GB2170935A

GB2170935A - Displacement indicators

Info

Publication number: GB2170935A
Application number: GB08431831A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Stansfield
Original assignee: COLTAX AEROSPACE Ltd
Current assignee: COLTAX AEROSPACE Ltd
Priority date: 1984-12-17
Filing date: 1984-12-17
Publication date: 1986-08-13
Also published as: GB8431831D0

Abstract

An indicator 106 is energised if any of a plurality of cards connected to a common junction piece 24 is pulled, each card being secured to an respective article (e.g. life jacket 102) stowed in its normal place (e.g. in pouch 98). Accidental or displacement of the article is thereby annunciated. As described a jack plug is receivable in a battery case 52 and is secured to the junction piece 24. The jack socket is wired to connect the battery to the indicator when the plug is removed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Security device The present invention relates to a security device for indicating when movement, especially dislocation or dislodgment, of an article relative to a support has occurred. The invention is particularly, but not exclusively, applicable for use in relation to life jackets stored in/on or under passenger seats especially aircraft passenger seats.

Of necessity, life jackets must be readily accessible to passengers in an emergency. Unfortunately, it is the case that life jackets are sometimes stolen by passengers. The theft of life jackets from aircraft poses a serious problem for some airlines. A particular airline has had four hundred life jackets stolen during one eighteen month period. Recently, fifty life jackets were stolen on a single flight.

Another problem concerning life jackets stored underneath aircraft passenger seats is that, during a flight, some life jackets become dislodged from their holders and roll away.

This is a danger to safety because in an emergency some passengers might not be able to locate their life jackets. Furthermore, it is time consuming and tedious after the flight for the cabin staff to have to locate the passenger seats from which the loose life jackets have become dislodged.

It has been suggested to equip aircraft passenger exits with a detector for sensing a special tag attached to each life jacket so that, if a passenger attempts to alight carrying a life jacket an alarm will be activated. Such a system would be relatively expensive and would also entail the inconvenience of cabin staff having to pursue offending passengers out of the aircraft.

Life jackets on aircraft are usually folded and kept in a valise which is held in a pouch attached to the base of each passenger seat so as to lie underneath the seat. It will be understood that references in the present specification to a "life jacket" will also include references to the holder of a life jacket such as a valise, pouch, envelope etc.

According to the present invention we provide a security device for attachment to a support comprising indicating means, switch means operative to activate the indicating means, and means for releasably interconnecting the switch means and a life jacket held in a storage location associated with the support wherein the device is arranged so that dislodgment of the life jacket from the storage location activates the switch means thereby activating the indicating means.

A security device according to the present invention has the safety advantage that dislodgment of a life jacket is indicated as soon as this occurs so that the life jacket can then be returned to its proper storage location. Furthermore, a potential thief will be dissuaded from further attempting to steal a life jacket since staff are automatically alerted if a life jacket is dislodged.

In the case of aircraft pasenger seats, even if some life jackets should become dislodged and are not replaced, then at the end of the flight it will be easy for the cabin staff to replace these in their rightful positions because the security devices attached to the passenger seats will indicate from which seats life jackets have become dislodged.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the releasable attachment of the interconnecting means to the life jacket is not a serious impediment to a passenger being able to utilise the life jacket. However, it may reduce the likelihood of accidental dislodgment of a life jacket during a flight.

The security device may comprise means for interconnecting the switch means and a plurality of life jackets and wherein the device is operative to indicate when dislodgment of any one of the life jackets occurs. Thus a single security device can serve to monitor a row of two or three seats as usually found in aircraft.

Preferably the indicating means comprises a visual indicator. An advantage of using visual indicating means is that passengers are not disturbed by operation of the security device.

If bulbs are used, this has the advantage that, in the event of a crash and the main power in the aircraft being cut, some cabin light will be provided when passengers remove their life jackets from their pouches.

It will be understood that a security device according to the present invention may be used in any situation where life jackets are provided and, indeed, is not limited to use solely with life jackets.

According to a second aspect of the present invention we provide a security device for attachment to a support comprising indicating means, switch means operative to activate the indicating means, cable means attached to an article held relative to the support and interconnecting the switch means and the article wherein movement of the article relative to the support causes pulling of the cable means thereby causing actuation of the switch means so as to activate the indicating means to signal that dislocation of the article has occurred.

A particular embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the ccompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the component parts of a security device according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of a part of a seat frame to which the security device is attached; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a seat frame base to which second embodiment of the security device is attached.

