Abstract:
An assembly for stowing away and removing a survival kit in a passenger cabin of an aircraft, includes a first stowage compartment configured to be put in place in a floor of the passenger cabin. The first stowage compartment is equipped for completely accommodating the survival kit and for leading out a hook that is connected to the survival kit by way of a strap. The hook is used for hooking the survival kit to an attachment device of a rescue device with the first stowage compartment remaining closed.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/066,335, filed Feb. 20, 2008, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. 
     The invention relates to an assembly for stowing away a survival kit in a passenger cabin of an aircraft. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Usually, survival kits are carried along in the passenger cabin of an aircraft whenever an aircraft flies over regions in which in the case of an emergency landing either on land or on water, or in the case of a crash, search and rescue will be particularly difficult and/or the flight route is 50 nautical miles away from a coastline. The standard model of a survival kit contains, for example, first aid equipment, nutrition that is high in calories, water etc. and weighs up to approximately 10 kg. In the case of the aircraft making an emergency landing on water such a survival kit is removed from a stowage compartment, is latched to a slide raft by means of a hook, and when the slide raft is detached from the aircraft&#39;s fuselage is carried along in the slide raft. 
     Generally speaking, survival kits are stored in hatracks or other stowage compartments. In an emergency said survival kits have to be removed from these stowage locations and have to be taken to a slide raft. Due to the absence of installation space in the conventional slide raft compartments at the exit, the survival kits cannot be accommodated together with the folded slide raft. For this reason, depending on the number of slide rafts, in each case two survival kits are accommodated in suitable stowage compartments near the exits in the cabin. 
     Conventional stowing away of survival kits is associated with a disadvantage in that the survival kits are not located directly at the exit, but instead must first be removed from a corresponding stowage compartment by a member of the cabin crew, and must be transported to the exit, either while the passengers are evacuated or thereafter. Furthermore, if several survival kits are stowed away in hatracks or other stowage compartments, stowage space, which is anyway severely limited, is lost. In particular if there are a lot of passengers on board, a large number of relatively large survival kits have to be carried on board, which survival kits prevent many passengers from accessing baggage space for their cabin baggage. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It may thus be the object of the invention to propose a concept that is as optimised as possible for the stowing away of survival kits, which concept does not use stowage space for cabin baggage, wherein the survival kits are, however, arranged as near as possible to the respective exits, and wherein wherever possible manual transport of survival kits is no longer necessary. 
     This object is met by an assembly for stowing away a survival kit in a passenger cabin of an aircraft according to the characteristics of the independent claim  1 . Advantageous improvements are stated in the subclaims. 
     In the assembly according to the invention the survival kit is accommodated in a first stowage compartment that may be put in place in a floor surface of the passenger cabin of the aircraft. From the first stowage compartment, in the closed state, a hook that is connected to the survival kit by way of a strap may be led out, which hook in a preferred embodiment may be accommodated in a second stowage compartment that is adjacent to the first stowage compartment, wherein the hook is used for hooking the survival kit to a slide raft. Both the first and the second stowage compartments preferably comprise a closure flap. The assembly according to the invention provides a particular advantage in that no stowage space in hatracks or in stowage compartments is taken up by survival kits. The assembly according to the invention may therefore be arranged as closely as possible to the emergency exits that provide the slides/rafts. In a smooth flight condition, for example before an emergency landing on water, the hook for hooking the survival kit to a slide raft, which hook is accommodated in the second stowage compartment, may be removed and attached to the still stowed-away slide raft. This means that the survival kit that is still stowed away may already be attached to the slide raft, without the need for prior repositioning or gathering of the survival kits by members of the cabin crew. Since, furthermore, the hook and part of the strap affixed to the hook may be removed from a separate, second stowage compartment, separately from the survival kit, there is no need to open the actual stowage compartment comprising the survival kit. Consequently, during evacuation of the passengers into the corresponding slide raft, the space is not blocked by the survival kit, and the survival kit is also not damaged during this procedure. After the evacuation of the passengers through the emergency exit into the slide raft, the survival kit is advantageously pulled from the slide raft itself, by way of the strap, from the first stowage compartment and is placed into the floating raft. 
     As a result of the assembly according to the invention, accordingly an optimised stowage concept for stowing away a survival kit in a passenger cabin of an aircraft is proposed, with which concept there is no taking up of valuable stowage space for cabin baggage of passengers, nor is the evacuation of passengers during an emergency landing, including an emergency landing on water, impeded. At the same time safe storage of the survival kit is provided. This is not possible with conventional assemblies for stowing away survival kits in passenger cabins of aircraft. 
