PASSENGER TRANSPORT VEHICLE AND GANGWAY

Abstract: An adjustable gangway (10) for a airplane passenger transport vehicle (50) is disclosed which is laterally movable for extending laterally beyond an end of the vehicle to reach an airplane door and permit the transfer of passengers between the vehicle and the airplane when the vehicle is positioned adjacent the airplane but out of alignment with the aircraft access door. The gangway allows transfer of passengers between the vehicle and an airplane having stairs and a railing incorporated in a fold-down access door. The gangway in combination with a passenger transfer vehicle allows the transfer of passengers between the vehicle and the aircraft having an access door in close proximity of an engine or propeller of the aircraft. The gangway includes an adjustable canopy (14) to protect passengers in transfer from ambient weather conditions. The gangway includes a walkway for supporting passengers transferring from the vehicle to an airplane adjacent the vehicle and having an access opening; and a support for movably supporting the walkway on the end of the vehicle. The walkway is movable transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle between a travelling position wherein substantially all of the walkway extends across the end of the vehicle and a boarding position wherein part of the walkway extends laterally beyond the end of the vehicle to allow passengers to transfer from the vehicle across the walkway into the airplane when the access opening of the aircraft is not aligned with the front end of the vehicle. The gangway further includes a structure for laterally moving the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. The combination of the transport vehicle with the gangway is also disclosed.

Description: PASSENGER TRANSPORT VEHICLE AND GANGWAY FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to airplane passenger transport vehicles and in particular to passenger transport vehicles including a gangway. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION On airports around the world, airplane passengers transfer from the airport terminal to the aircraft in three basic ways, through fixed or adjustable access ramps, by transport vehicle (buses), or by foot across the tarmac. Access ramps and transfer vehicles are preferred since they protect the passengers from the elements. However, access ramps usually cannot be used with commuter planes which have about 30 to 80 seats and are too low to be accessible by ramp. The alternative is to use busses or transfer vehicles with extensible gangways. Often, neither can be used for small airplanes with wing mounted engines since it is not possible to perpendicularly approach the aircraft with the vehicle and clear the engine while still reaching the access door of the aircraft. This is due to the relative proximity of the access door and the engine and the associated propeller and cowling. Positioning a conventional passenger transport vehicle at an angle to the plane to reach the door of the aircraft while avoiding the engine would require extreme caution to prevent damage to the aircraft and may not even be possible due to space constraints. As an added problem, many small aircraft are equipped with stairs built into the back of the access doors. Thus, even where an approach to the aircraft at an angle with a conventional vehicle would be possible, the transfer of passengers is impossible due to the folded down door and stair combination and the associated handrail which would not allow the vehicle to be parked sufficiently close to the fuselage for passenger transfer. Consequently, the passengers must get off the vehicle and board the plane using stairs. During the embarkment and disembarkment process the passengers are subjected to year- round weather conditions. Moreover, conventional passenger transport buses have a limited capacity of approximately 25 passengers. Thus, the transfer process requires two to three vehicles per plane depending on the size of the plane. United States Patent Nos. 2,929,655 and 3,658,377 relate to vehicles adapted to transport passengers directly to the aircraft. The vehicles disclosed include mechanisms to raise the vehicle to various door heights corresponding to the aircraft. To accomplish transfer of passengers to the aircraft, the vehicles must be placed perpendicular to the aircraft, before the cabin portion of the vehicle is raised to the level of the aircraft door. However, this is only feasible with larger aircraft where the approach of the vehicle is not hindered by wing-mounted engines and the associated propellers. With small commuter planes, those vehicles could not be driven close enough to the aircraft and aligned with the door of the aircraft because the aircraft's propeller would prevent the vehicle from being positioned perpendicular to the fuselage in front of the door without engaging the aircraft's engines or propellers. Moreover, these vehicles could also not be placed sufficiently close to the fuselage of airplanes having access stairs incorporated into the door. Although US 3,658,377 discloses a laterally adjustable door and gangway for better matching to the fuselage opening of an aircraft, the gangway can only be positioned within the width of the vehicle front and cannot be extended laterally beyond the vehicle to reach around the engine of an aircraft or on top of a folded down access door within stairs. United States Patent No. 3,839,760 relates to an aircraft loading bridge capable of serving aircraft having one or more access doors. The loading bridge includes two different