Aircraft lavatory unit mounting structure

Abstract

To provide an attachment structure of a restroom unit for an aircraft which enables a bottom surface wall of a building frame to extend on a horizontal surface by easy operation in a restroom and enables the restroom unit for the aircraft to be installed efficiently.SOLUTION: In an attachment structure of a restroom unit 30 for an aircraft, bolts 48 penetrating through multiple positions of a bottom surface wall 3202 of the restroom unit 30 for the aircraft are screwed into a floor structure member 20 in the aircraft to attach the restroom unit 30 for the aircraft to the floor structure member 20. A height adjustment mechanism 50 which enables adjustment of a height of the bottom surface wall 3202 relative to the floor structure member 20 is provided for each bolt 48 so as to be operable from the interior of the restroom unit 30 for the aircraft.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an attachment structure of an aircraft lavatory unit.

Background Art

[0002] An aircraft lavatory unit installed inside an aircraft is composed of a body frame consisting of wall portions partitioning the lavatory such as a bottom wall, a front wall, and a rear wall, and a toilet, a washbasin, a trash bin device, etc. arranged inside this body frame. Then, bolts inserted through a plurality of locations on the bottom wall of the body frame are coupled to parts incorporated in a plurality of seat tracks for seat attachment, and the aircraft lavatory unit is installed inside the aircraft in this way. On the other hand, there are dimensional errors in the fuselage of the aircraft, and there are also product errors and installation errors in the seat tracks and product errors in the parts. If a plurality of locations on the bottom wall of the body frame are attached to the parts of the seat track by bolts penetrating the bottom wall, the bottom wall will not be installed horizontally, and the bottom wall will be installed inside the aircraft in a twisted state. Therefore, conventionally, a plurality of types of shims with different thicknesses are prepared. An operator lifts the bottom wall from the outside of the aircraft lavatory unit, and at a plurality of locations on the lower surface of the bottom wall, shims are inserted and removed on the upper surface of the parts of the seat track in a narrow space below the bottom wall on the floor inside the aircraft, and an adjustment operation is performed to extend the bottom wall of the aircraft lavatory unit on a horizontal plane.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Therefore, in the conventional mounting structure of the aircraft lavatory unit, when installing the aircraft lavatory unit in the aircraft, the operator has to lift the bottom wall from the outside of the aircraft lavatory unit, and in a narrow space below the bottom wall, at multiple locations on the bottom wall, it is necessary to insert and remove shims on the upper surface of the seat track pieces, which requires a great deal of labor and time, and there is a problem that the aircraft lavatory unit cannot be easily installed. The present invention has been devised in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure for an aircraft lavatory unit that can extend the bottom wall of the fuselage frame on a horizontal plane by simple operations and can efficiently install the aircraft lavatory unit.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention is a mounting structure for an aircraft lavatory unit in which bolts respectively penetrating through a plurality of locations on the bottom wall of the aircraft lavatory unit are screwed to a floor structure member inside the aircraft, and the aircraft lavatory unit is attached to the floor structure member, characterized in that a height adjustment mechanism enabling adjustment of the height of the bottom wall with respect to the floor structure member is provided for each of the bolts so as to be operable from inside the aircraft lavatory unit. Further, an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the height adjustment mechanism includes a height adjustment member and a female screw for height adjustment provided on the bottom wall, the height adjustment member having a body portion having a male screw for height adjustment screwed to the female screw for height adjustment, and a locking head provided at the upper end of the body portion to which a rotation operation tool can be locked, and an insertion hole for the bolt being formed to penetrate through the body portion and the locking head. Further, an embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the body portion has a length along the extending direction of the bolt insertion hole, and the length of the body portion is formed to be larger than the thickness of the bottom wall. Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, the surface of the locking head located opposite to the body portion and the surface of the body portion located opposite to the locking head are formed as flat surfaces. Further, in one embodiment of the present invention, a reinforcing plate having the female screw for height adjustment formed thereon is embedded in the bottom wall.

