US3189313A

US3189313A - Track supported mounting device

Info

Publication number: US3189313A
Application number: US322739A
Authority: US
Inventors: Stephen J Burns; Russell B Howell
Original assignee: BURNS AERO SEAT CO Inc
Current assignee: BURNS AERO SEAT CO Inc
Priority date: 1963-11-12
Filing date: 1963-11-12
Publication date: 1965-06-15
Anticipated expiration: 1982-06-15

Description

3mm 1.5, 1965 a J. BLJRNs ETAL TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 iled Nov. 1.2, 19525 INVENTOR drP/-/NJ 50mm, BY @68621. 5. flan 44,

June 15, 1965 s. .1. BURNS ETAL TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 12, 1963 JTEPHEN J [Bu/2M5,

RUSSELL 5. /7bW/ L,

INVEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,189,313 TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTING DEVICE Stephen J. Burns, Hollywood, and Russell B. Howell, Burbank, Califi, assignors to Burns Aero Seat Company, Inc, Burbank, Califi, a corporation of California Filed Nov. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 322,739 3 Claims. (Q1. 248-429) This invention relates to a track supported mounting device and more particularly to a mounting device which can be easily and quickly assembled on a track and positioned at any selected location along the track.

At present, spaced tracks extend along the fuselage floor of an aircraft to provide a mounting for individual seats. The track comprises a C shaped extrusion with the open slot facing upward and the edges of the slot overlapping the channel in the track. Thus, the edges of the slot must be cut away at spaced locations to permit tie down fitting of the mounting device to be assembled in the channel for sliding movement in the channel and along the track. Also, drilled holes or notches must be provided at spaced intervals in the tracks in order to lock the tie down fitting to the track by pins after the fitting is placed in the location for mounting a seat. Since these holes have a sloppy fit with the pins, a slight amount of movement of the seat can take place even after the fittings are lacked in position.

The present invention provides a mounting device having a tie down fitting which can be assembled in the standard track without modifying the track to receive the fitting. The mounting device includes an elongated support memher having a split tracking shoe or fittting attached at each end to support the member above and along the track. Each complete shoe has an inverted T-shaped cross section and is divided through the vertical plane into two parts, each having a side projecting foot which fits below one edge adjacent the slot in the track. In order to assemble a complete shoe in the track, the parts are staggered along the track and separately inserted so that the side projecting foot of one part can be located under one slot edge and the side projecting foot of the other part can be located under the other slot edge. Thereafter, the parts are moved opposite one another and secured together in order to secure the shoe in the track for sliding movement along the track.

The elongated member supported by the shoes is locked in position by a pair of spaced cams carried by the member and spring biased into engagement with the bottom surface of the channel in the track. By moving the cams away from the track, the elongated member can be moved to any desired position along the track and reengagement of the cams with the track will firmly lock the mounting device in position. The ends of each shoe have a lower edge adjacent the bottom channel surface which cleans the cam engaging surface upon movement of the shoes along the track. Also, the space between the shoes is substantially fully covered by the elongated member so that the cam engaging surface between the shoes will not become contaminated after the elongated member is located in the desired position.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a track supported mounting device having tie down fittings in the form of split shoes which can be assembled in the track without modification of the track.

Another object of the invention is to provide a track supported mounting device having an elongated member slidably mounted on the track by a tie down fitting at each end and having a locking cam means engaging the track between the tie down fittings.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tie down fitting for a track supported mounting device, which fitting 3,189,313 Patented June 15, 1965 can be slidably mounted on the track at any location along the track.

A further object of the invention is to provide a track supported mounting device having opposed cams engaging the track for locking the device against movement in opposite directions.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tie down fitting for a track supported mounting device which cleans the bottom surface of the track channel as the fitting moves along the track,

These and other objects of the invention not specifically set forth above will become readily apparent from the accompanying description and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the track supported mounting device of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view along line 22 of FIGURE 1 showing the split shoes at the ends of the elongated support member.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical section partly in elevation, along line 33 of FIGURE 2, illustratingthe locking cams.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical section along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3 showing one of the split shoes.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged transverse vertical section along line 55 of FIGURE 3 showing one of the locking cams.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical section of the mounting track and one part of a mounting shoe and showing the positioning of the part in the track.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the two parts of a shoe located in the track for movement together to form a complete locked shoe.

FIGURE 8 is a vertical section of a modified mounting device in which the locking cams are reduced in size to be substantially fully contained within the elongated member.

The embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration comprises a track supported mounting device 9 having an elongated supporting member 10 extending along the track. The member 10 has sides 11 and 12 connected with top panel 13 which has

side flanges

14 and 15. The member 1! is slidably secured to the track by tie down fittings 16 and 17 which extend between sides 11 and 12 and are secured to the opposite ends of member '10 by

locking pins

18 and 19, respectively, extending through the fittings and the sides. Fitting 16 comprises a shoe of inverted T-shaped cross section which is separated along vertical plane 20 into two

shoe parts

21 and 22, each of which is a half of the shoe. In a similar manner, fitting 17 comprises a shoe of inverted T-shaped cross section which is separated along vertical plane 23 into two

shoe parts

24 and 25, each of which is a half of the shoe. The

shoe parts

21 and 22 have projecting

feet

26 and 27 while shoe parts 24 and have similar projecting feet 28 and 29.

Track 30 has an upper section 31 containing a channel 32 of rectangular shape defined by a bottom panel 33, side panels 34 and 35, and top flanges 36 and 37- which a-re spaced apart to form slot 38 (see FIGURES 4 and 6). The projecting

feet

26 and 27 of shoe 16 are located in channel 32 below

flanges

36 and 37, respectively, and the projecting feet 28 and 29 of shoe 17 are located in the same manner in channel 32. The thickness of each shoe 16 and 17 is sufficient to fill the slot 38 when the shoe halves are located opposite one another and secured to member 10 by

self locking pins

18 and 19 of well known construction. Thus, each shoe is slidably supported on surface 40 of bottom track panel 33 for movement with member 10 along the track to any selected position. A lower track section 42 is identical in construction to upper track section 31 but is inverted so that panel 43 is opposite bottom panel 33 of upper section 31. The track sections are secured together by a plurality of bolts 44 passing through

panels

33 and 43 and having recessed heads in panel 33 so as not to interfere with the sliding surface 40. The lower section 43 has a channel for receiving a standard support fitting carried by the fioor to which the track is to be attached.

FIGURES 6 and 7 illustrate the manner in which the shoes 16 and 17 are assembled at any point in the upper section of the track without slotting or othenwise modifying the track at such point. Referring to FIGURE 6, the left shoe half 21 of shoe 16 in full line position is ready for insertion into Channel 32 and it is apparent that foot projection 26 can pass through slot 38 into the dotted line position of half 21 in which the foot is overlapped by flange 36. In a similar manner, the foot projection 27 of shoe half 22 can be passed through slot 38 and positioned so that flange 37 overlaps foot 27. As illustrated in FIGURE 7, the assembly of the two halves is initially done at spaced points along the track and thereafter the halves are moved opposite one another, as shown by the dashed line position of half 22, in order to form the completed shoe 16. In the assembled condition, the shoe 16 fills the channel 32 and slot 38 so that the shoe cannot be bodily removed from the track although it can slide along the track. In a similar manner, the

halves

24 and 25 of shoe 17 can be assembled in the track at a location spaced from shoe 16. Thereafter, each end of member 10 is placed over one of the shoes so that pin 18 can be inserted through openings in the parts of shoe 16 and pin 19 can be inserted through openings 51 in the parts of shoe 17. The elongated member llti is then supported by the shoes for sliding movement along track section 31 into an infinite number of mounting positions.

A pair of opposed cam members 55 and 56 are pivotally supported by bolts 57 and 53, respectively, which extend between the sides of member 1! and are secured by nuts 54. The surface 59 of cam member 55, increase in radius from shaft 57 in a counterclockwise direction so that point 60 on the radius will engage bottom surface 49 of channel 32 upon counterclockwise rotation. The surface 62 of cam member 56 increases in radius from shaft 58 in a clockwise direction so that point 63; will engage bottom channel surface 4t? upon clockwise rotation. A tension spring 65 connects between projections 66 and 67 of cam member 55 and 56, respectively. The projections are located below the cam shafts 57 and 58 so that the spring continually urges the cam surfaces 59 and 62 into locking engagement with surface 44? by urging cam 55 in a counterclockwise direction and cam member 56 in a clockwise direction. Thus, any force on member 1t) to the left in FIGURE 3 will be firmly resisted since the force is in a direction to cause further counterclockwise rotation of cam member 55 which results in surface 59 more firmly gripping surface 44). Any force to the right on member 10 will be in a direction to cause further clockwise rotation of cam member 55 which results in surface 62 more firmly gripping surface 40. It is therefore apparent that when the cam memhere are solely under the influence of spring 65, the elongated member 10 is locked in position on the track section 31 by the engagement of cam surfaces 59 and 62 with bottom surface 49 and the locking action increases as the force on the member 10 increases.

