DE102019202351B4 - Airplane with boarding aid - Google Patents

Abstract

The present application relates to an aircraft (10) with a cabin (12) for receiving people and a wing (14) with a wing nose (16), the cabin (12) having a side opening (18) for entering and leaving the cabin (12). The aircraft (10) according to the invention is characterized in that it has a step support (22) which is integrated into the wing nose (16) and which can be folded out.

Description

TECHNICAL AREA

The present invention relates to an aircraft with a cabin for accommodating people and a wing with a wing nose, the cabin having a lateral opening for entering and leaving the cabin.

BACKGROUND

The documents are from the prior art DE 10 2016 122 178 B3 , US 2017/0 174 309 A1 and US 2017/0 247 100 A1 known. They show boarding aids for aircraft that enable entry and exit of the cabin from behind or from the side.

There are aircraft which, for certain reasons, are provided with a relatively pronounced sweep, especially the leading edge of the wings. This is understood to mean a wing shape in which the wings, in particular their leading edge, are angled backwards with respect to the transverse axis of the aircraft. This sweep leads to the fact that the wing tips are moved downwards with respect to the horizontal position in the case of a positive pitch, as it is mainly assumed during the take-off process and during landing near the ground. In order to still have sufficient ground clearance, e.g. To enable the compensation of cross winds during take-off and especially during landing, it is necessary in such aircraft to use a relatively high landing gear.

The same applies to aircraft with pusher propellers. A pusher propeller is naturally arranged in the rear part of the aircraft and thus regularly behind the main landing gear and moves downwards relative to the horizontal position during the rotational movement in take-off run and during interception during the landing process, i.e. with a positive longitudinal tilt. In order to prevent the propeller from touching the ground and still allow long propeller blades, it is also necessary here to use a relatively high landing gear.

In the case of small general aviation aircraft, the passengers and / or the crew in the case of low-wing aircraft often enter the cabin along a path that runs over the wing. People usually get onto the wing with the help of a fixed step behind the wing and enter it from behind in the area of the wing root. This makes sense because the wing sinks backwards in its course and the person does not have to climb as high a step as when climbing the wing from the front. However, this only applies to aircraft with conventional traction propellers, which are arranged in front of the wing in single and multi-engine aircraft.

For safety reasons, entry and exit must not lead directly past the propeller because the propeller is a life-threatening source of danger. In aircraft with a pusher propeller, entry and exit in an aircraft designed as a low-wing aircraft must therefore take place via the wing nose, which, given the above conditions of a high landing gear and the relatively high position of the wing nose, means that the person boarding or disembarking has a considerable amount of space Height must climb the wing.

To counter this problem, it is known to use external stepladders which are placed or hung separately on the wing in order to facilitate boarding of such an aircraft. Of course, the need to use external aids comes at the expense of the convenience of the aircraft.

An alternative solution provides for the nose landing gear to be lowered so far for the entry and exit process that the wing nose can also be stepped on without further assistance. This solution is known in particular from canard aircraft, for example from the “Gyroflug SC 01 Speed Canard” or “Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ”. Such a construction, however, involves considerable effort in order to display the nose landing gear kinematics as desired.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Against this background, an object of the present invention is to provide an aircraft belonging to the above technical field in which it is conveniently possible to enter or leave the cabin via the wing nose and through a side opening without external aids and without complex nose landing gear kinematics.

An aircraft according to the invention with a cabin for accommodating people and a wing with a wing nose, the cabin having a side opening for entering and leaving the cabin, is characterized in that the aircraft has a fold-out step rest integrated into the wing nose. The aircraft can also have two or more lateral openings for entering and leaving the cabin and when the at least two lateral openings are arranged on different sides of the cabin, it is advantageous to form a step support according to the invention on both sides of the cabin.

The configuration according to the invention can ensure that the people do not need any external aids to reach the height of the wing nose from the front. In addition, complicated and expensive nose landing gear kinematics are unnecessary. The step support can easily be switched between an entry and exit position and a flight position by folding it out of the wing nose or folding it into the wing nose. No complex mechanics are required for this, so that the object of the invention can be achieved particularly easily and efficiently.

The step support can be integrated into the wing nose in such a way that it forms part of the upper side of the wing in the folded position. This has the additional advantageous effect that the actual upper side of the wing does not have to be stepped on in the unfolded position, which firstly protects it and secondly prevents slipping, especially on a wet wing. Alternatively, the step support can also be integrated into the wing nose in such a way that it forms part of the underside of the wing in the folded position.

From this it is also clear that the expression “integrated into the wing nose” also means an integration over an integration that begins at the wing nose and extends backwards towards the trailing edge of the wing, i.e. the wing end edge, means extending area.

In a preferred embodiment, the step support is designed as a step or several steps. This creates a particularly convenient and safe way of entering or leaving the cabin via the wing nose. Alternatively, the step support can also be designed as a ladder rung or the like.

