Personnel elevator for commercial aircraft

An elevator system for use in a wide-body commercial aircraft having multiple levels within the aircraft provides an elevator shaft that extends through at least two of the levels of the aircraft. The elevator shaft communicates with an opening in the hull of the aircraft. An elevator car is mounted within the shaft and controls and a drive unit are associated with the car to move it within the shaft and also out through the opening in the hull to provide access to and from the aircraft. At least a portion of the car remains in the shaft at all times to provide some lateral stability to the car.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to elevators for use in commercial aircraft having 
multiple cabin levels and, more particularly relates to a personnel 
elevator that will carry passengers and personnel between the cabin levels 
of the aircraft as well as to and from ground level outside the aircraft. 
With the advent of large commercial aircraft, particularly those having 
multiple cabin levels, it has become desirable to provide an elevator 
system for moving passengers and personnel between the cabin levels of the 
aircraft. In the case of an aircraft for government officials or other 
public figures, it is also desirable to provide the aircraft with access 
and egress means that not only quickly move the VIP passenger between 
ground level and the inside of the aircraft, but that also protects the 
VIP from danger from potential assassins. Up until now, in executive-type 
aircraft, the passengers have boarded by climbing up a stairway from 
ground level up into the passenger door of the aircraft. This exposes them 
to potential crowd problems for some period of time and poses a real 
problem to security forces trying to protect the individual passengers. 
Also, in the case of a political or other public figure who is an invalid 
or handicapped in some way, it is difficult for such passenger to climb 
the ramp to enter the aircraft. 
While certain multilevel aircraft have dumbwaiters and foodcarrying lifts 
that move between cabin levels of the aircraft to move food and dishes 
from a galley at one level to passengers at another level, the use of an 
elevator for moving personnel and passengers between decks is believed to 
be novel. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In order to address the needs of the industry as set forth above, the 
present invention provides a passenger elevator that moves between cabin 
levels of a multilevel passenger aircraft. The elevator also exits the 
aircraft through an opening in the aircraft hull and descends to ground 
level to permit ingress to and egress from the aircraft by means of the 
elevator. The elevator system includes an elevator shaft that is contained 
within the hull of the aircraft, and an elevator car that moves through 
the shaft when inside the confines of the aircraft, but partially exits 
the shaft when it lowers to ground level. When the elevator car is in the 
ground level position, a portion of the car remains within the shaft, 
while the majority of the car is outside the shaft to allow passengers to 
enter and exit the elevator car.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, a typical wide-body jet aircraft 10, such 
as a Boeing 747, for example, has the passenger doors 12 some distance 
from the ground level 14. The interior of the aircraft contains multiple 
levels or decks with the pilot and crew being in the cockpit at the 
uppermost level 16. A main passenger cabin 18 is located at an 
intermediate level, and a lower lobe 20 typically contains baggage or 
cargo storage at the lowermost level of the aircraft. In some aircraft a 
galley is also located in the lower lobe 20. In accordance with the 
principles of the present invention, an elevator shaft 22 is located 
within the aircraft, extending from the deck 24, separating the cockpit 
level from the main cabin, downwardly through the main cabin and lower 
lobe of the aircraft and ending adjacent an opening 26 through the bottom 
of the hull of the aircraft. An elevator car 28 is mounted within the 
shaft 22 for movement between the main passenger level 18, the lower lobe 
20, and the ground level 14, exiting through the opening 26 in the hull of 
the aircraft. A door must be provided to close the opening 26 in the hull 
of the aircraft when the elevator car 28 is inside the aircraft to 
maintain cabin pressurization during flight. In the illustrated 
embodiment, the elevator shaft 22 is located to the left of the centerline 
of the aircraft 10 when viewed from the aft of the aircraft, as in FIG. 3, 
and is forward of the attachment points of wings 30 to the aircraft body. 
The elevator car 28 is suspended by cables 32 running over pulleys 34 
attached to the top of the elevator car 28 and also running over pulleys 
36 suspended from the upper deck 24. A more detailed description of the 
workings of the cables and pulley is given below. The elevator car 28 is 
long enough so that its bottommost wall can touch the ground 14, while a 
portion of the elevator car remains within the hull of the aircraft 
contained within the elevator shaft 22. If the elevator car was completely 
free of the shaft 22, there would be a tendency for swaying and swinging 
motion when the cables 32 lowered and lifted the elevator car to and from 
ground level 14 and, therefore, it is desirable to maintain a portion of 
the car within the shaft to provide for the stability of the car. 
The elevator car 28 and shaft 22 are shown in greater detail in FIG. 4. The 
elevator shaft 22 extends from the main level through the lower lobe to 
the lower skin of the aircraft. The shaft 22 is essentially rectangular in 
shape and is hollow, of course, to receive the car 28. A series of 
elongate channel members 38 are attached to the walls of the elevator 
shaft and run vertically up and down the length of the shaft. The channel 
members 38 act as grooves for the rails attached to the sidewalls of the 
elevator car 28 to provide a track within which the car rides. The shaft 
22 has safety doors at each level within the aircraft that can be closed 
when the elevator car is not present at that level to prevent people from 
falling into the elevator shaft by accident. Any suitable door can be used 
as the elevator shaft safety door. To conserve space it may be desirable 
to use an accordian-fold door or some sort of sliding door 40 as is 
illustrated by the doors in the lower lobe in FIG. 4; however, a swinging 
type of solid door could also be used as are the doors 42 illustrated in 
the main level in FIG. 4. 
