CN111547248A

CN111547248A - Connecting device and passenger service unit with same

Info

Publication number: CN111547248A
Application number: CN201911199391.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐磊; 张维方; 蒋龙富; 杨五一; 邹照亮; 曹雄强
Original assignee: Comac Shanghai Aircraft Design & Research Institute; Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd
Current assignee: Comac Shanghai Aircraft Design & Research Institute; Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-29
Filing date: 2019-11-29
Publication date: 2020-08-18

Abstract

The invention describes a connecting device for connecting a panel to a rail, wherein: the guide rail distributes a plurality of openings along the guide rail direction, and this connecting device includes connection module, and this connection module is connected with the opening, and this connection module includes first connection module and second connection module, and wherein the width of second connection module matches with open-ended width and is used for the panel along the spacing of guide rail direction. The connecting device is convenient for the flexible arrangement of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) on the aircraft course, allows certain relative deformation to exist between the inner side and the outer side of the guide rail of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU), can simplify the manufacturing and assembling process and shorten the manufacturing period of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); the manufacturing of tooling dies is reduced, and the production and manufacturing cost is reduced; reduce the maintenance and use cost of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); reducing the number of fasteners; and is advantageous for reducing cabin noise.

Description

Connecting device and passenger service unit with same

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of connection devices, and more particularly to a connection device, which is particularly suitable for the connection and fixation of airborne equipment on an aircraft. The invention also relates to a passenger service unit provided with the connecting device.

Background

In the field of aviation, a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is one of the main components used by passengers of an airplane, and is an important Unit for providing comfort Service for passengers in the flight process of the airplane, and can provide Service functions of emergency oxygen supply, personal ventilation, reading lamp illumination, fastening safety belts, smoking prohibition information prompt, crew calling, safety, entertainment sound, image information distribution and the like for the passengers, thereby being important in embodying the comfort of a Passenger cabin. With the development of science and technology and the improvement of passenger riding requirements, the functions included in the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) in the airplane passenger cabin are continuously improved and enhanced to meet the requirements of safety, functionality, economy, comfort and beauty of the modern airplane passenger cabin.

Passenger Service Units (PSUs) are generally composed of: the passenger emergency oxygen supply system comprises an emergency oxygen module (providing an oxygen supply function for passengers in emergency when the passenger cabin is in decompression), a personal ventilation module (providing a passenger cabin personal ventilation function for the passengers), a lighting module (providing a passenger cabin internal reading lighting function for the passengers), a loudspeaker module (providing a passenger cabin voice information prompting function for the passengers), a crew calling module (submitting and calling the passenger cabin crew for the passengers), an information prompting module (prompting the passengers to fasten safety belts and forbid the passengers to smoke in the passenger cabin), a hoisting display module (providing an entertainment sound image publishing function for the passengers), a non-functional filling plate module and the like.

The functional modules providing the passengers with services such as emergency oxygen supply, personal ventilation, reading lamp illumination, information prompt, crew call, entertainment audio and image distribution, etc. generally form the whole Passenger Service Unit (PSU) in two forms: blocked modularization or integrated modularization. The two forms have the advantages and the disadvantages, the modularized design has stronger interchangeable universal maintenance function, a single functional module on one Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can be quickly and conveniently disassembled and installed on the other Passenger Service Unit (PSU), the integrated modularized design has relatively lighter weight and relatively higher reliability requirement, and once the single functional module on one Passenger Service Unit (PSU) has a fault, the whole Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can possibly be replaced.

