Aircraft duct assembly with slideway mounting

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11541985-B2
Application number	US-202017123454-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 16, 2020
Priority date	Dec 18, 2019
Publication date	Jan 3, 2023
Grant date	Jan 3, 2023

Abstract

An aircraft duct assembly comprising at least two ducts extending along a general direction of rectilinear extent, each duct being an electrical, hydraulic or aeraulic duct connected to a duct support. The duct support comprises a first slideway element configured to cooperate with a second slideway element to form a slideway in the general direction of extent of the ducts. The duct assembly can thus be inserted, after mounting, by translation along the direction of the slideway into an aircraft fuselage portion. The mounting of the duct assembly and installation thereof in a fuselage are simplified, and the duct assembly is more reliable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft fuselage portion comprising:
a fuselage structure comprising annular frames perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of extent of said fuselage portion,
a flat floor, and vertical struts perpendicular to the floor that extend from the floor to a frame, forming a space, termed triangle region, which is delimited by an underside of the floor, said vertical struts and said frames,
a first slideway element and a second slideway element cooperating to support a duct support within the triangle region, the first slideway element fixed to the duct support, the second slideway element connected to or formed by the fuselage structure and which is configured to form, in said triangle region, a longitudinal slideway by cooperation with the first corresponding slideway element, the longitudinal slideway forms a rail transfer for the duct support to be transported along the longitudinal direction of the fuselage within the triangle region.

2. The fuselage portion according to claim 1 , further comprising,
in said triangle region, an aircraft duct assembly comprising at least two ducts extending along a general direction of rectilinear extent, each duct being able to be an electrical, hydraulic or aeraulic duct, and
each duct being connected to said duct support, said duct support comprising
the first slideway element configured to cooperate with the second slideway element to form the slideway, via which said duct assembly is connected to said fuselage structure.

3. The fuselage portion according to claim 2 , wherein the first slideway element comprises a carriage configured to cooperate with a rail of the second slideway element, or in which the first slideway element comprises the rail configured to cooperate with the carriage of the second slideway element.

4. The fuselage portion according to claim 3 , wherein one of the first slideway element and of the second slideway element comprises a suspension piece, forming a carriage runner, configured to cooperate with the rail of the other of the first slideway element and of the second slideway element.

5. An aircraft fuselage portion according to claim 1 , wherein the duct support of a duct assembly is suspended from the fuselage structure by an upper part of said duct support.

6. The aircraft fuselage portion according to claim 2 , in which the duct assembly comprises at least two ducts selected from:
an air-distribution duct for distributing air into a cabin and/or a cockpit;
a hydraulic duct for a hydraulic control system;
a water duct;
a suction duct.

7. An aircraft comprising at least one fuselage portion according to claim 1 .

8. A method for mounting a duct assembly in an aircraft fuselage portion, comprising the steps of:
providing an aircraft fuselage portion according to claim 1 ;
bringing a first slideway element into cooperation with a second slideway element to form a slideway, and
fitting the duct assembly in said fuselage portion by translation along the slideway.

9. The mounting method according to claim 8 , further comprising the steps:
constituting an aircraft duct assembly comprising at least two ducts extending in a general direction of rectilinear extent, each duct being able to be an electrical, hydraulic or aeraulic duct,
constituting a duct support, and
connecting each duct to said duct support.

10. An aircraft fuselage portion comprising:
a fuselage structure comprising annular frames perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of extent of said fuselage portion,
a flat floor, and vertical struts perpendicular to the floor that extend from the floor to a frame, forming a space, termed triangle region, which is delimited by an underside of the floor, said vertical struts and said frames,
a first slideway element and a second slideway element, the second slideway element being connected to or formed by the fuselage structure and which is configured to form, in said triangle region, a longitudinal slideway by cooperation with the first corresponding slideway element,
in said triangle region, an aircraft duct assembly comprising at least two ducts extending along a general direction of rectilinear extent, each duct being able to be an electrical, hydraulic or aeraulic duct, and
a duct support, each duct being connected to said duct support, said duct support comprising
the first slideway element configured to cooperate with the second slideway element to form the slideway, via which said duct assembly is connected to said fuselage structure,
wherein the first slideway element comprises a carriage configured to cooperate with a rail of the second slideway element, or in which the first slideway element comprises the rail configured to cooperate with the carriage of the second slideway element,
wherein one of the first slideway element and of the second slideway element comprises a suspension piece, forming a carriage runner, configured to cooperate with the rail of the other of the first slideway element and of the second slideway element,
wherein each suspension piece comprises a T-shaped transverse cross section comprising a vertical straight part and a horizontal straight part, said horizontal straight part being configured to be introduced into the rail, said rail being of rectangular cross section having a longitudinal opening traversed by the vertical straight part.

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Sas

Inventors

• Feuillerac Laurent
• Salgues Patrick
• Auriac Vincent

Classifications

• B64C1/406 Primary

  in combination with supports for lines, e.g. for pipes or cables · CPC title

• B64C1/068 Primary

  Fuselage sections · CPC title

• B64C1/061

  Frames · CPC title

• H02G3/0456

  Ladders or other supports · CPC title

• H02G3/30

  Installations of cables or lines on walls, floors or ceilings · CPC title