45, after which said arms are released by moving the carriage back. The platform can then be brought into the desired position by rolling it along the compartment. Fig. 21 shows a plurality of platforms 46 once they have been thus placed in suitable recognized positions within compartment 32.



   To avoid the need for a forklift and to allow the load bearing platforms 46 to be rolled in a substantially horizontal direction from a road transport vehicle by making them enter the compartment through a of the openings 99 made in the side wall of said compartment, it is possible to use a cradle 102 represented on pins 23 and 24, said cradle being essentially constituted by a certain number of rails 103 playing

 <Desc / Clms Page number 44>

 the role of raceways supporting the platform wheels;

   said rails are arranged with respect to each other with the same relative spacings as those of the raceways 45 installed in the compartment 32 of the aerodyne, these relative positions being determined and maintained by means of transfer elements 104 which are themselves themselves provided with a certain number of wheels 105, supporting the cradle, the axes of rotation of which are all parallel to the length of the rails 103;

   these wheels 105 are adapted to support the cradle on the road vehicle - road vehicle of the type used for transporting on the ground of an airport - so as to allow said cradle to be rolled by means of its wheels 105 for connection .. lift from the platform or other load-bearing member of the road vehicle and bring it, passing through one of the openings 99 in the side wall of the compartmenta in a position such that its rails 103 are in exact correspondence. with the adjacent ends of the raceways 45 which, in practice,

   must end exactly at the height of one of the vertical edges of the adjacent opening 99 made in the side wall of the compartment in this particular arrangement,
In this arrangement, the cargo compartment of the aerodyne, in a position immediately opposite each of the openings 99 made in the side wall, can be provided with runways extending perpendicular to the length of the runways. bearing 45 so as to provide a support means for the wheels 105 of the cradle, or else the compartment 32 constituting

 <Desc / Clms Page number 45>

 said cargo hold may be provided with a sort of continuous floor at these particular locations, that is to say in front of each of said openings 99 made in the side wall,

   continuous floor on which the transfer cradle 102 can be supported during the loading or unloading operation.



   The rails 103 of the cradle are adapted to support the wheels mounted on the platform 46 in the same way as the tracks 45 installed in the compartment 32 and, when performing the loading operation, the cradle must first of all to be brought onto the platform of the road vehicle bringing the load, a loaded platform 46 must then be moved in a direction parallel to the length of the rails 103 so that it can be rolled on the cradle and take there place in the manner shown in FIG.

   24, after which the road vehicle, complete with such a cradle thus loaded or with a number of such cradles arranged side by side and thus loaded, is then brought to the aerodyne so as to place the cradle in a horizontal position and at the threshold of one of the openings
99, the rails 103 of said cradle being parallel to the length of the raceways 45 of the compartment used for transporting the freight, after which said cradle is removed from the road vehicle by a rolling movement in a substantially horizontal direction by causing it to pass. through the opening 99 to bring it into a position such that its rails 103 are aligned with the adjacent ends of the raceways 45 of the compartment, so as to allow the platform 46 to pass,

   

 <Desc / Clms Page number 46>

 it is made to roll from the cradle on said raceways. It is thus possible to advance a series of platforms 46 loaded on the raceways 45 of the compartment intended for the transport of freight, the unloading gemcnt being carried out by an operation carried out in the opposite direction.



   Another method of loading and unloading applicable to an aerodyne provided with loading and unloading openings in its side walls is based on the use of some kind of turntable installed inside. of the aerodyne in front of one of said openings, said turntable being able to be installed permanently or in a removable manner, the latter solution having the advantage of reducing the empty weight of the aerodyne but being, on the other hand , capable of reducing to a fairly significant extent the total load carrying capacity of said aerodyne.



   Such an arrangement comprising the arrangement of a removable turntable is shown schematically in FIGS. 25 to 28, on which said turntable is shown at 106. Said turntable is essentially constituted by a base 107 mounted so as to rotate in a horizontal plane, that is to say like a turntable, on the adjacent part of the cell;

   it comprises a plurality of rails 108, four in the example shown, the relative spacings of which correspond to the spacings of the raceways 45 installed in the lower part of the compartment reserved for the transport of goods and which come into line, in that positions of said plate

 <Desc / Clms Page number 47>

 rotating which is shown in fig 27, with the corresponding raceways 45.



