US3673749A

US3673749A - Aircraft storage hangar

Info

Publication number: US3673749A
Application number: US38676A
Authority: US
Inventors: Julian H Allen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-05-19
Filing date: 1970-05-19
Publication date: 1972-07-04
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-04

Abstract

A lightweight hangar for the storage and maintenance of aircraft having a plurality of cantilever beams supported on vertical columns with the cantilever beams extending beyond the columns to support floor beams for an upper storage area. Roof support members are secured to the vertical columns and the end of the cantilever beams. Trackless doors are suspended from the cantilever beams by means of cables connected to the doors on a line through the center of gravity of the doors. Guide arms are connected between the doors and the cantilever beams. A rod passes through each door and is connected to the arms to move the arms in synchronism. Door stops are provided at the top and bottom of each door.

Description

O United States Patent [151 3,673,749 Allen 1 July 4, 1972 54 AIRCRAFT STORAGE HANGAR FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [72] Inventor: Julian 11. Allen, 3700 Strathmoor Drive, 747,957 6/1933 France ..49/197 Dayton, Ohio 45429 1,048,735 1/1959 Germany ..119/16 Filed y 19 1970 305,981 3/1955 Switzerland ..49/197 g [21] App1.No.: 38,676 Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Henry E. Raduazo [52] U S Cl 52/73 49/197 49/198 Attorney-Harry A. Herbert, Jr. and Richard J. Killoren 49/200, 52/69, 52/236 57 STR CT [51] Int. Cl. ..E04b 1/34, E04b 1/342, E05d 15/40,

E05d 15/48 A lightweight hangar for the storage and mamtenance of am 58 Field of Search ..49/200, 197, 199; 52/69, 73 craft having a Plurality of qamilever beams supnorted on vertical columns with the cantilever beams extending beyond the [56] References Cited columns to support floor beams for an upper storage area. Roof support members are secured to the vertical columns UNITED STATES PATENTS and the end of the cantilever beams. Trackless doors are suspended from the cantilever beams by means of cables con- L98L166 11/1934 Dutiwefler" "119/16 nected to the doors on a line through the center of gravity of 3,413,757 12/1968 DavIdson.... .....49/2 the doors. Guide arms are connected between the doors and 1,090,491 3/ 1914 Ogden --49/2 he cantilever beams. A rod passes through each door and is 15941080 7/1926 Thles X connected to the arms to move the arms in synchronism. Door gomen at stops are provided at the top and bottom of each door.

ugger 3,074,518 l/1963 Conrad et al. ..52/73 X 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PKTENTEDJUL' 41972 3, 673.749

sum 2 or 3 INVENTOR. Jill/4N 014:0

AIRCRAFT STORAGE HANGAR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The need exists for low-cost hangars for storage and maintenance of aircraft in remote areas. Such hangars must be lightweight and easily assembled. A cantilever type building of the general arrangement shown in the patent to Thies, US. Pat. No. 1,594,080 appears to be the most suitabledesign. However, this must be modified to provide more storage space. Doors for such buildings are of three major types: doors suspended from an overhead track with guides on the lower edge; doors riding on a lower track having upper guides; doors which are raised by counterweights and which have side track guides such as Cornell et al., US. Pat. No. 2,071,161. Doors which ride in overhead tracks or lower guides are sometimes difficult to operate due to alignment problems and snow, ice and dirt jamming the tracks. The doors with counterweights are usually very heavy and require heavy tracks and vertical track supports.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention a low-cost hangar which is easily constructed at remote sites is provided having ample storage space above the center section. The hangar has a plurality of bays separated by support columns. Each column supports a cantilever beam which has its end supported by a cable secured to the column. The beam extends beyond the column on each of the two sides and supports a floor support beam, for the storage area, between the beams attached to two columns separating adjacent bays. Trackless counterbalanced doors are supported by the two cantilever beams on the sides of each bay. Door guide arms are made to 'move in synchronism thus making guide tracks unnecessary.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a hangar according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the hangar of FIG. 1 showing one possible positioning of airplanes therein;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of one building structural support member for the device of FIG. I;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged partially cutaway sectional view of the device of FIG. 1 along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the door support system for the device of FIG. 1 along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows one door of the device of FIG. 1 in its partially opened position; and

FIG. 7 shows one door of the device of FIG. 1 in its fully opened position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference is now made to FIG. 1 of the drawing which shows a hangar 10 having a plurality of plane storage bays 12 as shown schematically in FIG. 2. The bays are located between pairs of vertical columns 14. The vertical columns are located in two rows extending the length of the building, however, additional columns may be located between the columns shown to support the floor for the upper storage section if needed. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of cantilever beams 16 are secured to each column by means of bolts 17. An angle iron member 19 is secured to the free end of beams 16. A tie rod 21 is secured by means of threaded end portions and nuts 23 to the angle iron 19 and the vertical columns 14 to support the cantilever beams 16. The inner ends of beams 16 extend beyond columns 14 to support a central support beam 26 bolted thereto by means of bolts 27. Beams 26 are further supported by support brackets 30 secured in the same manner. Other means, than those shown, may be used for supporting

beams

16 and 26. Tie beams 32 extend between pairs of columns between two adjacent bays and are bolted thereto.

The angle irons 19 extend beyond the beams 16 as shown in FIG. 4 to support roof support beams 34. Roof support beams 36 are secured to vertical columns 14. The hangar is covered by

roof members

38, 39, and 40 which are constructed in any conventional manner and the particular type of roof used forms no part of this invention. Windows, not shown, may be located in the space 41 between the roof members.

