Abstract:
A doorless, flexible shower stall for aircraft is shown, which shower stall is made of lightweight, 2-core-2 materials. The shower stall flexes as the aircraft flexes up to as much as five (5%) percent. The direction of discharge of water from the shower head is so the water will not be discharged out the doorless opening for the shower. Slopes of the floor is enough to overcome the angle of the aircraft during flight and still drain. The shower stall is composed of large pieces that are assembled and sealed when installed on the aircraft.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates a shower and, more particularly, a flexible, doorless shower for an aircraft. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
       [0002]    With the growth of the aviation industry features have been added to aircrafts for the comfort of the passengers. While restrooms with toilets and laboratories were added to passenger aircraft years ago, in recent years showers have also been added to aircraft. However, showers create problems such as the following:
       (1) because the fuselage of the aircraft flexes and twists during take-offs and landings as well as during flight, shower stalls must also flex and twist;   (2) if the shower stall does flex and twist any door for the shower will jam or stick;   (3) according to the Federal Aviation Administration, any door on a shower must be lockable so that it can be locked during take-off and landings; and   (4) a shower stall must be brought in and installed in large pieces and must be removable.       
 
         [0007]    Showers have been designed for use in large aircraft in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,709 assigned to the Boeing Company shows a shower with a foldable door and an expanding wall. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,512 assigned to Airbus Deutschland GmBH shows a shower for use in a passenger aircraft with rotating doors that may be closed when in use. 
         [0009]    U.S. Publication No. US 2010/0101013 A1, published on Apr. 29, 2010 shows a modular shower cabin for aircraft that has a rotating door for closure. 
         [0010]    Doorless showers for the home have been around for a long time as can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 1,215,681 to Maury, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,444 to Brown; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,453 to Shaw. However, the doorless showers in the home do not have to meet all the requirements that a shower in an aircraft would have meet, particularly, concerning flexibility. 
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    It is the object of the present invention to provide a doorless shower for an aircraft. 
         [0012]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shower for an aircraft that will flex as the aircraft flexes during take-offs, landings and during flight. 
         [0013]    It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a lightweight structurally sound, yet flexible shower stall for installation on an aircraft. 
         [0014]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a flexible, doorless shower stall for installation on an aircraft by using 2-core-2 material that is very lightweight yet strong. 
         [0015]    It is still another object of the present invention to provide a shower stall that may be installed and removed from an aircraft as needed. 
         [0016]    It is another object of the present to provide a lightweight, flexible, doorless shower stall for installation on an aircraft which shower stall is made in lightweight panels connected together upon installation in the aircraft. The shower stall is anchored to the ribs and cross beams of the aircrafts, and hence must flex as the aircraft flexes. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a partial cross-sectional view of a fuselage of a medium to large size passenger aircraft. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the shower stall shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the shower stall shown in  FIG. 2   
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of shower stall shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 4  along section lines  5 - 5 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  along section lines  6 - 6 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is a partial sectional view of  FIG. 5  along section lines.  7 - 7 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the floor of the shower stall. 
           [0025]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the shower stall with the twisting effect while in flight being shown in broken lines. 
           [0026]      FIG. 10  is a front view of the shower stall with the twisting effect shown in broken lines. 
           [0027]      FIG. 11  is an end view of the shower stall with the twisting effecting being shown in broken lines. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0028]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, an overhead partial sectional view of the fuselage  12  of a mid to large size passenger aircraft  14  is shown. Inside of the fuselage  12  maybe located rows of seats  16  or anything else to accommodate the passengers of the aircraft. Depending upon the desires of the owner of the aircraft  14 , it may be a restroom  18  that has contained there is a toilet  20 , the bidet  22 , and a lavatory  24 . The restroom  18  may be entered through door  26 . 
         [0029]    In the aircraft  14  as shown in  FIG. 1 , there is a second restroom  28  that may be entered through door  30 . Immediately inside the restroom  28  is located a lavatory  32  where an individual may be able to wash their hands or face. A partial wall  34  separates the lavatory  32  from the toilet  36 . 
         [0030]    Restroom  28  is different from restroom  18  in that restroom  28  also has a shower stall  38  located therein. 
         [0031]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , an enlarged perspective view of the shower stall  38  is shown. Along with more detailed views shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  7 , the shower stall  38  will be explained in more detail. The shower stall  38  has a top  40 , bottom  42 , and side walls  44  there between. The side walls  44  will be explained in more detail subsequently. 
         [0032]    Within the shower stall  38  there is a stub wall  46  that extends inward a short distance in front of the doorless entrance opening  48 . The stub wall  46  prevents water from the shower head  50  from being projected through the doorless entrance opening  48  when someone is taking a shower inside the shower stall  38 . Within the shower stall  38  is located an amenities tower  52  that may include a soap holder  54  and hand grips  56 . Also a foot rest  58  is provided on the side opposite the shower head  50 . The bottom  42  slopes downward to the drain  60 . 
         [0033]    The shower stall  58  shown in  FIGS. 2-7  is rectangular with the side walls  44  being made up of front wall  62 , rear wall  64 , left wall  66 , and right wall  68 . 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the top  40  is shown in more detail. The top  40  will include a pair of attachment brackets  70  secured thereto, which attachment brackets  70  will connect to ribs (not shown) of the aircraft  14 . Top  40  may have a hole  72  cut therein so lights can be mounted with wiring for lights coming out through hole  72 . Also, miscellaneous holes  74  may be cut in the top  40 , which miscellaneous holes may have sensors connected therethrough or other features associated with the shower stall  38 . 