Referring to Figure 1, a security device indicated generally at 10 is for attachment to a row of three aircraft passenger seats andcomprises an electrical circuit 12 for powering a bulb 14 and which is openable and closable by means of a switch arrangement 16. The switch arrangement 16 comprises a socket member 18 and a plug 20. The plug 20 is connected by a main cable 22 to a cable connector 24 from which extend three subsidiary cables 26, 28 and 30. A plastics sleeve 32, 34 and 36 surrounds each of the subsidiary cables 26, 28 and 30. Each subsidiary cable 26, 28 and 30 terminates in a loop 38 clamped by means of a crimping member 40.

Each of the loops 38 is sewn onto a Velcrotype fastening pad 42, 44 and 46 respectively.

The Velcro pads 42, 44 and 46 are all approximately 1.3 cm.sq. The cables 22, 26, 28 and 30 are bowden cables.

The main cable 22 and the subsidiary cables 26, 28 and 30 are shown dotted in Figure 1 because the length of these cables will in practice depend on the size of the seats to which the security device is to be attached, The plastics sleeves 32, 34 and 36 are shown incomplete because likewise the length of these will also depend on the size of the seats with which the security device 10 is to be used.

The circuit 12 is powered by two pencil batteries 48 and 50 housed in a cylindrical plastics container 52 comprising an inner casing 54 and an outer casing 56. Both the inner casing 54 and the outer casing 56 are cylindrical having one open end and one closed end and comprise an aperture in the closed end. A coil spring 58 is positioned in the base of the outer container 56 in the usual way adjacent the conductive portion on the battery 50.

The socket member 18 is mounted in the aperture in the upper end of the inner casing 54. The socket member 18 comprises a generally annular mounting section 60 having a screw portion 62 and having through hole (not shown) to permit passage of the plug 20 into the socket member 18. A lower part of the socket member 18 comprises a resiliently flexible contact member 64 which abuts a generally J-shaped stationary contact member 66. The base of the stationary contact member 66 is soldered to the conductive portion on the top face of the battery 48 to ensure that good electrical contact is made. The flexible contact member 64 adjoins a ring portion 68 comprising two depending contact lugs 70 and 72. The stationary contact member 66 adjoins an upper ring member 74 overlying an insulating layer 76 which separates the two ring members 68 and 74.

One contact wire 78 is attached to the contact lug 70 and extends downwardly through the inner casing 54 and from the aperture in the base of the outer casing 56. A second contact wire 80 is connected to the coil spring 58 and also passes out of the aperture in the base of the outer casing 56. The two contact wires 78 and 80 are insulated from one another and are connected to -servicing jack plug 82 which in turn is connected to the bulb 14. The servicing jackplug 82 is simply present for convenience to enable the circuit 12 to be disconnected to allow the bulb 14 or the batteries 48 and 50 to be changed.

The plug 20 is a standard jackplug and comprises a pin 84. When the pin 84 is fully inserted into the socket member 18, the pin 84 deflects the flexible contact member 64 away irom the stationary contact member 66 so as to open the electrical circuit 12. When the pin 84 is pulled out of the socket member 18, the flexible contact member 64 springs back into contact with the stationary contact member 66 so as to complete the electrical circuit 12 thereby lighting the bulb 14.

The cable connector 24 is a standard component comprising a through bore (not shown) into which cable ends can be inserted from both sides and a screw member 86 which, when tightened, retains the cable ends in the cable connector 24.

Referring now to Figure 2, the battery container 52 is shown fastened by means of adhesive tape 88 and cable straps 90 to a strut 92 forming part of the base of row of three seats (not shown). The plastics sleeves 32, 34 and 36 containing the subsidiary cables 26, 28 and 30 are also fastened lengthwise along the strut 92 by means of adhesive tape 88. The lowermost subsidiary cable 30 is shorter than the remaining two subsidiary cables 26 and 28 and is bent outwardly from the strut 92 in the area between the two sets of adhesive tape holding the plastics sleeves on the strut 92. This is so that the Velcro pad 46 attached to the end of the subsidiary cable 30 can be positioned for attachment to a life jacket held underneath the first seat.

Referring now to Figure 3, the base 94 of a double seat 96 is shown. A life jacket is located underneath each half of the double seat 96 and is held in a pouch 98 strung to a front strut 100 of the seat base 94. The pouch 98 contains a valise 102 which contains the life jacket itself. The valise 102 is provided with a pad 104 of a Velcro-type fastener of approximately 3.9 cm. X 1.3 cm. in size. The Velcro pad 42 attached to the subsidiary cable 26 is fastened to the Velcro pad 104 on the valise 102.

The life jacket arrangement on the other half of the seat base 94 is not shown but corresponds exactly to that described above.

