HOLD-OPEN LOCK

Abstract: A locking (22) device is provided for holding an aircraft door (16) in an open position. The device (22) includes a first member (30) connected to the door (16) which moves in correspondence with door opening and closing. A second member (36) of the device is fixedly connected to aircraft structure that supports the door (16). A locking pin (40), connected to the first member (30), is engaged with a pin receiving opening in the second member (36) when the door (16) is fully open to hold the door (16) in such position. The pin (40) is movable axially by a manually operated lever (104) to disengage the pin when it is desired to close the door.

Description: This invention relates to a locking device for holding a structure mounted door open, comprising a first member connected to said door, wherein said first member moves between locking and unlocking positions correspondingly with opening and closing movement of said door, a second member fixedly connected to said structure, a locking pin connected to said first member, said pin being movable along an axis between an engagement position and a non-engagement position, wherein said second member has an opening positioned to receive an end of said pin when said pin is in said engagement position and when said first member is in said locking position, and first spring means biased for normally moving said pin along said axis into said engagement position. Such a device is known from EP-A-0 189 813. The subject matter of the invention is directed particularly toward application in doors of commercial aircraft. It is known that relatively high forces are initially required to move this type of door from an open to closed position. Typically, a flight attendant is responsible for closing the door, and it is desirable that he have the ability to use both of his hands to initiate door closing, and that he further have the ability to position his body in the most advantageous position possible for pulling on the door during closing. Previous types of hold-open locking devices used in aircraft doors have interfered with this. For example, past devices have required the door operator to disarm the device with one hand while at the same time using the other hand to initiate door closing. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a door locking device of the type described in the preamble of claim 1, in which the problems that are associated with prior art locking devices are overcome. According to the invention, this is achieved by: the second member including means for defining a predetermined path along which said first member moves during the opening and closing movement, a lever member pivotally - connected to the first member, and having a portion drivingly connected to the pin in a manner so that the pin moves axially against the bias of the first spring means and into the non-engagement position in response to pivotal movement of the lever member in a first rotational direction, said lever member further having a cam lobe portion that moves along an arcuate path when the lever member pivots, second spring means biased for normally pivoting the lever member in a second rotational direction opposing the first direction, a cam member pivotally connected to the first member and positioned adjacent the lever member, a cam member having a cam lobe portion normally positioned to project into the arcuate path of the lever member's cam lobe portion, third spring means biased for normally pivoting the cam member in the same direction as the first direction of rotation, and lock arming means for pivoting the cam member in the same direction as the second rotational direction, the lock arming means being responsive to movement of the first member along the path, to pivot the cam member a sufficient amount so that the cam member's lobe portion moves out of the arcuate path of the lever member's cam lobe portion. In this manner, the present invention provides a new type of hold-open locking device. This invention provides an improvement over the prior art in that it permits the door operator to first unlock the device when the door is open and prior to initiation of door closing. The device maintains an unlocked condition during initial closing but automatically rearms in a manner so that when the door is reopened it is automatically locked in the open position. This device therefore permits the operator to use both hands and to position his body to the best advantage during closing. Further preferred features of the invention are defined in claims 2-4. The above-mentioned and other features of the invention will now be illustrated with reference to an exemplary embodiment, which is shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals and letters refer to like parts throughout the various views, and wherein: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary pictorial view of the forward portion of a commercial aircraft fuselage near the cockpit, and shows an open door mounted to fuselage structure by upper and lower hinges; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary pictorial view of the upper hinge shown in Fig. 1, and provides a pictorial view of a locking device constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention; Fig. 3 is a top plan view taken through a section of the door and fuselage structure shown in Fig. 1 when the door is closed, and