CN113942629A - Aircraft subdivision board and aircraft equipped with same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an aircraft subdivision panel, characterized in that it spans the entire aircraft cross-section and comprises a sliding door in the middle of the subdivision panel, which when closed causes the formation of mutually independent cabin spaces within the aircraft, and which when open forms an emergency evacuation channel of the aircraft, wherein the sliding door is also equipped with a switch for transferring the state of the sliding door to the crew.

Description

Aircraft subdivision board and aircraft equipped with same

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to aircraft deckboards, and in particular to aircraft deckboards with sliding doors.

Background

Generally speaking, the passage of any seat in the passenger cabin to the emergency exit of the aircraft must not be obstructed, depending on the emergency access requirements for the design of the aircraft, in particular civil aircraft. At present, the subdivision facilities of the aircraft are distributed on two sides of a main channel, a gap which is not less than the width of the channel is reserved in the middle, the gap is shielded by a door curtain, and the channel is kept smooth by opening the door curtain, as shown in figures 1 to 3.

For example, schematic diagrams of example aircraft subdivision facilities of the prior art are shown in FIGS. 1-3. It can be seen that prior art subdivision facilities typically include subdivision panels and curtains, and the curtains are used as partitions of the cabin space. Although these conventional aircraft subdivision facilities can meet the requirement of reserving aircraft emergency passages, the partitioning and zoning effects are poor, and the decorative effect is poor, so that the demands of more and more business customers who seek comfort and privacy cannot be met.

In addition, the conventional aircraft subdivision facility realizes the opening of the emergency passage through the opening and closing of the door curtain, but a flight crew in the cockpit cannot directly monitor whether the door curtain is opened and bound in the sliding, takeoff and landing (TTOL) stage.

In addition, the traditional aircraft subdivision facility only has a simple partition function and almost has no storage and other functions.

The present disclosure improves upon, but is not limited to, the above-mentioned factors.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE

To this end, the present disclosure provides an aircraft deckboard with sliding doors for effectively separating the cabin spaces and enabling the open and closed state of the sliding doors to be provided to the flight crew to ensure the clearance of the aircraft emergency access.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an aircraft subdivision panel is provided, wherein the subdivision panel spans the entire aircraft cross-section and comprises a sliding door in the middle of the subdivision panel, which sliding door, when closed, results in the formation of mutually independent cabin spaces within the aircraft, and which sliding door, when open, forms an emergency evacuation channel of the aircraft, wherein the sliding door is further equipped with a switch for transferring the status of the sliding door to the crew.

According to an embodiment, the aircraft bulkhead is a civil aircraft bulkhead.

According to another embodiment, the subdivision plate comprises an interlayer for accommodating the sliding door at one side of the subdivision plate, wherein the sliding door is accommodated in the interlayer when being opened, and does not occupy the space of the cabin.

According to yet another embodiment, the subdivision board is integrated with a plurality of functions including emergency exit lights, storage, entertainment viewing, air conditioning control.

According to a further embodiment, the stowage function is provided on the side of the board without the interlayer.

According to a further embodiment, the sliding door is further equipped with a double latch comprising a primary lock for locking the sliding door in a fully closed position and enabling opening, closing and moving of the sliding door when the primary lock is unlocked, and a secondary lock for locking the sliding door in a fully open position so as to keep clear an aircraft emergency access.

According to a further embodiment, the secondary lock is able to lock the sliding door in a fully open position by pulling its bolt out to beyond the sliding door and rotating it 90 degrees clockwise to catch the sliding door.

According to a further embodiment, the switch is provided on the secondary lock and the switch is opened only in case the sliding door is fully opened and locked.

According to a further embodiment, each of the aircraft taxi, takeoff and/or landing phases each has a TTOL switch closed at its respective phase, the TTOL switches being electrically connected in parallel with each other and the switch being electrically connected in series with each of the TTOL switches.

According to a further embodiment, the switch is further electrically connected in series with a solenoid in a relay, and the relay is further connected to an alarm device, such that with either of the TTOL switches closed and the switch closed, the solenoid of the relay is energized such that an armature switch of the relay is turned on and thereby activates the alarm device.

