Patent ID: 11959508
Assignee: THE BOEING COMPANY
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F  B  E | IPC B  E  F

Claim 12:
13. An aircraft floor panel assembly for installation onto spaced apart first and second aircraft seat track beams respectively including spaced apart first and second beam flanges respectively having spaced apart first and second non-linear edges, the aircraft floor panel assembly comprising:
an aircraft floor panel having an upper surface and a lower surface that opposes the upper surface;
a lockable catch moveably connected to the aircraft floor panel and in contact with the lower surface of the aircraft floor panel, the lockable catch including a lockable mating edge configured to selectively mate with the first non-linear edge of the first beam flange of the first aircraft seat track beam, and a lockable catch edge extending beyond the lockable mating edge;
a fixed catch fixedly connected to the aircraft floor panel and including a fixed mating edge configured to selectively mate with the second non-linear edge of the second beam flange of the second aircraft seat track beam, and a fixed catch edge extending beyond the fixed mating edge;
wherein the lockable catch is moveable on the lower surface of the aircraft floor panel between an unlocked position and a locked position;
wherein the lockable catch edge translates toward the first non-linear edge of the first beam flange based on the lockable catch moving from the unlocked position to the locked position;
wherein when the lockable catch is in the unlocked position, the lockable catch edge is retracted away from the first non-linear edge of the first beam flange sufficiently toward the fixed catch edge for the aircraft floor panel to be seated on the first and second aircraft seat track beams; and
wherein when the lockable catch is in the locked position, the lockable mating edge mates with the first non-linear edge of the first beam flange, the fixed mating edge mates with the second non-linear edge of the second beam flange, and the lockable catch edge and the fixed catch edge cooperatively retain the aircraft floor panel on the first aircraft seat track beam with the upper surface and the lower surface in a horizontal orientation.