Aircraft Lavatory Door with Frangible Slats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft lavatory door designs do not provide sufficient privacy for occupants and fail to comply with safety regulations regarding access to emergency exits, particularly in smaller aircraft where curtains are insufficient.
Innovation Solution
A frangible door design for aircraft lavatories, comprising panels that can be segmented into slats connected by tensioning cables, allowing the door to be stowed within a bulkhead wall and deployed to block access to emergency exits, with mechanisms for easy release and reassembly, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and providing adequate privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a curtain is used to provide privacy for lavatory occupants, then privacy is improved, but safety regulation compliance deteriorates because curtains do not provide sufficient privacy and do not ensure proper access to emergency exits
Solution Approach 1:
The door assembly is divided into multiple door members (first door member, second door member, and third door member) that can independently move and position. This segmentation allows the door to provide adequate privacy when closed while enabling easy access to emergency exits by allowing individual members to be positioned or removed as needed, thus complying with safety regulations.
Solution Approach 2:
The door assembly incorporates moveable door members that can dynamically adjust their positions. The first door member can slide along guides, and the second and third door members can move relative to each other, allowing the door to transition between providing privacy and facilitating emergency access, thereby meeting both privacy requirements and safety regulation compliance.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a physical divider is used within the cabin, then privacy is improved, but access to emergency exits deteriorates because physical dividers restrict access to emergency exits
Solution Approach 1:
The physical divider is segmented into multiple movable door members that can be independently positioned. This allows the divider to provide privacy when in the closed position while enabling easy access to emergency exits by allowing individual segments to be moved or removed, thus resolving the contradiction between privacy and ease of access.
Solution Approach 2:
The door members are designed to be moveable rather than fixed, allowing the physical divider to dynamically adjust between blocking the exit path (for privacy) and opening the path (for emergency access). This dynamic capability resolves the contradiction between maintaining privacy and ensuring ease of access to emergency exits.
3Ease of operation
If a sliding pocket door is used, then ease of access is improved, but privacy deteriorates because the door may not provide sufficient privacy protection
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding pocket door is segmented into multiple door members that can independently position themselves. This segmentation allows the door to maintain continuous contact with the bulkhead and floor surfaces, providing adequate privacy protection while still allowing easy access by enabling individual members to be moved or repositioned as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The door members are designed with moveable connections and guides that allow them to dynamically adjust their positions while maintaining the door's overall integrity and privacy function. This dynamic design ensures both ease of access and adequate privacy protection by allowing the door to adapt to different operational requirements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The door design ensures compliance with safety regulations by allowing easy access to emergency exits while providing sufficient privacy for lavatory occupants, enhancing both safety and passenger experience.
Implementation Method 1
a first tensioning cable attached between the at least two first slats, and a first tensioner connected to the first tensioning cable and being operative to apply a first tension thereto
Data Source
AI summary
A door for an aircraft includes a first panel divisible into at least two first slats that are releasably connected to one another, a first tensioning cable attached between the at least two first slats, and a first tensioner connected to the first tensioning cable and being operative to apply a first tension thereto, thereby permitting the first tensioning cable to hold the at least two first slats together to form the first panel and to release the first tension in the first tensioning cable upon occurrence of a release action, thereby permitting the at least two first slats to dissociate from one another so that the first panel fragments.