CA1117408A - Device for making emergency exits in a crushed transport means - Google Patents

Abstract

DEVICE FOR MAKING EMERGENCY EXITS IN A
CRUSHED TRANSPORT MEANS
Abstract of the Disclosure A device comprises a gas cutter in the form of an annu-lar combustion chamber (10) provided with injectors and mani-folds for delivery of oxidant and fuel into the combustion chamber (13) and an annular nozzle (9) adapted to suit the contour of an escape hatch to be cut out of the intact area of an aircraft hull. Mounted centrally in the combustion chamber is a punching-and-gripping means (8) fired into the wall to be cut for securing a gas cutter (6) thereto. This gas cutter together with oxidant and fuel bottles may be con-veniently mounted between external and internal skins of an aircraft to serve as means for performing an independent auto-nomous rescue operation with the result that in the course of several seconds escape hatches may be cut in an aircraft hull with the maximum safety and dependability, without waiting for arrival of rescue parties at a crash scene.

Description

~1 7~o~3 The present in~ention relates to aircraft engi~eering and more particularly to devices for making escape hatches in the hull of a~ aircra~t during rescue operations.
Enown in the art are devices for makiD~ escape hatches in the hull o~ an aircraft (cf. Dzikas ~.~. et al., Fire-.-Fighting Technique, reference catalogue, ~S~ stroimash~
Moscow, 1974, pp. 515-522, in Russian).
However, in practice -the time required for cutting an escape hatch with the help of such devices amounts to a value of from 3 to 9 minutes which generally fails to ensure safe e~acuation of passengers.
Also known in the art is the description of a device comprising a trolley and a punching means in which the dis-advantage heretofore mentioned is eliminated by that the punching means is made in the form of a carriage accelerated on guides by means of a firing mechanism (cf. U~SR Inventor's Certificate No. 220,060, cl. 62c 27/02, ~ilIIE B64).
However, the use of such a device for punching an escape ~atch does not generally guarantee complete safet~ of pass-engers and crew memhers, as the strength of blow in this case amounts to a substantial value (of the order of several tens of tons) which may cause overturning of a~ aircraft, explos-ion o~ fuel.~apours in the t~nks, injuries to passengers and crew members as well as elimination of traces required for investigating ~he causes of an aircraft accident.

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Amonz the devices for making emergency exits in an air-craft for rescue o~ passengers, there is also known an air-craft s~Jstem for punchinO emergency exits by means of explo-sive cord char~es (cf. Express Information "Air Transport"
No. 16, 1976, ~loscow, pp. 28-30, in Russian). However, the airline companies of the world eonsider such explosive devi-ees as being unsafe in practice, due to which the development thereof remains over a number of years in -the experimental sta6e and finds no practical use (cf. "Foreign Air ~ransport"
~o. 4, 1970, p.l~, in Russian~. . .
- It is an object of the prese~t i~vention to provide such a device for making emergency exits in a crashed transport means which will allow a rescue operation to be performed in a shortest period of time and with a maximum safety for pas-sengers and crew mambers.
It is another object of the present invention to.provide such a device for making emergancy exits in a crashed.trans-port means which will.allow repeated. usage thereof and ensure good condition of a transport means upon completion of rescue operatio.-ls .
It is still another object of the prasent inv~ntion to provide such a device for making emer~eney exits in a crashed transport means whieh will be successfully used aboard, for example, an aircraft for cutting emergency exits by crew mem-bers or passengers wi-thout participation o~ external rescue parties, for example, in case of a forced landing in a diffi-cult and distant locality.