According to a further embodiment, the door panel design of the sliding door has frangible features so that it can be knocked open in an emergency.

According to a further embodiment, the sliding door comprises a ball-end stop, and upon impact with the side of the door panel of the sliding door close to the ball-end stop, the stop ball of the ball-end stop disengages the stop, so that the sliding door is opened.

According to a further embodiment, the bay board further has a damper for the moving door, the damper being capable of reducing noise when the moving door is opened or closed, and capable of returning the moving door to a fully closed position in a case where the moving door is not locked at the fully opened position by the secondary lock.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an aircraft comprising an aircraft cabin panel as according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for notifying a TTOL phase lower door state, the lower door being a lower door included in a bay board according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the method comprising: determining that the aircraft is currently in the TTOL phase; determining whether the sliding door is fully opened and locked; and issuing a visual or audible alert to the flight crew upon determining that the sliding door is not fully opened and locked.

Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, and processing systems substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of an example in accordance with the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described hereinafter. The conception and specific examples disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The features of the concepts disclosed herein, both as to their organization and method of operation, together with associated advantages, will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for the purposes of illustration and description and does not define the limits of the claims.

Drawings

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typical aspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equally effective aspects. The same reference numbers in different drawings may identify the same or similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example aircraft subdivision facility of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of another example aircraft subdivision facility of the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of yet another example aircraft subdivision facility of the prior art;

fig. 4 and 5 are front and back views, respectively, of an example aircraft deckboard according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a secondary lock included with an example aircraft deckboard according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary circuit diagram of a door moving state notification function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an exemplary frangible feature included with a sliding door according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 9 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for notifying a TTOL phase move gate state according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, which illustrate front and back views, respectively, of an example aircraft hatchway 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the terms "front" and "back" are used herein in a relative sense and are not intended to limit a particular side of the deck panel to a front side. For example, if the side of the subdivision board facing the economy class is called the "front side", the side facing the business class is called the "back side", and vice versa.

In an embodiment, the perimeter of the subdivision panel 100 can be connected to the aircraft so as to span the entire aircraft cross-section such that mutually independent compartment spaces are formed within the aircraft. This declutching function is well understood by those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

As shown, the subdivision panel 100 also carries a sliding door 110. In general, the sliding doors 110 are located in the middle of the bay panel 100 and, when closed, allow the formation of cabin spaces in the aircraft that are independent of one another and, when open, allow the formation of emergency evacuation channels for the aircraft.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the subdivision panel 100 further comprises an interlayer (not shown in the drawings) on one side of the subdivision panel for accommodating the sliding door 110. In this embodiment, when the sliding door 110 is opened, the sliding door is received in (e.g., slid into) the mezzanine without occupying cabin space.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the subdivision panel 100 may also be integrated with a number of functions, including emergency exit lights, stowage, entertainment viewing, climate control, etc., as illustrated by the exit lights 120, stowage bins 130, stowage drawers 140, viewing screens 150, control panel 160 (which may provide climate control functions), etc., in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this embodiment, the stowage bins 130, stowage drawers 140, etc. may be disposed on the non-mezzanine side of the deck 100 to improve space utilization.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the sliding door 110 is further equipped with a double locking mechanism (i.e., a double latch) including a primary lock 170 and a secondary lock (not shown in fig. 4, please see fig. 5 and 6). In one embodiment, both the primary lock 170 and the secondary lock 180 of the sliding door 110 may be located on the door frame of the deckboard 100. In yet another embodiment, the primary lock 170 may be located on a sliding door.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the main lock 170 serves to lock the sliding door 110 in a fully closed position, and the sliding door 110 can be opened, closed, and moved when the main lock 170 is unlocked. In a further embodiment, the primary lock 170 may be unlocked from both sides of the subdivision panel 100. In yet another embodiment, the primary lock 170 can only be opened from one side of the business class to enable opening of the sliding door.

In one embodiment, the secondary lock 180 is used to lock the sliding door 110 in a fully open position to enable the maintenance of clear emergency access to the aircraft, particularly during taxiing, takeoff and/or landing (TTOL) phases of the aircraft, thereby ensuring emergency access requirements.

