FR2854867A1 - Loading system for cylindrical baggage articles in aircraft hold has pivoting trough-shaped elements inside hold that receive and stack articles - Google Patents

Abstract

The system consists of a pair of trough-shaped receiving elements (16) located in line with an opening (14) in the aircraft fuselage and inside its hold (12). The receiving elements are equipped with conveyor belts and are able to pivot about their lengthwise axes to feed cylindrical articles of baggage (22) delivered by a ramp conveyor (24) to either side of the hold and onto lower and upper decks, stacking them in the available space.

Description

1 2854867

  The present invention relates to an installation for loading circular baggage in the hold of an aircraft.

  Usually, the loading of baggage into the hold of the aircraft, in particular for aircraft of the "single-aisle" type, the hold of which is small, is carried out manually. The luggage is stored on a trolley which is driven near the plane, and a first operator transmits it to a second operator located in the hold, through an opening made in the fuselage which is intended to be closed by a door. The second operator arranges said luggage to best occupy the available space.

  Unloading is also carried out manually, an operator 15 mounted in the hold, transmitting the baggage one by one to another operator located on the ground which stores them on a trolley.

  With the aim of reducing the arduousness of loading luggage, in particular, it has been imagined to build articulated transfer conduits comprising internal drive means and the free end of which introduced by the aircraft door is adapted to be guided in the hold. The luggage is guided in the said conduit and they are dumped in a heap in the bottom of the hold where the second operator picks it up for storage.

  However, on the one hand such a device always requires at least two operators and, on the other hand, the luggage is more or less well piled up on one another by the operator who has a limited time, so the available space in the hold is not used at best.

  In addition, the loading, unloading and transfer of luggage 30 between the planes and the terminal must be carried out in the shortest possible time and with the least possible operator in order to minimize the cost of transport.

  An object of the present invention is then to provide a loading installation which not only allows an automated transfer of baggage requiring a minimum of operator but also which allows optimized storage of said baggage in the hold.

  To this end, the present invention provides an installation for loading circular baggage having a tread, said installation being suitable for loading baggage into the hold of an aircraft through an opening made in the fuselage of said aircraft; said installation comprising: longitudinal receiving means forming a gutter, pivotally mounted along their longitudinal axis in said hold and in the extension of said opening, and said receiving means being capable of being driven from a receiving position in which they are adapted to receive in translation, from outside the aircraft, a row of said circular baggage 15, towards a transfer position to drive said row in rotation in the hold in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis and release said receiving means .

  Thus, a characteristic of the invention resides in the treatment of baggage having a circular part forming a tread, by block constituting a row; said row of luggage being adapted, first of all to be driven in translation in the aircraft along its longitudinal axis in the receiving means and then to be transferred into the hold by rolling in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. In this way, said receiving means being free they can return to their receiving position to receive a new row of luggage which can again be transferred and thereby come to bear against the previous row to drive it even more towards the end of the hold. Thus, each new row pushes the previous one until the first row reaches the end of the hold, so that the luggage is arranged against each other in the same orientation and in row parallel to each other. In this way, the baggage occupies the available space of the hold in a rational manner without empty space.

  According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, said longitudinal receiving means comprise two complementary longitudinal elements mounted to pivot and facing one another, each forming part of the gutter, said longitudinal elements being adapted to cooperate together so that the driving in rotation of one of said complementary elements with respect to the other drives said row in a bunker portion facing it io.

  Thus, although the opening is not necessarily formed at one of the ends of the hold but more often substantially in the middle, thanks to the two complementary elements which are able to cooperate not only in said receiving position to receive the 15 row of luggage, but also in the transfer position for one or the other, driving said row of luggage either on one side towards one end of the hold or on the other towards the other end of the hold, the entire hold can be filled with luggage.

  Each of said longitudinal elements, in order to be able to easily transfer the rows of luggage, advantageously have lower free edges formed by teeth spaced apart from each other and forming a comb, the teeth of one of said lower free edges being offset from to the teeth of the other lower free edge so as to cross when one of said longitudinal elements is rotated relative to the other.