11174 ~

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a device for making emergency exits in a crashed tr~n~port means which will have comparatively small overall dimensions and weight, and be inexpensive in manufacture and operation.
To accomplish the above-mentioned and other objects of the present invention, a device is provided for making emerg-ency exits in a crasked transport means, comprising a unit for an emergency breaking of the intact wall o~ a transport means hull simultaneousl~ along a given contour to form an escape hatch and an arrangemant for actuating said unit ~hen in contac~ with the wall of a transport means.
~ his device is characterized in that said unit is a gas cutter in the form of a combustion chamber provided with an outlet nozzle adapted to suit the contour of an escape hatch to be cut and an arrangement for delivering and igniting a combustible mixture in said combustion chamber on the signal received through the medium of an emergency switch.
Such an embodiment of the invention being o~ com~arati-vely small overall dimensions and weight, makes it possible to ensure safety a~d adequate speed in making an emer~ency exit in a crashed transport means.
- Accordln~ to one.o-f the embodiments of the present in-vention a dèvice is provided for making emer~enc~ exits, characteriæed in that said gas cutter is made in the form of an annular combustion chamber provided with injectors for 11~7~3 deli~ery of oxidant and fuel thereinto, an ignition plug and an outlet ~nnular nozzle to suit the entire contour of an escape hatch to be cut.
Such an embodiment of the invention makes it possible to substantially reduce the time required for making an emerg-ency exit, as the latter is cut simultaneously along the en-tire contour.
According to another embodiment of the present invention a device is provided for making emer~ency exits, characteriz-ed in that mounted on said annular combustion chamber central-ly along the axis thereof is a punching-and-gripping means provided in its head portion wi-th an arrangement for fixing the gas cutter on a wall of a transport means hull.
Such an embodiraent of the invention makes it possible to rapidly fix the gas cutter in the skin of an aircra~t at a place intended for makin~ an emergency exit.
According to still another embodiment of the in~ention a device is provided f3r making emergency exits, characteriz-ed in tha~ the combustion chamber is of a reverse-flow type, the nozzle is pravided with cooling cavities and the punching--and-gripping means has in its head portion a passage for de-livery of a fire extinguishing agent inside the aircraft.
Such an embodiment of the lnvention allows the gas cut-ter to be made suitable ~or rs~eated usage and e7lsures safety o~ passenO~ers in the process of m~king an emerge~cy exit.
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~ 5 --lil74(~8 According to the present invention a still another de-vice is provided for making emergency exits, characterized in that ~o annular combustion chambers are arranged betwèen the internal and external s~ins of an aircraft hull and prov-ided with nozzles one of which is directed towards t~e inter-nal skin and t.he other, towards the external skin, the nozzles being provided with diaphragms and the combustion chamber being filled with an inert gas.
Such an embodiment of the invention allows an emergency exit to be made directly by crew members or passengers with-out waitin~ for arrival o~ rescue parties. Besides, this pre-ferred embodiment of the inYention ensures safety o~ an air-craft ~light under usual operating conditions.
A device for making emergency exits may be characterized in that bottles with oxidant and fuel are arranged between the skins of an aircraft hull and connected to the combustion chambers, the nozzles thereof being oriented at different angles to the skin panels so that the cut portions of the skin are extracted outwardly from a transport means under the ac-tion of a~ e~cess reaGtiYe thrust developed by the gas cutter.
Such an embodiment of the inven-tion makes it possible to ensure extraction of the cut portion of a transpor~ means out-wardly t.herefrom without additional arranæements.
To enable the invention to be understood more clearly, ~ the preferred e~bodiments thereo~ ~i.ll be more fully described hereafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