   Under these conditions, as well as FIG. 26 shows it particularly clearly, the turntable 106 can first be arranged in a loading position in which its rails 108 extend, in line with the opening 99 in the side wall, perpendicular to the length of the runways 45 which form part of the compartment layout, and a loaded platform 46 mounted on wheels can then be advanced in a substantially horizontal direction and through the opening 99 on the rails 108 of the turntable, so that it is supported by the engagement of its wheels in the rails 108 of said turntable which are spaced in a correspondingly suitable manner,

   after which the turntable can be rotated by 90 in its horizontal plane to assume the transfer position shown in fig. 27, position in which its rails 108 come to be placed in alignment with the raceways 45 of the compartment; the platform mounted on wheels is then facing the adjacent end of said raceways 45 and it only remains to push it to make it pass, while rolling, from the turntable onto the raceways 45 of the compartment intended for freight transport;

   a series of loaded platforms can thus take place in this way until said compartment is packed up to the height of the adjacent vertical edge 109 of the opening 99 as can be seen in FIG. 28, after which the turntable 106 is lifted.

 <Desc / Clms Page number 48>

 



   With this latter arrangement of the fittings, as in the case where a cradle such as that which is shown in FIGS. 23 and 24, the ends of the raceways 45 terminate flush with the adjacent vertical edge 109 of said opening 99.



   In the case of unloading, this last operation can be carried out by operating as above, but in reverse order,
With each of the types of transport aerodyne arrangements described above, the overall thickness of the platforms mounted on wheels, measured between the upper face of the platform of each platform and the lower edge of the wheels fitted to said platforms. -forms, is as small as possible in order to have the maximum space above said platforms for installing the freight to be transported;

   in practice, said overall thickness will preferably not exceed 15 centimeters and, in any case, will not exceed 20 centimeters, so that the carrying capacity of the compartment will not be significantly lower than that a compartment used for transporting goods of an identical aerodyne, but which has a fixed floor of a thickness which allows it to support substantially the same load as that which can be transported in the cargo hold of an aerodyne,
In addition, if, as is preferably recommended, the platforms intended for the transport of passengers are provided with removable seats, the overall thickness of said platforms,

   measured between the upper face

 <Desc / Clms Page number 49>

 of their platform and the lower edge of their wheels, will be the same as that of the platforms previously described and which are only intended for transporting freight! because a major advantage of these passenger transport platforms provided with removable seats lies precisely in the fact that the same platform can be used indifferently to transport passengers or freight, depending on traffic needs.



   The expression "wheels", as it has been used to describe platforms mounted on wheels, should of course be understood in its broadest sense: it can be just as simple rollers as any other. type of anti-friction device such as ball bearings capable of making it possible to advance the platforms by a rolling movement along the raceways arranged in the lower part of the compartment intended for transporting the load.



   The manner in which the loading and unloading of the aerodyne should be carried out is evident from the foregoing description and no further explanation is necessary, except perhaps to clarify further that, during loading of an aerodyne with cargo, the individual elements of the cargo shall be placed in predetermined positions on the platforms provided with wheels at a suitable time before the scheduled time of departure of the aerodyne, said positions being predetermined by the nature of the total load to be transported and by the particular load carrying characteristics of the aerodyne considered, and that the complete platforms should also be loaded, with the

 <Desc / Clms Page number 50>

 freight arranged and secured on it,

   in a predetermined order within the compartment of the aerodyne used for the transport of the cargo, taking into account the said characteristics of the aerodyne so as to ensure the optimum distribution of the loads and to transport the maximum possible quantity cargo during a given flight, said optimum distribution being easily determined by loading the platforms in advance and by predetermining the order of their introduction into the compartment, without any loss of time resulting from the need to carry out separately the installation and the securing of elements of the cargo of different dimensions and masses in particular locations suitably chosen inside the said compartment by a competent staff in charge of these delicate loading operations.



   Consequently, thanks to the implementation of the invention, the time necessary to load or to unload the cargo in an aerodyne is really reduced to the strict minimum, and the invention therefore makes it possible to operate a transport aerodyne. as efficiently as possible, with waiting times shortened as much as possible.



   In addition, as can be seen by referring to the preceding description, the invention also makes it possible to reduce to a very significant extent the time required both for boarding and disembarking passengers at airports.


    

Claims (1)