Advantages of the Invention

[0006] According to one embodiment of the present invention, inside the dressing room unit for an aircraft, an operator can horizontally adjust the bottom wall by operating the height adjustment mechanism for each bolt. Therefore, it is possible to omit the cumbersome work of lifting the bottom wall from the outside of the dressing room unit for an aircraft as in the prior art, or inserting and removing shims of different thicknesses on the washer in the narrow space below the bottom wall. By performing a simple operation inside the dressing room unit for an aircraft, the bottom wall of the dressing room unit for an aircraft can be extended on a horizontal plane, which is advantageous for efficiently installing the dressing room unit for an aircraft. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the height adjustment mechanism includes a height adjustment member and a female screw for height adjustment provided on the bottom wall and has a simple structure, it is advantageous for efficiently installing the dressing room unit for an aircraft while reducing costs. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the body portion of the height adjustment member has a length dimension larger than the thickness of the bottom wall, a large range of height adjustment of the bottom wall can be ensured, which is advantageous for reliably performing the height adjustment of the bottom wall. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since the upper surface of the locking head located opposite to the body portion and the lower surface of the body portion located opposite to the locking head are formed as flat surfaces, the contact with the lower surface of the bolt head and the upper surface of the washer is also ensured, which is advantageous for installing the dressing room unit for an aircraft in the aircraft without rattling. Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, since a reinforcing plate having the female screw for height adjustment formed thereon is embedded in the bottom wall, the strength and rigidity of the bottom wall around the female screw for height adjustment are ensured, which is advantageous for installing the bottom wall in the aircraft in a stable state.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, in the airframe 10 of the aircraft, there are provided a longitudinal aisle 12 extending in the front - rear direction of the airframe 10, and a plurality of transverse aisles 16 extending in the width direction of the airframe 10 at intervals in the extending direction of the longitudinal aisle 12, and both ends in the extending direction are boarding doors 14. The seat groups 18 are respectively provided on both the left and right sides of the longitudinal aisle 12, and each seat group 18 is provided with a plurality of seat rows 1802 arranged in the front - rear direction of the airframe 10. Each seat row 1802 is installed on the inside of the aircraft (see FIGS. 3 and 4) via seat tracks 20 that form floor structure members provided in pairs on both sides of the longitudinal aisle 12. Floor 22 (See FIGS. 3 and 4) A cockpit is provided at the front of the airframe 10, a pressure bulkhead 24 is provided at the rear of the airframe 10, a plurality of galleys 26 are provided in front of the pressure bulkhead 24, and a transverse aisle 16 located at the rearmost part of the airframe 10 is positioned in front of the plurality of galleys 26.

[0009] The aircraft lavatory unit 30 is installed in pairs via two seat tracks 20 each, behind the seat row 1802 located at the rearmost end of the seat groups 18 on both sides of the longitudinal aisle 12 and in front of the transverse aisle 16. Since the pair of aircraft lavatory units 30 are symmetrically shaped with the longitudinal aisle 12 in between, only one of the aircraft lavatory units 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the aircraft lavatory unit 30 includes a body frame 32 that partitions the lavatory 30A, and a toilet 34, a washbasin 36, etc. arranged inside the body frame 32. The body frame 32 includes a rectangular bottom wall 3202, a front wall 3204 that rises from the four sides of the bottom wall 3202, a rear wall 3206, a pair of side walls 3208A and 3208B, and a ceiling wall 3210 that faces the bottom wall 3202.