  In this way, the longitudinal elements are free to rotate with respect to one another although the free edges intersect, so that a row of luggage can be supported by only one of said longitudinal elements during transfer. Obviously, said teeth are spaced from each other by a distance much less than the thickness of a piece of luggage so that the row of luggage remains consistent during the transfer.

  Advantageously, said longitudinal reception means comprise means for driving in translation said row of luggage, so as to facilitate reception of said row. As will be explained in more detail in the following description, preferably, said translational drive means comprise rotary means mounted on at least one of said lower free edges and more particularly on a single free edge.

  According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, said hold has an upper housing and a lower housing, separated by a wall which defines a mean plane extending substantially parallel and in the vicinity of said longitudinal axis, and said receiving means longitudinal are adapted to drive said row of luggage in said upper housing when driven in a direction of rotation and to drive said row of luggage in said lower housing when driven in the opposite direction of rotation. Thus, the hold makes it possible to accommodate two superimposed layers of luggage and, thanks to the longitudinal reception means, to load independently, the upper housing or the lower housing.

  In a particularly advantageous manner, said hold comprises adjustable locking means adapted to extend to free up spaces suitable for receiving rows of luggage, said adjustable locking means being capable of being retracted to drive said rows of luggage in rotation. transferred to said longitudinal receiving means. As will be explained in more detail in the following description, the adjustable locking means make it possible not only to compress the luggage against each other according to the mean plane which they define in the flight situation, but also to unload each of the rows one after the other in the longitudinal receiving means.

  Furthermore, the installation advantageously further comprises a loading ramp external to said aircraft, adapted to support said row of luggage and to be adjusted with respect to said opening in the extension of said longitudinal reception means. In this way, the row of luggage initially supported by said loading ramp can be easily driven in translation in said longitudinal receiving means. Obviously, the reverse is also possible for unloading the aircraft.

  In addition, the installation comprises a storage unit, said loading ramp being adapted to cooperate with said storage unit for sequentially loading a row of luggage on said loading ramp. Conversely, said storage unit is adapted to cooperate with said loading ramp to receive rows of luggage from the hold.

  According to another object, the invention provides a motor vehicle, comprising a storage unit and a loading ramp as described above.

  Other particularities and advantages of the invention will emerge on reading the description given below of particular embodiments of the invention, given by way of indication but not limitation, with reference to the appended drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a schematic view in horizontal section of the hold of an aircraft equipped with an installation according to the invention; - Figure 2 is a schematic view in vertical section along the plane 11- It illustrated in Figure 1; - Figure 3 is a schematic view in longitudinal section along the plane 111-111 shown in Figure 1, illustrating the baggage loading process implemented by the installation according to the invention; - Figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a detail of an element illustrated in Figure 3, according to a particular embodiment; - Figure 5 is a schematic top view of a baggage transport vehicle for the implementation of the invention; and, - Figure 6 is a schematic side view along VI of the vehicle illustrated in Figure 5.

  6 2854867 Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a portion of the lower part of an airplane 10, in which a hold 12 is formed, making it possible in particular to accommodate the luggage of passengers. The hold 12 is that of an airplane of the "single-aisle" type whose dimensions are limited and they do not exceed 1.20 m in height and 2.50 m in width.

  The hold 12 has a lateral opening 14 formed in the fuselage of the aircraft 10, and it comprises longitudinal receiving means 16 made up of two elements 18, 20, arranged transversely opposite the opening 14. These elements 18, 20 are adapted to cooperate together on the one hand to receive luggage 22 thanks to a loading ramp 24 and on the other hand to store the luggage by transferring it for one of the elements 18 towards the front 23 of the hold 12, for the other element 20, towards the rear 25 of the hold 12.