Passenger Service Unit (PSU) deployment requires a combination of security, functionality, economy, aesthetics, and the like. Safety must guarantee that the arrangement of Passenger Service Unit (PSU) emergency oxygen module in passenger cabin accords with seaworthiness and relevant design requirement promptly, guarantees that the passenger is in the emergency oxygen of passenger cabin decompression emergency. Functionality refers to the ease of use and comfort of the individual module functions that make up the cabin Passenger Service Unit (PSU) under normal use conditions. Economy means that the weight penalty of the Passenger Service Units (PSUs) in the passenger cabin is minimized for the same arrangement. Aesthetics refers to the situation where the aforementioned requirements are warranted, where the cabin Passenger Service Unit (PSU) arrangement is warranted to meet cabin aesthetic requirements. The cabin Passenger Service Unit (PSU) arrangement must first of all guarantee its safety, functionality requirements.

As mentioned above, Passenger Service Units (PSUs) are extremely common and indispensable to aircraft. During assembly, since the Passenger Service Units (PSU) are connected by their own hooks to the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rails on the lower trunk or structural frame, the arrangement of the Passenger Service Units (PSU) needs to be adjusted to the adjustment of the seat arrangement in the passenger cabin, whereby the Passenger Service Units (PSU) must be continuously adjustable in position during the flight of the aircraft. In addition, the form of connection of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) must also have the ability to be quickly installed and removed in view of the needs of the aircraft airline operations. Furthermore, since the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is located above the passenger's head, the reliability of the hook must be ensured in all extreme operating conditions of the aircraft, and the reliability requirements are therefore also considerably high. However, there is no Passenger Service Unit (PSU) connection device in the current art that can meet all of the above requirements.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a prior art connection format for a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) of an aircraft of a certain type. The prior art Passenger Service Unit (PSU) shown in fig. 1 must use a hex key tool for installation. As shown in the inner (window side) part I of fig. 1, the pressure head of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) hook can only be pressed against the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rail by using the hexagon socket head tool, and the pressure head of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) hook must also be released during disassembly by using the hexagon socket head tool. At the same time, this type of prior art connection also requires a specially made rope to suspend the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) on the outside rail, considering that the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is opened 90 ° for installation, removal and maintenance, as shown in the outside (cross-lane) section O of fig. 1.

In view of the foregoing, there is no Passenger Service Unit (PSU) connection device in the art, particularly in the field of aircraft design, which facilitates flexible arrangement of the Passenger Service Units (PSU) in the aircraft course, allows a certain relative deformation between the inside and outside of the guideway of the Passenger Service Units (PSU), simplifies the manufacturing assembly process, and shortens the manufacturing cycle of the Passenger Service Units (PSU); the manufacturing of tooling dies is reduced, and the production and manufacturing cost is reduced; reduce the maintenance and use cost of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); reducing the number of fasteners; and is advantageous for reducing cabin noise. Therefore, how to design a guest service unit (PSU) connection device that can satisfy these conditions at the same time becomes a critical technical problem.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is made to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connection device which facilitates flexible arrangement of a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) in the course of an aircraft, allows a certain relative deformation between the inside and outside of a guide rail of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU), can simplify the manufacturing and assembling process, and can shorten the manufacturing cycle of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); the manufacturing of tooling dies is reduced, and the production and manufacturing cost is reduced; reduce the maintenance and use cost of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); reducing the number of fasteners; and is advantageous for reducing cabin noise.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect, the present invention provides a connecting device for connecting a panel with a rail, wherein: the guide rail is along a plurality of openings of guide rail direction distribution, connecting device includes connecting module, connecting module with the opening is connected, connecting module includes first connecting module and second connecting module, the width of second connecting module with open-ended width matches and is used for the panel along the spacing of guide rail direction.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the width of the first connecting module is smaller than the width of the second connecting module.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the plurality of openings are equal in size to each other.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the connecting module includes a hook, a torsion spring, and a rotation shaft, wherein:

one end of the hook is pivotally attached to the rotating shaft;

the torsion spring is installed on the rotation shaft around the rotation shaft, and

the hook is pre-tightened by the torsion spring.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the panel includes a vertical reinforcement portion, and the vertical reinforcement portion includes a stopper having a shape matching a shape of the hook so that the connecting device is tightly connected to the guide rail.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the connecting device further includes an elastic block on which the guide rail is pressed after the connecting device is installed.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the elastic block is made of rubber.

