Airbag system and method for facilitating emergency egress from an aircraft

• US 6,497,389 B1
• Filed: 08/31/2001
• Issued: 12/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Hawley, Arthur V., Rawdon, Blaine K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jordan, Charles T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Holzen, Stephen A
• Application Number:
  US09/945,102
• Time in Patent Office: 480 Days
• Field of Search: 244/138.R, 244/139, 244/140, 244/905, 254/93.HD
• US Class Current: 244/138.00R
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 2201/00 Airbags mounted in aircraft for any use
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 25/00 Emergency apparatus or devices, not otherwise provided for parachutes B64D17/00, B64D19/00; jettisoning of fuel tanks or fuel per se B64D37/00; specially adapted for protection against criminal attack, e.g. anti-hijacking systems B64D45/0015 ; safety belts or body harnesses in general A62B35/00; safety belts or body harnesses for land vehicles B60R22/00; jettisonable parts of fuselage facilitating emergency escape B64C
• CPC Class Codes: B66F 3/35 Inflatable flexible elements, e.g. bellows inflatable load-engaging elements B66F3/40; connection of valves to inflatable elastic bodies B60C29/00

Abstract

An airbag system for elevating the fuselage of an aircraft off a landing surface a sufficient degree to allow for emergency egress of passengers and crew through ventral emergency exit doors. An airbag assembly made up of a plurality of independent airbags is disposed within the aircraft. When activated, the airbag system deploys the airbags external of the aircraft that elevate the fuselage of the aircraft a sufficient degree to allow for utilizing the ventral emergency exit doors on the fuselage to enable evacuating the passengers and crew. An activation mechanism is connected to the inflation.devices associated with each of the airbags. The activation mechanism generates an electrical signal which activates the inflation devices, which in turn fill the airbags with a compressed fluid, thus expanding the airbags and lifting the fuselage. A crew member initiates the activation of the airbag system through one or more switches.

Claims

1. An airbag system for an aircraft adapted to lift a fuselage of the aircraft in the event of an emergency landing on a landing surface wherein a landing gear system of the aircraft has failed to lift the fuselage of the aircraft away from the landing surface a sufficient degree to allow the emergency egress of passengers through a ventral emergency exit doorway of the aircraft, wherein said airbag system comprises:

an airbag disposed within the aircraft;

an inflation system for inflating the airbag from a first unexpanded state, wherein the airbag is disposed within the aircraft, into a second expanded state wherein the airbag extends exterior of the aircraft; and

an activation mechanism operably associated with the inflation system for activating the inflation system in response to a command from an individual, wherein the inflation system causes the airbag to deploy from the first unexpanded state into the second expanded state, and thus lift the fuselage a desired distance off of the landing surface to permit the emergency egress of passengers.

2. The airbag system of claim 1 wherein said inflation system comprises a plurality of inflation devices connected together so as to be activated simultaneously by said activation mechanism.

3. An airbag jack for lifting a fuselage of an aircraft for allowing the movement of an escape door in the fuselage from a closed position to an open position, wherein passengers in said aircraft can exit through said escape door in the event of landing of said aircraft where said escape door would not otherwise have clearance for opening, comprising:

an inflatable member comprising a flexible material capable of withstanding pressurized inflation, wherein said inflatable member expands from an uninflated state into an inflated state upon the pressurized addition of a fluid into the inflatable member;

a cavity in the fuselage of the aircraft for housing the inflatable member, wherein the inflatable member is housed within the cavity in the fuselage while in the uninflated state and expands to extend outside the cavity of the fuselage while in the inflated state; and

an inflation system for inflating the inflatable member with a pressurized fluid.

4. The airbag jack of claim 3 wherein the inflatable member comprises a plurality of independent inflatable chambers that are positioned adjacent to one another to form a single, unitary structure.

5. The airbag jack of claim 3 wherein the inflation system comprises:

a fluid generating device for generating a fluid in response to an electrical current;

an electric power source switchably connected to the fluid generating device; and

a switch for actuating on and off the flow of the electric current from the electric power source to the fluid generating device.

6. The airbag jack of claim 5 wherein said fluid generating device comprises a compressed fluid container comprising a compressed gas.

7. The airbag jack of claim 5 wherein said fluid generating device comprises a dry chemical container comprising a dry chemical wherein said dry chemical reacts with the electric current to produce a gas.

8. An airbag jack for elevating the fuselage of an aircraft off of a landing surface for allowing emergency egress of passengers through an emergency exit door in the fuselage that would otherwise be ineffective in allowing the emergency egress of the passengers, the airbag jack comprising:

an inflatable member comprising an airtight flexible material capable of withstanding pressurized inflation, wherein said inflatable member expands from an uninflated state into an inflated state upon being filled with a pressurized fluid;

a plurality of connected chambers within said inflatable member for providing stability to said inflatable member when said inflatable member is filled with a pressurized fluid; and

an inflation system for inflating the inflatable member with a pressurized fluid;

wherein the aircraft jack is disposed within the aircraft.

9. A method of elevating the fuselage of an aircraft off of a landing surface for allowing emergency egress of passengers through a ventral fuselage doorway after an emergency landing, the method comprising:

using an inflatable member disposed within the aircraft, comprising airtight flexible material capable of withstanding pressurized inflation, and which is capable of expanding from an uninflated state into an inflated state projecting outwardly of the fuselage when filled with a pressurized fluid;

using a crew member to generate an activation signal to deploy said inflation member; and

in response to said activation signal, causing said inflatable member to become inflated with a pressurized fluid to thereby lift said fuselage a sufficient distance off of said landing surface to permit emergency egress of passengers through the ventral fuselage doorway.

10. An aircraft with an airbag system disposed within a housing within the aircraft, said airbag system comprising:

an airbag assembly carried within the housing and comprised of a plurality of independent airbags wherein the airbags expand from an uninflated state into an inflated state upon being filled with a pressurized fluid;

an inflation system comprising a plurality of fluid sources in communication with said airbags, and

an activation mechanism connected to the inflation system for activating the inflation system wherein said fluid sources fill the airbags with fluid, thus urging each of the airbags simultaneously from said uninflated state into said inflated state,

wherein the airbag system can elevate said aircraft off of a landing surface.