Passenger Boarding Bridge Docking for Large Aircraft Door Clearance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing passenger boarding bridges face challenges in achieving precise docking with large aircraft, particularly when the aircraft door is large, leading to a risk of interference between the door and the cab before it is fully opened, which depends heavily on operator skill.
Innovation Solution
A passenger boarding bridge system equipped with a door position detector, door opening determiner, and notifier to ensure smooth door opening, along with a mover, camera, and pre-docking door width calculator to prevent interference by adjusting the cab's position and operation based on detected door dimensions and positions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a passenger boarding bridge is fixed to the aircraft structure, then the bridge remains stable during operation, but the bridge cannot be easily removed or repositioned
Solution Approach 1:
The connection system is divided into separate components: a connection element on the bridge and a corresponding connection structure on the aircraft. This segmentation allows the bridge to be easily connected and disconnected while maintaining stability during use, resolving the contradiction between stability and repositionability.
Solution Approach 2:
The connection system transitions from a static fixed connection to a dynamic connection that can be easily established and removed. The connection element can be inserted into and removed from the connection structure, providing adaptability while maintaining stability during the boarding operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the bridge is made removable and repositionable, then adaptability improves, but connection stability and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The connection element and connection structure are designed to merge into a unified, stable connection when assembled. The interlocking design ensures that once connected, the bridge remains reliably attached to the aircraft during operation, resolving the contradiction between removability and reliability.
3Ease of operation
If the bridge connection system is simplified for easy attachment, then ease of operation improves, but connection strength and reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The connection element acts as an intermediary component between the bridge and the aircraft structure. This intermediary design simplifies the attachment process while maintaining strong connection through the interlocking mechanism, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and connection strength.
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is a passenger boarding bridge that makes it possible to prevent interference between a door of a large aircraft and a cab from occurring before the door is fully opened. One example of the passenger boarding bridge of the present invention includes: a rotunda (4); a tunnel unit (5); a cab (6) rotatably provided at a distal end of the tunnel unit (5); a mover that moves the cab (6) to dock the cab (6) with an entrance (3A) of an aircraft; a door position detector that is provided inside the cab (6) and that detects, after the cab (6) is docked with the entrance (3A), a position of an edge portion of a door (3a) of the entrance in a width direction of the door (3a) with respect to the cab (6) in a case where a width of the door (3a) is greater than or equal to a predetermined width; a door opening determiner that determines whether or not the door (3a) of the entrance can be opened smoothly based on whether or not the position of the edge portion of the door (3a) in the width direction of the door (3a), the position being detected by the door position detector, is present within a predetermined allowable region; and a notifier that notifies that there is an abnormality in a case where the door opening determiner has determined that the door (3a) of the entrance cannot be opened smoothly.