[0010] As shown in FIG. 1, the front wall 3204 faces the longitudinal aisle 12, one of the pair of side walls 3208A and 3208B, i.e., side wall 3208A, faces the seat row 1802 located at the rearmost end of the seat groups 18, the other side wall 3208B faces the transverse aisle 16, and a seat 38 for the cabin attendant is provided on the side wall 3208B that faces the transverse aisle 16. As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 3220 is provided in the front wall 3204, and a door 3220A (see FIG. 1) for opening and closing the opening 3220 is provided. The opening 3220 and the door 3220A form the entrance and exit of the lavatory 30A. The toilet 34 is arranged close to the rear wall 3206, a counter 3602 is provided on the side wall 3208B that faces the transverse aisle 16, and a washbasin 36 consisting of a faucet 3604, a washbowl 3606, and a mirror 3608 is provided at a location on the counter 3602 closer to the front wall 3204. Below the washbasin 36, a trash bin device with a fire extinguisher (not shown) is arranged. The trash bin device is hidden by an opening and closing door 3610 that closes the space below the washbasin 36, and a trash inlet 3612 is provided on the opening and closing door 3610. Also, a floor pan 40 is removably placed at a location on the bottom surface wall 3202 between the front of the toilet 34 and the opening / closing door 3610 near the front wall 3204.

[0011] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the wall portion constituting the housing frame 32 including the bottom surface wall 3202 is composed of a core material 42 and surface materials 44 attached to both surfaces of the core material 42. The core material 42 is a conventionally known honeycomb structure made of aramid fiber, glass fiber, aluminum, or the like. For the surface material 44, a fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composed of reinforcing fibers and a synthetic resin is used. As the reinforcing fibers, glass, aramid, or carbon can be adopted, and as the synthetic resin, a phenolic resin, an epoxy resin, or the like can be adopted.

[0012] As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4, the bottom surface wall 3202 of the aircraft lavatory unit 30 is installed in the aircraft by coupling a bolt 48 to a piece 46 slidably incorporated in the slide groove 2002 of two seat tracks 20. The bolt 48 has a shaft portion 48A provided with a male thread 4802 that screws into the female thread 4602 of the piece 46, and a head portion 48B into which a rotating operation tool such as a wrench can be locked. A hole 4804 for weight reduction is formed in the head portion 48. In the present embodiment, the bolt 48 is a hexagonal bolt or a dodecagonal bolt.

[0013] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a height adjustment mechanism 50 that enables adjustment of the height of the bottom surface wall 3202 with respect to the seat track 20, which is a floor structure member, is provided for each bolt 48 so as to be operable from the inside of the aircraft lavatory unit 30. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the height adjustment mechanism 50 includes a height adjustment member 52 and a female thread 54 for height adjustment provided on the bottom surface wall 3202. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, on both sides of the bottom wall 3202 where a pair of side walls 3208A and 3208B stand, in other words, at both ends of a pair of sides of the bottom wall 3202 located on the two sheet tracks 20, instead of the core material 42, reinforcing plates 56 are respectively arranged. Therefore, four reinforcing plates 56 are provided, and surface materials 44 are attached to both sides of each reinforcing plate 56. The reinforcing plate 56 is formed in a plate shape from a material such as a metal like an aluminum alloy or a lightweight material having hardness, strength, and rigidity such as a difficult-to-roll resin, and has a structure with higher strength and rigidity than the honeycomb-structured core material 42. The female screw 54 for height adjustment is provided so as to penetrate the reinforcing plate 56 vertically, and holes 4402 for passing the male screw 5204 for height adjustment of the height adjustment member 52 described later are provided at the locations of the upper and lower surface materials 44 located at both ends in the axial direction of the female screw 54 for height adjustment.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 6, the height adjustment member 52 includes a body portion 52A and a locking head portion 52B, and an insertion hole 5202 for the bolt 48 is formed to penetrate through from the body portion 52A to the locking head portion 52B. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the body portion 52A has a length with a dimension larger than the thickness of the bottom wall 3202, and a male screw 5204 for height adjustment that is screwed into the female screw 54 for height adjustment is formed coaxially with the insertion hole 5202 for the bolt 48 on the outer peripheral surface of the body portion 52A. The lower end of the body portion 52A is formed with a flat surface 5206. The locking head portion 52B is a portion where a rotating operation tool can be locked. In the present embodiment, it is formed in a polygon such as a hexagon where a rotating operation tool such as a wrench can be locked and has a contour larger than the outer diameter of the body portion 52A, and the upper surface of the locking head portion 52B located opposite to the body portion 52A is formed with a flat surface 5208. As shown in FIG. 5, the locking head portion 52B presents a polygon in plan view that is larger than the contour of the head 48B of the bolt 48. When adjusting the height of the aircraft lavatory unit 30 described later, the rotation operation of the height adjustment member 52 can be easily performed, which is advantageous for efficiently installing the aircraft lavatory unit 30.

