WO2010020964A2

WO2010020964A2 - An accessory for an aircraft service trolley

Info

Publication number: WO2010020964A2
Application number: PCT/IB2009/053691
Authority: WO
Inventors: Willem Johannes Stolz
Original assignee: Willem Johannes Stolz
Priority date: 2008-08-22
Filing date: 2009-08-21
Publication date: 2010-02-25
Also published as: WO2010020964A3

Abstract

The invention relates to an accessory (10) for an airc raft service trolley (20) and to an airc raft service trolley (20). The accessory (10) includes at least one attachment formation (12) for removably attaching the accessory (10) to an end of the trolley (20), and a cushion (14) for absorbing an impac t. The accessory (10) may define a cavity (43) for receiving waste, allowing the accessory (10) to double as a waste receptacle or bin. Further, the accessory (10) may be displace able between an operative condition and a collapsed condition.

Description

Tl TLE: An accessory for an aircraft service trolley

Fl ELD OF I NVENTI ON

THIS I NVENTION relates to an accessory for an aircraft service trolley.

BACKGROUN D OF I NVENTI ON

I n commercial aviation, passengers are normally served with beverages and snacks or meals. These services are rendered by flight attendants who make use of aircraft service trolleys or carts to convey the refreshments. These trolleys are wheeled through a cabin along aisles of the aircraft. Due to compact seating arrangements of most aircraft, passengers in aisle seats often have parts of their limbs projecting into the aisle, impeding the passage of the service trolley. The I nventor has noticed that most service trolleys are generally cubically shaped with hard flat surfaces which pose a threat of injury in the event of the trolley colliding with the limbs of a passenger seated in an aisle seat. The I nventor wishes to overcome or alleviate this drawback.

SUMMARY OF I NVENTI ON

According to the invention, there is provided an accessory for an aircraft service trolley, the accessory including: at least one attachment formation for removably attaching the accessory to an end of the trolley; and a cushion for absorbing an impact.

The accessory may include a support surface to which the cushion is attached.

"Cushion" is understood also to include padding, a resiliency deformable element, and generally a buffering or shock- absorbing element.

The accessory may be removably attachable to a front end of an aircraft service trolley.

The support surface may project outwardly. I n such case, the accessory may have a generally triangular or wedge-shaped cross-sectional profile. More specifically, the support surface may be tapered, thus presenting an inclined cushioned surface for deflecting objects in the path of the trolley laterally, when it is being propelled in a forward direction. To this end, the accessory serves as a protective cushion when mounted to the front end of the aircraft service trolley. Therefore, elbows or knees of passengers extending into an aisle, in the way of a passing service trolley are deflected laterally, thus preventing or minimising injury to the passenger. The protective cushion may absorb impact.

The support surface may be convexly curved.

The accessory may define a cavity for receiving waste. The cavity may be an upwardly open cavity, allowing the accessory to double as a waste receptacle or bin.

The accessory may include a back panel. The support surface may project outwardly from the back panel. The back panel and the support surface may define therein the cavity for receiving waste. The accessory may be collapsible for ease of storage.

The support surface and back panel of the accessory may be displaceable relative to each other between: an operative condition wherein they together define the cavity for receiving waste; and a collapsed condition wherein the support surface and back panel are generally recumbent or folded in upon each other.

The attachment formations may be in the form of hooks secured to the back panel of the accessory for mounting the accessory to a top edge of an aircraft service trolley. The hooks may be universal in nature such that the accessory is retro-fittable to different service trolley configurations. Accordingly, the accessory may be mountable to any aircraft service trolley without having to make any modifications to the service trolley itself.

The support surface and back panel may each comprise at least two panels hingedly interconnected in a configuration which permits displacement of the panels between the operative condition and the collapsed condition.

Alternatively, the accessory may include a hook and loop fastening system, such as Velcro™, applied to corresponding edges of the support surface and the back panel, thereby permitting the support surface and back panel to be releasably secured in the operative condition. I n this case, displacement of the support surface and back panel into the collapsed condition may require the secured edges to be separated by pulling them apart and folding the support surface and back panel in upon each other.

The invention extends to an aircraft service trolley including an accessory as described above. - A -

I n accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an aircraft service trolley including: an impact-absorbing cushion attached to an end of the trolley.

The cushion may be removably attached to the aircraft service trolley.