Fig. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of a secondary lock 180 included with an example aircraft deckboard according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

For example, as shown in phantom lines in fig. 6 (which shows the trajectory of the secondary lock 180 when locking the sliding door 110 in the open position), the secondary lock 180 can lock the sliding door 110 in the fully open position by pulling its latch (shown to the left in fig. 6) out to clear the latch beyond the sliding door 110, and then rotating the latch 90 degrees clockwise to catch the sliding door 110.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that this is merely one example of a locking mechanism that can lock a sliding door in a fully open position, and that various other locking mechanisms are possible that can lock a sliding door in a fully open position.

In another embodiment, when the sliding door 110 is in the closed state, the secondary lock latch does not extend, so that the sliding door 110 can be completely closed, as shown in fig. 6, for example.

In order to be able to communicate the open and closed state of the sliding door (i.e. whether the emergency access is clear) to the crew, according to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the sliding door 110 may also be equipped with a switch for communicating the state of the sliding door to the crew. In this embodiment, the switch may be closed and opened depending on whether the sliding door is fully opened and locked. For example, the switch may be open only in the case of a sliding door that is fully open and locked, and closed in any other case of a sliding door; or vice versa.

The inventors have realized that the state of the sliding door only needs to be communicated to the crew when the aircraft is in the TTOL phase, whereas it is not necessary, and may even disturb, the crew when the aircraft is in the non-TTOL phase. Thus, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the status signal of the moving door may be combined with the TTOL signal so as to both inform the flight crew when needed (i.e., TTOL phase) and not interfere with the flight crew at other phases.

The following equation shows an exemplary logical relationship of these signal combinations:

O＝X AND(Y1 OR Y2 OR……OR Yn)

wherein O represents an indication of an alarm signal, O being equal to 1 indicates that the alarm signal is to be initiated, O being equal to 0 indicates that the alarm signal is not to be initiated, thereby not interfering with the crew;

x represents a sliding door state, X equal to 1 represents that the sliding door is not fully opened/unlocked, X equal to 0 represents that the sliding door is fully opened and locked;

y1, Y2 … … Yn represent individual TTOL phases (n being the number of TTOL phases), wherein Y1 equals 1 and Y2 … … Yn equals 0 when the aircraft is in a first one of the TTOL phases; and so on.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although a single variable X is used herein to represent the state of the sliding door, two variables may be used, where the first variable represents the opening and closing of the sliding door and the second variable represents whether the sliding door is locked or not. In the latter case, the sliding door may be equipped with two switches, one for each variable.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a schematic diagram of one exemplary circuitry for the above-described sliding door status notification function is shown. It will be appreciated that fig. 7 is merely one exemplary implementation of the above logical relationships, and that there may be various other suitable ways to implement the logic shown in the above equations, such as using ASICs, FPGAs, and so forth.

Referring to fig. 7, the exemplary circuitry includes a sliding door switch 710, TTOL switches 720, 730, a relay 740, and an alarm device 750. Of course, the exemplary circuitry also includes any suitable power and ground and other additional circuit components, which are not described in detail herein.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a switch 710 may be provided on a secondary lock, such as secondary lock 180, for communicating to the flight crew a signal of whether the aircraft taxiing, takeoff and/or landing (TTOL) phase shift door 110 is not fully opened and locked, such as to an indicator light, display screen, or the like that is viewable by the flight crew. Alternatively, in this case, an audible alarm may be issued to notify the flight crew, such as a beep or a voice (such as a voice of "the hatch is not opened, the door is not locked"). In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the switch 710 is only opened if the sliding door (i.e., the cabin door) is fully opened and locked.

As shown in fig. 7, TTOL switches 720, 730 may correspond to any of the taxi, takeoff and/or landing (TTOL) phases of an aircraft, and are closed at their respective phases. In this embodiment, the TTOL switches are electrically connected in parallel with each other so that the circuit shown in fig. 7 can be grounded during any TTOL phase.