     Furthermore, the object of the invention may be met by a method, the use, and an aircraft, according to the further independent claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Below, the invention is explained in more detail with reference to the figures. 
       Similar components in the figures have the same reference characters. The following are shown: 
         FIG. 1 : a three-dimensional view of the installation space of the assembly according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2 : a three-dimensional view of the installation space comprising a hook that has been removed from the second stowage compartment and has been affixed to the slide raft; 
         FIG. 3 : a three-dimensional detailed view of the second stowage compartment of the assembly according to the invention; 
         FIG. 4 : a further three-dimensional detailed view of the second stowage compartment during maintenance; 
         FIG. 5 : a three-dimensional view of the assembly according to the invention during the transfer of the survival kit to the slide raft; 
         FIG. 6   a:  a diagrammatic view of the method according to the invention for removing the survival kit; and 
         FIG. 6   b:  a diagrammatic view of the method according to the invention for stowing away the survival kit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows the general design of an emergency exit region in a passenger cabin, in which emergency exit region the assembly according to the invention is positioned. For example, near the rear end of the aircraft fuselage, in the region shown in the figure, an emergency exit door  2 , a folding seat  4  for a member of the aircrew, and a toilet  6  are arranged. A first stowage compartment  10  and a second stowage compartment  12  are embedded in the cabin floor  8  and are closed off in each case by a flap  14  or  16 . The emergency exit door  2 , which is situated in close proximity, comprises a stowage compartment  18  for stowing a slide raft that extends in the direction of the assembly according to the invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , positioning the assembly according to the invention in close proximity to the stowage compartment  18  for stowing the slide raft is very advantageous. From the second stowage compartment  12 , hereinafter also referred to as the “auxiliary stowage compartment”, a hook  20  may be removed, which by means of a strap  22  is connected to the survival kit (not shown in  FIG. 2 ) that is accommodated in the first stowage compartment  10 . In preparation for the evacuation, the removed hook  20  is connected, by way of a link  24 , to the slide raft that is kept in the stowage compartment  18 . This is carried out, in particular, in the smooth flight phase prior to an emergency landing on water so that the preparation for the removal of the survival kit has already been made prior to evacuation, without there being any danger of obstructing the passengers to be evacuated. It is most favourable if the hook  20  comprises a snap-in device, which after latching the hook  20  to the link  24  secures the hook  20  in that location. In the simplest case the hook  20  is implemented as a carbine swivel. The strap that extends from the auxiliary stowage compartment  12  to the link  24  preferably lies flat against the floor and closely conforms to adjoining partition walls. While the hook  20  is connected to the link  24 , the survival kit always remains untouched in its stowage compartment  10 , and the closure flap  14  of said stowage compartment  10  remains closed. After the hook  20  has latched onto the link  24  the closure flap  16  of the auxiliary compartment  12  may be closed again so that any danger of tripping over is eliminated. The closure flap  16  and/or the adjacent floor region are/is adapted such that with the closure flap  16  in its closed state the strap  22  is not jammed. 
     The illustration in  FIG. 3  further clarifies the basic design. The diagram shows an auxiliary compartment  12  whose closure flap  16  is open and is in a position so that from the cabin floor  8  it is inclined upwards by an angle of approximately 90°. On the inside of the closure flap  16  there is a lever  26  that is connected to the closure flap  16  by means of a clip-like connecting element  28 . When the closure flap  16  is opened, the lever therefore also hinges upwards on its rotary axis  30 . On the lever  26  there is a tie-down point  32 , for example a pin, a hook, a bolt or the like, which tie-down point  32  is arranged so as to be spaced apart from the rotary axis  30  of the lever  26 . Attached to the tie-down point  32  is a linear-shaped attachment means  34 , for example a wire  34 , whose other end is connected to a securing means in the shape of a cotter pin  36 . The cotter pin  36  is used to lock down the closure flap  14  of the first stowage compartment  10  relative to a floor structure  38 . This is used for securing the closure flap  14  in view of the load alternations and normal vibrations that occur in the aircraft. In order to simplify removal of the survival kit from the stowage compartment  10 , automatic unlocking of the closure flap  14  of the stowage compartment is desirable. This is implemented in that the lever  26  that hinges open, by way of the tie-down point  32 , pulls the wire  34  in the direction of the rotary axis  30 , as a result of which the wire  34 , which in the illustration of  FIG. 3  is deflected by approximately 90°, removes the cotter pin  36  from a corresponding opening (not shown in detail) of the closure flap  14 . The unlocked closure flap  14  continues to remain closed after the auxiliary compartment  12  has been opened and after unlocking as a result of the intrinsic weight of said closure flap  14 . 
