An upper position locking mechanism device for a hatch

Abstract

An upper door lock mechanism device for an aircraft includes: a guiding member fixed to the side of the aircraft door frame; an arm member installed in the door, including: a first arm installed to extend outside the door frame, a second arm installed in the door main body and having a locking groove, and a connecting shaft fixedly connecting the first arm and the second arm; an elastic member connected between the first arm of the rocker arm member and the frame, which is configured to apply an elastic force to the first arm; and a locking member including a telescopic mechanism, which is fixed to the door main body via a base and connected to a handle. Wherein, in the unlocked state, the first arm contacts the guiding member, so that the guiding member holds the rocker arm member in the unlocked position against the elastic force, and the locking member is separated from the second arm, while in the locked state, the first arm is separated from the guiding member, so that the rocker arm member moves from the unlocked position to the locked position under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member, and the locking member is locked and engaged with the second arm to lock the handle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of aircraft door mechanism design, and particularly relates to an upper locking mechanism device for a cabin door. Background Art

[0002] In the event of an aircraft accident, emergency evacuation is the last line of defense to ensure the safety of the crew on board and can play a huge role at critical moments.

[0003] In the emergency evacuation test, airworthiness regulations require the boarding door to be quickly opened within 10 seconds. To open the boarding door, a handle is used (e.g., rotated) to unlock the door so that the door can be lifted from its original position to open the door. However, there are the following problems during the process of opening the boarding door: after triggering the emergency actuator, the boarding door may not be able to stay at the highest lifting point, and may even fall downward, affecting the opening of the boarding door and the deployment of the emergency slide.

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to design a locking and lifting system that is configured to stably lock the door at the highest lifting point during the opening process of the door to ensure that the door can be opened normally and facilitate subsequent operations.

[0005] The currently commonly used locking and lifting system is the upper locking mechanism for the boarding door of an aircraft. In the existing research on upper locks and anti-misoperation solutions, the concept of such mechanisms is mainly reflected in the mechanism design linked to the door, that is, locking or unlocking actions are performed through the opening and closing of the door.

[0006] The existing mechanism design linked to the door includes a locking lock shaft. However, since the specific locking mechanism is the lock shaft, and the lock shaft is far from the handle rotation shaft in the mechanism, affected by tolerance accumulation and free travel, it is difficult for the locking lock shaft to lock the handle at the highest lifting point simultaneously, which results in a slight downward drop of the door.

[0007] To optimize the defects of the locking lock shaft design, some other design solutions involve directly applying the upper locking mechanism to the rotation shaft of the handle, where the rotation shaft of the handle is locked when the door is lifted to the highest point and fully opened to ensure that the door does not drop. However, the existing design solutions for locking the rotation shaft of the handle have the following problems: a large number of parts, high mechanism complexity, large weight, and the mechanism contains finished parts or small equipment parts, resulting in high manufacturing costs, large driving force required for the mechanism, and a greater impact on the opening load of the door handle, etc.

[0008] Therefore, it is desirable to design a locking mechanism that can directly lock the handle and can overcome at least some of the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0009] In order to solve the problem that the handle cannot be kept at the highest point when the aircraft cabin door is opened in the emergency evacuation state, the present invention designs a cabin door upper lock mechanism device. This mechanism combines the passenger cabin door lifting mechanism and the outward opening mechanism, and uses the upper lock mechanism to lock the inner handle rotating shaft in the cabin door lifting mechanism. During the process of lifting the cabin door to the highest point and opening it, the handle is always locked at the position where the lifting movement is completed, ensuring that the cabin door can be normally opened and closed, and can be normally opened in the emergency evacuation state.

