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US 5,322,244 AGranted
Supply system for passenger aircraft
AssigneeDeutsche Aerospace Airbus GmbH
InventorsAndreas Dallmann, Hans-Juergen Mueller, Wilfried Sprenger
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AssigneeDeutsche Aerospace Airbus GmbH
InventorsAndreas Dallmann, Hans-Juergen Mueller, Wilfried Sprenger
Estimating the term…
A supply system for passenger aircraft uses one or more catering containers which are loaded with the aid of the aircraft's loading system into the cargo hold of the passenger aircraft and positioned in vertical alignment with a supply distribution and work cabin on the passenger deck or floor of the aircraft. A horizontal conveying system is capable of moving transport carts or standardized packages in the directions of a rectangular coordinate system for bringing carts or packages into a lifting position. A vertical lift cooperates with the horizontal conveyor system for bringing trolleys initially held in the carts or standardized packages into the distribution and work cabin. Instead of equipping the catering container with a horizontal conveyor system that works in the X- and Y-direction, it is possible to use any other robot system for retrieving standardized packages and/or trolleys from the catering container.
A supply system for passenger aircraft comprising a cabin space, a cargo space, a floor separating said cabin space from said cargo space, a flight attendant work area (2) on said floor in said cabin space for distributing supplies, a catering container (3) including a container floor as part of a freight loading system in said cargo space vertically below said work area (2), a plurality of trolleys for containing supplies, horizontal conveyor means including a stationary lift position mounted to said container floor in said catering container for horizontally moving said trolleys into and out of said lift position in said catering container, said lift position having a surface area sufficient to support one trolley at a time, said system further comprising horizontally stationary vertical lift means extending through said floor in vertical and horizontal alignment with said lift position so that said vertical lift means are horizontally confined within said surface area of said lift position for vertically transporting said trolleys one at a time from said lift position (11) into said work area and vice versa, said horizontal conveyor means in said catering container comprising transport carts (9) for said trolleys, and wherein said supply system further comprises a computer and sensor means including control means connected to said computer, to said horizontal conveyor means, and to said vertical lift means for operating said supply system.
A supply system for passenger aircraft comprising a cabin space, a cargo space, a floor separating said cabin space from said cargo space, a flight attendant work area (2) on said floor in said cabin space for distributing supplies, a catering container (3) as part of a freight loading system in said cargo space below said work area (2), a plurality of trolleys for containing supplies, horizontal conveyor means in said catering container for horizontally moving said trolleys into and out of a stationary lift position in said catering container, vertical lift means extending through said floor for transporting said trolleys from said stationary lift position (11) into said work area and vice versa, said horizontal conveyor means in said catering container comprising transport carts (9) for said trolleys, said supply system further comprising a computer and sensor means including control means connected to said computer, to said horizontal conveyor means, and to said lift means for operating said supply system, and wherein said horizontal conveyor means comprise two horizontal conveyor systems (7C and 7D) arranged in said catering container (3B), each horizontal conveyor system having one said stationary lift position (11) aligned with said vertical lift means for horizontally transporting standardized packages (31) on said horizontal conveyor systems, and for vertically lifting said standardized packages on said vertical lift means.
A supply system for passenger aircraft comprising a cabin space, a cargo space, a floor separating said cabin space from said cargo space, a flight attendant work area (2) on said floor in said cabin space for distributing supplies, a catering container (3) as part of a freight loading system in said cargo space below said work area (2), a plurality of trolleys for containing supplies, horizontal conveyor means in said catering container for horizontally moving said trolleys into and out of a stationary lift position in said catering container, vertical lift means extending through said floor for transporting said trolleys from said stationary lift position (11) into said work area and vice versa, said horizontal conveyor means in said catering container comprising transport carts (9) for said trolleys, said supply system further comprising a computer and sensor means including control means connected to said computer, to said horizontal conveyor means, and to said lift means for operating said supply system, and wherein each of said trolleys comprises a dolly (32), and a countertop element (33), said system further comprising standardized packages of such a standardized size that at least one package (31) on said dolly covered by said countertop element forms said trolley.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.