The elevator car 28 itself includes doors 44 constructed of slats that 
slide on tracks 46 within the walls of the car. As can be seen in FIG. 4, 
when the car 28 is outside the aircraft and is at ground level, an upper 
portion of the car 28 remains within the aircraft 10 and within the shaft 
22 to provide stability to the car and prevent swaying motion of the car 
that would occur if the car simply hung free from the elevator cables. As 
will be explained in greater detail below, the mechanical workings of the 
motors and gears that run the elevator car are located in a housing 50 on 
the floor 52 of the lower lobe 20 of the aircraft 10. The elevator car 28 
can contain several custom features, such as a fold-down seat (not shown) 
or a handrail 54 as shown in FIG. 4. 
Referring now to FIG. 5, the mechanical workings of the elevator drive 
mechanism are shown in more detail. In FIG. 5, the car 28 is shown in a 
position just above the floor 52 of the lower lobe 20 and the elevator 
shaft 22 is not shown. The channels 38 affixed to the walls of the 
elevator shaft 22 are shown in FIG. 5 and the interaction between the 
channels 38 and the rail slats 39 attached to the exterior of the elevator 
car 28 can be more easily seen. In a preferred embodiment, the rails 39 
have roller 56 incorporated therein to assist the motion of the car 28 
within the shaft 22. The car 28 itself is suspended from cables 32. The 
cables 32 are attached at a first end to the lift cable anchor 58 affixed 
to the structure of the deck 24. The cables 32 then run down to pulley 34 
attached to support structure 60 at the top of the elevator car 28. From 
the pulleys 34 the cables 32 run upward over the pulleys 36 located in the 
framework 62 in the deck 24 between the main passenger level 18 and the 
uppermost level 16 of the aircraft. The cables 32 run from the pulleys 36 
down to spools 64 of winches 66 housed within the housing 50 on the floor 
52 of the lower lobe 20. The winches 66 are preferably run by an electric 
motor 68 through a suitable gear arrangement 70. The motor 68 is 
controlled either from inside the elevator car 28 or from outside the 
elevator shaft in a typical manner such as by control panels 72 and 74. 
Preload cables 76 are attached to the upper portion of the elevator car 28. 
The preload cables 76 are attached to tension-maintaining pulleys mounted 
below the winches 66. The cables 76 are preloaded to provide a load on the 
elevator car 28 during positive and negative load conditions encountered 
during flight maneuvers. A ribbon cable 80 is attached to the car 28 to 
provide electrical power. The ribbon cable 80 runs over an idler pulley 82 
mounted in the floor framework 62 of the upper level and then to a 
spring-loaded take-up reel 84 arranged so that as the car 28 moves up and 
down the shaft, the cable is played out from the take-up reel 84 and 
retrieved by the take-up reel 84. 
In a preferred embodiment, physical stops 86 are located at the uppermost 
corners of the car. The stops 86 engage a lip near the bottom of the shaft 
to prevent the car from being accidentally completely removed from the 
shaft. There are also microswitches 88 that interact with the physical 
stops 86 to shut off power to the car if the car reaches a lower limit 
position and has not yet touched bottom. Similar limit switches can be 
provided on the bottom of the elevator car so that electrical power will 
be shut off to the elevator when the elevator contacts the ground, so as 
not to overdrive the elevator in the downward direction. Also the stops 86 
engage cooperating stops in the aircraft structure and a similar set of 
limit switches installed in the upper portions of the shaft to prevent 
overdriving of the elevator in an upward direction. 
In a preferred embodiment of the elevator, the elevator car is sized to 
permit five people to stand therein. Alternatively, one person in a 
regular-sized wheelchair and his assistant can fit in the car. If desired, 
the elevator car can have controls built in to prevent its operation or 
perhaps even its occupation during landing or take-off or in rough, 
in-flight conditions. Preferably, the elevator car will automatically be 
moved to the lower lobe position while the airplane is preparing for 
take-off and landing. An interlock can be provided to prevent opening of 
the door in the lower skin when the aircraft is in flight so that it is 
impossible for the elevator car to exit the plane in flight. The elevator 
system can also include floor selector override controls and 
communications in a manner typical of building elevators. 
The invention, therefore, provides a personnel elevator that not only 
allows movement between levels of a multilevel passenger aircraft, but 
also permits ingress to and egress from the aircraft by means of the 
elevator. The elevator operates within a shaft within the aircraft; 
however, the shaft opens through the bottom of the aircraft hull through 
an opening normally closed by a door to permit the elevator to exit the 
aircraft. The elevator is sized such that when the bottom of the elevator 
touches ground level some portion of the elevator remains within the shaft 
to provide stability to the elevator. While a preferred embodiment of the 
elevator system of the present invention has been described and 
illustrated, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and 
others that changes can be made to the illustrated embodiment, while 
remaining within the spirit and the scope of the present invention. For 
example, the particular door systems shown in the drawings could be 
changed to other, more convenient doors. Also, while an electric motor and 
pulley drive has been shown, other suitable drive systems could also be 
utilized. Since changes can be made to the illustrated embodiment without 
departing from the scope of the invention, the invention should be defined 
solely with reference to the claims that follow.