[0010] Specifically, this cabin door upper lock mechanism device for an aircraft includes: a guiding member, which is fixed to the side of the aircraft door frame; a rocker arm member, which is installed in the cabin door and is configured to be able to move between an unlocked position and a locked position. The rocker arm member includes: a first arm installed to extend outside the frame of the cabin door, a second arm installed in the main body of the cabin door and having a locking groove, and a connecting shaft that fixedly connects the first arm and the second arm, so that the second arm can move along with the movement of the first arm; an elastic member, which is connected between the first arm of the rocker arm member and the frame and is configured to apply an elastic force to the first arm to force the rocker arm member to move from the unlocked position to the locked position; and a locking member, which is fixed to the main body of the cabin door via a base and is connected to the handle. The locking member includes a telescopic mechanism, so that the locking member can move towards or away from the second arm. Wherein, in the unlocked state, the first arm of the rocker arm member contacts the guiding member, so that the guiding member overcomes the elastic force to keep the rocker arm member in the unlocked position, and the locking member is separated from the second arm of the rocker arm member in the unlocked position. And wherein, in the locked state, the first arm of the rocker arm member is separated from the guiding member, so that the rocker arm member moves from the unlocked position to the locked position under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member, and the locking member is locked and engaged with the locking groove of the second arm of the rocker arm member in the locked position to lock the handle.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present invention, the guiding member includes a toothed plate and a guiding baffle. The toothed plate is fixedly connected to the door frame, and the guiding baffle is fixed on the toothed plate to receive the end of the first arm. The guiding surface of the guiding baffle matches the movement timing of the cabin door to ensure that the upper lock is unlocked before the handle is operated to close the cabin door.

[0012] Preferably, the first arm includes a roller at its end, and the roller is configured to roll along the guiding baffle, making it easier to receive the first arm and disengage the first arm.

[0013] In one embodiment, the second arm includes a crank and a Y-shaped member including a locking groove. The crank is fixedly connected to one end of the connecting shaft and is fixedly connected to the Y-shaped member via a nut bar and a screw. This structure allows adjusting the installation positions of the nut bar and the Y-shaped member to freely control the length of the second arm.

[0014] Preferably, the second arm includes a roller, which is mounted on the Y-shaped member through a roller shaft, enabling the roller to rotate around the roller shaft.

[0015] In one embodiment, the elastic member is a tension spring.

[0016] Advantageously, the locking member includes a hook, which is configured to be connected to the telescopic mechanism and rotate coaxially with the handle, such that in the unlocked state, the hook rotates to be separated from the second arm, and in the locked state, the hook rotates to engage with the locking groove of the second arm.

[0017] In one embodiment, the telescopic mechanism includes a rod and a sleeve, the rod is installed in the sleeve, and one end thereof is connected to the hook.

[0018] Furthermore, the locking member includes a compression spring, which is sleeved between the rod and the sleeve to drive the rod to move along the axis of the sleeve.

[0019] The additional features and advantages of the described upper hatch lock mechanism device will be set forth in the detailed description below, and will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description or recognized by those skilled in the art from practicing the embodiments described herein. These descriptions include the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020] For the above purposes, the technical features of the present invention are clearly described in the following claims, and its advantages are apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate by way of example the preferred embodiments of the present invention without limiting the scope of the inventive concept.

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an upper hatch lock mechanism device in the locked state according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0022] Figure 2 Shows the in the unlocked state Figure 1 schematic diagram of the upper hatch lock mechanism device;

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of an upper hatch lock mechanism device in the unlocked state according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown; and

[0024] Figure 4 Shows the in the locked state Figure 3 schematic diagram of the upper hatch lock mechanism device, wherein the elastic member and the telescopic mechanism are omitted.

[0025] Reference Signs

[0026] 1 Frame

[0027] 100 Guide Member

[0028] 110 Tooth-shaped plate

[0029] 120 Guide baffle

[0030] 200 Rocker arm member

[0031] 210 First arm

[0032] 211 Roller

[0033] 212 Roller rotating shaft

[0034] 220 Second arm

[0035] 221 Crank

[0036] 222 Y-shaped part

[0037] 223 Locking groove

[0038] 224 Nut strip

[0039] 225 Roller

[0040] 226 Roller rotating shaft

[0041] 230 Connecting shaft

[0042] 300 Elastic member

[0043] 400 Locking member

[0044] 410 Support

[0045] 420 Hook

[0046] 430 Telescopic mechanism

[0047] 431 Shaft

[0048] 432 Sleeve

[0049] 440 Compression spring Specific implementation mode

[0050] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments, but it is not used as a basis for any limitation to the present invention.

