Patent ID: 6659225
Filing Date: 2003-12-09
Classification: B64D,E04F

Abstract:
A stairway module for use within a standard footprint of a standard lavatory module in a fuselage of an aircraft to enable access from a floor within said fuselage to an overhead storage or sleeping area within said fuselage, said stairway module comprising:a plurality of spaced apart vertical wall portions each extending from a bottom portion of said stairway module to a to portion of said stairway module; an upper stairway section having a plurality of upper steps supported between said vertical wall portions; a mid-level platform supported between said vertical wall portions below said upper stairway section; a lower stairway section having a plurality of lower steps supported between said vertical wall portions and disposed below said mid-level platform; said lower stairway section extending in a direction turned approximately ninety degrees away from said upper stairway section such that said upper and lower stairway sections form a partial, spiral stairway having a footprint substantially equivalent to the standard footprint of a standard lavatory module; and wherein said plurality of lower steps and said plurality of upper steps are each supported from at least one of said plurality of spaced apart vertical wall portions; and wherein said one of said spaced apart vertical wall portions partially encloses said Plurality of lower steps and said plurality of upper steps within said stairway module.