shows two generally horizontally extending bars, the upper of which is a link bar that pivotally connects the door to the fuselage, and the lower is a guide bar to which the locking device shown in Fig. 2 is connected; Fig. 4 is a view like Fig. 3 but shows the door in an open position; Fig. 5 is an elevational view showing one side of the guide bar shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and shows the locking device in the right end thereof; Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the locking device in the right end of the guide bar shown in Fig. 5, but looking from a direction in back of the bar, and shows a locking pin in the device engaged with a second member; Fig. 7 is a view like Fig. 6 but shows the change in position of the locking pin when the guide bar of Fig. 5 has moved away from a locking position; Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the guide bar shown in Figs. 3-5, and shows a hinge link interconnecting the locking device with the axis about which the link arm in Figs. 3 and 4 pivots; Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the other side of the guide bar shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 10 is a side pictorial view of the locking device shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 11 is a view like Fig. 10, but shows how the relative movement of a lever member and a cam member is used to disengage the locking pin shown in Figs. 6 and 7; Fig. 12 is an end view of the guide bar taken along line 12--12 in Fig. 10; Fig. 13 is a view like Figs. 10 and 11 and shows relative movement of the lever member and cam member to arm the locking device; and Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 14--14 in Fig. 11. Referring now to the drawings, and first to Fig. 1, therein is shown a forward portion of an aircraft fuselage 10. The fuselage 10 has a portal 12 which provides passenger ingress and egress to and from the fuselage. Mounted to fuselage structure 14, and on the left-hand side of the portal 12, is a door 16. The door 16 is mounted by means of upper and lower hinge structures which are generally indicated, respectively, by arrows 18 and 20. Referring to Fig. 2, which shows the upper hinge structure 18, therein is shown at 22 a locking device constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. In Figs. 3 and 4, the door 16 is shown connected to the fuselage structure 10 by means of a link bar 24 which is pivotally connected at 26 to the door, and further pivotally connected at 28 to the fuselage structure. Also interconnecting the door 16 and the fuselage structure 10 is a guide bar 30 which makes up a first member of the device 22. Similar to the link bar 24, the guide bar 30 is pivotally connected at one end to the door 16 as shown at 32. However, the other end 34 of the guide bar 30 is a locking end which is connected to a second member of the device 22. This second member, indicated generally at 36 in Fig. 4 is fixedly connected to the aircraft structure 10. Referring now to Fig. 6, therein is shown an enlarged sectional view of the locking end 34 of the guide bar 30. This end 34 has a forked portion 38 in which is received a locking pin 40. The forked portion 38 has an upper part 42 and a lower part 43 which are spaced from each other, and each part has bores 44, 46 which are coaxial. Received in each bore 44, 46 is a cylindrical sleeve bearing 48, 50. A hollow, generally cylindrical guide member 52 extends through both sleeve bearings 48, 50 and has outer ends 54, 56 which respectively project upwardly and downwardly out from the forked portion 38. The pin 40 is slidably received in the hollow guide member 52. Also received in this member 52 is a first spring 58 connected to a lower end 60 of the pin 40. The spring 58 is biased to push the pin 40 upwardly and out through an opening 59 in the upper end 54 of the cylindrical guide member 52. The second member 36 of the device 22 is a bracket-like member having upper and lower plates 62, 64 as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 shows the lower plate 64. As can be seen, the lower plate has a channel 66 which guides the lower outer end 56 of the guide member 52 as the door 16 swings open and closed. Similarly, the upper plate 62 also has a channel 68 (see Figs. 5-7) which runs parallel to the lower channel 66 and which guides the upper end 54 of the guide member 52. When the door 16 is open, the link bar 24 and guide bar 30 are in the position shown in Fig. 4. An opening 70 (see Figs. 2 and 6) is positioned in the upper channel 68 for receiving and engaging with the end 72 of the locking pin 40. When the device 22 is armed for locking, the spring 58 moves the pin's end 72 into engagement with the opening 70. Disarming and arming of the device 22 will now be described by referring to Figs. 10-13. Pivotally connected to the locking end 34 of the guide bar 30 is a lever member 74 and a cam member 76. These connections may be made by any suitable means, or as shown in Fig. 14, where the cam member 76 is connected to the guide bar 30 by a pin 78 and roller assembly 80, both of the latter extending through a bore 82 in the guide bar. The pin 78 and roller assembly 80 turn together with the cam member as it rotates. A wire spring 84 is connected to both the lever member 74 and the cam member 76. The spring 84 has a coiled portion or spring 86 which is suitably