BRI EF DESCRI PTI ON OF DRAWI NGS

The invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

I n the Figures: Figure 1 shows a three-dimensional view of an embodiment of an accessory, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 shows a three-dimensional view of another embodiment of the accessory, in accordance with the invention;

Figure 3 shows a three-dimensional view of the accessory of Figure 2 in a collapsed or folded condition;

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the accessory in accordance with the invention;

Figure 5 is a three-dimensional view of the accessory of Figure 4 illustrating the folding up of the accessory; and Figure 6 shows a three-dimensional view of the accessory of Figure 4 in a collapsed condition.

DETAI LED DESCRI PTI ON OF PREFERRED EM BODI M ENT

I n Figure 1 , reference numeral 10 refers generally to a first embodiment of an accessory for an aircraft service trolley in accordance with the invention. The accessory 10 includes attachment formations in the form of two, laterally spaced apart, generally U-shaped hooks 12 mounted to a top edge of the accessory 10. The hooks 12 project rearwardly at an upwardly inclined angle relative to the accessory 10. The accessory 10 further includes an elongate, generally rectangular cushion 14, which has a slightly convexly curved outer surface, mounted to a planar rectangular complemental back panel 16.

I n use, the accessory 10 is mounted to a front end of an aircraft service trolley generally indicated by reference numeral 20. The hooks 12 clip or hook over a top edge or lip 22 of a front face 24 of the service trolley 20 and the accessory 10 hangs in an upright position with the back panel 16 abutting the front face 24. The hooks 12 are designed to be universal, thereby allowing retro-fitting of the accessory 10 to different top end configurations of service trolleys without having to modify the service trolleys in any way.

The accessory 10 extends (when mounted to a service trolley) substantially along the length of the service trolley 20 and the accessory 10 has a breadth that is equal to that of the service trolley 20 such that the accessory 10 covers a majority of the (or the entire) front face 24 of the service trolley 20, without substantially increasing the dimensions of the service trolley 20. Therefore, as the service trolley 20 is pushed along an aisle of an aircraft with the accessory 10 attached, the accessory 10 acts as a protective cushion which, in the event of the trolley 20 colliding with (for example) an elbow or knee of a passenger, absorbs the impact thereby preventing injury to the passenger.

I n Figure 2, reference numeral 40 refers generally to a second embodiment of an accessory for an aircraft service trolley in accordance with the invention. Similarly to the accessory 10 shown in Figure 1 , this embodiment also includes attachment formations in the form of two, laterally spaced apart, generally U-shaped hooks 12 mounted to a top edge of the accessory 40. The same references numerals are used for corresponding features of different embodiments of the accessory throughout the Figures. The accessory 40 includes a planar rectangular back panel 16 from which a curved, roughly V-shaped, support surface 42 projects outwardly such that the accessory 40 has a generally triangular or wedge-shaped cross-sectional profile. An outer surface of the support surface 42 is lined with a cushion 44 to absorb an impact. An upper edge of the support surface 42 and cushion 44 is at an oblique angle. The support surface 42 and back panel 16 together define an upwardly open cavity 43 for receiving waste.

The accessory 40 therefore serves a dual purpose. It serves as a protective cushion to prevent injury to passengers and as a waste receptacle or bin. The accessory 40 is attached to the front end of the aircraft service trolley 20 in similar fashion to the accessory 10 as described above. The hooks 12 clip or hook over the top edge 22 of the front face 24 of the service trolley 20. The wedge-shaped support surface 42 tapers toward a narrow end or tip, thus presenting an inclined cushioned surface which serves to deflect obstacles, such as elbows and knees of passengers seated in aisle seats, laterally when the service trolley is pushed down the aisle.

I n Figure 3, the accessory 40 is shown in its collapsed condition. The back panel 16 is centrally divided along a longitudinal mid-line into two equal, adjacent, inwardly facing panels 45 which are hingedly connected to each other and the support surface 42 via length-wise hinges (not shown), to fold about hinge axes 40.1 . At a tip or narrow end of the support surface 42, it also has a longitudinal hinge which allows opposing sides of the support surface 42 to displace or pivot inwardly toward each other. The cushion 44 is sufficiently pliable to accommodate displacement of the support surface 42 between the operative condition (Figure 2) and collapsed condition (Figure 3). When the accessory 40 is to be stored away, it can simply be unhooked by lifting the hooks 12 clear of the top edge 22 of the service trolley 20. From the operative condition, the inwardly facing panels 45 forming the back panel 16 collapse inwardly, as shown in Figure 3, with relative ease through the application of minimal force. Consequently, the sides of the support surface 42 fold inwardly toward each other, the accessory 40 thus being in a more compact form for storage. The hooks 12 end up facing each other as shown in Figure 3.

