Patent GB-709490-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in emergency escape apparatus for aircraft pilots and/or other occupants
IPC: B64D25/08
Filed: 1951-12-07
Abstract: 709,490. Escape apparatus for aircraft. MORANE-SAULNIER. Dec. 7, 1951 [Dec. 16, 1950; July 24, 1951], No. 28764/51. Class 4 An escape device for an occupant of an aircraft comprises, in combination, a backed seat downwardly tiltable about a front axis, releasable means to hold said seat in normal sitting position, a normally covered opening in the bottom of the aircraft beneath the seat, means to uncover said opening, means to release said seat to allow it to tilt into said onening and abutment means to stop said seat in said opening wnen its back nas reached a pre-determined position inclined downwards and rearwards with respect to said bottom whereby the occupant is caused to leave the seat by a translational movement determined by the position of the seat back. The seat 1 is pivoted at the front at 21 to the aircraft structure and at the back it carries a jack 6 for adjusting its attitude, the piston rod of the jack being secured at 82 by a releasable catch 83, pivoted to the aircraft at 84 and retained in a locking position by a lever 114 connected by links 110 and 112 and lever 111 to a further lever 109 operatively associated with an operating handle 85 by means of a plunger 107 on the lever 109 and an aperture 108 in the lower part 91 of the lever. The part 91 is connected also to a rod 93 which operates through arms 98, rods 99 and catches, Fig. 18 (not shown), to free a releasable panel 96 in the floor of the fuselage. An extension of the rod 110 comprising a bellcrank 117, a rod 118, a further crank 119 and link 121, is connected to a pivoted arm 123, upward movement of which causes a pin 125 to pierce a diaphragm 126 in a compressed air bottle 127. The bottle is housed within a piston 129 mounted in a cylinder 128 and the upper end of the piston and the lower end of the cylinder carry respectively pulleys 130 and 131 around which is reeved a cable 132 connected at one end to the cylinder and at the other end 133 to the seat 1. A by-pass 134 in the cylinder is connected at 135 to an inflatable bag 136 positioned below the normal seat cushion 137. In operation, the handle 85 is raised to disengage a plunger 87 from a recess 88 in a fixed plate 89 and thrust forward to a position where the plunger 107 enters the aperture 108 and the catches holding the panel 96 are released. The panel is jettisoned by springs 105 and inflatable bags 106. The handle is then moved aft to separate the lever 114 from the tail of the catch 83 so that a spring 16 may free the end of the jack piston rod therefrom and to cause the pin 125 to pierce the diaphragm 126 so that the pulleys 130 and 131 are urged apart and the seat is swung to the position shown in Fig. 19 under the action of gravity and the pull of the cable 132. The upward movement of the piston 127 clears the by-pass 134 so that the bag 136 is inflated rapidly to eject the pilot from the seat. In alternative embodiments the seat 1 may carry a pivoted control surface to hold it in its released position, the lower panel 96 may be mounted on a fixed pivot at its forward edge so that it shields the pilot at the moment he leaves the aircraft, a shoot may connect a raised cockpit floor with the lower surface of the fuselage and a plurality of escape devices may be provided in tandem or side-by-side. A harness tensioning and release mechanism is described.