connected to the lever member 74 and biased to normally pivot the lever member in a clockwise direction. This coiled portion will hereafter be referred to as the "second" spring 86. Another coiled portion 87 of the spring 84, hereafter the "third" spring 87, is similarly connected to the cam member 76, but is biased to normally pivot the cam member in a counter-clockwise direction. One end portion 88 of the lever member 74 has a slot 90 connected to an outwardly projecting trunnion portion 92 of an annular collar 94. Referring to Figs. 6, 7 and 12, the collar 94 surrounds and is in sliding contact with the outer surface of the central portion 91 of the hollow guide member 52. This portion 91 is slightly larger in diameter than the guide member's upper and lower ends 54, 56 and is located between the upper and lower parts 42, 43 of the forked portion 38. Extending through the locking pin 40 is a horizontal pin 95 which further extends outwardly through parallel slots 96, 97 in opposing sides of the guide member's central portion 91. The ends of the pin 95 project outwardly a sufficient distance so that they will contact the lower surface 93 of the collar 94 when the lever member 74 is rotated counter-clockwise. In this manner, pivotal movement of the lever member 74 counter-clockwise drivingly connects the end portion 88 of the lever member to the locking pin 40. When the lever member 74 is so turned, the collar 94 is driven downwardly which in turn contacts the pin 92 and causes the locking pin 40 to be pushed downwardly against the bias of the first spring 58. This movement, of course, would be used to disengage the pin's end 72 from the opening 70 in the upper channel 68. When the lever member is pivoted in the opposite sense, the collar 94 moves upwardly away from the ends of the pin 95 thereby permitting the first spring 58 to push the locking pin 40 upwardly. The lever member 74 has a second end portion 98 that travels in an arcuate path as the lever member pivots. This second end 98 is shaped to function as a cam lobe which abuts against a similar cam lobe portion 102 of the cam member 76. Normally, the cam member 76 is in the position shown in Fig. 10. Its cam lobe 102 projects into the arcuate path traveled by the cam lobe 100 of the lever member 74. When the lever member 74 is pivoted in the above-described manner to disengage the pin 40, the cam lobe 100 of the lever member 74 slides against the cam lobe 102 of the cam member 76 and causes the cam member to pivot clock-wise until the lever member's cam lobe 100 bypasses the cam member's lobe 102. Then, the third spring 87 causes the cam member 76 to pivot in the opposite direction and return to its normal position as shown in Fig. 11. This prevents the lever member from pivoting back and thus disarms the device 22 so that the door 16 can be moved. The turning of the lever member 74 in the above manner would be accomplished by a handle 104 on the other side of the guide bar. This handle 104 is fixedly connected to the lever member 74 so that the lever member pivots in correspondence with manual pivoting of the handle 104. As can be seen in Figs. 2, 5 and 8, the handle 104 is connected to the collar 94 in the same manner as the lever member 74 so that the handle and lever member cooperate to drive the collar 94 downwardly. Directing attention once again to Fig. 11, the device 22 is shown therein in a disarmed or unlocked condition and would permit the locking end 34 of the guide bar 30 to be moved relative to the upper and lower channels 68, 66 to close the door 16. While the door 16 is moving toward the closed position, the device 22 would be rearmed by a hinge link 106. This hinge link 106 is pivotally connected to the fuselage structure 10 at the same location 28 as the link bar 24, and also pivotally connected at 108 by a pin 109 to the top of the guide bar's locking end 34. This type of connection causes a generally outwardly projecting end 110 of the hinge link 106 to move rotationally relative to the guide bar's end 34 as the door closes. When this happens the hinge link's projecting end 110 briefly abuts against and pivots a generally upwardly projecting portion 112 of a cam-shaped trigger member 114. This is best seen in Fig. 13. The trigger member 114 is fixedly connected to the cam member 76 by means of assembly 80 so that the cam member and trigger member pivot together as shown in Fig. 14. This causes the cam lobe 102 to move out of the arcuate path traveled by the lever member's lobe 100, with the result that the second spring 86 pivots the lever member 74 clock-wise so that the collar 90 is no longer operative to push or drive the locking pin 40 downwardly. The locking pin 40 would then be in the position shown in Fig. 7 and armed to be moved by the spring 58 into engagement with the upper channel's opening 70. This, of course, would not happen until the door was once again opened to the position shown in Fig. 1. The locking device described above represents a new and useful advancement in the art. It is to be understood that the above description is not meant to limit the scope of any patent rights which may arise from the subject matter disclosed above. Rather, the scope of any patent protection obtained is to be limited only by the claims which follow, wherein such claims are to be interpreted in accordance with the well-established doctrines of patent claim interpretation.