[0051] The term used in this article: The "unlocked state" of the upper hatch lock mechanism device means that when the hatch of the aircraft is in the fully closed position, the upper hatch lock mechanism device does not need to lock the handle, that is, at this time, the upper hatch lock mechanism device is in the state of unlocking the handle.

[0052] Accordingly, the term used in this text: the "unlocked position" of the rocker arm member refers to the position of the rocker arm member when the upper door lock mechanism device is in the "unlocked state".

[0053] The term used in this text: the "locked state" of the upper door lock mechanism device refers to the state in which when the door of the aircraft is lifted and opened to the open position, the upper door lock mechanism device needs to lock the handle to prevent the door from falling, that is, at this time the upper door lock mechanism device is in the state of locking the handle.

[0054] Accordingly, the term used in this text: the "locked position" of the rocker arm member refers to the position of the rocker arm member when the upper door lock mechanism device is in the "locked state".

[0055] It should be understood that "first" and "second" used in this text can be interchanged without affecting the description of the embodiments.

[0056] For ease of understanding, in the following description, the same elements are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0057] Referring to Figures 1-4 , there is shown an upper door lock mechanism device, which includes a guiding member 100, a rocker arm member 200, an elastic member 300 and a locking member 400. These members will be described in detail below.

[0058] As shown in the figure, the guiding member 100 is fixed to the side of the door frame (not shown) of the aircraft to guide the movement trajectory of the first arm 210 of the rocker arm member 200 (as described below). In this embodiment, the guiding member 100 includes a toothed plate 110 and a guiding baffle 120. The toothed plate 110 is fixedly connected to the above-mentioned door frame, and the guiding baffle 120 is fixed on the toothed plate. The guiding surface of the guiding baffle 120 matches the movement timing of the door to ensure that the upper lock is unlocked before operating the handle to close the door.

[0059] The rocker arm member 200 is installed in the door and is configured to be able to move between an unlocked position and a locked position. The rocker arm member includes a first arm 210, a second arm 220 and a connecting shaft 230. The connecting shaft 230 is installed to pass through the longitudinal beam structure of the door to fixedly connect the first arm 210 and the second arm 220, so that the second arm 220 can move along with the movement of the first arm 210.

[0060] As Figure 1 , 3As shown, the first arm 210 is mounted to extend beyond the frame 1 of the hatch (the hatch body is not shown for clarity), such that in the locked state of the upper hatch locking mechanism device, the end of the first arm 210 contacts the guiding member 100, specifically the guiding baffle 120, so that the movement trajectory of the first arm 210 is constrained by the guiding member 100. Preferably, the first arm 210 includes a roller 211 at its end, and the roller 211 is configured to roll along the guiding baffle 120, to roll away from the guiding baffle 120 in the locked state and roll into the guiding baffle 120 in the unlocked state. The structure of the roller enables the first arm 210 to be more easily received by and separated from the guiding baffle 120.

[0061] As Figure 3 Best shown in, an elastic member 300 is connected between the first arm 210 of the rocker arm member 200 and the frame 1. In this embodiment, the elastic member 300 is a tension spring, one end of which is mounted on the frame 1 of the hatch and the other end is mounted on the first arm 210, and is configured to apply a pulling force to the first arm 210 to force the rocker arm member 200 to move from the unlocked position to the locked position. Specifically, the elastic member 300 is configured to pull the first arm 210 to force it to rotate from the unlocked position to the locked position. Among them, in the unlocked state, the first arm contacts the guiding member, and in the unlocked state, the first arm 210 (the roller 211 in this embodiment) of the rocker arm member 200 contacts the guiding member 100, specifically the concave lower part of the guiding baffle 120 contacts, so that the concave surface of the guiding baffle 120 constrains the movement trajectory of the rocker arm member 200 to hold the rocker arm member in the unlocked position against the elastic force. In the locked state, due to the lifting of the hatch, the rocker arm member 200 in the hatch body is also lifted accordingly, so that the first arm 210 of the rocker arm member 200 is also lifted and separated from the guiding member 100, specifically the guiding baffle 120. At this time, the elastic force of the elastic member 300 acts on the first arm 210 to move the first arm 210 (and the second arm 220 below) from the unlocked position to the locked position.

