Inflatable evacuation device

An inflatable evacuation device to simultaneously evacuate from both an overwing aircraft exit and an aircraft exit aft of the trailing edge of the aircraft wing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Inflatable evacuation slides and/or slides rafts are now installed on 
substantially all passenger-carrying aircraft to provide a means for rapid 
evacuation from the aircraft in the event of an emergency. These 
inflatable evacuation devices are normally folded in an uninflated 
condition into a pack requiring a minimum of space in the interior of the 
aircraft door or immediately adjacent thereto. With the aircraft door 
closed a girt bar extending from the inflatable evacuation slide is 
connected to brackets on the floor inside the aircraft doorway such that 
in the event of an emergency it is only necessary to open the aircraft 
door to automatically deploy the slide. With the door opening, the girt 
bar will pull the evacuation slide from its container thereby allowing the 
slide to fall through the now open doorway. Subsequently, the evacuation 
slide is rapidly inflated and is then ready for the evacuation of 
passengers within a very short period of time following the opening of the 
door. 
In the normal situation the aircraft door is situated so that the 
inflatable evacuation slide can extend directly outward therefrom with the 
bottom of the slide resting on a lower surface to provide a straight-line 
sliding surface from the aircraft door to the lower surface. An example of 
this type of slide can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,595,357. 
There are some situations, however, in which the aircraft door or emergency 
exit opens out onto the aircraft wing. In this case, the evacuees may walk 
out onto the wing and slide off the trailing edge, or a walkway may be 
provided on the wing with an inflatable evacuation slide extending from 
the walkway to the ground. An example of this type of walkway and 
evacuation slide can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,692,144. Where, however, 
there is not an unobstructed path from the aircraft door to the lower 
surface upon which the aircraft is at rest or the aircraft door does not 
open out onto the wing surface, neither of the two above-mentioned types 
of slides can be utilized. An example of this situation would be a door 
located a short distance aft from where the aircraft wing is attached to 
the aircraft fuselage. Since the wing normally extends backward at an 
acute angle from the aircraft fuselage, the wing surface would normally 
interfere with the deployment of an evacuation slide from a door such as 
this. U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,645 is an example of an evacuation slide useful 
in this situation. 
If, however, there is an inflatable evacuation slide extending from an 
aircraft exit aft of the trailing edge of the aircraft wing, such as in 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,645, the slide would prevent a walkway on the wing and 
an inflatable evacuation slide extending from the walkway to the ground. 
Also, with such a slide, the evacuees would have to proceed farther out on 
the wing surface in order to jump to the ground from the trailing edge 
thereof in order to avoid the slide. 
In all of the above cases, the evacuation device, be it slide or 
ramp/slide, is stored at the elevated egress for which it is intended to 
be used. In other words, a single evacuation device can be used at only a 
single elevated egress and thus does provide evacuation from any other 
egress at the same time. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to an inflatable evacuation device for 
simultaneous evacuation of two aircraft exits, specifically an aircraft 
door just aft of the aircraft wing and an exit or exits over the aircraft 
wing. The device is generally pentagonal in shape with an evacuation lane 
provided from the door exit and a generally parallel evacuation lane from 
the trailing edge of the aircraft wing. An inflatable ramp extends forward 
from the wing evacuation lane toward the window exit(s) over the wing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
The evacuation device 10 of the present invention is designed to provide 
evacuation paths for both an aircraft door 12 and one or more window exits 
16 which open onto the aircraft wing 14. The aircraft door 12 from the 
aircraft fuselage 18 is situated just aft of the trailing edge 20 of the 
aircraft wing 14. 
As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the device 10 is generally pentagonal or 
five-sided in shape and comprises an inflatable tube or beam which extends 
around the entire periphery of the device. The peripheral beam includes 
horizontal sill beam 22 at the base of the aircraft door 12 and a wing 
beam 24 generally extending forward and outward from the forward end of 
the sill beam 22. Also, inboard longitudinal beam 26 extends to the ground 
from the aft end of the sill beam 22 while an outboard longitudinal beam 
28 extends to the ground from the forward outboard end of the wing beam 
24. A ground beam 30 joins the lower or ground ends of the inboard 
longitudinal beam 26 and outboard longitudinal beam 28. A lane divider 
longitudinal beam 32 extends from the junction of the sill beam 22 and 
wing beam 24 to the midspan of the ground beam 30. 
