Low-Profile Floor Brace System for Aircraft Payload Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft mounting systems for C4ISR electronics and sensors require airframe modifications and compromise backend cargo operations, lack flexibility, and do not allow for 360-degree field of view or in-flight reconfiguration.
Innovation Solution
A low-profile floor brace system (LPFBS) with a deployable payload support stanchion that secures to the aircraft floor without modifications, using bolts and rollers, and incorporates an actuated or non-actuated stanchion for 360-degree field of view and in-flight retraction/reconfiguration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a mounting pallet is used to absorb flight induced loads and transfer them to the aircraft floor structure, then the system can be mounted without airframe modifications, but it compromises backend cargo air drop operations that require use of the air deployment system rails
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a low-profile floor brace system as an intermediary load transfer mechanism. Instead of using a mounting pallet that occupies the air deployment system rails, the floor brace system transfers loads directly to the aircraft floor structure through dedicated attachment points, allowing concurrent use of the rails for cargo air drop operations
Solution Approach 2:
The invention moves the load transfer path from the horizontal plane (mounting pallet on rails) to a vertical dimension by using floor braces that extend downward to attach to the aircraft floor structure, thereby clearing the air deployment system rails for their intended cargo operations
2Productivity
If a torque pallet is used to transfer loads into the aircraft floor structure, then the mounting system can be rapidly installed without modifications, but it interferes with rear loading and jettisoning cargo aircraft operations
Solution Approach 1:
The low-profile floor brace system serves as an intermediary structure that enables rapid installation while maintaining clear access to the aircraft's rear loading and jettisoning operations by transferring loads through a different structural path that does not occupy the air deployment system rails
3Adaptability or versatility
If a deployable payload support stanchion is extended through a door aperture to provide 360-degree field of view, then the sensor coverage is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a deployable stanchion mechanism that can transition between retracted and extended positions. When extended through the door aperture, it provides 360-degree field of view for sensors; when retracted, it minimizes system profile and complexity, allowing the same structure to serve multiple operational requirements
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a method includes removing a cargo handling rail from a cargo floor of an aircraft and installing a brace system directly into the cargo floor. The brace system includes a support plate and a spreader bar. The support plate is parallel to the cargo floor and has a surface that interfaces with the cargo floor and multiple slots for rollers. The spreader bar is parallel to the cargo floor and perpendicular to a cargo handling rail face and parallel to the support plate.