Aircraft cargo pod

• US 5,820,075 A
• Filed: 11/27/1996
• Issued: 10/13/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Frank Everett III
• Original Assignee: Creative Aeronautical Accessories, Inc.
• Inventors: Jensen, David M., Speakes, Dale M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Morano, S. Joseph
• Application Number:
  US08/757,519
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• Field of Search: 244/118.1, 244/118.2, 244/17.11, 244/400, 244/401, 244/29.5, 244/538, 244/539, 244/540, 220/345, 220/346
• US Class Current: 244/118.2
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/20 specially adapted for freight
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 9/00 Equipment for handling freight; Equipment for facilitating passenger embarkation or the like emergency equipment B64D17/00, B64D19/00, B64D25/00; structures integral with fuselage to facilitate loading, fuselage floors specially adapted for freight, steps mounted on and retractable within aircraft B64C; ground installations B64F

Abstract

An aircraft cargo pod for use with helicopters, the pod having a container slidably engaged with a mounting assembly mounted to the underside of the helicopter fuselage. The mounting assembly includes a plate having a pair of side rails sized and shaped to engage channels formed in the sidewalls of the container. The sidewalls and backwalls circumscribe an open top of the container to provide unobstructed access to the entire length of the container. Thus, the aircraft cargo pod of the present invention facilitates easy installation and removal and provides unobstructed access to the interior to facilitate loading and unloading of long and bulky items, such as golf clubs, skis, long-handled tools and the like.

Claims

1. An aircraft cargo pod for attachment to preexisting attachment points on an aircraft having an undercarriage and structural components, the cargo pod comprising:

an elongate container having sides and a bottom attached to said sides to define an open interior, said sides circumscribing a substantially open and unobstructed top and including channels formed therein;

an elongate cover for said container, said cover being sized and shaped to be slidably engaged within said channels of said container to thereby completely cover said interior and prevent entry of the elements into said interior;

means for latching said container to said cover to thereby prevent unintentional disengagement of said container from said cover;

means for affixing said cover to the aircraft'"'"'s preexisting attachment points such that said container will be slideably engageable and disengageable without interference from the aircraft'"'"'s structural components and undercarriage.

2. A cargo pod for attachment to the exterior underside of an aircraft fuselage, comprising:

an elongated container having opposing sidewalls, a front wall and a bottom wall, the opposing side walls having forward ends that join said front wall and further having rearward ends that join together to define an unobstructed interior cavity, said front wall and said side walls having exposed edges that circumscribe said interior cavity to define a substantially open top on said container to thereby provide unobstructed access to said interior cavity;

said exposed edges on said sidewalls having track means formed therein;

means for mounting said container on the exterior underside of the aircraft fuselage, said mounting means comprising means for attachment to existing attachment points on the exterior underside of the aircraft, and means for engaging said track means such that said container is slidably engageable with said track means from the rear of the aircraft to move from a disengaged position to a fully engaged position, said mounting means further including cover means for completely covering said interior cavity when said container is in said fully engaged position.

3. The cargo pod of claim 2, further comprising means for securing said container to said mounting means when said container is in said fully engaged position.

4. The cargo pod of claim 3, wherein said track means comprises a channel formed in said exposed edges of said sidewalls.

5. The cargo pod of claim 4, wherein said engaging means comprises reinforced side edges on said mounting means that are sized and shaped to be received within said channels in said sidewalls.