Abstract:
Storage bins for architectural transitions in passenger cabins of airplanes and other vehicles. A transition storage bin is positioned between adjacent rows of straight storage bins and at the location where the fuselage or cabin changes cross-sectional dimensions. The front surface of the transition storage bin is curved to merge smoothly with the front surfaces of the adjacent storage bins.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to storage bin systems for aircraft and more particularly to storage bins with improved architectural transitions in aircraft passenger cabins.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Most commercial airplanes today have storage bins positioned on the inside of the aircraft passenger compartments above the outboard passenger seats. The storage bins typically have hinged doors or are pivoting bins and are utilized to store luggage and other carry-on items of the passengers. The storage bins positioned adjacent to the sidewalls of the airplane are called the outboard storage (or “stowage”) bins, while the storage bins positioned internally in the passenger compartment, for example, on twin aisle airliners, are called the inboard/center storage/stowage bins.  
         [0003]     With airplanes, the fuselage narrows as it approaches the front and rear of the airplane resulting in non-constant cross-sectional areas of the cabins. In the passenger compartments of these airplanes, where the constant section bin rows end, typically the bin rows are angled forward and aft to follow the walls of the tapering fuselage. Often, the transitions between the rows of bins in the constant cross-sectional cabin areas and the fore or aft non-constant cross-sectional areas are abrupt and sharply angled. These transition areas can lose space, are not aesthetically pleasing, and require additional wedge or pie shaped components, as well as possible seals, to span and close out the space between the adjacent angled bin rows. This approach adds additional, unnecessary parts and often creates difficult and time-consuming alignments and installation issues.  
         [0004]     The adjacent ceiling and ceiling light valance architecture are directly impacted by this angled transition. Current practice with these elements is to just miter them (abrupt transition), which leaves an architecturally abrupt appearance.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved storage bin and storage bin system for aircraft, which have changing cross-sectional shapes in the passenger cabins and require the storage bins to be positioned at angles to one another. It is another object of the present invention to provide storage bins in the transition areas between adjacent sets of straight rows of storage bins.  
         [0006]     In accordance with the present invention, storage bins are provided and positioned in the transition areas between the rows of storage bins in the constant cross-section cabin area and in the narrowing non-constant cross section cabin area. The transition storage bins are functional storage bins, such as, for example, pivoting storage bins or storage bins with hinged doors .  
         [0007]     Preferably one symmetrical transition bin is provided for placement in all four of the fore and aft transition areas in the aircraft. The inventive storage bins preferably are installed in the same manner as standard storage bins and would have similar cost and installation expense. The invention would maximize space utilization and insure a fast and accurately aligned transition area.  
         [0008]     The top front surface edge of the inventive storage bins are curved and preferably blend to a straight line at the bottom of the bin surface. This provides a smooth blended transition between two rows of storage bins positioned at an angle to one another along the top edge and aligns the bottom of the bin with the PSU modules which are positioned along the sidewalls.  
         [0009]     In addition, the adjacent ceiling and ceiling light valence architectural elements follow the upper curve of the symmetrical transition bin and also take on a smooth blended architectural appearance. 
     
    
       [0010]     Other objects, benefits and features of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention set forth below, together with a review of the drawings and claims.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a cross sectional plan view of an aircraft illustrating the storage bins in accordance with the prior art.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is an interior perspective view of the storage bins of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a cross sectional plan view of an interior of an aircraft showing storage bins in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view if the storage bins as shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  schematically illustrates an embodiment of a transition stowage bin in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional plan view of the storage bin shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 7  illustrates an alternate embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]     A typical layout of known storage bin systems in passenger compartments of large twin aisle aircraft is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and indicated by the reference numeral  10 . The storage bins  20 ,  20 ′,  22  and  22 ′ are attached to the attachment systems of the fuselage  30  of the aircraft between the ceiling panels  24  and PSU modules  34  on the one hand and the sidewalls  26  on the other. The sidewalls have a plurality of windows  28 . The storage bins are positioned in linear or straight rows, as shown. The stronger bins can be installed individually or a group of individual storage bins can be aligned and assembled together and then attached to the attachment systems of the fuselage  30  of the airplane.  
         [0019]     The storage bins typically have front bin faces or door members  32  which are curved in the vertical direction in order to provide clearance space for the passengers and also to merge with the PSU modules  34 . The bin faces or door members  32  cover the bin openings and retain the luggage and carry-on items in place during flight. The PSU modules typically include the lights, signage, air supply, attendance call buttons, and the like which are provided to the passengers during the flights. Typically end caps  36  are positioned on the ends of the rows of storage bins.  
         [0020]     As better shown in  FIG. 1 , the fuselages of aircraft typically have a section  40  of the passenger compartment with a constant cross section, and a section  42  of the passenger compartment with a non-constant cross section. For this reason, the rows of storage bins  20 ,  20 ′ and  22 ,  22 ′ are positioned at an angle to one another along the inside surface of the fuselage. The longitudinal axes  41  and  43  of the two straight rows of storage bins  20  and  22  are typically at an angle A of one to ten degrees (1°-10°). This leaves transition areas  50 ,  50 ′ between the two rows or groups of storage bins  20 ,  20 ′ and  22 ,  22 ′ which have a wedge or pie shape. The wedge or pie-shaped areas  50 ,  50 ′ are typically hidden from view or covered by custom made panels or components, including possible seals that are necessary to span the irregular shaped areas between the adjacent straight rows of storage bins.  