  An advantage of the invention lies in the treatment of circular baggage 22 15 of cylindrical shape per row 26. Thanks to their cylindrical shape the baggage 22 have a tread which allows their movement in rotation and they are adapted to be treated in rows .

  Thus, a row 26 of luggage 22 is capable of being carried, 20 from the outside of the aircraft 10 with regard to the opening 14 by the loading ramp 24 in the axis of the longitudinal receiving means 16.

  From this position, the row 26 of luggage 22 is able to be driven in translation in the longitudinal reception means 16 by means of motorized drive means located both on the loading ramp 24 and on the means of longitudinal reception 16 which will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

  Figure 3 shows twice three representations of the installation according to the invention illustrating the baggage loading method 22. We find in Figure 3 for each of the six representations, 30 noted Figure 3A to Figure 3F in alphabetical order , the hold 12 of the aircraft, divided vertically into two parts, an upper part 28 and a lower part 30 by a horizontal wall 32. In addition, FIG. 3 7 2854867 shows the rear 25 of the hold 12 and the before 23 of the hold 12 separated by the longitudinal receiving means 16 forming a gutter.

  The longitudinal receiving means 16 consist of two elements symmetrical to each other with respect to a vertical plane, a rear element 34 and a front element 36 corresponding respectively to elements 20 and 18. Each element 34, 36, as illustrated in Figure 4, consists of three panels, a central panel 38 and two side panels 40, 42 secured to the respective edges of the central panel 38 and extending flared. The side panels 40, 42 i1 constitute one a lower panel 42 and the other, an upper panel 40.

  Furthermore, the elements 34, 36 are mounted articulated, respectively around two axes A1, A2 parallel to each other and which pass through the central panel 38 respectively and longitudinally. The axes A1, A2 are substantially included in the mean plane defined by the wall horizontal 32 and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the airplane 10.

  In this way, as shown in FIG. 3A, the elements 34, 36 are arranged parallel to each other, their concave part facing one another, so as to form a gutter in which a row 26 of luggage 22 are adapted to be accommodated. The elements 34, 36 are free relative to each other and the luggage is supported on the respective lower panels 42 of the two elements.

  FIG. 3A illustrates the elements 34, 36 in a reception position after the row 26 of luggage 22 has been driven in translation between the two from the loading ramp 24. To do this, as illustrated in FIG. Figure 4, the lower panels 42 of the elements 34, 36 comprise drive means consisting of a conveyor belt 44 mounted longitudinally in a loop around the lower panels and adapted to be driven in rotation by a motor 30 not shown mounted to the inside the panels.

  In this way, the row 26 of luggage 22 is capable of being driven in translation by the conveyor belts 44 of the two elements 34, 36 which operate in parallel with each other and by the loading ramp 24 which simultaneously allows the movement of the row 26 to elements 34, 36.

  According to another embodiment of the invention not shown, particularly advantageous, the lower panels of the longitudinal elements have teeth parallel to each other and spaced from one another and which extend substantially perpendicular to said central panel so as to be able to support a row of luggage in said receiving position. Said teeth 10 and the lower panel generally form a larger structure than the lower panel 42 of the previous embodiment.

  Thus, in order not to hinder their relative displacement, the longitudinal elements are arranged relative to each other, so that the respective teeth of the two elements are offset from each other to allow said teeth to be cross in said receiving position.

  In addition, although the rows of teeth of each of the lower panels play the same role in the transfer of luggage into the hold as will be explained below, a row of teeth of one of said panels is chosen which will be on the one hand adapted to support the row of luggage entirely without the other row of teeth being in contact with the luggage in said receiving position and on the other hand, provided with drive means making it possible to drive the teeth in rotation to drive the row of luggage in translation.

  This configuration makes it possible to dispense with the adjustment of the speeds of the conveyor belts, of the lower panels of the previous embodiment.