CLAIMS. 1 - A method of loading the cargo hold of an aircraft, characterized in that the individual elements of the cargo are loaded onto one or more platforms provided with wheels in specific positions on said platforms. shapes, positions predetermined by the mass and dimensions of said individual elements, by the flight characteristics of the aircraft and by the shape of its hold, each of said platforms with its cargo load, the elements of which are occupied. pent predetermined positions being rolled, so. to occupy in said hold a predetermined position, along runways which, in the absence of any fixed floor usually provided in the arrangement of said hold, are mounted directly on or are formed by the upper face of the airframe chords extending along the lower portion of said cargo hold, each of said platforms, when in position in said cargo hold, serving to distribute the mass of cargo through of its wheels and of said raceways between said frames of the cell in the desired manner which was determined during the preliminary loading of the freight on each of said flat sf orme s. 2 - A method of loading an aerodyne intended for the transport of passengers, characterized in that a certain number of passengers are seated in a place located at a distance from the aerodyne on corresponding seats provided for this purpose and arranged on a platform mounted on wheels and supporting said seats, / transports the- <Desc / Clms Page number 52> said platform loaded with passengers on a land vehicle from said location to a point located right against the loading opening of the compartment of the rodyne aircraft intended for transporting the load, by advancing the loaded platform from said land vehicle and through said loading opening to occupy a predetermined position in the aerodyne compartment for transporting the load along runways which, without any fixed floor of conventional design hitherto in such a compartment are mounted directly on or are formed by the upper face of frames of the cell extending along the lower part of said compartment, said platform, once it is in position in said compartment, serving to distribute the mass of the load which is placed therein, by means of its wheels and the raceways which serve to support them, between said chords of the airframe of the aerodyne. 3 - Aerodyne comprising unoompartiment used for transporting the load, the compartment being provided with one or more openings making it possible to carry out the loading or unloading of said compartment, characterized in that the fixed floor of design until now conventional and serving to support the load is omitted and the frames of the cell itself, which extend from a position located in the immediate vicinity of each of said openings and within the compartment intended for the transport of the load along the lower part of said compartment, directly supporting or constituting by their upper faces themselves a number of parallel raceways separated from each other <Desc / Clms Page number 53> very by suitable spacings, said runways being suitable for supporting the wheels, arranged at corresponding spacings, of a platform provided with wheels and intended to support the load, the arrangement adopted allowing the compartment to be loaded or unloaded entirely by simply advancing a or a plurality of said platforms provided with wheels in and out of said compartment and by rolling said platforms inside said compartment along the tracks, the weight of the load inside said compartment. compartment being directly distributed, using the platforms, their wheels and runways, between the frames of the airframe of the aerodyne; 4 - An aerodyne according to claim 3, comprising one or more openings of the compartment intended for the transport of the load arranged at one or both ends, that is to say at the front and / or at the rear of said compartment, the plane of each opening extending transversely with respect to the longitudinal axes of the aerodyne, characterized in that one end of said rolling tracks will preferably be disposed at a height located its-- sibly at the same level as the upper part of the threshold of each of said openings, this arrangement allowing the platform provided with wheels to be transported by means of some form of land vehicle to the bay of the opening, said platform then being able to be rolled directly out of the transport vehicle in a substantially horizontal direction so that the wheels of said platform engage in said runways which form part of the interior arrangement of the compartment assigned to the transport of the load; <Desc / Clms Page number 54> 5 - Aerodyne according to claim 4, charac- terized in that the door of each opening is preferably provided, on its inner face, with damping means designed so as to be able to engage with the ad- jacent end of the pbte -adjacent form, when the compartment intended for transporting the load is loaded, the arrangement adopted being such that the platform provided with wheels and / or a certain number of platforms provided with wheels and brought into contact with each other. at end of each other, is held in place and does not draw its: move relative to the rest of the mass of the aerodyne along said raceways, by the fact that it is engaged between two damping devices mounted on the doors, in the case of two openings, or else, in the case of of a single opening, by the fact that it is engaged and held in place between a damping device placed on the door closing said opening and a stop device installed at the opposite end of said raceways, a such engagement and such holding in place being, in both cases, effected by the simple operation which consists in closing the or each door; 6 - Aerodyne according to claims 3 to 5, charac- terized in that the interior of the compartment intended for transporting the load is provided, on each of the two opposite sides of said compartment, with a lateral retaining element. designed to come into contact with the adjacent side edge of each platform and also to come into contact with the adjacent part located on the edge of the upper face of each platform so as to immobilize each platform. forms against the side members to prevent said platforms from lateral and downward movement <Desc / Clms Page number 55> up or dd up and down relative to the rest of the aerodyne mass during flight, take-off and landing. 