Abstract:
The invention relates to a device for developing an aircraft hold located under the floor of the passenger cabin and the cockpit and including a so-called commercial area in which freight can be transported and a technical area including technical equipment and located at the front of the commercial area an at least partially under the cockpit, wherein said device includes: at least one compartment sealed relative to the hold located at the front of said commercial area and at the back of a portion at least of the technical area; a staircase connecting each compartment to a portion of the intermediate floor between the passenger cabin and the cockpit; and a sealed corridor extending from said staircase to each of said sealed compartments.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a hold layout device for an aircraft for crew-member rest and an aircraft comprising same. It applies, in particular, to the use of the hold to provide a rest, even bedding, area, a cloakroom and/or a baggage bin, for at least one crew member. 
     In an aircraft, the available space is distributed among the passenger cabin space, the baggage and/or cargo transport hold space, these first two spaces having to be maximized, the cockpit space, and different spaces, for example between the systems cabinets and the portion of the hold able to accommodate standardized containers. 
     Crew members are asking for an improvement in their comfort and, for the long haul, a rest zone. Moreover, beyond a certain flight duration, the regulations or practices of the airline companies require that a second pilot and copilot pair be present in the aircraft in order to replace the first during the flight. This part of the crew, inactive for a portion of the flight, must have a rest zone. Finally, the members of the crew wish to be able to leave the aircraft and the destination airport as rapidly as possible, carrying their baggage and garments along with them without waiting for the contents of the hold to be brought to the baggage delivery zone of the airport involved. 
     It is known to have a zone comprising equipment items intended for the comfort of the crew between the crew station and the passenger cabin. These equipment items, however, consume useful space in the aircraft and reduce the space that could be made available to the passengers. 
     The document FR 2 886 622 describes a rest module positioned beneath the cockpit zone. The implementation of this module, however, would require the moving of a technical portion that should remain beneath the cockpit. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention seeks to address these requirements. 
     To this end, according to a first aspect, this invention applies to a hold layout device for an aircraft, the said hold being located below a passenger cabin and cockpit floor and comprising a zone referred to as “commercial” in which goods can be transported and a technical zone comprising technical equipment items and positioned in front of the commercial zone and, at least in part, below the cockpit, characterized in that it comprises:
         at least one compartment impervious in relation to the hold positioned in front of the said commercial zone and behind at least one portion of the technical zone,   stairs connecting each said compartment with a portion of the floor intermediate between the passenger cabin and the cockpit and   an impervious aisle going from the said stairs to each said impervious compartment.       

     By virtue of these arrangements, members of the crew can have at least one compartment, for example for placing baggage, garments and/or for resting. Moreover, because of the imperviousness in relation to the hold, the smoke and/or fire protection systems can be adapted to the possibility of a human presence in a compartment or in the aisle during the flight. The stairs and the impervious aisle also make it possible to access, on the one hand, at least one portion of the technical zone and, on the other hand, the impervious compartment. In this way the stairs and the aisle provide both a commercial function, for the comfort of the crew, and a technical function, for access to the technical zone for maintenance or repair. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one said compartment comprises at least one bedding arrangement. By virtue of these arrangements, crew members can rest in the said impervious compartment. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one said compartment extends more or less laterally from one inner wall of the aircraft to the other. By virtue of these arrangements, the space available for the crew members is almost as broad as the aircraft. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one said compartment has a general right-angled parallelepiped shape, two lower edges of which are truncated to correspond to the shape of the fuselage of the aircraft at the lower part above the hold floor. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one said compartment is made up of panels and of a structure supporting the said panels and resting on at least one technical equipment item. By virtue of these arrangements, a special self-supporting structure is avoided and the weight and cost of the compartment are reduced. Moreover, in this way a compartment can occupy an aisle useful only for maintenance or repair operations involving these equipment items. Moreover, each panel thus can be removed independently of the other panels. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one said compartment is made up of panels that can be disassembled or are articulated. By virtue of these arrangements, access to the technical zone is facilitated and/or the commercial zone space easily can be increased. It is noted that the articulated panels are either doors or are articulated on a horizontal axis and that the panels that can be disassembled preferably are equipped with quick fastenings, for example of the “quarter-turn” type. In this way, programmed maintenance-system type access, for example access to the wiring, is facilitated and rapid. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one compartment comprises:
         a structure suitable for holding coat hangers,   a wall impervious in relation to the hold supported by the said structure and positioned in front of at least one opening for a technical equipment item located in the said hold and   means for moving at least one portion of the said wall in order to clear the access to the said opening.       