  After the row 26 of luggage 22 illustrated in FIG. 3A has been inserted between the two elements 34, 36, and in order to transfer it 30 forwards 23 from the hold 12, simultaneously, the rear element 34 pivots slightly counterclockwise so that the free edge of its upper panel 40 is substantially in line with the axis A1, while the front element 36 pivots clockwise to fully support the row 26 of baggage 22 as shown in Figure 3B.

  Continuing its course until a rotation of 180, the front element 5 36 fully transfers the row 26 of luggage 22 to the horizontal wall 32 as shown in Figure 30.

  Thus released, the front element 36 is adapted to return to its initial position with the rear element 34 in the receiving position to receive a new row 26 of luggage 22.

  In this way, this new row will be forced against the previous row which, thanks to the cylindrical geometry of the luggage will roll towards the end of the hold 12. Thus, and according to the same process, a plurality of rows of luggage can be transferred to the horizontal wall 32 at the front 23 of the hold 12 so as to fully occupy the space 15 available on the horizontal wall 32.

  In a completely symmetrical manner, rows 26 of luggage 22 are capable of being transferred to the rear 25 of the hold 12 on the horizontal wall 32. To do this, it is the front element 36 which pivots slightly, after that a row 26 has been inserted between the elements 34, 20 36, while the rear element 34 rotates 180.

  In addition, thanks to the horizontal wall 32 which delimits the lower part 30 of the upper part 28 of which the method of loading has just been described, a second layer of luggage is capable of being transferred to the bottom of the hold 12 with the longitudinal receiving means 16 described above.

  We will now refer to Figures 3D to 3F to write the loading of the lower part 30.

  Figure 3D corresponds to said receiving position and is identical to that of Figure 3A.

  However, as illustrated in FIG. 3E, to transfer a row 26 of luggage 22 in the lower part 30 towards the front 23 of the hold 12, the rear element 34 pivots slightly in the clockwise direction while that the front element 36 pivots in the opposite direction so as to drive the row 26 against the inclined plane 46 of a stop 48 which extends transversely in the bottom 50 of the hold 12 between the two elements 34, 36. Thus , the row 26 tends to roll on the inclined plane 46 and 5 it is fully transferred in the hold 12 forward 23 by pivoting the front element 36 of 180 whose upper panel 40 drives the row 26 as shown Figure 3F.

  In the same way as for the transfer of rows 26 backwards in the upper part 28 of the hold 12, and symmetrically, the elements 34, 36 allow the transfer of the rows 26 of luggage 22 in the lower part 30 to the rear 25 of the hold.

  Furthermore, the filling of the lower part 30 of the hold 12 is also carried out in the same way as the upper part 28, by forcing the rows 26 against each other, each time a new row 26 is transferred.

  Reference will now be again made to FIG. 1 to describe a system making it possible, on the one hand to keep the baggage 22 in a stationary position during transport and on the other hand, to facilitate the unloading of the baggage 22.

  This system includes adjustable locking means, consisting of a flexible strip 52 adapted to surround the rows 26 of luggage 22 by defining a horizontal plane parallel to the horizontal wall 32 and the ends of which are capable of being rolled up or unwound in the vicinity longitudinal receiving means 16 for shortening or lengthening the flexible strip 52. In this way, as soon as the rows 26 of luggage 22, which are not necessarily of the same length, are transferred into the hold 12, the strip flexible 52 is extended to free the available space.

  On the other hand, to block the luggage against each other or to transfer the rows 26 into the longitudinal reception means 16, the flexible strip 52 is forcibly shortened from its two ends.

  il 2854867 Obviously, this system is intended to be installed in the upper 28 and lower 30, and front 23 and rear 25 parts.

  According to another aspect, the present installation also comprises a motor transport vehicle, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, and 5 comprising said loading ramp 24 and a storage unit 54 adapted to store a plurality of rows of luggage 22 cylindrical.

  The loading ramp 24 is telescopic and can be adjusted in the opening 14 of the aircraft opposite the longitudinal receiving means in the same horizontal plane.

