Hybrid support rail for receiving fixtures in a cabin of a vehicle

Abstract

A hybrid support rail for receiving fixtures in a cabin of a vehicle includes a support rail base, first attachment elements, second attachment elements formed so as to be complementary to the first attachment elements, and a support rail upper part. The support rail base has a lower side and an upper side. The upper side has a receiving housing extending along a main extension direction of the support rail base for sliding in first attachment elements and, on a side facing away from the lower side, a support surface having at least one recess. The receiving housing is formed so as to prevent the first attachment elements from sliding out towards the support surface. The support rail upper part has a contact surface for placement on the support surface. The contact surface has recesses through which the second attachment elements are guided for insertion in the first attachment elements.

Claims

1. A hybrid support rail for receiving fixtures in a cabin of a vehicle, comprising: a support rail base made of a first material; a plurality of first attachment elements; a plurality of second attachment elements formed so as to be complementary to the first attachment elements; and a support rail upper part made of a second material, wherein the first material and the second material are different from one another, wherein the support rail base has a lower side and an upper side, wherein the upper side has a receiving housing extending along a main extension direction of the support rail base for sliding in first attachment elements and, on a side facing away from the lower side, has a support surface having at least one recess, wherein the receiving housing is configured to prevent the first attachment elements from sliding out towards the support surface, wherein the support rail upper part has a contact surface for placement on the support surface, and a planar chord having first and second projections on a side facing away from the contact surface, wherein the first and second projections comprise an upper boundary surface parallel to the chord and having a central slot, wherein a plurality of openings in the central slot are defined in the upper boundary surface of the first and second projections, wherein the diameter of each opening is greater than the width of the slot, and wherein the openings are distributed in a pattern along the slot, and wherein the contact surface has a plurality of through-holes through which the second attachment elements are configured to be guided for insertion in the first attachment elements, wherein the contact surface has a plurality of through-holes through which the second attachment elements are configured to be guided for insertion in the first attachment elements.

2. The support rail according to either claim 1, wherein the support rail upper part includes titanium or a titanium alloy.

3. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the support rail base includes an aluminium alloy.

4. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the first and second projections facing away from the contact surface which, together with the planar chord, enclose a cavity in part.

5. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the receiving housing extends along a main extension axis of the support rail base and is delimited by two parallel walls extending at a constant distance from one another at least in some portions.

6. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the recess of the support surface is a continuous slot extending along a main extension axis of the support rail base.

7. The support rail according to claim 6, wherein the width of the continuous slot is smaller than the distance between the parallel walls of the receiving housing.

8. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the receiving housing is arranged on a web and is closed with respect to the web.

9. The support rail according to claim 8, wherein the support rail base has a base flange extending parallel to the support surface.

10. The support rail according to claim 9, wherein the width of the base flange is greater than the width of the support surface.

11. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the first attachment has a body formed so as to be complementary to the receiving housing, comprising a threaded hole open with respect to the recess of the support surface.

12. The support rail according to claim 11, wherein the first attachment element is a cylindrical, cube-shaped or cuboid body, and the threaded hole extends centrally through the body.

13. The support rail according to claim 1, wherein the second attachment element is a screw having an outer thread.

14. An aircraft, comprising a passenger cabin having at least one support rail according to claim 1, wherein the support rail is in the form of a fastening rail, a seat rail or a sliding rail.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features, advantages and possible applications of the present invention can be found in the following description of the exemplary embodiments and the drawings. In this case, all the features described and/or depicted, individually or in any desired combination, also form the subject matter of the invention regardless of the composition thereof in the individual claims or the dependency references thereof. Furthermore, in the drawings, like reference signs represent like or similar objects.

(2) FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a support rail base.

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a support rail base.

(4) FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a support rail upper part.

(5) FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a support rail base having a support rail upper part arranged thereon and first attachment elements.

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a support rail base having a support rail upper part arranged thereon and first attachment elements.

(7) FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a support rail.

(8) FIG. 7 shows an aircraft.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(9) FIG. 1 shows a support rail base 2 which comprises a base flange 4 extending horizontally in the drawing plane, a web 6 which is arranged centrally thereon and has a lower side 8, an upper side 10 and a receiving housing 12 arranged on the upper side 10. The base flange 4 and the web 6 are joined by way of example in a material-uniting manner and have a harmonically rounded-off transition region 14.

(10) The receiving housing 12 has for example two walls 16 and 18 extending parallel to one another and at a distance from one another which enclose a receiving cavity 20. Said cavity has for example a rectangular cross section having constant dimensions and is delimited at the top, that is to say on a side facing away from the base flange 4, by a support surface 22. In said support surface, a recess 24 in the form of a slot is provided. The slot 24 extends centrally directly over the web 6. The receiving housing 12 further has a root region 26 in which the receiving cavity 20 is completely closed with respect to the web 6. The receiving housing 12 is designed to receive first attachment elements (not shown here) and to guide said elements in a slidable manner into the receiving cavity 20 until said elements connect to second attachment elements (not shown). By means of shoulders 28, said elements are prevented from being released from the receiving cavity 20 towards the support surface 22.