A plurality of doors 42 are partially supported on beams 16 by means of arm members 44. The arm members 44 are secured to a rigid bar member 46 which passes through the entire length of the door so that arm members 44 on the opposite ends of each door move together and keep the door from tilting. The use of members 46, which may be separate parts secured to arms 44 or parts of arms 44, makes the use of guide tracks unnecessary.

The doors are further supported by cables 48 which are secured to the doors at 49 on a line which passes through the center of gravity of the doors. The cables pass over pulleys 50 and are connected to counterbalance weights 5.2. Thus, the cables 48 supply the main support for the doors and the arms 44 act to guide the movement of the doors and partially support the doors in the partially opened position shown in FIG. 6 and the fully opened position shown in FIG. 7. Upper door stops 54 are secured to beams 16 and lower door stops 55 are secured to the floor. When flooring is not provided, the lower stops must be secured to the ground. Floor planks 57 are supported on beams 26 to provide a storage area above the plane storage areas. Stairways 58, shown schematically in FIG. 2, may provide access to the upper storage area. The ends of the hangar are closed by walls 60 shown schematically. Wall members, not shown, for the upper storage area, can be secured to the columns 14.

While support rods have been described for supporting cantilever beams 16, other known means could be used. Also the guides for the doors could be different than those shown. Any means for causing arms 44 to move together could be used, for example, the rigid member 46 could be connected between the portion of arms 44 attached to beams 16.

There is thus provided a low cost hangar for the storage and maintenance which is lightweight and easily assembled which makes it suitable for use in remote areas.

I claim:

l. A hangar structure for the storage and maintenance of aircraft, comprising: a plurality of vertical columns located in at least two parallel rows extending the length of the hangar; floor support beams supported a predetermined distance above the ground, between the columns in rows perpendicular to said parallel rows; a plurality of floor timbers supported on said floor support beams for providing an upper storage area; at least one cantilever roof support beam supported by each of said columns; a covering, for the portions of the hangar under the cantilever beams, supported by said cantilever beams and said columns; a covering for said upper storage area supported between the columns in each of the parallel rows means, at the upper ends of said columns, for tying the columns, in the rows perpendicular to said parallel rows together; means for closing the ends of the hangar; a plurality of trackless doors, supported by the ends, of said cantilever beams, remote from said columns, for closing the sides of the hangar; a pair of cables attached to each of said doors with the attachments being positioned on a line through the center of gravity of the doors; said pair of cables attached to each of the doors passing over pulleys attached to said cantilever beams and said columns and having counterbalance weights connected to the other ends thereof; a pair of guide arms pivotably supported onsaid cantilever beams and pivotably connected to opposite ends of the doors; interconnecting means between each pair of guide arms, for keeping the pairs of said guide arms in synchronism as the doors are raised and lowered to thereby keep the doors in substantial longitudinal alignment in all positions; said means for moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of bars passing through the width of the doors and integral with the arms at opposite ends of the doors.

2. A hangar door assembly comprising; an overhead support structure; a door member; a pair of cables attached to said door member with the attachments being positioned on a line through the center of gravity of the door member; said cables passing over pulleys attached to said overhead support and having counterbalance weights connected to the other end thereof; a pair of guide arms pivotably, supported by said 5 overhead support and pivotably connected to opposite ends of the door; interconnecting means between the guide arms, for

keeping said guide arm in synchronism as the door is raised and lowered; said means for moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of a bar passing through the width of the door and integral with the arms at opposite ends of the door.

Claims

1. A hangar structure for the storage and maintenance of aircraft, comprising: a plurality of vertical columns located in at least two parallel rows extending the length of the hangar; floor support beams supported a predetermined distance above the ground, between the columns in rows perpendicular to said parallel rows; a plurality of floor timbers supported on said floor support beams for providing an upper storage area; at least one cantilever roof support beam supported by each of said columns; a covering, for the portions of the hangar under the cantilever beams, supported by said cantilever beams and said columns; a covering for said upper storage area supported between the columns in each of the parallel rows means, at the upper ends of said columns, for tying the columns, in the rows perpendicular to said parallel rows together; means for closing the ends of the hangar; a plurality of trackless doors, supported by the ends, of said cantilever beams, remote from said columns, for closing the sides of the hangar; a pair of cables attached to each of said doors with the attachments being positioned on a line through the center of gravity of the doors; said pair of cables attached to each of the doors passing over pulleys attached to said cantilever beams and said columns and having counterbalance weights connected to the other ends thereof; a pair of guide arms pivotably supported on said cantilever beams and pivotably connected to opposite ends of the doors; interconnecting means between each pair of guide arms, for keeping the pairs of said guide arms in synchronism as the doors are raised and lowered to thereby keep the doors in substantial longitudinal alignment in all positions; said means for moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of bars passing through the width of the doors and integral with the arms at opposite ends of the doors.

2. A hangar door assembly comprising; an overhead support structure; a door member; a pair of cables attached to said door member with the attachments being positioned on a line through the center of gravity of the door member; said cables passing over pulleys attached to said overhead support and having counterbalance weights connected to the other end thereof; a pair of guide arms pivotably, supported by said overhead support and pivotably connected to opposite ends of the door; interconnecting means between the guide arms, for keeping said guide arm in synchronism as the door is raised and lowered; said means for moving said guide arms in synchronism, consisting of a bar passing through the width of the door and integral with the arms at opposite ends of the door.