KNOWLEDGE BASED ACCESS AND ACCESS HIERARCHY IN AN AIRCRAFT

• US 20090242699A1
• Filed: 03/31/2008
• Published: 10/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Mitchell, Bradley J., Lamoree, Bret L., Schalla, James P., Wentland, Mark E., Bobzien, Phillip J., Cheung, Kwu-Wing W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,876,050 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/118.500
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/1407 Doors; surrounding frames
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/04 Galleys
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00182 operated with unidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00563 using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns

Abstract

A method and apparatus for a hierarchical access system for a compartment. The hierarchical access system comprises a moveable barrier, a locking mechanism, and a control unit. The moveable barrier is capable of preventing access to at least one of a first space and a second space in the compartment in the lavatory when the moveable barrier is in a closed position. The locking mechanism is capable of securing the moveable barrier in the closed position. The control unit is capable of unlocking the locking mechanism in a manner that provides different levels of access to the first space and the second space in the compartment in response to receiving an access request.

Claims

1. A hierarchical access system for a compartment, the hierarchical access system comprising:

a moveable barrier capable of preventing access to at least one of a first space and a second space in the compartment when the moveable barrier is in a closed position;

a locking mechanism capable of securing the moveable barrier in the closed position; and

a control unit capable of unlocking the locking mechanism in a manner that provides different levels of access to the first space and the second space in the compartment in response to receiving an access request.

2. The hierarchical access system of claim 1, wherein the compartment is in a lavatory of an aircraft.

3. The hierarchical access system of claim 1, wherein the control unit provides one level of access to the first space and the second space when the aircraft is in a first mode and provides another level of access to the first space and the second space when the aircraft is in a second mode.

4. The hierarchical access system of claim 1, wherein the control unit provides access to the first space in response to the access request identifying a requester as a person in a first group of personnel and providing access to the second space in response to identifying the requester as a person in a second group of personnel.

5. The hierarchical access system of claim 1, wherein the control unit is selected from one of a radio frequency identification tag reader, a touch pad, a touch sensor, a magnetic strip reader, a finger print scanner, a face recognition system, a retinal scanner, a voice recognition system, and a thermal imaging unit.

6. The hierarchical access system claim 1, wherein the locking mechanism is selected from one of an electronic latch, a solenoid latch, a magnetic latch and an intelligent fastener.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a set of structures partitioning an enclosed area into a plurality of spaces; and

a set of access devices capable of selectively providing access to different spaces within the plurality of spaces using a policy to evaluate a request to access a space within the plurality of spaces.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein an access device within the set of access devices comprises:

a moveable barrier capable of preventing access to the space within the plurality of spaces when the moveable barrier is in a closed configuration;

a locking mechanism capable of locking the moveable barrier in the closed configuration; and

a control unit capable of unlocking the locking mechanism in response to using the policy to evaluate the request to access the space.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the locking mechanism is selected from one of an electronic latch, a solenoid latch, a magnetic latch, and an intelligent fastener.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control unit is selected from one of a radio frequency identification tag reader, a touch pad, a magnetic strip reader, a finger print scanner, a face recognition system, a retinal scanner, a voice recognition system, a thermal imaging unit, a hidden latch sensor, a mechanical latch, a series of actions security system, a magnetic latch, and an intelligent fastener.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the moveable barrier is selected from one of a louver door, a blind door, a sliding door, a bypass door, a pocket door, a roll up door, a flip up patch, a slide out drawer, a tip out compartment, a removable panel, and a removable fabric barrier.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the policy allows a different set of users to access each of the plurality of spaces and wherein the request identifies a user.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the policy provides access to different spaces within the plurality of spaces based on a state of the aircraft.

14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the policy provides access to the different spaces within the plurality of spaces based on a mode of the aircraft and an identification of a user.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the policy allows access to the user and a set of maintenance personal when the aircraft is in a maintenance state.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the policy allows access to the user and a set of service personal when the aircraft is in a service state.

17. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the enclosed area is selected from one of a lavatory cabinet, an area behind a cabin wall, a cargo hold, a cabinet in a gallery, and an air return grill.

18. A hierarchical access system for a compartment in an aircraft, the hierarchical access system comprising:

a moveable barrier capable of preventing access to at least one of a first space and a second space in the compartment in a lavatory, when the moveable barrier is in a closed position and wherein the moveable barrier is selected from one of a louver door, a blind door, a sliding door, a bypass door, a roll up door, a flip up hatch, a slide out drawer, a tip out compartment, a removable panel, a pocket door, and a removable fabric barrier;

a locking mechanism capable of securing the moveable barrier in the closed position; and

a control unit capable of unlocking the locking mechanism in a manner that provides different levels of access to the first space and the second space in the compartment in response to receiving an access request, wherein the control unit provides one level of access to the first space and the second space when the aircraft is in a first mode and provides another level of access to the first space and the second space when the aircraft is in a second mode, wherein the control unit provides access to the first space in response to the access request identifying a requester as a person in a first group of personnel and providing access to the second space in response to identifying the requester as a person in a second group of personnel, and wherein the control unit generates a warning message when the access request is unsuccessful.

19. A method for accessing an enclosed area in an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a control unit for an access restricted space within a plurality of spaces in the enclosed area in the aircraft;

determining whether to allow the user to access the restricted space; and

responsive to a determination to allow the user access to the access restricted space, sending a signal to the control unit to unlock a barrier to the access restricted space.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the request is a set of user inputs received by the control unit.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

identifying the user from the request.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the determining step comprises:

determining whether the user is in a group allowed to access the access restricted space.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the control unit is selected from one of a radio frequency identification tag reader, a touch pad, a magnetic strip reader, a finger print scanner, a face recognition system, a retinal scanner, a voice recognition system, a thermal imaging unit, a hidden latch sensor, a mechanical latch, a series of actions security system, a magnetic latch, and an intelligent fastener and wherein the moveable barrier is selected from one of a louver door, a blind door, a sliding door, a bypass door, a pocket door, a roll up door, a flip up patch, a slide out drawer, a tip out compartment, a removable panel, and a removable fabric barrier.

23. A method for controlling access to compartment in a lavatory of an aircraft, the method comprising:

receiving an access request from a control unit to access the compartment in the lavatory to form a received access request, wherein the control unit controls access to the compartment;

searching for a user identification based on the received access request;

responsive to a determination that the user identification is present, identifying a mode of the aircraft;

determining whether to allow access using the user identification and the mode of the aircraft;

responsive to a determination that user access is allowed, sending an access signal to the control unit to unlock a barrier restricting access to the compartment in the lavatory;

responsive to an absence of a determination that that user access is allowed, sending a denial signal to the control unit;

responsive to an absence of a determination that that user access is allowed, generating an indicator to indicate that access attempt has been made; and

logging accesses to the compartment and attempted accesses to the compartment.