7. Aerodyne according to claim 6, charac- terized in that each of the lateral retaining elements is designed essentially in the form of a sort of cornice, these two angles extending parallel to one another with respect to the other and with respect to the raceways arranged at the lower part of said compartment for transporting the load, one wing of each angle being substantially vertical to engage the adjacent side edge of each platform and the other extending wing in a substantially horizontal plane to engage the upper face of each platform in the immediate vicinity of its lateral edge; 8 - Aerodyne according to claims 1 to 3, provided with a loading and unloading opening formed in one of the side walls of the compartment serving for transporting the load, characterized in that the rolling tracks supporting the platform form at the bottom of the compartment s "extend essentially parallel to the plane of the opening practically at the level thereof of the threshold thereof, the arrangement being such that the platforms mounted on wheels can be advanced. in a substantially horizontal direction within the load-bearing compartment, through this opening, and be mounted in a position in which the wheels of the platform are in alignment with the tracks supporting this platform -form so as to be able to engage on these. <Desc / Clms Page number 56> 9 / Aerodyne according to claim 8, characterized in that use is made of a cradle supporting the platform, having a number of tracks supporting the wheels of the platform, being relatively spaced apart. from each other by a distance corresponding to the track spacing of the compartment supporting the load, this cradle itself being provided with support wheels whose axes of rotation are essentially parallel to the length of these tracks, the arrangement being such that a platform can be moved on wheels on the cradle and that the latter is itself mounted on wheels in a substantially horizontal direction, substantially perpendicular to the length of the tracks, in the purpose of moving the mobile platform, through the opening of the load-bearing compartment in the side wall thereof so as to move the wheeled platform during loading into a position in which its wheels are aligned with the adjacent end of the tracks bearing of the compartment carrying the catge and to bring, during unloading, the cradle into a position in which its tracks are similarly aligned in order to receive the wheels of the platform inside the compartment carrying the load. 10. Aerodyne according to claim 8, characterized in that there is provided a turntable mounted or capable of being mounted inside the compartment intended for the transport of the load at a location opposite the lateral opening, this plate being able to rotate about a substantially vertical axis against the base of the compartment; / turntable being provided with a plurality of raceways mutually separated by spacers <Desc / Clms Page number 57> identical to the spacings of the raceways which form part of the interior fittings of the compartment, this arrangement being able to move the turntable from its loading or unloading position, in which its raceways extend transversely to the raceways of the compartment, to a so-called transfer position in which its own raceways align with the corresponding raceways of the compartment. 11 - Aerodyne according to claims 3 and 6 to 10, characterized in that the lateral retaining elements are provided with a removable wedging device adapted to engage with a stop face on a platform provided with wheels so to block this platform against any axial movement along the taxiways relative to the aerodyne during flight, take-off or landing. 12 - In combination with an aerodyne, according to claims 3 to 11, there is provided a platform provided with wheels and comprising a substantially flat upper plate intended to support the load and further provided, from below, with a certain number of sets of wheels coming to engage on the raceways, the sets of wheels being spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the spacing of the raceways forming part of the internal equipment of the compartment intended for the transport of the load, each set being constituted by a certain number of wheels, at least one in the immediate vicinity of each of the opposite end edges of each platform, so as to make it possible to support each end of the platform -form/ 13 - Device according to claim 12, ca = ractérisé in that the overall height of each platform <Desc / Clms Page number 58> fitted with wheels, measured between the upper face of said plate and the lower edge of the wheels, must not exceed 20 cm and will preferably not exceed 15 cm, the arrangement adopted being such that the upper face of the plate of the platform placed in the transport aerodyne is not located at a height appreciably different from that occupied by the upper face of the fixed floor of conventional design hitherto in the compartment intended to transport the load aboard an aerodyne; 14 - For or in combination with an aerodyne, according to claims 3 to 7, there is provided a plurality of platforms provided with wheels and intended to support the load to be transported, suitable for rolling along the tracks. bearings arranged in the lower part of the compartment used for transporting the load, their upper edges being arranged in the immediate vicinity of the lower part of the compartment, the platforms being mutually arranged end to end inside compartment, the mutually adjacent ends of the platforms being provided with complementary coupling devices, capapables. to engage so as to automatically perform the coupling of said platforms as they are successively engaged inside the compartment intended for transporting the load, the arrangement adopted being such that a train of platforms provided with wheels and thus hitched to each other can be extracted by rolling it out of the compartment so as to achieve, in one and the same operation, the unloading of the entire contents of the compartment, from the ma- nuals being provided to allow the disconnection of the positive coupling discs in order to be able to separate the equipped platforms <Desc / Clms Page number 59> wheels from each other after they have been removed from the compartment intended for transporting the load; 15 - For or in combination with an aerodyne, according to claims 3 to 11, a platform provided with wheels and comprising a load support plate provided, below, with a number of sets of wheels spaced apart from each other and designed to engage with the raceways at the lower part of the compartment supporting the load of this aerodyne, this plate being provided, at its upper part, a number of seats for passengers. 16 - Device according to claim 15, charac- terized in that the seats are detachable from the plate of the platform to which it is associated, the arrangement allowing the platform to be fitted as desired, according to the needs of the service, either for the transport of items of freight or for the transport of passengers seated on seats. 17 - Device according to claim 16, carao, terized in that the seats comprise feet which will be an integral part thereof and the lower ends of which can fit, in a removable manner, in corresponding openings made in the platform plate provided with wheels, the lower end of each leg itself comprising a sort of opening extending perpendicularly to the length of the leg to receive a movable locking element mounted on the adjacent part of the platform plate to fix each of the legs thereon and thus mount the seat there in a removable manner.