[0062] It should be understood that although in this embodiment, the elastic member 300 is a tension spring and is configured to pull the first arm 210, it should be understood that the elastic member 300 can also be other members, such as a compression spring configured to push the first arm 210, as long as it can achieve moving the first arm 210 from the unlocked position to the locked position.

[0063] As shown in the figure, the second arm 220 is installed in the main body of the hatch door (not shown) and has a locking groove 223. Since the second arm 220 is fixedly connected to the first arm 210 via a connecting shaft 230, the rotation of the first arm 210 will drive the rotation of the second arm (i.e., the first arm 210, the connecting shaft 230, and the second arm 220 rotate synchronously around the axis of the connecting shaft 230). In this embodiment, the second arm 220 includes a crank 221 and a Y-shaped member 222. The locking groove 223 is included in the Y-shaped member 222. The crank 221 is fixedly connected to one end of the connecting shaft 230 and is fixedly connected to the Y-shaped member 222 via a nut strip 224 and a screw. This connection can be fixed using the nut strip 224 after adjusting the relative positions of the crank 221 and the Y-shaped member 222, so that the length of the second arm 220 can be freely adjusted to facilitate the locking member 400 to be locked in the locking groove 223 of the second arm 220 below.

[0064] The locking member 400 is fixed in the main body of the hatch door (not shown for clarity) via a base 410 and is connected to a handle. The base 410 is fixedly connected to the hatch door main body. The locking member 400 includes a telescoping mechanism 430, enabling the locking member 400 to move towards or away from the second arm 220 so that the locking member 400 can be locked in the locking groove 223 of the second arm 220. Among them, in the unlocked state, the locking member 400 is separated from the second arm 220 of the rocker member 200 in the unlocked position. In the locked state, the locking member 400 is locked and engaged with the locking groove 223 of the second arm 200 of the rocker member 200 in the locked position to lock the handle.

[0065] In this embodiment, the locking member 400 includes a hook 420. The hook 420 is configured to be connected to the telescoping mechanism 430 and rotate coaxially with the handle (not shown), such that in the unlocked state, the hook 420 rotates to be separated from the second arm 220, and in the locked state, the hook 420 rotates to be snapped into the locking groove 223 of the second arm 220. It should be noted that the locking member 400 may include other forms of elements that are locked and connected to the second arm 220, not limited to the hook 420.

[0066] In the case where the locking member 400 includes a hook 420, preferably, the second arm 220 includes a roller 225. The roller 225 is installed on the Y-shaped member 222 through a roller rotating shaft 226, enabling the roller 225 to rotate around the roller rotating shaft 226. The inner surface of the hook 420 has a guiding function for the roller 225, capable of guiding the roller to move to the hook groove of the hook to complete locking. Thus, the hook 420 can be smoothly snapped into the locking groove 223 and disengaged from the locking groove 223.

[0067] The telescopic mechanism 430 includes a rod 431 and a sleeve 432. The rod 431 is installed in the sleeve 432, and one end of the rod 431 is connected to the hook 420.

[0068] Furthermore, the locking member 400 includes a compression spring 440. The compression spring 440 is sleeved between the rod 431 and the sleeve 432 to drive the rod 431 to move along the axis of the sleeve 432. The telescopic mechanism 430 and the compression spring 440 always act on the hook 420. In the initial stage of the door opening process, the compression spring force is the resistance to operating the handle to open the door until the center point, that is, the point where the compression spring 440 is compressed to the shortest. After passing the center point, the compression spring assists in operating the inner handle to open the door and pushes the handle to the end state of the opening movement; in the initial stage of the door closing process, the compression spring force is the resistance to operating the handle to close the door until the center point, that is, the point where the compression spring 440 is compressed to the shortest. After passing the center point, the compression spring assists in operating the handle to close the door and pushes the handle to the end state of the closing movement, that is, the position where the handle is located when the hatch is closed. The beneficial effect of the above design features is that the structure composed of the telescopic mechanism 430 and the compression spring 440 can drive the inner handle to and maintain it at the end position of the movement, ensuring that the opening / closing action moves in place and remains in the state of moving in place, rather than relying on the operator to operate the inner handle in place. To a certain extent, it can avoid possible operation errors of the operator.