tunnel sections and two different tunnel supports upon which the sections are mounted in such a manner that they may be located in various relative positions with respect to one another by actuation of the supports so that the tunnel sections may be raised and lowered to accommodate aircrafts having loading doors at various heights. This type of loading bridge is only useful for large aircrafts because the smaller aircraft's propeller would be in the path of the loading bridge. There is no room for manoeuvring a loading bridge due to the close proximity of the propeller and the door to the aircraft. The upstanding railing of the access stairs/door combinations of small airplanes would also interfere with the positioning of this loading bridge. United States Patent No. 4,490,869 describes a boarding installation for vehicles for transporting passengers in air terminals including a support equipped with a pivoting plate and a counter-plate which are complementary, of the form of an arc of a circle. The pivoting gangway overcomes the problem of having to bring the vehicle absolutely perpendicular to the fuselage opening of the aircraft. However, in case of smaller aircrafts, the original problem of having to avoid the propeller still remains. It requires that the aircraft be approached at an angle, the vehicle pushed as close as possible to the plane and then the pivoting action of the gangway be used to somehow align properly with the door of the aircraft. However, with a small aircraft, the problem remains to align the gangway properly with the door while avoiding the propeller, due to the size of the gangway, the limits of the pivoting action, and the proximity of the door and the propeller. Avoiding the railing of access doors with stairs in small planes may be impossible with this gangway. SUMMARY OF INVENTION These problems are now overcome with an adjustable gangway in accordance with the invention for an airplane passenger transport vehicle. It is an object of the invention to provide a gangway for an airplane passenger transport vehicle which is laterally movable for extending laterally beyond an end of the vehicle to reach an airplane door and permit the transfer of passengers between the vehicle and the airplane when the vehicle is positioned adjacent the airplane but out of alignment with the aircraft access door. It is a further object of the invention to provide a combination of passenger transport vehicle and adjustable gangway which allows transfer of passengers between the vehicle and an airplane having stairs and a railing incorporated in a fold-down access door. It is another object of the invention to provide a gangway and passenger transfer vehicle combination allowing the transfer of passengers between the vehicle and the aircraft having an access door in close proximity of an engine or propeller of the aircraft. It is a further object of the invention to provide a passenger transport vehicle and gangway combination allowing the transfer of passengers between the vehicle and small commuter airplanes without exposing the passengers to ambient weather conditions. These objects are now achieved with an adjustable gangway for a passenger transport vehicle having a longitudinal axis and a door in an end thereof. The gangway includes a walkway for supporting passengers transferring from the vehicle to an airplane adjacent the vehicle and having an access opening; support means for movably supporting the walkway on the end of the vehicle, the walkway being movable transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle between a travelling position wherein substantially all of the walkway extends across the end of the vehicle and a boarding position wherein part of the walkway extends laterally beyond the end of the vehicle to allow passengers to transfer from the vehicle across the walkway into the airplane when the access opening is not aligned with the front end of the vehicle; and means for laterally moving the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. The invention also provides a combination of the transport vehicle with the gangway. In a preferred embodiment, the means for movably supporting includes a first frame portion supporting the walkway, a second frame portion mountable to the vehicle and means for transversely movably suspending the first frame portion on the second frame portion for transverse movement of the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. The second frame portion is preferably affixable to a chassis of the vehicle and the means for transversely movably suspending the first frame portion on the second frame portion are a pair of spaced apart parallel sliding rails each including preferably a pair of interlocking rail sections respectively mounted to the first and second frames. In another preferred embodiment, the walkway includes first and second walkway portions, means for reciprocatably supporting the second walkway portion relative to the first walkway portion and means for reciprocating the second walkway portion relative to the first walkway portion and parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when the gangway is attached to the vehicle. The means for reciprocatably supporting preferably includes a pair of laterally spaced apart foldable arms, each having opposite ends respectively mounted to the support means and the second walkway portion. Most preferably, wherein the second walkway portion includes a transverse beam positioned at a forward edge thereof and one end of each arm is mounted to the transverse beam, and the arms are independently foldable for orienting the second