     If during an emergency landing, either on land or on water, the first step of opening the auxiliary compartment  12  is carried out in order to attach the hook  20  to the link  24  of the slide raft, the wire  34  automatically unlocks the closure flap  14  of the first stowage compartment for the survival kit so that as a result of the strap  22  being pulled the survival kit may be removed from the first stowage compartment  10  from the slide raft. 
     If during aircraft maintenance the survival kit is checked or replaced, the stowage compartment  10  needs to be closed again and secured by means of the cotter pin  36 . To this effect the lever  26  may be removed from the clip-like closure element  28  of the closure flap  16  and may be placed so as to be separate from the closure flap  16 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . After this the wire  34  is no longer tensioned, so that the cotter pin  36  may manually be inserted into the closure flap  14  for securing it. After this the closure flap  16  of the auxiliary compartment  12  may be closed, as a result of which the lever is pushed into the clip-like closure element  28 , clicks-in in that location, and implements automatic detachment of the cotter pin  36  the next time the auxiliary compartment  12  is opened. 
     Finally,  FIG. 5  shows the removal of the survival kit  40  from the slide raft  42 . After evacuation of the passengers through the emergency exit into the slide raft  42 , by way of the strap  22  the survival kit  40  is pulled from the stowage compartment  10 , which opens up as a result of pulling the survival kit  40 , and is placed into the floating slide raft  42 . Accordingly, during evacuation into the slide raft  42  none of the passengers is impeded from exiting through the exit door  2 ; passengers do not trip over an already prepared survival kit  40 ; and after evacuation of the passengers there is no need for a member of the cabin crew to return to the aircraft in order to look for the survival kit  40  and to take it along. 
     Lastly,  FIG. 6   a  shows the method according to the invention for removing, and in  FIG. 6   b  for stowing away, the survival kit  40 . This is briefly summed up below. The method according to the invention for removing the survival kit  40  essentially comprises the steps of: opening  44  the closure flap  16  of the auxiliary stowage compartment  12 ; removing  46  the hook  20  that is connected to the survival kit  40  by way of a strap  22 ; latching  48  the hook  20  to a suitable attachment means  24  of a rescue device  42 ; and closing  50  the closure flap  16  of the second stowage compartment  12 , wherein during opening of the closure flap  16  of the second stowage compartment  12  at the same time by hingeing back the lever  26  that is disconnectably connected to the closure flap  16 , the securing means  36  is detached  52 . Finally, the survival kit  40  may be removed from the first stowage compartment  10  by pulling said survival kit  40  out  54  by the strap  22 . 
     The method for stowing away the survival kit essentially comprises the steps of: opening  56  the closure flap  16  of the second stowage compartment  12 ; opening  58  the closure flap  14  of the first stowage compartment  10 ; putting in place  60  the survival kit  40 ; subsequently detaching  62  the lever  26  that is disconnectably connected to the closure flap  16  of the second stowage compartment  12 ; hingeing back  64  the lever  26  into the second stowage compartment  12 ; subsequently closing the closure flap  14  of the first stowage compartment  10 ; locking down  66  the closure flap  14  of the first stowage compartment  10 ; and closing  68  the closure flap  16  of the second stowage compartment  12 . 
     The arrangement according to the invention for stowing away a survival kit, and the method according to the invention, thus provide a new and optimal concept for stowing away a survival kit, which concept does not use up valuable space for cabin baggage and which, during evacuation, results in reduced obstruction of passengers when they leave the aircraft. 
     All the mechanical elements shown are to be interpreted as exemplary embodiments. The illustrations in the figures do not limit the scope of the application, which scope is solely defined by the claims. Instead, lock-down means other than a cotter pin or the like are imaginable, and other forms of hooks and/or straps are possible. The illustrations provided have been selected and presented only to explain the invention. 
     In addition, it should be pointed out that “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and “a” or “one” does not exclude a plural number. Furthermore, it should be pointed out that characteristics or steps which have been described with reference to one of the above exemplary embodiments may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps of other exemplary embodiments described above. Reference characters in the claims are not to be interpreted as limitations.