An alternative embodiment of the accessory is illustrated in

Figure 4 and reference numeral 60 refers generally to this particular embodiment which is in accordance with the invention. The accessory 60 includes a planar rectangular back panel 16 and two convexly curved side walls (i.e. support surfaces) 62 projecting forward at an inwardly inclined angle from opposing sides of the back panel 16 to meet midway leading to longitudinal symmetry of the accessory 60. The accessory 60 includes a triangular base 61 (Figure 5) , which closes a bottom of the accessory 60 and together with the side walls 62 and the back panel 16 define an upwardly open cavity 43 for receiving waste. A raised panel 63 extends over a lower part of the side walls 62 forking upwardly at an oblique angle and continues around edges of the service trolley 20 (when the accessory 60 is mounted to the service trolley 20) . Elongate arms 64 extend upwardly flanking each side of the trolley 20 as projections of the ends of the raised panel 63 and terminate in U-shaped hooks (i.e. attachment formations) 65 which clip or hook over a top edge of the trolley 20.

Figure 5 illustrates how the accessory 60 folds up into the collapsed condition shown in Figure 6. Abutting edges of the side walls 62 and the base 61 are releasably secured by means of hook and loop fastening strips 66 (e.g. Velcro™). When the accessory 60 is to be stored away the side walls 62 and base 61 are pulled apart and folded inward upon one another as shown by the arrows in Figure 5. Figure 6 shows the accessory 60 in the collapsed condition with the side walls 62 folded over one another. The arms 64 of the attachment formations fold inwardly in criss-cross fashion.

It is understood that the accessory can be made of light weight material such as plastic or similar polymeric materials, as the weight of an article is always an important consideration when it comes to aviation.

The I nventor believes that the accessory 10, 40, 60 as described, illustrated and exemplified provides a simple and cost effective means of increasing the safety of aircraft service trolleys through the introduction of the protective cushion. I n addition, it can simultaneously serve as a rubbish bin. Furthermore, no modification of existing service trolleys is required since the accessory is retro-fittable. The fact that the accessory is collapsible allows for compact storage after use.

Claims

CLAI MS

1. An accessory for an aircraft service trolley, the accessory including: at least one attachment formation for removably attaching the accessory to an end of the trolley; and a cushion for absorbing an impact.

2. An accessory as claimed in claim 1 , which includes a support surface to which the cushion is attached.

3. An accessory as claimed in claim 2, wherein the accessory is removably attached or attachable to a front end of the trolley and the support surface projects outwardly.

4. An accessory as claimed in claim 3, which has a generally triangular or wedge-shaped cross-sectional profile.

5. An accessory as claimed in claim 4, wherein the support surface is tapered, presenting an inclined cushioned surface for deflecting objects in a path of the trolley laterally, when the trolley is propelled in a forward direction.

6. An accessory as claimed in any of claims 2 to 5 inclusive, wherein the support surface is convexly curved.

7. An accessory as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the accessory defines a cavity for receiving waste.

8. An accessory as claimed in claim 7, wherein the cavity is an upwardly open cavity, allowing the accessory to double as a waste receptacle or bin.

9. An accessory as claimed in claim 8, which includes a back panel wherein the support surface projects outwardly from the back panel defining therein the cavity for receiving waste.

10. An accessory as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the accessory is collapsible for ease of storage.

1 1. An accessory as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the support surface and back panel are displaceable relative to each other between: an operative condition wherein they together define the cavity for receiving waste; and a collapsed condition wherein the support surface and back panel are generally recumbent or folded in upon each other.

12. An accessory as claimed in any of the preceding claims, including attachment formations in the form of hooks for mounting the accessory to a top edge of the trolley.

13. An accessory as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the accessory is retro-fittable to different service trolley configurations.

14. An accessory as claimed in any of claims 1 1 to 13 inclusive, wherein the support surface and back panel each comprise at least two panels hingedly interconnected in a configuration which permits displacement of the panels between the operative condition and the collapsed condition.

15. An accessory as claimed in any of claims 1 1 to 14 inclusive, including a hook and loop fastening system applied to corresponding edges of the support surface and the back panel, thereby permitting the support surface and back panel to be releasably secured in the operative condition.

16. An aircraft service trolley including an accessory as claimed in any of the preceding claims.

17. An aircraft service trolley including: an impact absorbing cushion attached to an end of the trolley.