The step support is preferably arranged in the area of a trunk-surface transition. This position of the step support has proven to be particularly advantageous because, on the one hand, it enables the shortest possible path over the wing to or from the cabin opening. On the other hand, it is particularly possible to expose the upper side of the wing over the entire path to be trodden with the aid of the step support and possibly a cabin door so that people do not have to walk over the wing surface used during the flight. The used wing surface is protected in this way and can lead to better flight characteristics and increase the safety of people when getting in and out. For this purpose, by unfolding the step support, a flat surface can be exposed up to the cabin opening, on which slipping is much less likely than on the smooth and rounded wing profile if the surface is correspondingly rough or otherwise non-slip. Alternatively, the step support can also be integrated further outside in the wing nose.

The aircraft advantageously also has a hand rest that can be folded out and integrated into the wing. Such a hand rest further increases safety when getting in and out. Like the step rest, it can be folded in and out. Alternatively, the hand rest can also be dispensed with. It is both possible to attach a handle to the cabin wall and to dispense with any hand rest, the latter assuming a well-developed sense of balance and a secure stance for people entering or leaving the aircraft.

It is preferred here that the hand rest can be folded out automatically by folding out the step rest and / or opening the side opening of the cabin. Such functionality is particularly convenient for people entering or leaving the aircraft, because in addition to folding out the step support and / or opening the side opening of the cabin, no further action is required to unfold the hand support. At the same time, there is no need to forego comfortable positioning of the handrest at a point that is not necessarily on the cabin wall or the like. Rather, the hand rest can be arranged, for example, on the side of the step support facing away from the cabin and thus form a kind of railing. Alternatively, this functionality can also be dispensed with.

In a preferred embodiment, the aircraft has a pusher propeller. As stated above, the pusher propeller often requires entering the aircraft from the front, in particular via the wing nose. The present invention offers a particularly good solution for this.

Alternatively and in addition, it is preferred that the wing has a rearwardly directed wing swept. This feature of the aircraft also makes entry via a step support particularly useful.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the aircraft is designed as a flying wing aircraft. Due to its special design, a flying wing aircraft is particularly suitable to be designed as an aircraft according to the invention, because here a positive wing sweep and also the use of a pusher propeller are particularly advantageous. It is therefore often necessary for a flying wing aircraft to use a high landing gear, which makes the step support according to the invention particularly useful.

Further advantageous developments of the invention emerge from the entirety of the patent claims and the following description of the figures.

Figure list

• 1 shows an aircraft according to a preferred embodiment.

WAYS OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

1 shows an airplane 10 according to a preferred embodiment. The plane 10 from the figure is designed as a flying wing aircraft and has a cabin 12 for shooting people and a grand piano 14th with a wing nose 16 on. The cabin 12 has a side opening 18th on that from a cabin door 20th can be locked.

When opening the car door 20th becomes the side opening 18th the cabin 12 released and people can enter the cabin 12 enter or step out of it. Because the plane 10 according to the figure a relatively heavily swept wing 14th and is also equipped with a pusher propeller (not shown), it has a high landing gear 28 and must over the wing nose 16 be entered or left.

To make getting in and out easier, there is one in the wing nose 16 integrated and off the wing 14th fold-out step rest 22nd intended. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the step support 22nd Folded out from the top of the wing forwards and downwards. It includes a step 24 , about the people on the grand piano 14th up or from the wing 14th can descend.

There is also a hand support 26th provided that people can hold on to when getting in and out. Due to the configuration shown in the figure, the actual wing surface is in the area of entry into the cabin 12 folded away and is thus protected from damage by people. In addition, this provides reliable protection against slipping, for example on a wet wing 14th provided.

The preferred embodiment provides an aircraft in which it is conveniently possible to open the cabin without external aids and without complex nose landing gear kinematics 12 over the wing nose 16 and through the side opening 18th to enter or exit.

Claims (8)

Aircraft (10) with a cabin (12) for receiving people and a wing (14) with a wing nose (16), the cabin (12) having a lateral opening (18) for entering and leaving the cabin (12), characterized in that the aircraft (10) has a step support (22) that is integrated into the wing nose (16) and can be folded out. Airplane (10) after Claim 1 , wherein the step support (22) is designed as a step (24) or several steps. Aircraft (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the step support (22) is arranged in the region of a fuselage-surface transition. Aircraft (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the aircraft (10) furthermore has a handrest (26) which is integrated in the wing (14) and which can be folded out. Airplane (10) after Claim 4 wherein the hand support (26) can be folded out automatically when the step support (22) is folded out and / or the side opening (18) of the cabin (12) is opened. Aircraft (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the aircraft (10) has a pusher propeller. Aircraft (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the wing (14) has a rearwardly directed wing sweep. Aircraft (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the aircraft (10) is designed as a flying wing aircraft.

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