[0069] The overall operation of the upper hatch lock mechanism device in this embodiment is as follows:

[0070] When the hatch is normally opened, operate the hatch handle to drive the inner handle mechanism. The handle rotating shaft makes the hook 420 rotate around a fixed axis. The hatch is driven by the lifting mechanism to move to the highest point and cross the stop structure, and then opens outward. During this process, the roller 211 of the first arm 210 of the rocker member 200 of the upper hatch lock mechanism device separates from the guiding baffle 120 of the guiding member 100. The elastic member 300 drives the rocker member to rotate around a fixed axis, thereby driving the connecting shaft 230 to rotate synchronously around a fixed axis. The connecting shaft 230 drives the second arm 220 to rotate synchronously to perform the locking movement. At this time, the roller 225 in the Y-shaped member 222 contacts the hook 420 of the locking member 400 to lock. During the locking process, the compression spring 440 drives the rod 431 to move along the axis of the sleeve 432 to assist the hook 420 in locking, forming the design feature of passing through the center. The upper hatch lock mechanism device can ensure that the hook 420 of the hatch locking member 400 accurately falls into the locking groove 223 of the second arm 220 by adjusting the installation positions of the nut strip 224 and the Y-shaped member 222 to complete the locking. The inner surface of the hook 420 has a guiding function for the roller 225 and can guide the roller to move to the hook groove of the hook to complete the locking.

[0071] When the cabin door is normally closed, the cabin door gradually approaches the guiding baffle 120. After the roller 211 of the first arm 210 of the rocker arm member 200 contacts the concave surface of the guiding baffle 120, the concave surface of the guiding baffle 120 restricts the movement track of the rocker arm member 200, so that the roller 211 rolls along the guiding baffle 120, causing the first arm 210 of the rocker arm member 200 to rotate about a fixed axis, thereby driving the connecting shaft 230 to rotate synchronously about a fixed axis. The connecting shaft 230 drives the second arm 220 to rotate synchronously about an axis to perform an unlocking movement. At this time, the roller 225 in the Y-shaped member 222 is separated from the hook 420 of the locking member 400 to unlock. During the unlocking process, the hook 420 of the locking member 400 drives the rod 431 to move along the axis of the sleeve 421. After the upper lock is unlocked, the cabin door handle can be operated to complete the action of closing the cabin door.

[0072] It should be noted that the rocker arm member 200 of the present invention can rotate in one direction, for example, clockwise, while the hook 420 of the locking member 400 can rotate counterclockwise, or the rocker arm member 200 of the present invention can rotate in other directions, for example, counterclockwise, while the hook 420 of the locking member 400 can rotate clockwise. These two examples are respectively in the Figures 1-2 and Figures 3-4 shown in. Of course, the rocker arm member 200 and the locking member 400 of the present invention may not perform pure rotational and translational motions, but may have other movement tracks as long as locking and unlocking can be achieved.

