Aircraft crew cabin changing area
View Patent ↗An aircraft crew cabin rest area that is formed between the aircraft galley and a console, or between any two aircraft monuments, utilizing special folding and extendible doors and specialized locking means.
1. A collapsible changing area for an aircraft galley, comprising
a base wall defining a first plane and having first and second lateral edges;
first and second doors attached via hinges to the base wall at said first and second lateral edges, the hinges permitting the first and second doors to pivot about the hinges from a stowed position against the base wall and parallel to the first plane to an engaged position against an adjacent monument, where the first and second doors swing through an arc greater than ninety degrees in opposite directions to engage the adjacent monument;
the first and second doors each comprising an inner panel connected to the base wall at said hinges to rotate thereabout, and an outer panel radially extendable from the inner panel, the outer panel having a main section and an angled distal skirt that extends along a distal edge from a bottom edge to a top edge and that is received in a recessed portion of the adjacent monument that extends from a bottom edge to a top edge when the first and second doors are rotated against the adjacent monument;
a manually operated locking unit for locking the first door to an adjacent monument;
whereby an enclosed space is formed between the base wall, the first door, the second door, and the adjacent monument, that is locked using said manually operated locking units from inside the enclosed space.
2. The collapsible changing area of claim 1 , further comprising a second locking mechanism outside the enclosed space for releasing the door from the adjacent monument.
3. The collapsible changing area of claim 2 , wherein the second locking mechanism is not manually operated but requires a tool.
4. The collapsible changing area of claim 1 wherein the angled distal skirt of the outer panel overlaps the adjacent monument to prevent a line of sight into the enclosed space.
5. The collapsible changing area of claim 1 wherein the manually operated locking unit comprises a hook that couples to a complimentary component of the adjoining monument.
6. The collapsible changing area of claim 5 wherein the hook is connected to a rotary dial.
7. The collapsible changing area of claim 1 , further comprising at least one latch to releasably fix the doors to the base wall.
8. The collapsible changing area of claim 1 , wherein the inner panels rotate about the base wall at the hinges through an arc of at least one hundred sixty degrees.
9. The collapsible changing area of claim 1 , wherein the base wall includes a latch that engages the angled skirt of the first and second doors to prevent the first and second doors from rotating out of the first plane.
10. The collapsible changing area of claim 9 , wherein the latch can engage the first door to maintain the first door in the stowed position while the second door is engaged with the adjacent monument.