         [0021]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , there are typically two sets or rows of outboard storage bins in the forward portion of the aircraft. (The corresponding storage bins on the opposite walls of the cabin are referred to by the same numbers, but with one set identified with prime marks.) It is also understood that there typically are four wedge or pie-shaped transition areas in a large airplane, two in the forward cabin as shown, and two more in the aft cabin of the aircraft (not shown). The aft portions of an aircraft also have non-constant cross sections as the fuselages narrow towards the tails of the airplanes.  
         [0022]     Positioned above the storage bins  20  is a light rail  52  which also includes a light shield and typically an environmental control system (ECS) which includes a main cabin air supply.  
         [0023]     As better shown in  FIG. 2 , the transition areas  50 ,  50 ′ between adjacent two straight rows of storage bins create abrupt kinks or transition lines  60 ,  60 ′ which are not aesthetically pleasing. The transition areas can lose space, are architecturally compromising, and require additional added components and possible seals to span the gaps, which are both expensive and time-consuming to install.  
         [0024]     An aircraft storage bin system in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  and referred to generally by the reference numeral  100 . In accordance with the invention, a curved transition storage bin  102 ,  102 ′ is positioned between the straight rows of storage bins  104 ,  104 ′ and  106 ,  106 ′. On the fuselage  110  of the aircraft, the first straight section of storage bins  104 ,  104 ′ is positioned along the area of constant cross section  112 ,  112 ′ while the second area or group of storage bins  106 ,  106 ′ is positioned along the area of non-constant cross section  114 ,  114 ′. The symmetrical transition storage bins  102 ,  102 ′ are positioned at one-half the overall angle of the constant cross-section area and the non-constant cross section area bin rows. This establishes the symmetrical aspect and matched, parallel interface to the adjacent constant and non-constant bin row ends forward and aft.  
         [0025]     Preferably, one symmetrical, full size, fully functional storage bin  102 ,  102 ′ is positioned in the transition area between the two straight rows of adjacent storage bins. The one symmetrical transition bin can be utilized in all four forward and aft transition areas of the aircraft. The bin is installed in the same manner as standard bins, which maximizes space utilization and insures a fast and accurately aligned transition. For example, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the areas  118  between the ECS  120  and the ceiling panels  122  of the aircraft have a smooth curved configuration and does not have the kink or sharp angle as known in the prior art ( FIG. 2 ). It is also possible to provide and install two or more transition-type storage bins in the transition area.  
         [0026]     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the storage bin  102  preferably has a curved top front surface  130  which is curved both in the vertical direction  132  and the top edge horizontal direction  134 . The inboard bin face or door member  136  is positioned on the front of the storage bin  102  and is pivoted to the walls forming the bin in the same manner that the inboard bin face member or door members are positioned in the rows of adjacent storage bins  104  and  106 . Alternatively, the bin could be a box-type structure with a pivoting or hinged front door member. The rear surface  138  of the storage bin can have a straight configuration as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  or can have a curved configuration  1   40  as shown in dashed lines in  FIG. 6 . The curve  1   40  would preferably match the curvature of the transition area and thus provide additional storage volume in the bin.  
         [0027]     Also, the sidewalls or end blades  142  and  144  of the storage bin  102  can be parallel to one another as shown in  FIG. 6 , or the sides can be angled outwardly as shown in  FIG. 7  in a non-parallel orientation and relationship. In  FIG. 7 , the sidewalls or end blades  146  and  148  of storage bin  150  are angled in order to match the ends  104 A and  106 A of the bins  104  and  106 , respectively.  
         [0028]     The bottom edge  160  along the transition storage bin  102  preferably has a straight configuration in order to match the PSU modules  34 . The bottom edge  160  can also be curved in a manner similar to the upper edge  162  in order to blend with the adjacent storage bins and with a correspondingly curved PSU module.  
         [0029]     Preferably the upper exterior edge  162  of the transition storage bin is curved over the length of the bin to create a clean architecturally blended smooth transition between adjacent standard bins  104 ,  106 . The curved bin face surface would then blend smoothly into the edge  160  at the bottom of the bin to align with the PSU modules.  
         [0030]     With the present invention, the interior architecture of the passenger compartments of an aircraft would be enhanced. The architecture would look smooth and consistent without sharp angle changes or kinks down the interior space of the aircraft passenger compartments. The use of wedged or pie-shaped components and seals to span the irregular gaps will be eliminated.  
         [0031]     With the present invention, the installation time for installing the storage bins in the interior of an aircraft will be decreased. The transitional storage bin can be aligned and installed in the same time and manner as the adjacent straight storage bins. Also, the pivot points of the symmetrical transitional storage bin or door members are positioned coaxially with the adjacent bins. In addition, standard PSU modules can be utilized.  
         [0032]     Although the present invention is described and referred to as being for use in airplanes and other aircraft, the present invention can be used also with other vehicles, such as boats, trains, buses, and the like.  
         [0033]     While the invention has been described in connection with one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that the specific mechanisms and techniques which have been described are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention, numerous modifications may be made to the methods and apparatus described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.