walkway portion at an angle relative to the first walkway portion thereby allowing orientation of the forward edge of the second walkway portion parallel to the airplane at the access opening. It is also preferred to provide this embodiment with a canopy for protecting passengers transferring across the walkway from the elements, the canopy being extendible in longitudinal direction of the vehicle when the gangway is attached to the vehicle, and means for supporting opposite ends of the canopy on the first and second walkway portions for movement together with the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions, and means for longitudinally extending the canopy. In a further preferred embodiment, the vehicle includes an operator's station mounted to the end of the vehicle and, when the gangway of the invention is attached to the vehicle, the walkway extends laterally from the operator's station and partly under the operator's station when the walkway is in the travelling position. In yet another preferred embodiment, the gangway further includes a passenger compartment for shielding passengers transferring between the vehicle and the aircraft from the elements, the compartment being mounted on the gangway and being affixable to the vehicle. In still another preferred embodiment, the adjustable gangway includes a canopy for protecting passengers transferring across the walkway from the elements and means for supporting the canopy on the second frame portion and the vehicle respectively for movement together with the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the gangway and passenger transport vehicle of the invention will now be described in detail and with reference to the attached drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 illustrates a passenger transport vehicle including a gangway in accordance with the invention, the vehicle and the gangway being in the boarding position adjacent to an aircraft; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the gangway of the Passenger Transport vehicle, taken along line 2-2 in Figure 1 ; FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the passenger transport vehicle of FIG. 1 ; FIGS. 4a and 4b are perspective views of the gangway of the invention mounted to a transfer vehicle and shown in the travelling position and in the boarding position respectively; FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the gangway of FIG. 4 with the forward gangway portion being extended and the canopy extended; FIG. 6a is a schematic view of a gangway structure in accordance with the invention and in the travelling position, the walkway plates being removed; FIG. 6b is a schematic view of a gangway structure in accordance with the invention with the walkway plates removed, and the structure being in the forward extended, boarding position; FIG. 6c is a perspective view of the gangway structure of FIG. 6b, the walkway plates being partially cut away and the canopy being removed; FIG. 7 is a view of the forward extensible portion of the gangway in retracted position, the remainder of the gangway and the vehicle not shown for clarity and the walkway plates shown in outline only; FIG. 8 is a view of the gangway portion of FIG. 7 in extended position the walkway plate shown in outline only; and FIG. 9 is a cross-section through the gangway structure shown in FIG. 6c taken along line 9-9. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the preferred embodiment of an adjustable gangway 10 in accordance with the invention is intended to be mounted to a passenger transport vehicle 50, preferably a bus, and, in particular, to a front end 52 thereof including a door 55. The gangway 10 is transversely movable relative to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle 50 when mounted to the front end 52 and to a boarding position 53a, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the gangway laterally extends beyond the front end 52 of the vehicle 50 and is positioned in front of an access door (not illustrated) of an aircraft 70 having engines 74 and propellers 76. The gangway 10 is positioned to reach around the engine 74 in the boarding position 53. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the vehicle is a bus with a rear mounted engine and provided with a lifting system to lift the whole vehicle, including the passenger cabin and the chassis off the ground. The vehicle 50 is lifted by way of a lifting system 54 including four hydraulic jacks 56, respectively positioned adjacent one of the tires 55 of the vehicle. Each of these jacks 56 include a base 80 and a main lifting cylinder 82. The latter in turn are coupled to an auxiliary safety cylinder (not shown) providing redundancy in case of failure. The lifting movement is guided by sliding tubes (not illustrated) incorporated into the vehicle body and hidden from view which offer lateral stability to the lift cylinders. The main cylinders 82 are mounted on the side of each exterior guide tube and the auxiliary units are installed inside the sliding apparatus. These are linked to each side by a support cross beam 84. This cross beam also links the respectively laterally opposite bases 80 to provide stability and synchronism during lifting and lowering. Ground contact limit switches (not shown), and an angle sensing system (not illustrated) allow detection of instability thereby substantially preventing potentially hazardous conditions. Control of the lift system is provided by the use of two independent controls (one for the front and one for the rear) which can be used in two operation speeds. The first one is a normal