AIRFLOW-GUIDING COMPONENT AND METHOD OF PRODUCTION

Abstract

A component for guiding an airflow in an air-conditioning system of an aircraft includes at least one structural part, at least one inlet opening and at least one outlet opening for air. At least two partial shells are interconnected in an airtight manner in such a way that the inlet openings and the outlet openings remain clear. The partial shells are particle foam parts. A method for producing the component incudes forming the partial shells of particle foam, and interconnecting the partial shells to form the component.

Claims

1. A component for guiding an airflow in an air-conditioning system of an aircraft, the component comprising: at least one structural part; at least one inlet opening and at least one outlet opening for air; and at least two partial shells being particle foam parts, said at least two partial shells being interconnected in an airtight manner and keeping said at least one inlet opening and said at least one outlet opening clear.

2. The component according to claim 1, wherein said structural part is an air-conducting element bringing about airflow guidance in the component.

3. The component according to claim 2, wherein said air-conducting element is an outlet part forming said at least one outlet opening.

4. The component according to claim 3, wherein said at least one outlet opening is a plurality of outlet openings, and said air-conducting element includes said plurality of outlet openings.

5. The component according to claim 1, wherein said structural part is a particle foam part.

6. The component according to claim 5, wherein said structural part is integrated into one of said at least two partial shells as one piece.

7. The component according to claim 1, wherein said structural part is not a particle foam part, and said structural part is embedded in particle foam of one of said at least two partial shells.

8. The component according to claim 7, wherein said structural part is a bush or a slot bush.

9. The component according to claim 1, wherein said structural part is an end fitting having said at least one inlet opening.

10. The component according to claim 9, wherein said end fitting is form-lockingly received between said at least two partial shells and fastened in the component, and said end fitting is configured to be form-lockingly inserted between said at least two partial shells when said at least two partial shells are joined.

11. The component according to claim 1, wherein said at least two partial shells include a detachable insertion connection for connection to one another.

12. The component according to claim 11, wherein said insertion connection is a snap-fit connection including an undercut to be engaged behind in an inserted state.

13. The component according to claim 1, which further comprises a securing element fixing said at least two partial shells to one another.

14. The component according to claim 1, wherein the particle foam is expanded polypropylene.

15. A method for producing a component for guiding an airflow in an air-conditioning system of an aircraft, the method comprising: providing the component according to claim 1: producing said at least two partial shells from particle foam; and interconnecting said at least two partial shells to form the component.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

[0056] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, perspective view of an airflow-guiding component in a pre-assembly position with an end fitting;

[0057] FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1 in an assembled state;

[0058] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the airflow-guiding component of FIG. 1 in the assembled state without an end fitting;

[0059] FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the portion IV of FIG. 3;

[0060] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 4, in the direction of the arrows;

[0061] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 4 when fastened to a surface;

[0062] FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of FIG. 3;

[0063] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A of FIG. 7, in the direction of the arrows;

[0064] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 7 when fastened to a surface;

[0065] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a portion X of FIG. 3;

[0066] FIG. 11 is an alternative cross-sectional view of a securing element in the component in the region of the portion X; and

[0067] FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a half shell of the component of FIG. 1 without an end fitting but with an air-conducting element.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0068] Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to FIG. 1 thereof, there is seen a component 2 for guiding an airflow 4 (in operation), as indicated by an arrow. The component 2 is a component for an air-conditioning system (not shown in further detail) of an aircraft. The component 2 contains two partial shells 6a, 6b, in this case in the form of half shells. The partial shells 6a, 6b are particle foam parts, that is to say parts that are made of or produced from particle foam. FIG. 1 shows a pre-assembly position, that is to say that the two partial shells 6a, 6b are not yet joined together. For assembly, the parts are moved towards one another in the direction of arrows 8 and (at the edges thereof, omitting inlet and outlet openings for airflow 4, see below) are interconnected in an airtight manner to form the component 2.

[0069] The component 2 contains a structural part 10a, in this case an end fitting 12. The end fitting 12 is used as a piece for connecting the component 2 to an adjoining pipeline (not shown). In an assembled state M and during operation, the airflow 4 is conducted through the end fitting 12 into the component 2. Before the process of joining the two partial shells 6a, 6b, the end fitting 12 is inserted in the partial shell 6a or 6b. For this purpose, the end fitting 12 includes a flange 14. The partial shells 6a, 6b each have a corresponding groove 16 for receiving the flange 14. The end fitting 12 is received in the rest of the component 2 in a form-locking and loss-proof manner by joining the two partial shells 6a, 6b to one another in the direction of the arrows 8.

[0070] FIG. 2 shows a portion or detail of FIG. 1 after the joining process in a cross section along a plane A-A and thus in the assembled state M of the component 2. The component 2 now has an inlet opening 18 for the airflow 4. In the present case, the end fitting 12 also includes the inlet opening 18, or the end fitting 12 is located in the inlet opening 18.

[0071] FIG. 3 shows the entire component 2 in the assembled state M, but omitting the end fitting 12. The component 2 includes a plurality of outlet openings 20 for the airflow 4, which openings are described in greater detail below.