     By virtue of these arrangements, members of the crew can have a zone for placing garments by using a location needed for operations of maintenance or repair of technical equipment items of the aircraft, without hindering these operations which generally take place on the ground, when no crew is in the aircraft, since the openings for the technical equipment items remain accessible. Moreover, because of the imperviousness in relation to the hold, the smoke and/or fire protection systems can be adapted to possible human presence near this cloakroom. 
     According to specific characteristics, the said structure forms at least one rail on which the said wall can slide in order to clear the access to the said opening. 
     According to specific characteristics, the said wall is flexible. Access to the technical equipment items thus is particularly easy. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one said compartment comprises:
         a wall impervious in relation to the hold and positioned in front of at least one opening for a technical equipment item located in the said hold,   a structure suitable for supporting the said wall and   means for moving at least one portion of the said wall in order to clear the access to the said opening.       

     By virtue of these arrangements, members of the crew can have a zone for placing baggage by using a location needed for operations of maintenance or repair of technical equipment items of the aircraft, without hindering these operations which generally take place on the ground, when no crew is in the aircraft, since the openings for the technical equipment items remain accessible. Moreover, because of the imperviousness in relation to the hold, the smoke and/or fire protection systems can be adapted to possible human presence near this baggage bin. 
     According to specific characteristics, the said wall is removable. By virtue of these arrangements, for lengthy maintenance operations, the wall is removed so that it does not hinder these operations. 
     According to specific characteristics, the said wall is mounted on the said structure with quick screws. 
     According to specific characteristics, the device such as briefly explained above comprises an access through which garments or baggage can be passed and a door positioned at a distance from the said access. 
     By virtue of these arrangements, the door makes it possible to perform maintenance operations easily. 
     According to particular characteristics, the said door is located at the back, in relation to the said access. 
     According to a second aspect, this invention applies to an aircraft comprising a layout device such as briefly explained above. 
     According to specific characteristics, at least one compartment is positioned between two technical equipment items. By virtue of these arrangements, the device occupies an aisle useful only for maintenance or repair operations involving these equipment items. 
     Since the advantages, purposes and characteristics of this aircraft are similar to those of the device that is an object of this invention, such as briefly explained above, they are not repeated here. 
     Other advantages, purposes and characteristics of this invention will become apparent from the description that is going to follow, presented with an explanatory and in no way limitative intent, with reference to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows schematically, in perspective, a section of an aircraft that is an object of this invention comprising a specific embodiment of the layout device that is the object of this invention. 
         FIG. 2  schematically shows a vertical section of the aircraft illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows schematically, a perspective view including a flexible cloakroom that is an object of this invention, in a deployed configuration. 
         FIG. 4  shows schematically, a perspective view including the flexible cloakroom illustrated in  FIG. 3 , in a first compressed configuration. 
         FIG. 5  shows schematically, a perspective view including the flexible cloakroom illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in a second compressed configuration. 
         FIG. 6  shows schematically, a vertical section including a baggage storage bin that is an object of this invention. 
         FIGS. 7 and 8  show perspective views including a portion of the bin illustrated in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 9  shows schematically, a perspective view including the bin illustrated in  FIGS. 6 to 8 . 
         FIGS. 10 and 11  schematically show, perspective views including components of the bin illustrated in  FIGS. 6 to 9 . 
         FIG. 12  shows schematically, a perspective view including the bin illustrated in  FIGS. 6 to 11 , installed in an aircraft, technical equipment items not being shown in order to aid understanding of this invention. 
         FIG. 13  schematically shows a view from above of the compartment illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     There is seen, in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an aircraft comprising a first zone  101 , a floor  102 , a floor  102 , a cockpit  104 , a passenger cabin  106 , a hold  108 , a technical zone  110  and a rest compartment  112  for crew members. 
     Aircraft  100  is of any type. It has a metal fuselage and a metal or carbon structure. Technical zone  110  extends from the nose of the fuselage of the aircraft to below the passenger cabin. Technical zone  110  and compartment  112  are connected, by means of an aisle  114  and stairs  116 , to a hatch formed in floor  102  and opening between cockpit  104  and passenger cabin  106 . 