speed used for approaching the airplane 70 and the other is a "creep" mode that permits a fine adjustment when making a final approach to the airplane's access door. Each main cylinder 84 consists of two standard type steel tubes sliding within each other thereby providing stability when extending and retracting the lift cylinders. Sliding pads screwed inside the outer tube offer a vertical movement liberty permitting the straight and guided lowering of the mounting feet. Inside the inner tube is mounted the auxiliary cylinder. The top of this cylinder is mounted under the top flange of the outer tube. In the raised position as shown in the drawings, the platform of the transport vehicle and the gangway attached thereto are adjusted to be level with the cabin floor of the aircraft 70. In this preferred embodiment, the gangway is both laterally movable and longitudinally extendable to extend laterally beyond the front end 52 of the vehicle and to be adjustable in longitudinal direction to allow placement of a front edge 12 of the gangway 10 directly adjacent the fuselage 72 of the aircraft 70. The gangway includes a canopy 14 of the type well-known in the art of airplane passenger transport vehicle gangways in order to protect passengers transferring between the vehicle and the aircraft from inclement weather. The canopy includes a rigid portion 15 supported on the gangway 10 and the vehicle 50 by a rigid frame 18 (see Fig. 6a and 6c) and a bellows shaped portion 16 (see Fig 5) which is extendible in longitudinal direction and preferably has a tiltable roof portion 19 to closely fit the fuselage 72 (see Fig. 3) about the access door of the airplane 70. The gangway 10 has a walkway 20 (see Fig, 4a, 4b, 5) for supporting passengers transferring between the vehicle 50 and an airplane 70. The gangway 10 includes a support structure 100 (see Fig. 2) which will be described in more detail below. The support structure 100 movably supports the walkway 20 at the end 52 of the vehicle 50 so that the gangway is movable transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The gangway 20 is movable between a travelling position 53a (see Fig. 4) wherein substantially all of the gangway extends across the end 52 of the vehicle and a boarding position 53b (see Fig. 4b) wherein at least part of the walkway extends laterally beyond the end 52 to allow passengers to transfer across the walkway 20 between the vehicle door 55 and an access opening (not illustrated) of the aircraft when the opening is out of alignment with the vehicle door. The gangway 20 includes a fixed walkway plate 21 and a movable walkway plate 22 overlapping and extending above the fixed plate 21 (see Figs. 6c, 8, 9). In the preferred embodiment, the vehicle 50 includes an operator's cabin 110 which is rigidly mounted to the vehicle front end 52 and beside door 55. A floor of the cabin 110 (not illustrated) is located at a level slightly higher than the level of the walkway 20. This provides for the walkway plates 21, 22 extending partly underneath the cabin 110, at least in the travelling position. The result is improved visibility for the driver and reduced space requirements. As illustrated in Fig. 6a, 6b, 6c, the support structure 100 of the gangway 10 preferably consists of a first frame 30 supporting the fixed walkway plate 21 , a second frame 31 mounted to a chassis (not shown) of the vehicle 50, and a structure for transversely movably suspending the first frame 30 on the second frame 31 for transverse movement of the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. The first frame 31 is rectangular and includes spaced apart parallel short and long frame sections 32,33. The second frame 31 is H-shaped and includes a pair of longitudinally extending spaced apart parallel main support beams 34 affixed to the chassis of the vehicle 50, and a transverse centre beam 35. A transverse support beam 36 is bolted to the front ends 37 of the support beams 34. The long frame sections 33 of the first frame are supported on the second frame 31 by way of extendable sliding rails 38, in this embodiment tracks 29 and cooperating rollers 40 mounted to the long frame sections 33. The sliding rails 39 each include a longitudinal groove 45 fittingly receiving the rollers 40 as shown in detail in FIG. 9. The lateral movement of the walkway is provided by a first hydraulic cylinder 41 with first and second ends 42,43 respectively affixed to the transverse centre beam 35 and one of the short frame sections 32. This movement is guided by the two sliding rails 39. Referring now to FIG. 6c and FIG. 7, the movable walkway plate 22 is supported by a pair of spaced apart foldable arms 44 the opposite ends of which are rotatably affixed to the first frame 30 and to a transverse bumper assembly 46 associated with a front edge 47 of the movable walkway plate 22. The foldable arms 44 are located under the fixed and movable walkway plates 21 , 22 to be hidden from view and in a way not to interfere with the lateral movement of the first frame 30 relative to the second frame 31. The reciprocating movement of the movable walkway plate 22 and the associated support structure is achieved with a second hydraulic cylinder 60, or other actuating means, rotatably attached at one end to the bumper assembly 46 and at the other end to the long frame section 33 of the first frame 30 which is adjacent the vehicle 50. The bumper assembly 46 includes a retractable gap plate 61 which is horizontally rotatably mounted to the bumper assembly to close any gap possibly remaining between the bumper and an airplane. The movable walkway plate 22 