Abstract:
A storage device for baggage for an aircraft cabin includes a compartment having a lower face and an upper face, an open face allowing access to the compartment for the depositing and removal of baggage inside same and a back, opposite the open face of the compartment. The lower face of the compartment is substantially plane on the side of the open face and rises up near the back. A groove, the concavity of which is positioned toward the upper face of the compartment, is implemented in the joining zone between the raised portion of the lower face and the back.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This document claims priority to French Application Number 05 11027, filed Oct. 28, 2005 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/749,627, filed Dec. 13, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to a baggage storage space intended in particular for an aircraft cabin, and more specifically a baggage rack.  
         [0004]     The field of this invention is the transport of passengers in an aircraft. During a trip, the travelers&#39; baggage is placed in the holds of the aircraft, while lighter baggage can accompany the travelers in the aircraft cabin. In this cabin, storage spaces are provided for this baggage, also referred to as hand baggage. More often than not, these storage spaces are arranged in the upper portion of the aircraft cabin, beneath the ceiling of this cabin and above the seats intended to accommodate the passengers.  
         [0005]     2. Description of the related art  
         [0006]     There are two major types of storage space for baggage such as described previously. On the one hand there are baggage bins and on the other hand baggage racks. A baggage bin is a compartment fixed in relation to the aircraft cabin, and a door, generally pivoting, allows the opening and closing of access to the baggage compartment. A baggage rack, for its part, also has a compartment intended to accommodate baggage and comprising an access. Here this compartment is a compartment movable between a first extended position in which access to the compartment is open, allowing the insertion and removal of baggage, and a position retracted inside the ceiling of the aircraft cabin, in which access to the compartment is closed.  
         [0007]     The current trend, dictated by the airline companies, is to increase the volume of storage space for hand baggage inside aircraft cabins. However, the volume inside an aircraft cabin is limited. It therefore is advisable to make the most of the available space inside a given cabin. Moreover, as regards the baggage racks and bins, their dimensions are limited inasmuch as the standards provide that these storage spaces, in open or closed position, must not hinder the movement of passengers in the aisles of the aircraft cabin.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     This invention then has as a purpose to provide a baggage compartment that, for a given external occupied space, makes possible a greater volume of storage space for baggage than the known storage spaces of the prior art.  
         [0009]     To this end, it proposes a storage space for baggage, intended in particular for an aircraft cabin, comprising a compartment having a lower face and an upper face, an open face allowing access to the compartment for the depositing and removal of baggage or similar items inside same, and a back, opposite the open face of the compartment.  
         [0010]     According to this intention, the lower face of the compartment is more or less plane on the side of the open face, the lower face of the compartment rises up near the back, and a groove, the concavity of which is positioned toward the upper face of the compartment, is implemented in the joining zone between the raised portion of the lower face and the back  
         [0011]     With such a storage space, a suitcase with wheels can be accommodated in the baggage compartment in the lengthwise direction and not down flat, but diagonally. The wheels of the suitcase are introduced first when the compartment is open. They then come to roll over the plane portion of the lower face and the raised portion of this face then comes to guide them into the groove that is intended to accommodate them. The suitcase then is held in the compartment of the baggage storage space thanks to the cooperation of the wheels of the suitcase with the groove.  
         [0012]     In order to better support a suitcase placed in the baggage storage space, or to hold a possible suitcase not comprising wheels, the free edge of the lower face of the compartment situated on the side of the open face for access to the compartment advantageously has a rim projecting from the lower face of the compartment toward the upper face of the latter. This rim can be formed, for example, by a profiled part. Preferably, in order to avoid injuring a user or damaging a piece of baggage, this rim, profiled or otherwise, is rounded.  
         [0013]     In order to facilitate the positioning of a suitcase in the compartment, the raised portion of the lower face of the compartment rises up gradually from the plane portion to the groove.  
         [0014]     In a variation of embodiment, the raised portion of the lower face of the compartment represents between 15 and 40% of the lower face of the compartment. Thus, the volume occupied by the raised portion is not too great and this raised portion can have a slope that is not too great so as to facilitate the accommodation of the baggage.  
         [0015]     By way of illustrative example, it is indicated here that the groove is, for example, between 5 and 30 cm above the level of the plane portion of the lower face of the compartment.  
         [0016]     In a preferred embodiment of the storage space for baggage according to the invention, this rack is movable between a lower open position and a raised position retracted inside an aircraft cabin ceiling. In a variation of embodiment of this storage space (which here is a baggage rack), the plane portion of the lower face of the compartment, in the open position of the compartment, is more or less horizontal, that is, more or less parallel to the floor of the aircraft cabin. These characteristics make it possible to limit the height of the entry threshold of the compartment accommodating the baggage, thus facilitating the use of this baggage rack.  
         [0017]     This invention also relates to an aircraft cabin and an aircraft, characterized in that they comprise a baggage storage space such as described above, and more specifically such a baggage rack. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0018]     Details and advantages of this invention will emerge more clearly from the description that follows, presented with reference to the attached schematic drawings on which:  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a rack according to the invention in closed position, while  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows this rack schematically in open position. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0021]     The baggage rack  2  depicted in the drawings is a rack mounted pivoting around an axis of pivoting  4 . It is a matter here of a baggage rack  2  mounted in an aircraft cabin. This rack is mounted in the upper portion of this cabin, above the passenger seats, not depicted. The axis of pivoting  4  is a longitudinal axis in relation to the aircraft cabin. The ceiling  6  of this cabin is recognizable on the drawings.  