  In addition, the baggage 22 is arranged in superimposed rows in the storage unit 54. Thus, thanks to gravity drive means, the rows 26 of baggage 22 are capable of being conveyed sequentially on the loading ramp 24 to then be driven in translation by means of drive means of the conveyor belt type, in the longitudinal receiving means 16.

  Conversely, the rows 26 of luggage 22 are capable of being driven from the hold 12 of the aircraft 10, to the storage unit 54 thanks to the longitudinal reception means and to the loading ramp 20 whose engines are adapted to operate in reverse.

  Thus, it is understood that such an installation is adapted to operate in a fully mechanized manner without human intervention apart from the movement of the motor vehicle, which considerably reduces labor costs and baggage transfer times.

  According to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, the loading ramp 24 extends transversely relative to the longitudinal axis of said vehicle and in lateral projection.

  However, according to a second embodiment not shown, the loading ramp extends along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and preferably projecting from the front part, so that said vehicle is adapted to be approached perpendicular to the 'plane.

Claims (11)

  1. Installation for loading circular luggage (22) having a tread, said installation being suitable for loading luggage (22) into the hold (12) of an airplane (10) through an opening (14) made in the fuselage of said aircraft (12), characterized in that it comprises - longitudinal receiving means (16) forming gutter mounted pivoting along their longitudinal axis (A1, A2) in said hold 10 (12) and in the extension of said opening (14), and in that said longitudinal reception means (16) are capable of being driven from a reception position in which they are adapted to receive in translation, from outside the aircraft (10 ), a row (26) of said circular luggage (22), towards a transfer position for driving said row (26) rolling in the hold (12) in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis (A1, A2) and releasing said means of reception udinals (16).   2. Loading installation according to claim 1, characterized in that said longitudinal receiving means (16) comprise two complementary longitudinal elements (18, 20) pivotally mounted and facing each other forming part of gutter , said longitudinal elements (18, 20) being adapted to cooperate together so that the driving in rotation of one of said longitudinal elements (18, 20) relative to the other drives said row (26) in a portion bunker (12) facing it.   3. Loading installation according to claim 2, characterized in that said complementary longitudinal elements (18, 20) have lower free edges formed by teeth spaced from each other and forming a comb, the teeth of one of said edges lower free being offset from the teeth of the other lower free edge so as to cross when one of said longitudinal elements is rotated relative to the other.   4. Loading installation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said longitudinal receiving means (16) comprise means for translational drive (44) of said row of luggage (26).   5. Loading installation according to claim 3 and 4, characterized in that said translational drive means (44) comprise rotary means mounted on at least one of said lower free edges.   6. Loading installation according to any one of claims 10 to 5, characterized in that said hold (12) has an upper housing (28) and a lower housing (30) separated by a wall (32) which defines a mean plane extending substantially parallel and in the vicinity of said longitudinal axis (A1, A2), and in that said longitudinal reception means (16) are adapted to drive said row (26) of luggage (22) in said upper housing (28) when driven in a direction of rotation and driving said row (26) of luggage (22) in said lower housing (30) when they are driven in the opposite direction of rotation.   7. Loading installation according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that said hold (12) comprises adjustable locking means (52) adapted to extend to release spaces suitable for receiving rows ( 26) of luggage, said adjustable locking means (52) being capable of being retracted to drive said rows (26) of luggage transferred in rotation in said longitudinal receiving means (16).   8. Loading installation according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it further comprises a loading ramp (24) external to said aircraft (10), adapted to support said row (26) of luggage and to be adjusted with respect to said opening (14) in the extension of said longitudinal receiving means (16).   9. Loading installation according to claim 8, characterized in that it further comprises a storage unit (54) which is included in a motor transport vehicle, said loading ramp (24) being adapted to cooperate with said unit storage (54) for sequentially loading a row of luggage (26) on said loading ramp (24).   10. Motor vehicle according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises said loading ramp (24).   11. Motor transport vehicle according to claim 10, 1o characterized in that said loading ramp (24) extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said transport vehicle and projecting from the front part.