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1~17401~
.' Fig. 1 is a general view of a device according to the inverLtion;
Figo 2 is a lonOitudinal section of a gas generator with a pu~ching-and-gripping means in a device of ~ig. l;
~ ig. 3 is a radial section of a gas generator combustion chamber in a device of ~ig. 2; .
Fig. 4 illustrates a layout of one of embodiments of a device on.an aircraft;
Fi~. 5 illustrates a part of a device o~ Fig. 4 at the place of its installation on an aircraft;
Fig. 6 is a block diagram of control elements of a devi-ce of Fig. 5 in an air~orne embodiment.
The device incorporates a container 1 (Fig. 1), compris-ing a bottle 2 with hydrogen, bot-tle 3 with oxygen and a bot-tle 4 with fire extinguishing a~ent, rein~orced hoses 5, a gas cutter 6, a gas ge~erator with ignition plugs 7 (~igs 2,3) a~d a punching-and-gripping means 8.
The gas cutter 6 suits the geometry o~ a hatch and has .
the ~orm of a torus with an annular slit, i.e. an outlet noz-zle 9, presenting a critical throat section of its toroidal (an~ular) combustion chamber 10 of a reverse-flow type ~vhich is provided with manifold 11 and oxidant injectors 12 disposed along the longitudinal axis of the radial section in a diamet-rically opposite relation to the critical throat section, fuel injectors 13, cavities 14 for cooling the zone of the critical throat section and slit inaectors 15 suitably formed by walls of the combustion chamber 10 and the cooling ca~ities 14.
_ 7 _ The punc~in~-and-gripping means 8 is secured on the gas cutter 6 and has in its strikinD porti-on a passage 16 for delivery o~ a fire ex-tinguishing agent onto the internal sur-face of a wall 17 of an aircraft cabin. Mounted-on the punch-ing-and-~ripping means 8 is a detachable explosive cartridge 18 witn an initiating mechanism thereof and adjustable rods 19. The i~nition plugs 7 and the ini-tiating mechanism of the explosive cartridge 18 are supplied with electric power from a storage battery 20 (Fig. 1) installed on the container 1.
~he device operates in the ~ollowing manner.
The gas cutter 6 is brought to a crashed aircraft for a distance registered by the adjustable rods 19 C~ig. 2). From the storage bat~ery 20 the electric power is supplied to the initiating mechanism of the explosive cartridge 18 due to which the punching-and-Orripping means 8 is brou~ht into action, punches both the skins a~d gets grippingly fixed in the air-craft, at the same time the fire extinguishing agent is deli-vered from the bottle 4 of the container 1 throu~-h one of the hoses 5 to the passage 16 of the punchin~r-and-gripping means 8 and spra~ed alonO the in~ernal surface of the aircraft cabin, thereby isolatinO the passengers from the action of a gas jet Along with this the electric power is supplied to the igni-tion plugs 7 and the hydrogen and oxygen are deliversd from the bottles 2 and ~ of the container 1 through the separate hoses 5 to the toroidal combustion chamber 10 of the gas cutter 6 whs-rein they are i~nited by the ignition plugs 7. In bhis case s 11~7~0`8 the hydrogen from the delivery manifolds 13 is directed first to the cooling cavities 14 and then through the slit injec-tors 15 is delivered into the zone of co~bustion. ~he oxy~en i8 delivered into the combustion chamber 10 ~rom the manifold 11 through the injectors 12. The combustion products formed in the toroidal combustion chamber 10 issue through the annu-lar slit of the outlet nozzle 9 in the form of a high-tempe-rature jet which cuts a hatch in the hull of an aircraft. ~he cut portion of the aircraft hull held by the punching-and--gripping means 8 is extracted outwa~dly due to the reactive thrust of the gas cutter 6.
The use of the proposed device makes it possible to in-crease the effectiveness and o~erational ef~icie~cy of rescue oper~tions in case of aircraft accidents, as the cutting of escape hatches in an aircraft b~th in the airport and out of its zone in a dif~icult or dista~t locality is performed in a substantially short time (of the order of several seconds).
~ he device is transportable, simple in operation, can be repeatedly used, ensures safety of passengers in the process o~ a rescue operation, adds to preserving an aircraft in ~ood conditi?n.
Still another embodiment of a rescure device will now be considered hereafter. '~his device for making a plurality o~
emergency exits 21 (~ig. ~) in an aircraft also comprises bo-t-tles 22 and 23 with fuel and oxidant, gas generators 24 ~lith ignition plugs 25, ignition u~its 26 and two toroidal combus-.

tion chambers 27 and 28 having t~e critical throat sections(no7.zles N) suited to -the geometry of an exit, injectors 29, cooling cavities ~0, and manifolds 31 and 32 for delivery of oxidant and fuel.
~ he gas.generators 24 with the bottles 22 and 23 contain-ing fuel and oxidant respectively are disposed between the internal a~d external walls of the aircra~t skin W and secured thereon b~ means o~ shock absorbers 33, and each gas generator 24 is provided ~lith two combustion chambers 27 and 28, the cri-tical throat sections (nozzles N) thereof being closed by her-metic diaphragms ~4.
The axis of symmetry of the radial section o~ the combus-tion chamber 28 directed by the critical throat section (noz-æle N) towards the internal wall ll of the skin is oriented along the axis ?f the gas generator 24, while tke axis of the chamber 27 directed towards the external ~1all is oriented at an angle ensuring the e~traction of the cut portion of an aircraft hull outwardl~ under the action of an excess reactive thrust.
Said angle is selected so that, firstly, the gas jet issu-ing from the critical throat section of the combustion chamber 27 is in contact with the skin wall Il~ along~ a contour the di-mensions of which are grea-ter-than the dimensions o~ the gas generator 24 and, secondly, the resultant thrust derived from the adding of reactive thrusts of the combustion chambers 27 and 2~ is directed outwardly from the aircraft.