Preferably, in the connection device of the present invention, the first connection module includes an inside first connection module and an outside first connection module, and the second connection module includes an inside second connection module and an outside second connection module, which are respectively located at four corners of the panel.

Preferably, in the connecting device of the present invention, the guide rail includes an inner guide rail and an outer guide rail.

According to another aspect, the invention provides a passenger service unit having a connection device of the invention.

In summary, the core technology of the invention is as follows:

1. the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can continuously adjust the position along the aircraft course, thereby ensuring the flexibility of the arrangement of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU);

2. the structure form is modular in design, simple, reliable and light;

3. because the elastic block is adopted, the effect on noise and vibration suppression is obvious;

4. the fixing of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) in the heading direction is limited by a wide connecting module, so that the fixed, simple and reliable course is facilitated;

5. the two sides of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) are completely symmetrical, and the connecting modules can be exchanged from inside to outside, so that the design configuration of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is obviously reduced, and the manufacturing cost is greatly reduced.

In view of the above, the connection device of the present invention, compared to the prior art, can ensure flexible arrangement of the Passenger Service Units (PSU) in the course of the aircraft, allow a certain relative deformation between the inside and outside of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rail, simplify the manufacturing assembly process, and shorten the manufacturing cycle of the Passenger Service Units (PSU); the manufacturing of tooling dies is reduced, and the production and manufacturing cost is reduced; reduce the maintenance and use cost of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); reducing the number of fasteners; the noise in the cabin is reduced; and a modularly designable design can be achieved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a prior art connection format for a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) of an aircraft of a certain type.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of the connection form of the connection device of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of the construction of the connection device of the present invention.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of the connection of the inventive connecting device to a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rail on the inside (window side).

Figure 5 shows a schematic view of the connection of the inventive connection device to a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rail on the outside (cross-lane side).

Fig. 6 shows a schematic connection diagram of a first connection module and a second connection module in the connection device of the present invention.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic view of the connection device according to the invention in its disassembled state.

List of reference numerals in the figures in the technical solutions and embodiments:

10. connection module

110. Hook for hanging articles

120. Rotating shaft

130. Torsion spring

20. Elastic block

30. Panel board

310. Vertical reinforcement part stop block

10S. first connection module

10L. second connection module

10IS. inner (window side) first connection module

10IL. inner (window side) second connection module

10OS. outside (passing side) first connection module

10OL. outside (passing side) second connection module

OGU outer guide rail

IGU, inner guide rail

OOP. outside guide opening

Iop inner rail opening

Ogus. outside guide rail shaft

TO. disassembling tool

Detailed Description

While specific embodiments of the invention will be described below, it should be noted that in the course of the detailed description of these embodiments, in order to provide a concise and concise description, all features of an actual implementation may not be described in detail. It should be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or design project, numerous implementation-specific decisions are made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it should be further appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and tedious, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of this disclosure, and thus should not be construed as a complete understanding of this disclosure.

Unless otherwise defined, technical or scientific terms used in the claims and the specification should have the ordinary meaning as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. The terms "a" or "an," and the like, do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one. The word "comprise" or "comprises", and the like, means that the element or item listed before "comprises" or "comprising" covers the element or item listed after "comprising" or "comprises" and its equivalent, and does not exclude other elements or items. The terms "connected" or "coupled" and the like are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections, nor are they restricted to direct or indirect connections.

The following detailed description of the connection device of the present invention will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings:

referring first to fig. 2, there is shown a schematic diagram of the connection format of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) of the present invention, wherein the left side of fig. 2 shows the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) outside installation interface of the connection device of the present invention, and the right side of fig. 2 shows the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) inside installation interface of the connection device of the present invention. As is clear from fig. 2, a significant feature of the present invention is that the connecting means is of modular design, corresponding to a series of openings (including the outboard and inboard rail openings OOP, IOP) evenly distributed over the rail of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU), including the outboard and inboard rail OGUs, the plurality of openings being of the same size as one another.