Claims: For a door (16) mounted to a structure (10), a locking device (22) for holding said door (l6) open, comprising: a first member (30) connected to said door (16), wherein said first member (30) moves between locking and unlocking positions correspondingly with opening and closing movement of said door (16); a second member (36) fixedly connected to said structure (10), a locking pin (40) connected to said first member (30), said pin (40) being movable along an axis between an engagement position and a non-engagement position, wherein said second member (36) has an opening (70) positioned to receive an end (72) of said pin (40) when said pin (40) is in said engagement position and when said first member (30) is in said locking position; and first spring means (58) biased for normally moving said pin (40) along said axis into said engagement position, characterized by: said second member (36) including means (66,68) for defining a predetermined path along which said first member (30) moves during said opening and closing movement; a lever member (74) pivotally connected to the first member (30), and having a portion (88) drivingly connected to said pin (40) in a manner so that the pin (40) moves axially against the bias of the first spring means (58) and into said non-engagement position in response to pivotal movement of said lever member (74) in a first rotational direction, said lever member (74) further having a cam lobe portion (100) that moves along an arcuate path when said lever member (74) pivots; second spring means (86) biased for normally pivoting said lever member (74) in a second rotational direction opposing said first direction; a cam member (76) pivotally connected to said first member (30) and positioned adjacent said lever member (74), said cam member (76) having a cam lobe portion (102) normally positioned to project into the arcuate path of said lever member's cam lobe portion (100); third spring means (87) biased for normally pivoting said cam member (76) in the same direction as said first direction of rotation; and lock arming means (80,110,112,114) for pivoting said cam member (76) in the same direction as said second rotational direction, said lock arming means (80,110,112,114) being responsive to movement of said first member (30) along the path, to pivot the cam member (76) a sufficient amount so that said cam member's lobe portion (102) moves out of said arcuate path of the lever member's cam lobe portion (100). The device of claim 1, characterized in that said lock arming means (80,110,112,114) includes: a trigger member (114) pivotally connected to said first member (30) and drivingly connected to said cam member (76) in a manner so that pivotal movement of said trigger member (114) causes corresponding pivotal movement of said cam member (76), said trigger member (114) having a cam portion (112) that normally extends upwardly; a hinge link member (106) having a portion pivotally connected to said first member (36), and another portion pivotally connected to said first member (30), and further having a projecting end portion (110), wherein movement of said first member (30) relative to said second member (36) corresponding to opening and closing movement of said door (16) causes said hinge link member's projecting end portion (110) to rotate relative to said first member (30), said cam portion (112) of said tigger member (114) being positioned adjacent said projecting end portion (110) so that such rotation causes said end portion (110) to slide against said cam portion (112) and pivot said trigger member (114), to further pivot said cam member (76) so that said cam lobe portion (102) thereof may move out of said arcuate path of said lever member's cam lobe portion (100). The device of any one of claims 1-2, characterized in that said first member (30) includes a forked portion (38) having an upper part (42) and a lower part (43) in spaced relationship to each other, each part (42,43) having a bore (44,46), wherein said bores (44,46) are in coaxial relationship to each other, and including a hollow, generally cylindrical guide member (52) having a central portion (91) positioned in the same space between said upper and lower parts (42,43), said guide member (52) further having an upper portion extending through said upper bore (44), said upper portion having an upper end (54) that projects outwardly above said upper part of said forked portion (38), said guide member (52) still further having a lower portion extending through said lower bore (46), said lower portion having a lower end (56) that projects outwardly below said lower part of said forked portion (38), and wherein said means (66,68) for defining a predetermined path includes an upper and lower track (66,68) said upper track (68) being positioned to guide said upper end (54) of said guide member (52), and said lower track (66) being positioned to guide said lower end (56) of said guide member (52), respectively, when said first member (30) moves relative to said second member (36), said pin engaging opening (70) in said second member (36) being located in said upper track (68), wherein an opening (59) in said upper end (54) of said guide member (52) moves into registration with said pin engaging opening (70) when said first member (30) is in said locking position, and still further, said locking pin (40) being slidably received in said hollow guide member (52), and said first spring means (58) being received in said guide member (52) and positioned to push said locking pin (40) upwardly and outwardly through said opening (59) in said upper end (54) of said guide member (52), to engage said locking pin end (72) with said upper track opening (70) when said guide member upper end (54) moves into registration therewith. The device of claim 3, characterized in that said central portion (91) of said hollow guide member (52) includes an outer surface positioned between said upper and lower parts of said forked portion (38), and includes a pair of parallel slots (96,97) each being positioned in said outer surface opposite the other, and including an annular collar (94) surrounding said outer surface, said collar (94) being drivingly connected to said lever member (74) in a manner so that pivotal movement of said lever member (74) causes said collar (94) to move upwardly or downwardly adjacent said outer surface depending on the direction of said pivotal movement, and including a horizontal pin (95) extending transversely through said locking pin (40), said horizontal pin's outer ends each extending outwardly through one of said slots (96,97) a sufficient distance so that a bottom surface (93) of said annular collar (94) contacts said outer ends as said collar (94) moves downwardly, to thereby push said horizontal pin (95) and said locking pin (40) downwardly against the bias of said first spring means (58).

Inventors: OPSAHL, ALLAN WILLIAM
Applicants: THE BOEING COMPANY
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E05D11
IPC codes: E05D11, B64C1