RAIL SYSTEM FOR A CABIN OF A VEHICLE

• US 20190308670A1
• Filed: 04/08/2019
• Published: 10/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Original Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH (Airbus SE)
• Inventors: Schulz, Alexander, Schomacker, Lars, Fuerstenberg, Malte, Schwenk, Sergej, Ristow, Rainer
• Granted Patent: US 10,882,567 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/01516 with locking mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/07 Slide construction
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0725 Closing members for covering the slide
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 25/2018 the subunits being front structures
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 27/02 rigid
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/18 Floors
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0696 Means for fastening seats to floors, e.g. to floor rails

Abstract

A rail system for a cabin of the vehicle comprises a rail with a main extension direction, a fixing element which can be fixed at various positions of the rail to hold a mounting element on the rail, and a cover device for covering the rail. The cover device has several planar cover elements arranged in continuous series extending along the rail, wherein the cover elements are each mounted so as to be pivotable between a closed state in which the respective cover element lies on the rail and an open state in which the respective cover element is removed from the rail. The fixing element has an engagement element which is configured, on displacement of the fixing element along the rail, to reach below a cover element and move the cover element from the closed state to the open state.

Claims

1. A rail system for a cabin of a vehicle, comprising

a rail with a main extension direction,

a fixing element which is fixable at various positions of the rail to hold a mounting element on the rail, and

a cover device to cover the rail,

wherein the cover device has several planar cover elements arranged in a continuous series extending along the rail,

wherein the cover elements are each mounted so as to be pivotable between a closed state in which the respective cover element lies on the rail and an open state in which the respective cover element is removed from the rail, and

wherein the fixing element has an engagement element which is configured, on displacement of the fixing element along the rail, to reach below a cover element and move the cover element from the closed state to the open state.

2. The rail system according to claim 1,

wherein the rail is a guide rail,

wherein the fixing element is a slide with a longitudinal axis which is configured to be guided on the rail with a longitudinal axis parallel to the main extension direction, and

wherein as an engagement element, the fixing element has at least one ramp portion which is wedge-shaped along the longitudinal axis and tapers towards an outside along the longitudinal axis.

3. The rail system according to claim 2, wherein the ramp portion has a substantially round bottom face.

4. The rail system according to claim 1, wherein each cover element is linked to a spring mechanism which forces the cover element into the closed state.

5. The rail system according to claim 1, wherein the cover elements each have two delimiting edges which are arranged transversely to the main extension direction of the rail and which, in the closed state, at least partially form a vertical distance from the rail.

6. The rail system according to claim 1,

wherein two cover elements arranged next to each other transversely to the main extension direction form a respective cover unit, and

wherein the cover elements each have a hinge at an outer edge facing away from the other cover element and parallel to the rail so that they pivot open in opposite directions, and each have an inner edge opposite the outer edge and parallel to the rail, so that the inner edges of a cover unit point towards each other in the closed state.

7. The rail system according to claim 1, wherein the cover device has at least one transitional region arranged laterally on the outside and curved at least in regions about an axis running parallel to an extension of the main extension, which transitional region compensates for a height difference between a floor and the cover elements.

8. The rail system according to claim 1, furthermore comprising at least one flexible capping element arranged on the cover device as protection from mechanical damage.

9. The rail system according to claim 8,

wherein two cover elements arranged next to each other transversely to the main extension direction form a respective cover unit,

wherein the cover elements each have a hinge at an outer edge facing away from the other cover element and parallel to the rail so that they pivot open in opposite directions, and each have an inner edge opposite the outer edge and parallel to the rail, so that the inner edges of a cover unit point towards each other in the closed state, and

wherein the capping element is segmented into two portions which have two inner edges facing each other and arranged offset relative to the inner edges of the cover elements of the cover unit in a direction transverse to an axis of the main extension of the rail, so that the inner edges of the cover elements are overlapped by the capping element in the closed state.

10. A passenger seat system for a cabin of a vehicle, comprising:

at least one passenger seat device with a seat frame, and

a rail system according to claim 1,

wherein the rail system has two rails spaced apart from and running parallel to each other,

wherein the seat frame of the at least one passenger seat device has two pairs of seat legs spaced apart from each other and each connected to a fixing element, and

wherein the fixing elements are in engagement with the rails.

11. A vehicle with a cabin, a cabin floor and at least one passenger seat system according to claim 10.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11, wherein the vehicle is an aircraft.

13. The vehicle according to claim 12, wherein the aircraft is a commercial aircraft.