         [0035]    Referring to the cross-sectional view shown in  FIG. 6 , it can be seen that the top  40  may have a suspended ceiling  76  located therein. Above the suspended ceiling  76 , wiring would be located for lights or any other features as provided in the shower stall  38 . 
         [0036]    Referring now to the side walls  44  that are made up by the front wall  62 , rear wall  64 , left  66  and right wall  68 , the side walls  44  are made up of a sandwich panel typically having a Nomex honeycomb core with skins made up of plies of thermoset resin. These low density, lightweight cores between the skins dramatically increase the side wall stiffness with little added weight. The core functions like the connecting web of an I-beam, separating the face sheets at a uniform distance, while the skins themselves function as beam flanges. The panel bending stiffness is proportional to the core thickness. 
         [0037]    The sandwich panels are cost effective because core material is less expensive and weighs less than the skin composite and can be cured and processed with the skins in a one shot operation. Usually, the core is faced with one or two skins of glass/phenolic prepreg for most ceilings and walls, and glass/epoxy or carbon/epoxy for panel floors, which require higher intentional strength. Because the side walls  44  normally have two layers of poly-setting resin over a honeycomb core, they are commonly referred to as “2-core-2.” 
         [0038]    In making flat panels such as the side walls  44  (made up of front wall  62 , rear wall  64 , left wall  66 , and right wall  68 ), the flat panels are typically processed with a flat press molding in which two lower skin prepregs, the honeycomb core and two upper skin prepegs are stacked onto a heated steel caul plate. A second, heated caul plate and a hydraulic press is lower onto the layout onto the laminate is held under pressure for a period of time ranging from 30 minutes to 100 minutes. A good discussion of this process is contained in  Advanced Material for Aircraft Interiors: Composite World , November 2006, which is incorporated by reference. 
         [0039]    The 2-core-2 compositions that make up the walls  44  of the shower stall  38  must be flexible enough to accommodate the flexing of the aircraft. The flexible nature may be up to five (5%) percent before the 2-core-2 material would start to fail. 2-core-2 sheets of flat composition panels can be ordered from Nordam. 
         [0040]    The configuration of the shower stall  38  as is shown in  FIG. 2-7 , has the shower head  50  in a position so that as an individual takes a shower, the water will not be projected out through the doorless entrance opening  48  because of the stub wall  46 . 
         [0041]    According to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the bottom  42  of the shower stall  38  is shown in more detail. The bottom  42  has attachment brackets  78  attached thereto. Attachment brackets  78  attached to the cross braces (not shown) contained within the aircraft  14 . 
         [0042]    The bottom  42  is formed on a mold which has a printed texture on top of the mold. The printed texture will be a resin film to give the texture to the bottom  42  where an individual stands in the shower. Under the textured pattern would be several additional layers formed from several plies of glass and/or liquid epoxy. 
         [0043]    As can be seen in  FIGS. 7-8 , sloped surface  80  slopes downward to the drain  60 . The slope of the slope surface  80  is always in excess of three (3°) degrees because the angle of attack of a passenger aircraft when in flight is approximately three (3°) degrees. Typically, the slope of the slope surface  80  would be approximately four (4°) degrees. Also, side sloped surfaces  82  (see  FIG. 8 ) tend to direct the water towards the drain  60 . Notch  84  in the bottom  42  coincides with the doorless entrance opening  48 . 
         [0044]    The top of the bottom  42  will be the inside of a mold and will have whatever decorative pattern therein the mold creates. The unfinished portion of the bottom  42  will be the lower surface thereof, which is hidden from the view of the passengers. 
         [0045]    Referring to  FIGS. 3 ,  4 , and  5  in combination, the front wall  42 , rear wall  62 , left wall  64 , right wall  66  are all connected together by corner brackets  86 . The corner bracket  86  may have fasteners (not shown) glued within the honeycomb panel forming the sides  44 , so that a bolt from the backside will attach the pieces together. The side walls  44  will be clamped together with screws from the unseen backside so that the shower stall  38  may be assembled or disassembled as desired. Silicone or some other flexible sealant will be used to ensure that there is no leakage at the corner brackets  86 . 
         [0046]    The bottom  42  and the top  40  will be connected to the side walls  44  by screws (not shown) connecting to fasteners (not shown) that are glued in the honeycomb panel. The screws will be inserted from the backside so they are not visible by the passengers. 
         [0047]    Referring now to  FIGS. 9 ,  10 , and  11  in combination, the shower stall  38  is shown. The attachment brackets  70  for the top  40  are connected by connecting rods  88  to the ribs (not shown) of the aircraft  14 . The bottom  42  is connected to cross braces (not shown) by attachment brackets  78 . 
         [0048]    As the aircraft  14  takes off, lands, and during flight, the shower stall  38  will flex as a result of the aircraft  14  flexing. The attachment brackets  70  and  78  will move, which will cause the shower stall  38  to flex as pictorially illustrated in  FIGS. 9 ,  10 , and  11  by the dotted lines. The amount of flexing in the shower stall  38  can be as much as five (5%) percent before it will begin to fail.