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US 5,181,677 AGranted
Sliding aircraft door
OwnerAbraham M. Kaplan, Joyce Kaplaninventors
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OwnerAbraham M. Kaplan, Joyce Kaplaninventors
Estimating the term…
A door assembly is provided for an aircraft that has a fuselage with a protective skin and an access opening therein. The door assembly includes a pair of parallel tracks mounted on opposite sides of an access opening in the fuselage. A sliding door is secured to the tracks and is mounted thereon for reciprocal movement therealong. Some releasable restraining mechanism is provided for immobilizing the door relative to the tracks. A sliding aircraft door according to the invention allows openings of greater size to be employed in aircraft. Also, the system is far less complex, more economical to build, and lighter in weight then conventional aircraft door assemblies. The reduced weight results in greater fuel economy during flight, while the simplicity of construction reduces the likelihood of a malfunction in the door mechanism.
In an aircraft having a fuselage with a longitudinal axis and a protective skin through which an access opening is defined, the improvement comprising a pair of parallel tracks extending fore and aft relative to said longitudinal axis and located at the top and bottom of said access opening and spanning said access opening and anchored to said fuselage above and below said access opening in said skin, a door secured to said tracks and mounted only for sliding reciprocal translational movement and only along said tracks fore and aft relative to said longitudinal axis, and means for releasably immobilizing said door relative to said tracks.
An access closure for an aircraft having a fuselage with a protective skin and an access opening therein having upper and lower edges longitudinally aligned relative to said fuselage comprising:
A door assembly for an aircraft having a longitudinally aligned fuselage with an outer skin and an access opening therethrough having upper and lower edges longitudinally aligned relative to said fuselage comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.