Furthermore, as can be seen from fig. 7, switch 710 is electrically connected in series with each of the TTOL switches, enabling the circuit to be completed when the sliding door is not fully opened and/or unlocked in the TTOL phase.

According to the implementation shown in fig. 7, each of the switch 710, TTOL switches (720, 730), and the solenoid in the relay 740 may be electrically connected together in series, with the relay 740 also connected to the alarm device 750. Thus, with either of the TTOL switches closed and switch 710 closed, the solenoid of relay 740 is energized to turn on the armature switch of relay 740, thereby activating alarm device 750.

Specifically, referring to fig. 7, if the sliding door is not fully opened and/or unlocked, switch 710 is closed and the signal is on so that an alarm can be sounded in the TTOL phase.

With continued reference to fig. 7, if the landing gear is down and locked (which is in the TTOL phase, such as takeoff, landing, etc.), switch 720 is closed. Thus, the closing of the switches 710, 720 causes the solenoid to turn on and generate a magnetic force, causing the relay 740 in fig. 7 to turn on the switch of the alarm device, thereby activating the alarm device (e.g., illuminating an indicator light, which is one example of a visual alarm);

if the glide down light is on (belonging to the glide phase of the TTOL phase), then switch 730 is closed. Thus, closure of the switches 710, 730 causes the solenoid to turn on and generate a magnetic force, causing the relay 740 in fig. 7 to turn on the switch of the alarm device 750, thereby activating the alarm device (such as illuminating an indicator light) via the power source 760 of the alarm device 750.

When the aircraft is not in the TTOL phase, however, the TTOL switches are open, such that the solenoid of relay 740 is not turned on and thus warning device 750 is not turned on whether switch 710 is open or closed. Thus, the open and close state of the sliding door does not interfere with the crew.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although fig. 7 illustrates two scenarios for the TTOL phase, there are various other scenarios for determining that the current aircraft is in the TTOL phase and thereby closing the corresponding TTOL switch such that the solenoid is turned on and thereby illuminates the indicator light, which will not be described in detail herein.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, to prevent the door lock from malfunctioning in an emergency situation, which occurs when the door is closed and cannot be opened in the TTOL phase, the sliding door panel design has a frangible feature that allows it to be knocked open in an emergency situation. For example, fig. 8 shows one example of such a frangible feature. Referring to fig. 8, as shown in the enlarged partial left-hand corner, the sliding door includes a ball stop 810 (i.e., frangible feature). Upon striking the side of the door panel of the sliding door adjacent the ball stop 810 (as shown by the shaded area in fig. 8), the stop ball of the ball stop 810 disengages the stop, allowing the sliding door to be opened.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the subdivision panel 100 may also have a damper (not shown in the drawings) for the sliding door 110, which can reduce the noise when the sliding door is opened and/or closed. In a further embodiment, the damper may be a self-return damper, so that the moving door may be returned to the fully closed position without the moving door being locked at the fully open position by the secondary lock.

In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, the subdivision panel 100 is a civil aircraft subdivision panel.

Fig. 9 is a flow diagram of an example method 900 for notifying a TTOL phase down gate state, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

At block 910, the method 900 may include determining that the aircraft is currently in the TTOL phase. In connection with fig. 7, this determination may be made by monitoring the state of each TTOL switch, such as the states of TTOL switches 720, 730, etc. In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the closing of either of the TTOL switches may indicate that the aircraft is currently in the TTOL phase. Of course, there may be various other suitable ways to make this determination, such as by the status of the landing gear, the status of the taxi lights, and so forth, which will not be described in detail herein.

At block 920, the method 900 may include determining whether the sliding door is fully open and locked. In connection with fig. 7, this determination may also be made by monitoring the state of a switch associated with the sliding door, such as the state of switch 710. In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the opening of switch 710 may indicate that the sliding door is fully open and locked.

When it is determined that the sliding door is not fully opened and locked, the method 900 may include issuing a visual or audible alert to the flight crew (e.g., pilot, air crew, etc.) at block 930. For example, method 900 may display an alert to the pilot on a display of the aircraft cockpit informing the pilot that the sliding doors are not fully opened and locked. Otherwise, the method 900 returns to block 910.