[0015] The installation of the aircraft lavatory unit 30 inside the aircraft is carried out as follows. Carry the aircraft lavatory unit 30 to the location where it should be installed inside the aircraft. The operator enters the lavatory 30A, rotates the locking head 52B of each height adjustment member 52, and brings the lower surface of the body portion 52A into contact with the upper surface of the piece 46. When the four height adjustment members 52 are adjusted in this way, a washer 58 is interposed on the upper surface of the locking head 52B of each height adjustment member 52, a bolt 48 is inserted through the insertion hole 5202, and the male thread 4802 of each bolt 48 is screwed into the female thread 4602 of the piece 46 without tightening.

[0016] Next, an adjustment operation is performed to level the bottom wall 3202 of the aircraft lavatory unit 30. The operator enters the lavatory 30A and places, for example, a two-axis level on the bottom wall 3202. Then, the locking head 52B of the four height adjustment members 52 is rotated by a rotary operation tool such as a wrench, the position of the height adjustment member 52 in the thickness direction of the bottom wall 3202 is changed, in other words, the height of the bottom wall 3202 with respect to the seat track 20 is changed, and the bottom wall 3202 is adjusted to be horizontal. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the height adjustment member 52 protrudes most upward from the bottom wall 3202 and the bottom wall 3202 is located at the lowest position, and FIG. 4 shows a state in which the lower surface of the locking head 52B of the height adjustment member 52 abuts against the bottom wall 3202, the height adjustment member 52 is most recessed with respect to the bottom wall 3202, and the bottom wall 3202 is located at the highest position. When the bottom wall 3202 is leveled, the male thread 4802 of the bolt 48 is tightened into the female thread 4602 of the piece 46, and the height adjustment member 52 is fixed by being clamped between the lower surface of the head 48B of the bolt 48 and the upper surface of the piece 46. Thereby, the installation of the aircraft lavatory unit 30 inside the aircraft is completed. As shown in FIG. 2, with the aircraft lavatory unit 30 installed in the aircraft, the head 48B of the bolt 48 located on the bottom wall 3202 and the locking head 52B of the body portion 52A are hidden by the opening / closing door 3610 at two locations on the counter 3602 side, and at two locations on the side opposite to the counter 3602, they are hidden by the side wall 4002 of the floor pan 40, so as not to be visible from inside the lavatory 30A.

[0017] According to the present embodiment, inside the aircraft lavatory unit 30, an operator can horizontally adjust the bottom wall 3202 by operating the height adjustment mechanism 50 for each bolt 48. In other words, by a simple operation inside the lavatory 30A in which the operator rotates the locking head 52B of the height adjustment member 52 for each bolt 48 with a wrench or the like, the bottom wall 3202 can be horizontally adjusted. Therefore, it is possible to omit the work of lifting the bottom wall 3202 from the outside of the aircraft lavatory unit 30 as in the prior art, and the troublesome work of inserting and removing shims of different thicknesses on the spacer 46 in the narrow space below the bottom wall 3202, which is advantageous for efficiently installing the aircraft lavatory unit 30. Further, the height adjustment mechanism 50 includes a height adjustment member 52 and a female screw 54 for height adjustment provided on the bottom wall 3202, and has a simple structure, so it is advantageous for efficiently installing the aircraft lavatory unit 30 while reducing costs.