[0072] The component 2 also includes a total of four retaining points 22a, 22b. The retaining points 22a, 2b are each located on extensions or molded-on portions (not described in greater detail) of the component 2. Two retaining points 22a are in the form of fixed bearings and two retaining points 22b are in the form of floating bearings.

[0073] FIG. 4 shows one of the retaining points 22a in the detail IV from FIG. 3. The retaining point 22a is formed in such a way that the extension has been made integrally from particle foam during the production of the partial shells 6a and/or 6b, and an additional structural part 10b, in this case a bush 24, has been embedded in the particle foam.

[0074] FIG. 5 shows a cross section along the plane A-A through FIG. 4. It can be seen in this drawing how the bush 24 is rigidly held in a form-locking manner in the partial shell 6a, 6b or the extension thereof by embedding.

[0075] FIG. 6 shows how the component 2, by using a screw 26 which is guided through the bush 24, and a washer 27 placed underneath, is screwed to a surface (not shown). As a result of a relatively small distance d1 of approximately 10 cm between the two retaining points 22a, hardly any changes in the length of the component 2 occur in the event of changes in temperature, and therefore, in this case, fixed bushes 24 are sufficient for screwing without causing noteworthy tensions in the component 2.

[0076] FIG. 7 shows a detail from FIG. 3 and thus one of the retaining points 22b. However, in the same direction as the bush 24, as described above, a slot bush 28 is form-lockingly embedded as a structural part 10c in a molded-on, integral extension of the partial shells 6a, 6b. Inside the slot bush 28, a slide bush 30 which is provided in two parts (in order to be able to mount the bush) is slidably mounted so as to produce a floating bearing.

[0077] FIG. 8 shows a cross section along the plane A-A through FIG. 7. It can be seen in this drawing how the slot bush 28 is permanently held in the partial shell 6a, 6b or the extension thereof by embedding, and how the two-part slide bush 30 is slidably guided in a linear manner in the slot bush 28.

[0078] FIG. 9, corresponding to FIG. 6, shows how the component 2, by using a screw 26 which is guided through the slide bush 30, and the washer 27, is screwed in a linearly movable manner to a surface (not shown). As a result of the relatively large distance d2 of approximately 100 cm between the two retaining points 22a, noticeable changes in the length of the component 2 occur in the event of changes in temperature, and therefore, in this case, floating bearings including displaceable slide bushes 30 are selected for screwing to prevent noteworthy tensions in the component 2.

[0079] FIG. 10 shows a detail X from FIG. 3. On the respective edge portions (except for only the inlet opening 18 and the outlet openings 20 and the region of the air-conducting element 50, see below) on which the partial shells 6a, 6b are to be interconnected in an airtight manner, the partial shell 6a includes a tongue 40, and the partial shell 6b includes a corresponding groove 42. An insertion connection 43 is thus formed. In this case, the tongue 40 has a slightly circular, convex shape, the groove 42 has a correspondingly concave construction, and therefore this groove forms an undercut 44 which is engaged behind by the tongue 40 when the insertion connection 43 is in the assembled state M or inserted state. The insertion connection 43 is thus in the form of a snap-fit connection 45.

[0080] The snap-fit connection 45 is stable enough to hold the partial shells 6a, 6b together during the final assembly of the component 2.

[0081] FIG. 11 shows how, for the final securing of the partial shells 6a, 6b to one another, the component 2 also contains a plurality of securing elements 46, in this case in the form of self-tapping screws, which are screwed into the particle foam. For the sake of clarity, the securing elements 46 are not shown in the rest of the drawings.

[0082] FIG. 12 once again shows the partial shell 6a in the pre-assembly state. As an additional structural part 10d, the component 2 contains an air-conducting element 50 which is covered in FIG. 1, in this case in the form of an outlet part 52 or an outlet geometry. The air-conducting element 50 includes the plurality of outlet openings 20 in the component 2. The structural part 10d is also a particle foam part which has been produced integrally together with the partial shell 6a, that is to say it is integrally integrated in the partial shell 6a. In contrast with an air-conducting element 50, which would be used for example as an injection-molded part (having a greatly different linear expansion in comparison with particle foam) between partial shells 6a, 6b, no problems occur as a result of a different linear expansion of the air-conducting element 50 and the partial shells 6a, 6b.

List of Reference Signs

[0083] 2 component

[0084] 4 air

[0085] 6a, b partial shell

[0086] 8 arrow

[0087] 10a-d structural part

[0088] 12 end fitting

[0089] 14 flange

[0090] 16 groove

[0091] 18 inlet opening

[0092] 20 outlet opening

[0093] 22a, b retaining point

[0094] 24 bush

[0095] 26 screw

[0096] 27 washer

[0097] 28 slot bush

[0098] 30 slide bush

[0099] 40 tongue

[0100] 42 groove

[0101] 43 insertion connection

[0102] 44 undercut

[0103] 45 snap-fit connection

[0104] 46 securing element

[0105] 50 air-conducting element

[0106] 52 outlet part

[0107] M assembled state