An inboard sliding surface 34 generally extends between the inboard 
longitudinal beam 26 and lane divider longitudinal beam 32 from the sill 
beam 22 to the inboard portion of the ground beam 30. Likewise, an 
outboard sliding surface 36 generally extends between the lane divider 
longitudinal beam 32 and the outboard longitudinal beam 28 from the wing 
beam 24 to the outboard portion of the ground beam 30. 
Extending forward from the wing beam 24 towards the wing exit 16 is an 
inflatable ramp 38 comprising a plurality of mattress-type parallel 
chambers 40 inflatably communicating with the wing beam 24. A tapered ramp 
threshold 42 extends from the wing surface to the ramp 38 to facilitate 
entry from the wing 14 onto the ramp 38. 
The inflatable evacuation device 10 is stored in an uninflated, folded 
condition in a packboard disposed in the aircraft door. Also stored in the 
packboard is a compressed air source from which the device 10 is inflated 
through the aspirator 44 in the inboard longitudinal beam 26. The sill 
beam 22 is attached to the base of the aircraft doorway 12 by means of a 
girt which extends to the floor of the aircraft fuselage where it is held 
by a girt bar and brackets in a conventional manner. 
When the aircraft door is opened, the packboard is pulled from the door 
since the girt is held to the fuselage floor at the base of the aircraft 
doorway. The packboard will fall from the open doorway and the evacuation 
device will fall free and be automatically inflated from the compressed 
gas source. A deployment system, which may include restraints during the 
inflation process, will insure that the device 10 inflates outwardly from 
the aircraft and that the ramp 38 inflates over the wing 14. The forward 
end of the wing beam 24 will come to rest on the wing 14 and be supported 
thereby. A forward extension 46 of the outward longitudinal beam 28 which 
extends generally parallel with the ramp 38 will facilitate the proper 
deployment thereof. 
In the alternate embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 4 
and 5, the inflatable evacuation device 50 includes sill beam 52 having a 
forward tapered section 54 which extends along the inboard edge of the 
ramp 56. The inboard longitudinal beam 58 extends from the sill beam 52 to 
the ground beam 62. The lane divider longitudinal beam 60 extends from the 
intersection of the sill beam 52 and ramp 56. The outboard longitudinal 
beam 64 extends from the ground beam 62 to the ramp 56 and includes a 
forward section 66 which extends along the outboard edge of the ramp 56. 
Both the inboard longitudinal beam 58 and lane divider beam 60 may include 
inflatable bumpers 68 and 70 respectively near the upper ends thereof. An 
inflatable handrail 72 including membrane 73 may be provided on the 
outboard side of the ramp 56 to provide evacuee containment and guidance 
aft of the threshold of the outboard sliding surface. 
In this alternate embodiment, the lane divider longitudinal beam 60 extends 
downward farther than either the inboard or outboard longitudinal beams 
58, 64. Thus the ground beam 62 includes a mid span section 74 generally 
perpendicular to the lane divider longitudinal beam 60 and an angled 
inboard section 76 extending to the inboard longitudinal section 58 plus 
an oppositely angled outboard section 78 extending to the outboard 
longitudinal section 64. The inboard sliding surface 80 extends between 
the inboard longitudinal beam 58 and lane divider beam 60 from the sill 
beam 52 to the ground beam 62. The outboard sliding surface 82 extends 
between the lane divider longitudinal beam 60 and the outboard 
longitudinal beam 64 from the ramp 56 to the ground beam 62. 
The present invention provides an inflatable evacuation device which 
include an evacuation path or lane from an aircraft doorway and an 
evacuation path or lane from an aircraft window exit or exits over the 
aircraft wing. These two paths are included in the same inflatable 
structure but are positively separated so as not to interfere with each 
other. The entire device is mounted at the aircraft doorway. 
In both embodiments of the present invention, there can be simultaneous 
evacuation of two elevated aircraft egresses, i.e. from one egress located 
aft of the aircraft wing and another egress or egresses over the aircraft 
wing. The evacuation device is disposed at and inflated from the aircraft 
egress aft of the aircraft wing and separate sliding surfaces are provided 
for evacuees from the egress over the aircraft wing. The two sliding 
surfaces are separated by a longitudinal inflatable beam. Over wing 
evacuees have a defined safe path to the ground including a separate 
sliding surface. 
While specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and 
described, it is understood that these are provided by way of example only 
and that the invention is to be construed as being limited only by the 
proper scope of the following claims.