         [0022]     The baggage rack  2  comprises a lower face  8 , a back  10 , an upper surface  12  and lateral walls  14 . The overall shape of this rack is more or less parallelepipedal. The face opposite the back  10  is a completely open face.  
         [0023]     On  FIG. 1 , the baggage rack  2  is depicted in its closed position. It then is retracted in the ceiling  6  of the aircraft cabin. Inside this ceiling, a fixed flap  16  comes to close the open face of the baggage rack, opposite the back  10 . This fixed flap  16  takes on, for example, the form of a circular cylindrical section, the axis of which corresponds to the axis of pivoting  4 .  
         [0024]     For esthetic reasons, a streamlining is provided in order to conceal the baggage rack. In closed position of the latter, the streamlining completely hides the baggage rack  2  from the sight of the passengers occupying the aircraft cabin. This streamlining comprises a fixed streamlining  18  connecting one edge of the fixed flap  16  to the ceiling  6  and a mobile streamlining  20  covering in particular the lower face  8  of this baggage rack  2 .  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  depicts the baggage rack in its open position. In order to go from the closed position depicted on  FIG. 1  to the open position of  FIG. 2 , the baggage rack  2  pivots downward around its axis of pivoting  4 . In this position, the fixed flap  16  no longer covers the open face of the rack and this open face is completely clear. A passenger then can place a suitcase  22  inside the rack or remove it therefrom.  
         [0026]     The lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2  has a plane portion on the side of the open face of the rack. This plane portion  24 , in the embodiment depicted in the drawings, extends over approximately 70% of the depth of the baggage rack. Then, on nearing the back  10  of the baggage rack  2 , the lower face  8  has a raised portion  26  positioned toward the upper face  12 . Thus, on the attached Figures corresponding more or less to a cross section, the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2  has an angled shape.  
         [0027]     The free end of the raised portion  26  has a groove  28 . The latter therefore is in the immediate vicinity of the back  10 . This groove  28  is of circular cylindrical form. Its concavity is positioned toward the upper face  12  of the baggage rack  2 . This groove  28  is of a size suitable for accommodating a wheel  30  of a suitcase  22 . Thus the radius of curvature of the groove  28  is, for example, on the order of 3 to 10 cm.  
         [0028]     At the present time, a very great majority of suitcases have wheels  30 . The placement of a suitcase  22  with wheels  30  then is performed in the following manner. The baggage rack  2  is set in its open position depicted on  FIG. 2 . The suitcase  22  then is positioned so that these wheels  30  are introduced first inside the baggage rack  2  and come to roll over the plane portion  24  of the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2 . On approaching the back  10  of the baggage rack, the raised portion  26  of the lower face  8  guides the wheels  30  toward the groove  28 . The suitcase  22  then is in place in the baggage rack  2 . It is held in this rack thanks to the cooperation of the wheels  30  and the groove  28 . This loading process is quite natural for the passenger who prefers to position the handle of his baggage on the accessible side of the rack.  
         [0029]     The plane portion  24  of the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2  preferably is more or less horizontal when the baggage rack  2  is in its open position. The aircraft here is considered to be down on the ground. In this case, the floor of the aircraft cabin is itself more or less horizontal. Thus, in relation to the aircraft cabin, it may be considered that the plane portion  24  of the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2  is more or less parallel to the floor (and/or to the ceiling) of the aircraft cabin when the baggage rack is in open position.  
         [0030]     In order to better hold the suitcase  22  inside the baggage rack  2 , it also is provided to equip the free edge of the lower face  8  situated on the side of the open face of the baggage rack  2  with a profiled rail  32  forming a slight projection above the plane portion  24  of the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2 . This profiled rail  32  thus forms a barrier for any object situated on the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2 . In order to avoid damaging the baggage or other objects in place in the baggage rack  2 , and especially in order to avoid any injury to the passengers using the baggage rack  2 , the profiled rail has a somewhat rounded form.  
         [0031]     Such an embodiment of a baggage rack makes it possible, for the same external occupied space, to accommodate baggage of a larger size. In relation to a baggage rack of the state of the art, the baggage rack  2  described above makes possible a saving on the order of 3″ (or approximately 7 to 8 cm) in space occupied crosswise. It should be mentioned here that the baggage racks in an aircraft cabin, even in open position, must not hinder the movement of passengers circulating in the aisles provided for this purpose. The baggage racks therefore must not project beyond the cabin seats, above the traffic aisles. Thanks to the space saving achieved, it becomes possible to place a suitcase  22  corresponding to the maximum size generally accepted by the airline companies in the aircraft cabin (usually referred to as “traveler pro”) crosswise in the baggage rack, while in the baggage racks of the prior art, storage for such suitcases had to be implemented longitudinally. The space saving is very appreciable. With a rack of the prior art, the space sufficing to accommodate four suitcases of traveler pro size in a rack according to the invention scarcely can hold two suitcases of the same size.  
         [0032]     The volume  34  existing between the lower face  8  of the baggage rack  2  according to the invention and the suitcase  22  is not a wasted space—quite the reverse. A passenger could take advantage of this volume to store therein, in complete safety, various small-sized objects and in particular a jacket or similar item. Since this volume  34  is well defined, the objects that are placed there also are held there.  
         [0033]     This invention is not restricted to the preferred embodiment described above by way of non-limitative example. It also relates to all the variations within the reach of the individual skilled in the trade, in the context of the claims below.  
         [0034]     Thus, for example, the storage space described above and depicted in the drawing is a baggage rack having a compartment intended to accommodate baggage that is movable. This storage space also could be a baggage bin with a fixed compartment, closed by an access door, for example.