Control for a passenger door of an aircraft
AssigneeEurocopter Deutschland GmbH
InventorsHannes Erben, Pascal Laurent
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a door closing procedure, an aircraft passenger door is pivoted from an open position to a pivoted-in position, shifted to a closed position, locked into a locked condition, and then secured into a secured locked condition. A control method and arrangement for controlling the closing procedure includes sensors that respectively each sense the completion of a respective allocated one of the steps of the closing procedure, and then responsively initiate the next following step of the procedure. The closing procedure is carried out in an automatic sequential step-wise manner using a simple robust arrangement, without requiring a computer control.
Claims21
In an aircraft including a fuselage with a door opening therein, a door, a support arm that movably connects said door to said fuselage and enables said door to move between an open position in which said door opening is open and a closed position in which said door closes said door opening, a pivot and stroke arrangement that is connected to said door and adapted to move said door between said open position and said closed position, a locking arrangement adapted to lock said door from said closed position to a locked condition, and a control connected to said stroke and pivot arrangement and to said locking arrangement and adapted to control the movement of said door between said open position and said closed position, and the locking of said door into said locked condition;
- an improvement in said control, wherein said control is an operating sequence control, that is adapted to carry out a positively enforced sequence of successive door closing steps in a chain of individual control steps, and that comprises door condition sensors, which are respectively allocated to said individual control steps, and which respectively sense a respective associated door condition of said door corresponding to one of said open position, said closed position, and said locked condition, and which switch said sequence from one of said door closing steps to a next successive one of said door closing steps responsive to sensing said respective condition, and wherein only a respective active one of said sensors allocated to a presently active one of said control steps is active at any one time, and wherein said respective active sensor initiates and enables a next successive one of said sensors allocated to a next successive one of said control steps to become active upon completion of said presently active one of said control steps.
A door arrangement for an aircraft, comprising:
- a door frame bounding a door opening in a fuselage of an aircraft:
- a door;
- at least one support arm that movably connects and supports said door relative to said door frame;
- a pivot arrangement that is connected to said door and enables said door to pivot from an open position to a pivoted-in position relative to said door opening;
- a shift arrangement that is connected to said door and enables said door to shift from said pivoted-in position to a closed position in which said door closes said door opening;
- a locking mechanism arranged and adapted to lock said door into a locked condition relative to said door frame while said door is in said closed position;
- and
- an operating sequence control including a first sensor arranged and adapted to sense said pivoted-in position of said door, and a second sensor arranged and adapted to sense said closed position of said door;
- wherein said first sensor activates said shift arrangement to shift said door from said pivoted-in position to said closed position, responsive to sensing said pivoted-in position of said door;
- wherein said second sensor activates said locking mechanism to lock said door into said locked condition, responsive to sensing said closed position of said door;
- and
- wherein only one of said sensors is active at any one time, and said first sensor initiates and enables said second sensor to become active responsive to said first sensor sensing said pivoted-in position of said door, so that said door can only be operated in a positive enforced sequence of operations.
A method of closing an aircraft door relative to a door opening of an aircraft fuselage controlled by a first sensor and a second sensor, comprising the following steps:
- a) pivoting said door from an open position to a pivoted-in position relative to said door opening, and initiating and enabling said first sensor to become active;
- b) sensing with said first sensor when said door achieves said pivoted-in position;
- c) responsive to and activated by said sensing of said step b), shifting said door from said pivoted-in position to a closed position relative to said door opening, and initiating and enabling said second sensor to become active;
- d) sensing with said second sensor when said door achieves said closed position;
- and
- e) responsive to and activated by said sensing of said step d), locking said door into a locked condition;
- wherein only one of said sensors is active at any one time, so that said steps a) to e) can only be carried out successively in a positive enforced sequence of said steps.
A door arrangement for an aircraft, comprising:
- a door frame bounding a door opening in a fuselage of an aircraft:
- a door;
- at least one support arm that movably connects and supports said door relative to said door frame;
- a pivot arrangement that is connected to said door and enables said door to pivot from an open position to a pivoted-in position relative to said door opening;
- a shift arrangement that is connected to said door and enables said door to shift from said pivoted-in position to a closed position in which said door closes said door opening;
- a locking mechanism arranged and adapted to lock said door into a locked condition relative to said door frame while said door is in said closed position;
- a securing mechanism arranged and adapted to secure said door into a secured condition when said door is in said locked condition;
- and
- an operating sequence control including a first sensor arranged and adapted to sense said pivoted-in position of said door, a second sensor arranged and adapted to sense said closed position of said door, and a third sensor arranged and adapted to sense said locked condition of said door;
- wherein said first sensor activates said shift arrangement to shift said door from said pivoted-in position to said closed position, responsive to sensing said pivoted-in position of said door;
- wherein said second sensor activates said locking mechanism to lock said door into said locked condition, responsive to sensing said closed position of said door;
- and
- wherein said third sensor activates said securing mechanism to secure said door into said secured condition responsive to sensing said locked condition of said door.
A method of closing an aircraft door relative to a door opening of an aircraft fuselage, comprising the following steps:
- a) pivoting said door from an open position to a pivoted-in position relative to said door opening;
- b) sensing with a first sensor when said door achieves said pivoted-in position;
- c) responsive to said sensing of said step b), shifting said door from said pivoted-in position to a closed position relative to said door opening;
- d) sensing with a second sensor when said door achieves said closed position;
- e) responsive to said sensing of said step d), locking said door into a locked condition;
- f) sensing with a third sensor when said door achieves said locked condition;
- and
- g) responsive to said sensing of said step f), securing said door into a secured condition that securely maintains said locked condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.