     In the embodiment described and shown, aisle  114  starts from the stairs and, toward the rear of aircraft  100 , first passes, in a portion of the technical zone, between two technical equipment items  110 A and  110 B, then between two short aisles  118 A and  118 B orthogonal to aisle  114  and each separating two technical equipment items, respectively  110 A and  110 C on the one hand, and  110 B and  110 D on the other hand, then between the other two technical equipment items  110 C and  110 D, before reaching rest compartment  112 . 
     Rest compartment  112  has the shape of a right-angled parallelepiped extending more or less from right side wall  120  of aircraft  100  to left side wall  122  of aircraft  100 . The lower side edges of this right-angled parallelepiped are truncated to adapt the lateral shape of compartment  112  to the rounded cross section of aircraft  100  and in this way to correspond to the shape of the fuselage of aircraft  100  at the lower portion above hold floor  126  and below floor  102  of the cabin and the cockpit. 
     Rest compartment  112  is made up of rigid panels  124  forming floor, walls and ceiling, mounted on a structure (not shown) supported on floor  126  of hold  108  and on technical equipment items  110 C and  110 D. Panels  124  are, for example, made of composite materials, plastic, metal, or wood. The spaces between the panels comprise joints (not shown) that ensure the imperviousness of rest compartment  112  in relation to hold  108 . A door  136  allows access to compartment  112  from aisle  114 . To enhance acoustic comfort, the assembly also can be fastened by means of flexible studs. 
     Compartment  112  can be disassembled by virtue of the use, for its assembly, of quick, for example quarter-turn, screws, of panels and of joints ensuring imperviousness. In this way, on the occasion of reassignment of an aircraft to shorter flights or on the occasion of a need for extension of the first zone  101  of the hold  108 , compartment  112  can be disassembled. The door initially connecting compartment  112  to aisle  114  then ensures imperviousness in relation to hold  108 , of the rest of the layout device that is an object of this invention, such as presented in  FIGS. 3 to 12 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , the equipment of rest compartment  112  comprises, for example, two seats  130 , two bedding arrangements  132 , positioned above truncated edges  138  of compartment  112  and two shelves  134 . Means for lighting, air conditioning, entertainment and detection and protection against smoke and fire, known in themselves in particular for equipping the passenger cabin, are not shown in  FIG. 13 . 
     There is seen in  FIG. 3  a cloakroom  200  positioned in aisle  118 B, between technical equipment items  110 B and  110 D and comprising:
         a structure  202  holding coat hangers for garments (not shown),   a wall  204 , impervious in relation to hold  108 , supported by the said structure and positioned in front of at least one opening  206  for technical equipment items  110 B and  110 D and   means for moving at least one portion of the said wall in order to clear the access to each said opening  206 .       

     Structure  202  comprises upper bars  208  and  210  and lower bars  212  and  214 , each bar being mounted between two supports  216  fastened to technical equipment items  110 B and  110 D. Bars  208  to  214  preferentially are attached to supports  216  by quick, or quarter-turn screws, so as to make wall  204  removable. In order to enhance acoustic comfort, the assembly also can be fastened by means of flexible studs. 
     Wall  204  is made up of two support frames  218 A and  218 B sliding on the four bars  208  to  214  and of a plastic film  220  going from one frame to the other over the entire extension thereof. Plastic film  220  is held along the bars by metal wires  222  attached to plastic film  220 , each metal wire  222  sliding on each of bars  208  to  214  when one of the frames is moved along these bars. In variants, plastic film  220  of wall  204  is replaced by an accordion-pleated fabric, the folds being able to be reinforced in various ways with metal wires, for example. The material making up wall  204  is fireproof. 
     A compressible or removable coat-hanger holder  224 , going from one frame to the other in a parallel manner and in the middle of upper bars  208  and  210 , is held by metal wires  222 . This hanger holder  224  is, for example, made up of a removable rigid bar or of rods articulated to assume a lengthwise configuration when the frames are moved away from one another, and a folded position when the frames are moved closer to one another. 
     Support frame  218 A, which is on the aisle  114  side, frames an opening through which a crew member can pass a garment to hang, with a coat hanger, on holder  224  or to remove this garment. 
     Support frame  218 B frames a door  226 . 