(11) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the support rail base 2. In this case, first attachment elements 30 are slid into the receiving housing 12 so that said attachment elements are located in the receiving cavity 20. Said elements are cylindrical and have a threaded hole 32. The diameter d thereof is greater than a width b of the slot 24. This results in the shape of the shoulders 28 which means that the first attachment elements 30 cannot be released from the receiving cavity 20 towards the support surface 22. However, each of the first attachment elements 30 can be reached through the slot 24.

(12) FIG. 3 shows a support rail upper part 34, which can be placed on the support surface 22. For this purpose, the support rail upper part 34 has a contact surface 36 which can be brought into planar contact with the support surface 22. The entire side of the support rail upper part 34 comprising the contact surface 36 is planar. The support rail upper part 34 is formed substantially by a planar chord 38 which can be seen in the form of two upper flanges.

(13) On the side of the support rail upper part 34 facing away from the contact surface 36, two projections 40 are provided which, together with the chord, enclose a cavity 42 in part. The projections 40 have an upper boundary surface 44 which encloses a central slot 46, which in turn is permeated by a plurality of holes (not shown) distributed along a pattern. A seat rail profiled part is thus provided, which allows mushroom-shaped bolt elements to be inserted and locked.

(14) To attach the support rail upper part 34, a plurality of openings 48 are provided which are in the form of through holes having a countersinking 50 facing away from the contact surface 36. In this case, screw means can be in the form of second attachment elements and screwed together with the first attachment elements 30 by means of the threaded hole 32 located therein.

(15) A resulting arrangement is shown in FIG. 4. In this case, the support rail upper part 34 comprising the contact surface 36 is arranged on the support surface 22 of the support rail base 2. The first attachment means 30 are slid into the receiving housing 12 so that the threaded holes 32 are located underneath the slot 24.

(16) This is shown in FIG. 5 in a perspective, partially cut-out view. The above-mentioned holes 52 which permeate the slot 46 are also illustrated here. The first attachment elements 30 can be slid inside the receiving housing 12 as desired. By way of example, said elements are shown here in alignment with the openings 48 of the support rail upper part 34. The first attachment elements 30 can of course be slid through the slot 24 by means of a suitable tool or instrument.

(17) FIG. 6 now shows the arrangement from FIG. 4 with additional second attachment elements 54 in the form of screws or bolts which have a screw head 56 which can be screwed completely into the countersinking 50. This thus produces a support rail 58.

(18) As shown in the previous description, the support rail upper part 34 can be produced from a different material, for example titanium or a titanium alloy, to the support rail base 2. Said support rail base could consist of an aluminium alloy. The shape of the support rail upper part 34 is particularly simple, since the basic shape could be produced by means of extrusion in order to subsequently carry out material-removing secondary machining processes. The support rail upper part 34 can have considerably better corrosion resistance than the support rail base 2. This is particularly expedient for the use as a seat rail, in which the support rail upper part 34 projects into the passenger cabin of an aircraft, whereas the support rail base 2 disappears into or under a floor plate.

(19) Lastly, FIG. 7 shows an aircraft 60 comprising a fuselage 62, in the interior of which a passenger cabin 64 is formed. In this case, hybrid support rails 58 are used, as illustrated in the previous drawings.

(20) In addition, it should be noted that “comprising” does not rule out any other elements or steps, and “a” or “an” does not rule out a plurality. Furthermore, it should be noted that features which have been described with reference to one of the above exemplary embodiments can also be used in combination with other features of other exemplary embodiments described above. Reference signs in the claims are not to be considered a restriction.

(21) While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.

REFERENCE SIGNS

(22) 2 support rail base

(23) 4 base flange

(24) 6 web

(25) 8 lower side

(26) 10 upper side

(27) 12 receiving housing

(28) 14 transition region

(29) 16 wall

(30) 18 wall

(31) 20 receiving cavity

(32) 22 support surface

(33) 24 recess/slot

(34) 26 root region

(35) 28 shoulder

(36) 30 first attachment element

(37) 32 threaded hole

(38) 34 support rail upper part

(39) 36 contact surface

(40) 38 chord

(41) 40 projection

(42) 42 cavity

(43) 44 upper boundary surface

(44) 46 slot

(45) 48 opening

(46) 50 countersinking

(47) 52 hole

(48) 54 second attachment element

(49) 56 screw head

(50) 58 support rail

(51) 60 aircraft

(52) 62 fuselage

(53) 64 passenger cabin

(54) b width of slot 24

(55) d diameter of first attachment element 30