The bulb 14 is mounted in an aperture 106 in a side panel 108 of the seat 96. It is important that the cables interconnecting the switch means 16 and the life jackets are positioned so that they are not subject to the weight of the passenger in the seat or to parts of the seat itself.

The Velcro pads 42, 44 and 46 attached to the subsidiary cables 26, 28 and 30 and the Velcro pad 104 on each of the life jackets are configured so that the force required to separate one of the Velcro pads 42, 44 and 46 from a Velcro pad 104 on a life jacket is greater than the force required to cause the plug 20 to be pulled out of the socket member 18. This ensures that, should a passenger remove a valise 102 irom its pouch 58, this will cause the plug 20 to be pulled out of the socket member 18 thereby lighting the bulb 14 to indicate that the life jacket in that particular row of seats has been dislodged.

Also, in the case of accidental dislodgment of the valise 102 from its pouch 98 and the Velcro pad 104 becoming detatched from the Velcro pad 42, 44 or 46 from a respective subsidiary cable, the bulb 14 will be lit thus indicating that the life jacket in the respective row of seats is no longer in its storage location and needs to be replaced.

It will be seen that the particular embodiments of a security device according to the present invention described above are simple in construction and easy to assemble and provide a very useful indication of dislodgment of a life jacket which a positive safety feature and is also a theft deterrent.

It should be understood that a security device according to the present invention may comprise whatever number of subsidiary cables is desired depending on the number of seats to be monitored.

It should also be understood that fasteners other than Velcro-type fasteners may be employed, for example, press-stud fasteners.

Claims

1. A security device for attachment to a support comprising indicating means, switch means operative to activate the indicating means, and means for releasably interconnecting the switch means and a life jacket held in a storage location associated with the support wherein the device is arranged so that dislodgment of the life jacket from the storage location activates the switch means thereby activating the indicating means.

2. A security device according to claim 1 comprising means for interconnecting the switch means and a plurality of life jackets and wherein the device is operative to indicate when dislodgment of any one of the life jackets occurs.

3. A security device according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the indicating means comprises a visual indicator.

4. A security device according to claim 3 wherein the visual indicator is in the form of a light bulb.

5. A security device according to any preceding claim wherein the interconnecting means comprises tension cable means arranged to actuate the switch means on dislodgement of the life jacket.

6. A security device according to claim 5 wherein the cable means passes through a sleeve adapted to be fastened lengthwise along a portion of the support wherein the cable means is slidable relative to the sleeve.

7. A security device according to claim 5 or claim 6 when dependent on claim 2 wherein the cable means comprises a single main cable interconnecting the switch means and a cable connector and a plurality of subsidiary cables interconnecting the cable connector and each life jacekt.

8. A security device according to claim 7 when dependent upon claim 6 wherein each of the subsidiary cables passes through a separate sleeve.

9. A security device according to any preceding claim wherein the switch means is operative to open or close an electrical circuit.

10. A security device according to claim 9 arranged so that the circuit is completed when the life jacket is dislodged.

11. A security device according to claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the switch means comprises a plug member and socket member which are separable to cause completion of the electrical circuit.

12. A security device according to claim 11 wherein the socket member comprises two relatively movable contact members and is configured so that the two contact members are separated by the plug member when this is inserted in the socket member and so that the contact members spring into contact when the plug member is removed from the socket member.

13. A security device according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the circuit comprises a battery and the socket member is in contact with a pole of the battery.

14. A security device according to any preceding claim wherein the interconnecting means comprises a Velcro-type fastener for attachment to a life jacket provided with a similar type fastener or a piece of material suitable for attachment to such a fastener.

15. A security device according to claim 14 when dependent on claim 5 wherein the Velcro-type fastener is provided at the end of the cable means remote from the switch means.

16. A security device according to any preceding claim wherein the support forms part of a passenger seat.

17. A passenger seat fitted with a security device according to any preceding claim.

18. A seat according to claim 17 fitted with a security device according to claim 4 wherein the bulb is mounted in a side portion of the seat.

19. A security device for attachment to a support comprising indicating means, switch means operative to activate the indicating means, cable means attached to an article held relative to the support and interconnecting the switch means and the article wherein movement of the article relative to the support causes pulling of the cable means thereby causing actuation of the switch means so as to activate the indicating means to signal that dislocation of the article has occurred.

20. A security device according to claim 19 wherein the cable means passes through a sleeve fastened lengthwise along the support and is slidable relative to the sleeve.

21. A security device according to claim 19 or claim 20 wherein the cable means is attached to the article by a Velcro-type fastener.

22. A security device substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

23. A seat substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.