[0018] Further, since the body portion 52A of the height adjustment member 52 has a length with a dimension larger than the thickness of the bottom wall 3202, a large range of height adjustment of the bottom wall 3202 can be ensured, which is advantageous for reliably performing the height adjustment of the bottom wall 3202. Further, since the upper surface of the locking head 52B located opposite to the body portion 52A and the lower surface of the body portion 52A located opposite to the locking head 52B are formed of flat surfaces 5206 and 5208, the contact with the lower surface of the head 48B of the bolt 48 and the upper surface of the spacer 46 is also ensured, which is advantageous for installing the aircraft lavatory unit 30 in the aircraft without rattling. In addition, since the reinforcing plate 56 with the female screw 54 for height adjustment is embedded in the bottom wall 3202, the strength and rigidity of the bottom wall 3202 around the female screw 54 for height adjustment are ensured, which is advantageous for installing the bottom wall 3202 in the aircraft in a stable state.

Explanation of Signs

[0019] 10 Airframe 12 Longitudinal Passage 14 Entrance 16 Transverse Passage 18 Seat Group 1802 Seat Row 20 Seat Track 2002 Slide Groove 22 Floor 24 Pressure Bulkhead 26 Galley 30 Aircraft Lavatory Unit 30A Lavatory 32 Body Frame 3202 Bottom Wall 3204 Front Wall 3206 Rear Wall 3208A, 3208B Side Walls 3210 Ceiling Wall 3220 Opening 3220A Door 34 Toilet 36 Washbasin 3602 Counter 3604 Faucet 3606 Washbowl 3608 Mirror 3610 Opening / Closing Door 36 Washbasin 3602 Counter 3604 Faucet 3606 Washbowl 3608 Mirror 3610 Opening / Closing Door 3612 Garbage Inlet 38 Seat 40 Floor Pan 4002 Side Wall 42 Core Material 44 Surface material 4402 Hole 46 Piece 4602 Female thread 48 Bolt 48A Shaft part 48B Head part 4802 Male thread 4804 Concave part 50 Height adjustment mechanism 52 Height adjustment member 52A Barrel part 52B Locking head part 5202 Insertion hole 5204 Male thread for height adjustment 5206, 5208 Flat surface 54 Female thread for height adjustment 56 Reinforcing plate 58 Washer

Claims

1. A mounting structure of an aircraft lavatory unit, wherein bolts respectively penetrating through a plurality of locations on the bottom wall of the aircraft lavatory unit are screwed to the floor structure members inside the aircraft, thereby mounting the aircraft lavatory unit to the floor structure members, a height adjustment mechanism enabling adjustment of the height of the bottom wall with respect to the floor structure member is provided for each bolt so as to be operable from inside the aircraft lavatory unit, the height adjustment mechanism includes a height adjustment member and a female screw for height adjustment provided on the bottom wall, the height adjustment member includes a body portion having a male screw for height adjustment screwed to the female screw for height adjustment, and a locking head provided at the upper end of the body portion and engageable with a tool for rotational operation, the bolt is inserted through a bolt insertion hole penetrating through the body portion and the locking head and is screwed to the floor structure member, when viewed in plan, the locking head is formed with a contour larger than that of the body portion and also larger than that of the head of the bolt, characterized in that it is a mounting structure of an aircraft lavatory unit.

2. the body portion has a length along the extending direction of the bolt insertion hole, the length of the body portion is formed to be larger than the thickness of the bottom wall, characterized in that it is the mounting structure of the aircraft lavatory unit according to Claim 1.

3. the surface of the locking head located opposite to the body portion and the surface of the body portion located opposite to the locking head are formed as flat surfaces, characterized in that it is the mounting structure of the aircraft lavatory unit according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. a reinforcing plate formed with the female screw for height adjustment is embedded in the bottom wall, characterized in that it is the mounting structure of the aircraft lavatory unit according to any one of Claims 1 to 3.

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