Compact aircraft galley and lavatory arrangement and articulating lavatory partition for an aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9714094-B2
Application number	US-201615166173-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	Feb 11, 2013
Publication date	Jul 25, 2017
Grant date	Jul 25, 2017

Abstract

A combination lavatory and galley arrangement for aircraft includes a lavatory portion having adjacent inboard and outboard lavatories, and a galley portion, and can be located aft of aft aircraft aft doors, and can at least partially rearwardly extend into the aircraft's aft pressure dome. The inboard and outboard lavatories can be separated by a movable wall or partition to provide access for persons with restricted mobility, and can be provided in a modular housing to facilitate retrofit assembly within an aircraft. The movable wall can be an articulating movable lavatory partition movable between a first, linearly extended configuration and a second, folded configuration in a stowed position to provide entry for persons with restricted mobility.

First claim

We claim:

1. A lavatory arrangement for an aircraft, comprising:
an inboard lavatory having an inboard toilet, an inboard sink, and an inboard entry door;
an outboard lavatory having an outboard toilet, an outboard sink, and an outboard entry door; and
a modular housing containing said inboard lavatory and said outboard lavatory, said modular housing including a floor, wherein said modular housing is dimensioned such that the modular housing is configured to be loaded aboard the aircraft through an aft door of the aircraft and assembled in a permanent location at a rear portion of the aircraft.

2. The lavatory arrangement of claim 1 , further comprising a movable partition between said inboard and outboard lavatories, said movable partition being movable between a stowed position and a deployed position, such that said inboard and outboard lavatories have substantially an equal first width when said movable partition is in the stowed position, said width being sufficiently wide to permit persons without restricted mobility to access and use the inboard and outboard lavatories, and the outboard lavatory having a second width greater than said first width when the movable partition is in the deployed position, said second width providing the outboard lavatory with a widened configuration that is sufficiently wide to permit a person with restricted mobility to access and use the outboard lavatory.

3. The lavatory arrangement of claim 2 , wherein said movable partition is configured to be articulated.

4. The lavatory arrangement of claim 2 , wherein said movable partition is configured to be bendable.

5. The lavatory arrangement of claim 2 , wherein said inboard lavatory is deeper than the outboard lavatory, such that a toilet in the inboard lavatory is positioned at least partially aft of a toilet in the outboard lavatory.

6. The lavatory arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said modular housing has a center of gravity that is sufficiently low to preclude the need for an overhead tie.

7. The lavatory arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said modular housing comprises associated non-structural exterior walls.

8. The lavatory arrangement of claim 3 , wherein said movable partition comprises an articulating movable lavatory partition including articulating, folding partition sections, said articulating movable lavatory partition being movable between a first, linearly extended configuration at an approximate middle deployed position between said inboard and outboard lavatories, and a second, folded configuration in a stowed position against an interior surface of one of said inboard and outboard entry doors leaving the inboard and outboard lavatories in an unpartitioned configuration with a common interior unobstructed for entry, egress and use of persons with restricted mobility.

9. The lavatory arrangement of claim 8 , wherein said inboard and outboard lavatories include a partition frame including imbedded upper slide channels and a floor panel including imbedded lower slide channels, and said articulating, folding partition sections include corresponding upper rollers and lower rollers, allowing for fore and aft bifold movement of the articulating, folding partition sections.

10. The lavatory arrangement of claim 9 , wherein said articulating movable lavatory partition is configured to be secured in the first linearly extended configuration, such that the partition cannot be opened while the outboard lavatory door is closed.

11. The lavatory arrangement of claim 10 , wherein said inboard and outboard entry doors are configured to be latched to a door header and the floor panel.

12. The lavatory arrangement of claim 11 , wherein said upper and lower rollers of the articulating, folding partition sections can move along the upper and lower slide channels toward the outboard entry door to fold and stack against an inner portion of the outboard entry door in the folded configuration in a final stowed position of the articulating movable lavatory partition.

13. The lavatory arrangement of claim 1 , wherein said lavatory arrangement is located aft of the aft door of the aircraft.

14. The lavatory arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the aircraft includes an aft pressure dome, and said lavatory arrangement extends at least partially rearwardly into the pressure dome.

Assignees

• Be Aerospace Inc

Inventors

• Ivester Clarence
• Mckee Jefferey
• Johnson Wade
• Hauser James Brian
• Papke Robert
• Benton David R
• Hashberger Frank E

Classifications

• B64D11/02 Primary

  Toilet fittings · CPC title

• B64D11/04

  Galleys · CPC title