     As is seen on  FIG. 4 , in order to access the openings for technical equipment items  110 B and  110 D, the maintenance or repair technicians can remove holder  224 , if it is rigid, and have support frame  218 A slide toward support frame  218 B which brings about the folding and compression of wall  204 , holder  224 , if it is flexible, and the sliding of metal wires  222 . This procedure is more suitable for access to the technical equipment items located on both sides of aisle  118 B. 
     As is seen in  FIG. 5 , in order to access the openings for technical equipment items  110 B and  110 D, the maintenance or repair technicians also can remove holder  224 , if it is rigid, and have support frame  218 B slide toward support frame  218 A which brings about the folding and compression of wall  204 , of holder  224 , if it is flexible, and the sliding of metal wires  222 , then open door  226  by pulling it toward the inside of the cloakroom. This procedure is more suitable for access to the technical equipment items located at the back of aisle  118 B. 
     As is understood with respect to  FIGS. 3 to 5 , by virtue of the cloakroom the members of the crew have a zone for placing garments by using a location needed for operations of maintenance or repair of technical equipment items of the aircraft, without hindering these operations which generally take place on the ground, when no crew is in the aircraft, since the openings for the technical equipment items remain accessible. Moreover, because of the imperviousness in relation to the hold, the smoke and/or fire protection systems can be adapted to possible human presence near this cloakroom. 
     Wall  204  preferentially is removable, for example after bars  208  to  214  have been separated from their supports  216 , for example by unscrewing quick screws, for example screws referred to as “quarter-turn” since a quarter turn suffices to remove them. Thus, for lengthy maintenance operations, the wall is removed so that it does not hinder these operations. 
     There is seen in  FIG. 6  a baggage bin  300  situated in aisle  118 A, in front of at least one opening for each technical equipment item  110 A and  110 C and comprising:
         a structure  302 ,   a wall  304 , impervious in relation to the hold, supported by said structure  302  and positioned in front of at least one access to a technical equipment item and   means for moving at least one portion of the said wall in order to clear the access to the said opening, these means here being means for rapid disassembly of portions of the wall.       

     As is seen in  FIG. 6 , structure  302  is attached to each of technical equipment items  110 A and  110 C, at four different heights, for example by quick or “quarter-turn” screws. Structure  302  also comprises two frames  306  of doors  308  positioned at the entrance and at the back of aisle  118 A. In  FIG. 6 , five bags, of carry-on type, are shown stacked on top of each other, by way of example. 
     As is seen on  FIGS. 7 and 8 , components  310  of wall  304  are panels separated by supports  312 . Panels  310  are, for example, made of plastic, metal or composite material. On  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the inside of the baggage bin is shown at the right. 
     The bin is made up of panels that can be disassembled rapidly for access to the systems, as  FIG. 10  shows, and of components that cannot be disassembled rapidly shown in  FIG. 11 . These components of structure  302 , in the form of light beams, are fastened to the units for technical equipment items  110 A to  110 D, in particular between two levels of computers, precisely at shelf height, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 . The horizontal beams are fastened on both sides of the shelves on the vertical uprights of the technical equipment unit supporting the shelves. 
     As is understood with respect to  FIGS. 6 to 12 , by virtue of the baggage bin, the members of the crew have a zone for placing garments by using a location needed for operations of maintenance or repair of technical equipment items of the aircraft, without hindering these operations which generally take place on the ground, when no crew is in the aircraft, since the openings for the technical equipment items remain accessible. Moreover, because of the imperviousness in relation to the hold, the smoke and/or fire protection systems can be adapted to possible human presence near this baggage bin. 
     Because the structure is adapted for being attached to technical equipment items, it does not have to be self-supporting and its weight therefore is reduced. 
     In order to access equipment items situated at the back of aisle  118 A, the technicians can open door  308  at the back of the aisle by pulling this door toward the inside of the baggage bin. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 6 to 12 , wall  304  is removable, by panels. In other embodiments, the wall can be mounted, by components, on hinges, or be flexible. 
     As is understood with respect to  FIGS. 3 to 12 , each compartment of the device that is an object of this invention can come to be disassembled, for example on the occasion of change of mission of the aircraft or on the occasion of access for heavy maintenance. In this case, the components of the compartments can be disassembled separately, or as a whole if the component is of the one-piece compartment type instead, and removed via the cargo door situated just behind the technical zone on the right side of the aircraft.