Referring to fig. 3, a schematic diagram of a connecting device according to the present invention is shown. In particular, as shown in the figures, the connecting device of the present invention is used for connecting a panel with a rail, and comprises a connecting module 10 and an elastic block 20. The connection module 10 includes a hook 110, a rotation shaft 120, and a torsion spring 130. The panel 30 has a vertical stiffener stop 310. Wherein, one end of the hook 110 is pivotally attached to the rotating shaft 120, the torsion spring 130 is installed on the rotating shaft 120 around the rotating shaft 120, and the hook 110 is preset with a pre-tightening torque by the torsion spring 130, a component rib (not shown) is provided on the panel, a hole is provided on the component rib, and when the hook is installed, the rotating shaft passes through the hole to fix the hook on the panel. The elastic blocks 20 are preferably made of rubber, at least one of which may be provided on one or both sides of the connection module, against which the guide rails are pressed after the connection means have connected the guide rails with the panel. From this, the modular design of the connecting device greatly contributes to a simple, reliable and light structure.

As shown in fig. 3, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connecting device of the present invention includes four connecting modules 10, which are respectively located at four corners of the panel 30, an inner first connecting module 10IS and an inner second connecting module 10IL located at the inner side (window side), and an outer first connecting module 10OS and an outer second connecting module 10OL located at the outer side (aisle side). Preferably, the structures of the inside first connection module 10IS and the outside first connection module 10OS are uniformly and symmetrically arranged, and the structures of the inside second connection module 10IL and the outside second connection module 10OL are also uniformly and symmetrically arranged. Wherein the width of the inside first connection module 10IS smaller than the width of the inside second connection module 10IL, and the width of the outside first connection module 10OS IS smaller than the width of the outside second connection module 10OL. Thus, the two sides of the panel can be completely symmetrical, and the connecting modules can be exchanged from inside to outside, so that the design configuration of a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is obviously reduced, and the manufacturing cost is greatly reduced.

The connection of the inventive connecting device to the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) on the inside (window side) and outside (aisle side) will be described below with reference to fig. 4 and 5:

as shown in fig. 4, a schematic view of the connection of the inventive connection device to a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rail on the inside (window side) is shown. As shown in the drawing, after the connection module is installed, since the hook 110 is preset with a pre-tightening torque by the torsion spring, the hook 110 is caused to tightly embrace the inner rail axis IGUs of the inner rail IGU. The inner side guide rail IGU is pressed tightly on the elastic block 20, and the elastic block 20 has good vibration damping and energy absorbing functions, so that the adverse effect of cabin noise and vibration on a Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can be remarkably reduced, and the connecting device can be tightly connected on the guide rail because the shape of the vertical reinforcing part stopper 310 is matched with the shape of the hook 110, so that the hook is prevented from being disconnected with the guide rail after the panel is connected.

Next, as shown in fig. 5, there is shown a schematic view of the connection of the inventive connecting device to the outside (the aisle side) of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) rail. As described above, since the inner side first connection module and the outer side first connection module are identical and symmetrically configured, and the inner side second connection module and the outer side second connection module are also identical and symmetrically configured, the connection module of the present invention can be exchanged between the inner side and the outer side, thereby significantly reducing the design configuration of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) and greatly reducing the manufacturing cost. It is worth mentioning here that since the removal of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is usually performed from the outside (the aisle side), the connection device requires a special dismantling tool TO at the time of removal, which is schematically shown in fig. 5.