is affixed to the bumper assembly 46 at its front edge 47 and supported at its rear end 62 by the fixed walkway plate 21. As shown in FIG. 8, the foldable arms 44 are independently foldable thereby allowing angulation of the movable walkway plate 22 and its front edge 47 relative to the first frame 30 and the vehicle 50 and positioning of the walkway plate 22 parallel to the airplane fuselage 72. Undue angulation is prevented by a pair of spaced apart parallel guide plates 63 positioned on each side of the second hydraulic cylinder 60. Rollers 65,66 mounted to the second frame 31 cooperate with the guide plates 63 to limit the lateral movement of the movable walkway plate 22 and the associated bumper assembly 46. Operation During use of the transport vehicle 50, passengers board the vehicle at an airport terminal through the front door 55 or a side door (not illustrated) located towards the rear of the vehicle. As the passenger transport vehicle approaches the aircraft, the gangway remains in the travelling position wherein the gangway 10 is centered relative to the front end 52 of the vehicle and does not extend laterally beyond the end 52, and the movable walkway plate 22 is retracted. Upon arrival at the aircraft, the vehicle 50 is positioned substantially perpendicularly to the aircraft 70 facing the access door thereof. The platform of the vehicle 50 is lifted to the floor level of the aircraft by the hydraulic jacks 56 of the lifting system 54. The lifting system is manually activated by the vehicle's operator. Levelling is adjusted automatically by a controller (not illustrated) connected to a level sensor, ensuring a horizontal presentation despite the location of the passenger transport vehicle 50 and the orientation of the supporting surface. The vehicle is lifted until the platform is substantially level with the floor of the aircraft cabin to allow passengers to transfer between the aircraft 70 and the vehicle 50 across the adjustable and reciprocatable gangway 10, the gangway is moved laterally to position the gangway, regardless of the engine and propeller location, and align it with the access door of the aircraft 70. Once the vehicle 50 is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the plane 70, the gangway 10 itself is moved laterally by way of the first cylinder 41 to the desired location where the walkway 20 is positioned in front of the access door of the aircraft. The movable walkway portion 22 is then extended by way of second hydraulic cylinder 60 until a padding (not shown) on bumper assembly 46 engages the fuselage of the aircraft 70. Where the fuselage of the airplane at the access door is not parallel to the longitudinal axis of the plane, the movable walkway portion 22 automatically adjusts by angulation of the bumper assembly 46 relative to the first frame 30 and by way of differential folding of the foldable arms 44,45. Any remaining gap between the bumper assembly 46 and the fuselage is closed by upwardly rotating gap plate 61. Canopy 14 is extended to the aircraft fuselage to protect the gangway 10, the access door of the aircraft 70 and the door 55 of the vehicle 50 from ambient weather conditions. The canopy 14 tightly fits to the plane 70 providing shelter under adverse weather conditions to passengers in transfer. Although the gangway in the preferred embodiment is both laterally adjustable and longitudinally extendable, the gangway need only be laterally movable to the boarding position wherein it extends laterally beyond the end of the vehicle, to achieve the principle advantages of the invention. Furthermore, the gangway can be used to retrofit existing passenger transfer vehicles having only longitudinally extendable gangways. For that purpose, methods and structures other than those described in detail above can be used to mount the gangway of the invention to passenger transport vehicles. Finally, extendable rams other than hydraulic cylinders, for example, threaded, rotatable rams, can be used to move the first frame 30 relative to the second frame 31 and to extend the gangway in longitudinal direction. Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE RIGHT AND PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS: 1. Adjustable gangway for an airplane passenger transport vehicle having a longitudinal axis and a door at an end of the vehicle, the gangway comprising: a walkway for supporting passengers transferring between the vehicle and an airplane adjacent the vehicle; support means for movably supporting the walkway on the end of the vehicle, the walkway being movable transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle between a travelling position wherein substantially all of the walkway extends across the end of the vehicle and a boarding position wherein part of the walkway extends laterally beyond the end of the vehicle to allow passengers to transfer across the walkway between the vehicle door and an access opening of the airplane out of alignment with the vehicle door; and means for moving the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. 2. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 1 , wherein the means for movably supporting includes a first frame portion supporting the walkway, a second frame portion mountable to the vehicle and means for transversely movably suspending the first frame portion on the second frame portion for transverse movement of the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. 3. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 2, wherein the second frame portion is affixable to a chassis of the vehicle and the means for transversely movably suspending the first frame portion on the second frame portion are a pair of spaced apart parallel sliding rails each including a pair of interlocking rail sections respectively mounted to the first and second frames. 4. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 1, wherein the walkway includes first and second walkway portions, means for reciprocatably supporting the second walkway portion relative to the first walkway portion and means for reciprocating the second walkway portion relative to the first walkway portion and parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle when the gangway is attached to the vehicle. 5. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 4, wherein the means for reciprocatably supporting includes a pair of laterally spaced apart foldable arms, each having opposite ends respectively mounted to the support means and the second walkway portion. 6. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 5, wherein the second walkway portion includes a transverse beam positioned at a forward edge thereof and one end of each arm is mounted to the transverse beam, and the arms are independently foldable for orienting the second walkway portion at an angle relative to the first walkway portion thereby allowing orientation of the forward edge of the second walkway portion parallel to the airplane at the access opening. 7. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 1 for an airplane passenger transport vehicle including an operator's station at the end of the vehicle, wherein the walkway extends laterally from the operators station and partly under the operators station when the gangway is mounted to the vehicle and the walkway is in the travelling position. 8. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 3, wherein the first frame portion is an H-frame with a pair of longitudinally extending main beams affixable to the vehicle chassis and a cross beam affixed thereto for rigidity, the pair of extensible rails being affixed across the main beams, and the second frame portion is a substantially rectangular frame having longitudinal beams respectively associated with one of the pair of extensible sliding rails. 9. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 6, further comprising guide means for limiting the degree of angulation of the second walkway portion relative to the first walkway portion. 10. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 2, wherein the means for laterally moving the walkway is a first hydraulic cylinder having opposite ends respectively mounted to the first second frame portions. 11. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 4, wherein the means for reciprocating is a second hydraulic cylinder having opposite ends respectively rotatably attached to the second walkway portion and the second frame portion. 12. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 2, further comprising a . passenger compartment for shielding passengers transferring between the vehicle and the aircraft from the elements, the compartment being mounted on the gangway and being affixable to the vehicle. 13. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 2, further comprising a canopy for protecting passengers transferring across the walkway from the elements and means for supporting the canopy on the second frame portion and the vehicle respectively for movement together with the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions. 14. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 4, further comprising a canopy for protecting passengers transferring across the walkway from the elements, the canopy being extendible in longitudinal direction of the vehicle when the gangway is attached to the vehicle, and means for supporting opposite ends of the canopy on the first and second walkway portions for movement together with the walkway between the travelling and boarding positions, and means for longitudinally extending the canopy. 15. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 12, the compartment having flexible rear and side walls and a rigid roof for extending between the gangway and the vehicle upon movement of the gangway in lateral direction, the walls being constructed as a bellows. 16. Adjustable gangway as defined in claim 15, further including a foldable canopy for engaging the fuselage of the airplane around the access openings to seal the compartment from the elements. 17. In combination, an airplane passenger transport vehicle having a passenger supporting platform, a longitudinal axis and a door in an end of the vehicle, and a gangway as defined in claim 1 , the vehicle further comprising means for lifting the entire vehicle to elevate the platform of the vehicle to a floor level of the aircraft. 18. The combination of claim 17, wherein the vehicle has four wheels and the means for lifting comprises a lifting system including four lifting cylinders affixed to the chassis of the vehicle and respectively placed adjacent one of the four wheels of the vehicle, the lifting system including a controller for controlling extension and retraction of all four cylinders to ensure a level orientation of the vehicle platform at all times, irrespective of the orientation of the supporting surface on which the vehicle is placed.

Inventors: BEAUMONT GAETAN, BOULANGER ANDRE, DORE RICHARD, BEAUMONT, GAETAN, BOULANGER, ANDRE, DORE, RICHARD
Applicants: BEAUMONT GAETAN, BOULANGER ANDRE, DORE RICHARD, TECKSOL US INC, BEAUMONT, GAETAN, BOULANGER, ANDRE, DORE, RICHARD, TECKSOL U.S. INC.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B64F1
IPC codes: B64F1