[0073] The upper lock mechanism device of the cabin door of the present invention is combined with the passenger cabin door lifting mechanism and the outward opening mechanism. The upper lock mechanism locks the handle shaft at the initial end of the passenger cabin door lifting mechanism. During the process of lifting the passenger cabin door to the highest point and outward opening, the handle is always locked at the position where the lifting movement is completed, ensuring that the cabin door can be normally opened and closed, and opened in the emergency evacuation state. When the passenger cabin door is completely closed, the upper lock mechanism is in a separated state from the lifting mechanism. The handle is operated to open the passenger cabin door. After the cabin door completes the lifting movement to the highest point of the lifting movement, the upper lock mechanism locks the handle rotating shaft. During the outward opening process of the cabin door until the cabin door is completely opened, the upper lock keeps locking the handle rotating shaft; when the passenger cabin door is operated to close from the fully opened position, the rocker arm in the upper lock mechanism contacts the guiding baffle on the fuselage, and the rotation of the rocker arm drives the upper lock shaft to rotate, and the upper lock is separated from the hook to complete unlocking, and the handle can perform the movement of closing the cabin door. This device has the advantages of high reliability, strong versatility, and accurate and adjustable locking (unlocking) of the lock system, ensuring in a new form that the handle of the passenger cabin door is locked and maintained at the position where the lifting movement is completed during the process of lifting to the highest point and outward opening.

[0074] Although the structure and operation method of the present invention have been described above in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should recognize that the above examples are only for illustration and cannot be used as a limitation to the present invention. Therefore, the present invention can be modified and varied, and these modifications and variations will fall within the scope defined by the appended claims of this application.

Claims

1. A hatch upper locking mechanism device, which is used for the hatch of an aircraft and includes: A guiding member, which is fixed to the side of the door frame of the aircraft; A rocker arm member, which is installed in the hatch and is configured to be able to move between an unlocked position and a locked position. The rocker arm member includes: A first arm, which is installed to extend outside the frame of the hatch; A second arm, which is installed in the main body of the hatch and has a locking groove; and A connecting shaft, which fixedly connects the first arm and the second arm so that the second arm can move along with the movement of the first arm; An elastic member, which is connected between the first arm of the rocker arm member and the frame and is configured to apply an elastic force to the first arm to force the rocker arm member to move from the unlocked position to the locked position; and A locking member, which is fixed to the main body of the hatch via a base and is connected to a handle. The locking member includes a telescopic mechanism so that the locking member can move towards or away from the second arm; wherein, in the unlocked state, the first arm of the rocker arm member contacts the guiding member, so that the guiding member overcomes the elastic force to hold the rocker arm member in the unlocked position, and the locking member is separated from the second arm of the rocker arm member in the unlocked position; and wherein, in the locked state, the first arm of the rocker arm member is separated from the guiding member, so that the rocker arm member moves from the unlocked position to the locked position under the action of the elastic force of the elastic member, and the locking member is locked and engaged with the locking groove of the second arm of the rocker arm member in the locked position to lock the handle.

2. The hatch upper locking mechanism device according to claim 1, wherein: The guiding member includes a toothed plate and a guiding baffle. The toothed plate is fixedly connected to the door frame, and the guiding baffle is fixed on the toothed plate to receive the end of the first arm.

3. The hatch upper locking mechanism device according to claim 2, wherein: The first arm includes a roller at its end, and the roller is configured to roll along the guiding baffle.

4. The hatch upper locking mechanism device according to claim 1, wherein: The second arm includes a crank and a Y-shaped member including the locking groove. The crank is fixedly connected to one end of the connecting shaft and is fixedly connected to the Y-shaped member via a nut bar and a screw.

5. The hatch upper locking mechanism device according to claim 4, wherein: The second arm includes a roller, and the roller is installed on the Y-shaped member through a roller rotating shaft so that the roller can rotate around the roller rotating shaft.

6. The hatch upper locking mechanism device according to claim 1, wherein: The elastic member is a tension spring.

7. The hatch upper locking mechanism device according to claim 1, wherein: The locking member includes a hook, which is configured to be connected to the telescopic mechanism and rotate coaxially with the handle, such that in the unlocked state, the hook rotates to separate from the second arm, and in the locked state, the hook rotates to engage with the locking groove of the second arm.

8. The upper hatch lock mechanism device according to claim 7, wherein The telescopic mechanism includes a rod and a sleeve, the rod is installed in the sleeve, and one end thereof is connected to the hook.

9. The upper hatch lock mechanism device according to claim 8, wherein The locking member includes a compression spring, which is sleeved between the rod and the sleeve to drive the rod to move along the axis of the sleeve.

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