~ 8 The gas generators 24 are actuatéd by remotely controlled valves 35, the signal for their actuation being sent, for in-stance, from an aircraft emergency elec-tric power source 36 through the medium of a switch 37 mounted either in the cock-pit or in the passenger cabin.
It is anticipated that ths device may be provided with a means-for actuating the valves 35 from the outside of an air-craft.
Before the command for actuation of the valves 35 is giv-en, the combustion ch~bers 27 and 28 are filled with an inert gas and the gas generators 24 are under control of state of readiness transmitters 38.
If upon the landin~r of an aircraft -the doors and escape hatches thereof are jammed, a crew member or a passenger should throw in the switch 37, thereby applying voltage ~rom the air-craft emergency electric power supply source 36 through the ignition unit 26 to the ignition plu~s 25 and also to the val-ves 35.
When the valves 35 are opened, the oxidant via the mani fold 31 and the fuel via the manifolds 32 and -the cooling cavi-ties 30 are delivered through the injectors 29 into the combus-tion ohambsrs 27 and 28 wherein thsy are ignited by the igni-tion plugs 25.
~ he combustion products break the diaphragms 34 and issue through the critical throat sections (nozzles N) onto the skin o~ an aircraft, thereby makin~ the emsrgency exits 21 (~ig.4).

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il~74C~3 - The cut portion of an aircraft hull acted upon by an excess reactive thrust of the ~as ~enerator 24 (~ig. 5) is extrac-ted to~ether with the latter outwardl~ from the air-cra~t. Gf any of the gas generators 24 is put out of ac-tion by de~ormation Df the aircraft the respective state of rea-diness transrnitter 38 cuts out the supply of electric power to the valve 35 of a damaged gas generator 24.
~ he proposed device allows the emergency exits 21 to be cut Ln an aircraft by crew members or passengers reg~ardless of the arrival of rescue parties. Due to the fact that both walls of the skin are cut simultaneously, the time required for making emerOency exits is brought to a minimum.
Thus the safety in transportation of passengers by air is increased and the loss of e~pensive technique is reduced.

Claims (6)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A device for making emergency exits in a crashed transport means, comprising: a gas cutter in the form of a combustion chamber having an outlet nozzle adapted to suit the contour of an escape hatch to be cut; a means for deliv-ering and igniting a combustible fixture in said combustion chamber and an emergency switch ensuring operation of said means for delivering and igniting a combustible mixture and of said gas cutter being in contact with the wall of a tran-sport means, thereby a gas jet issued from said outlet nozz-le simultaneously cuts an escape hatch over entire contour thereof.

2. A device for making emergency exits as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said gas cutter is made in the form of an annular combustion chamber provided with injectors for deli-very of oxidant and fuel, an ignition plug and an outlet annular nozzle adapted to suit the entire contour of an es-cape hatch to be cut.

3. A device for making emergency exits as claimed in Claim 1, wherein mounted on said annular combustion chamber centrally along the axis thereof is a punching-and-gripping means provided in its head portion with an arrangement for fixing the gas cutter on a wall of a transport means hull.

4. A device for making emergency exits as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the combustion chamber is of a reverse-flow type, the nozzle is provided with cooling cavities and the punching-and-gripping means has in its head portion a passage for delivery of a fire extinguishing agent inside the air-craft.

5. A device for making emergency exits as claimed in Claim 2, wherein two annular combustion chambers are dispos-ed between external and internal skins of an aircraft hull and provided with nozzles one of which is directed towards the internal skin and the other, towards the external skin;
the nozzles being provided with diaphragms and the combustion chambers being filled with an inert gas.

6. A device for making emergency exits as claimed in Claim 5, wherein bottles containing oxidant and fuel are ar-ranged between skins and connected to combustion chambers, said nozzles thereof being oriented at different angles to panels of the skin so that cut portions of the skin are extra-cted outwardly from a transport means under the action of an excess reactive thrust developed by the gas cutter.