Of course, the present disclosure also relates to an aircraft, in particular a civil aircraft, comprising the aforesaid subdivision panel.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although "switches" are used in this disclosure to represent the state of the moving gate, and examples of electrical switches are given (e.g., switch 710, TTOL switches 720, 730), these switches can be in any other suitable form capable of representing binary states, such as diodes, field effect transistors, various mechanical switches, and so forth.

The foregoing detailed description includes references to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. The drawings illustrate by way of illustration specific embodiments that can be practiced. These embodiments are also referred to herein as "examples". Such examples may include elements other than those illustrated or described. However, examples including the elements shown or described are also contemplated. Moreover, it is contemplated to use the examples shown or described with any combination or permutation of those elements, or with reference to a particular example (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described herein, or with reference to other examples (or one or more aspects thereof) shown or described herein.

In the appended claims, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "includes" are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article, or process that includes elements in the claims other than those elements recited after such terms is considered to be within the scope of that claim. Furthermore, in the appended claims, the terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to indicate a numerical order of their objects.

In addition, the order of operations illustrated in this specification is exemplary. In alternative embodiments, the operations may be performed in a different order than illustrated in the figures, and the operations may be combined into a single operation or split into additional operations.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in conjunction with other embodiments. Other embodiments may be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art, after reviewing the above description. The abstract allows the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. This Abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Furthermore, in the foregoing detailed description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. However, the claims may not recite every feature disclosed herein because embodiments may characterize a subset of the features. Moreover, embodiments may include fewer features than are disclosed in a particular example. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with one claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. The scope of the embodiments disclosed herein should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Claims (10)

1. An aircraft subdivision panel, characterised in that it spans the entire aircraft cross-section and comprises a sliding door in the middle of the subdivision panel, which sliding door, when closed, results in the formation of mutually independent cabin spaces within the aircraft, and which sliding door, when open, forms an emergency evacuation channel of the aircraft,

wherein the sliding door is further equipped with a switch for communicating the status of the sliding door to the crew.

2. The subdivision panel of claim 1, wherein said sliding door is further equipped with a dual latch including a primary lock for locking said sliding door in a fully closed position and enabling opening, closing and moving of said sliding door when said primary lock is unlocked, and a secondary lock for locking said sliding door in a fully open position to enable clearance of an aircraft emergency access.

3. The subdivision panel of claim 2, wherein said secondary lock is capable of locking said sliding door in a fully open position by pulling its latch out to extend it beyond said sliding door and rotating it 90 degrees clockwise to catch said sliding door.

4. The subdivision board of claim 3, wherein said switch is provided on said secondary lock and said switch is opened only if said sliding door is fully opened and locked.

5. The panelboard of claim 4 wherein each of the aircraft taxi, takeoff and/or landing phases each have a TTOL switch closed at its respective phase, the TTOL switches being electrically connected in parallel with each other and the switch being electrically connected in series with each of the TTOL switches.

6. The panelboard of claim 5 wherein said switch is further electrically connected in series with a solenoid in a relay and said relay is further connected to an alarm device such that with either of said TTOL switches closed and said switch closed, the solenoid of said relay is energized such that an armature switch of said relay is turned on and thereby activates said alarm device.

7. The subdivision panel of claim 1, wherein the door panel design of the sliding door has frangible features to allow it to be knocked open in an emergency.

8. The deck panel of claim 7, wherein the sliding door includes a ball stop, and wherein upon impact with the side of the door panel of the sliding door proximate the ball stop, a stop ball of the ball stop disengages the stop such that the sliding door is opened.

9. An aircraft comprising a subdivision panel as claimed in any one of claims 1-8.

10. A method for notifying a TTOL phase down-door status, the door being a door as comprised by any of the hatches of claims 1-8, the method comprising:

determining that the aircraft is currently in the TTOL phase;

determining whether the sliding door is fully opened and locked; and

when it is determined that the sliding door is not fully opened and locked, a visual or audible alert is issued to the flight crew.

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