Referring additionally now to fig. 6, there is shown a schematic diagram of the connection of a first connection module and a second connection module in the connection device of the present invention. As shown in the drawings, in the connecting device of the present invention, it is preferable that the connecting module 10 has two configurations, that is, a second connecting module 10L and a first connecting module 10S. The second connection module 10L is used for limiting the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) in the flight direction, and the first connection module 10S is used for adjusting the gap of the aircraft course caused by manufacturing and assembling, so that the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can be conveniently installed and detached. Therefore, the position of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can be continuously adjusted along the aircraft course, the flexibility of arrangement of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is ensured, and the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is fixed in the aircraft direction by the aid of the second connecting module for limiting, so that the fixed, simple and reliable course is facilitated.

The mounting and dismounting of the connection device according to the invention will now be described with reference to fig. 7 as follows:

when installed, the panel 30 of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is suspended from the outboard guide rail OGU of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) and then the panel 30 of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is rotated upwardly along the axis of rotation of the outboard connector module until the hook of the inboard connector module is engaged with the inboard guide rail IGU of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU), thus completing the installation process of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU).

When disassembled, as shown in FIG. 5, the hooks of the inboard connector modules are lifted by the special removal tool TO so that the Passenger Service Units (PSUs) will rotate downwardly by gravity along the axis of rotation of the outboard connector modules until the panels 30 of the Passenger Service Units (PSUs) hang vertically, and then the Passenger Service Units (PSUs) are removed from the inboard track IGUs of the Passenger Service Units (PSUs) so that the disassembly process for the Passenger Service Units (PSUs) is complete.

It follows that the attachment and detachment of the attachment device of the present invention is extremely convenient compared to the prior art, thereby not only greatly simplifying the manufacturing assembly process, but also significantly shortening the manufacturing cycle time of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU).

In conclusion, the core technical value of the invention is as follows: the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) can continuously adjust the position along the aircraft course, thereby ensuring the flexibility of the arrangement of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU); the structure form is modular in design, simple, reliable and light; because the elastic block is adopted, the effect on noise and vibration suppression is obvious; the fixing of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) in the heading direction depends on a wider second connecting module for limiting, so that the fixing, the simplicity and the reliability of the heading direction are facilitated; the two sides of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) are completely symmetrical, and the connecting modules can be exchanged from inside to outside, so that the design configuration of the Passenger Service Unit (PSU) is obviously reduced, and the manufacturing cost is greatly reduced.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but it is understood that other advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing teachings of the invention. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Therefore, reasonable combinations or modifications of the elements of the above-described embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art to make various modifications without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A connecting device, connecting device is used for connecting panel and guide rail, its characterized in that: the guide rail is along a plurality of openings of guide rail direction distribution, connecting device includes connecting module, connecting module with the opening is connected, connecting module includes first connecting module and second connecting module, the width of second connecting module with open-ended width matches and is used for the panel along the spacing of guide rail direction.

2. The connection device of claim 1, wherein the width of the first connection module is less than the width of the second connection module.

3. The connecting device of claim 2 wherein the plurality of openings are the same size as one another.

4. The connecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connecting module comprises a hook, a torsion spring, and a rotating shaft, wherein:

one end of the hook is pivotally attached to the rotating shaft;

the hook is pre-tightened by the torsion spring.

5. The connection device of claim 4, wherein: the panel comprises a vertical reinforcing part, the vertical reinforcing part comprises a stop block, and the shape of the stop block is matched with that of the hook, so that the connecting device is tightly connected to the guide rail.

6. A connection device according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that: the connecting device further comprises an elastic block, and the guide rail is pressed on the elastic block after the connecting device is installed.

7. The connection device of claim 6, wherein: the elastic block is made of rubber.

8. A connection device according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that: the first connecting module comprises an inner side first connecting module and an outer side first connecting module, and the second connecting module comprises an inner side second connecting module and an outer side second connecting module which are respectively positioned at four corners of the panel.

9. The connection device of claim 1, wherein: the guide rails include an inboard guide rail and an outboard guide rail.

10. A passenger service unit, the passenger service unit having:

a connection device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9.