Lever arms '71) and 71 are integral with cam members 55 and 56, respectively, and extend through openings 72 in top panel 13 so that they can be moved together against the force of spring 65 to release the cam surfaces 59 and 62 from locking engagement with bottom channel surface 40. With the cam surface released, the member 10 can be moved along track 30 on shoes 16 and 17 until it is located in the desired mounting position. The levers and 71 can then be released to again lock the member 1% in position. A guard plate 73 has a side 74 secured to flange 14 of member 16 and has an upright side 75 located opposite levers 7i and 71 to prevent accidental movement of the levers to unlock the cam surfaces. A modification of the locking cam members is illustrated in FIGURE 8 wherein the members 55 and 56 and the levers 7d and 71' are smaller so that the levers do not project substantially above the top panel 13 of elongated member 151. The opening 72 is large enough to receive two fingers which engage and move the levers to unlock the cam surfaces 59' and 62'. In this modification, the levers 7i) and '71 are not subject to accidental movement since they are substantially contained within the supporting member 1t) and therefore, no guard plate is required for protection of the levers.

When it is desired to support an aircraft seat 80, a track 311 is located at each side of the seat so that each side of the seat so that each side can be supported by an elongated member 107 For this purpose, the

flanges

14 and 15 are cut off at the ends of member 1% so that a U-shaped mounting bracket 31 can be attached at each end of the member 113. Each bracket 81 is secured by a bolt 82 which passes through sides 83 and 8d of the bracket, through sides 11 and 12 of member 15), and through openings 85 in the shoes. A nut 86 serves to secure each bolt 32 and the bolts assist in attaching the member 10 to the shoes 16 and 17. A mounting flange 87 is secured to the brackets 81 and extends above and along flanges 14 in order to support a mounting portion 88 of seat 80. It is understood that any suitable mounting structure or fitting can be attached to one or more members 10 to support a variety of objects along one or more tracks 30.

In order to maintain a firm grip between the surfaces of cam members 55 and 56 and the bottom channel surface 40, the surface 40 is cleaned by the lower outside corners 90 and 91 of shoes 16 and 17, respectively, as the member 10 is moved along the track. Because of the slanting ends of the shoes, the corners 95D and 91 provide a wedge action to remove any contamination on surface 4-6 and to move such contamination along the track ahead of either shoe. Also, the weight carried by member 10 forces the bottom of the shoes against surface 40 to insure good cleaning action by corners 90 and 91. Therefore, regardless of the direction of movement of member 10, the track between the shoes at the location of the cam members has been scrapped by one of the shoes during movement. Also, the portion of surface 40 between the shoes is substantially completely covered by the sides 11 and 12 and top panel 13 of member 10 so that no contamination can accumulate on surface 4% between the shoes. Thus, the surface 44 provides a non-contaminated gripping surface for the cam members.

It is apparent that the present invention provides a mounting device which can be secured to a mounting track at any location along the track and then moved to any other location and firmly locked by the cam members or other suitable locking means. The shape of the feet on the supporting shoes can be varied to conform with the shape of the track channel, so that if the channel is wedge shaped, the feet on the shoes will be wedge shaped. Also, the ends of the shoes can have any desired angle with the surface 40 which provides a corner adjacent the channel surface for clearing the surface. While the shoes are illustrated as divided in half, it is not necessary that each shoe part be one half the total shoe so long as the feet on both parts can pass through the slot into the channel and fill up the slot suificiently when placed side by side, to prevent removal of the parts. The cam members can be moved by a variety of mechanisms, such as by a remotely controlled ram. Various other modifications are contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A track supported mounting device comprising:

an elongated supporting member extending along a support track, said track containing a channel defined by a bottom support surface and by upper flanges between which extends a slot communicating with said channel;

a pair of support shoes secured to said elongated mornber at spaced locations and having a lower surface supported by said bottom surface;

each of said shoes having a foot extending outwardly from each edge of said lower surface and each shoe being divided into two parts with one foot on each P each foot being separately insertable through said slot at spaced locations into said channel and underneath one of said flanges so that each shoe is slidably secured in said channel when said parts are moved opposite one another and secured to said support member;

and locking means for selectively engaging said bottom surface of said channel to hold said member in a selected position along said track;

said locking means comprising a pair of cam members pivotally mounted on said member and spaced apart along said channel;

the cam surface of one cam member being moved into engagement with said bottom channel surface by clockwise rotation and the cam surface of the other member being moved into engagement with said bottom channel surface by counterclockwise rotation; and

means for normally holding said cam surfaces in engagement with channel surface.

2. A track supported mounting device as defined in claim 1 wherein each shoe has an outside corner which moves over and cleans said bottom surface prior to locking engagement with one of said cam surfaces.

3. A track supported mounting device as defined in claim 2 wherein said elongated member substantially covers said bottom surface between said spaced location to protect said bottom surface against contamination.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 146,599 1/74 Kunkle 238141 1,759,213 5/30 Webb 104-111 2,441,533 5/48 Montgomery 291.5 2,899,167 8/59 Elsner 248429 2,944,467 7/60 Casan-ov 29-15 3,115,696 12/63 Evans 308-3 FOREIGN PATENTS 576,627 5 33 Germany.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A TRACK SUPPORTED MOUNTED DEVICE COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED SUPPORTING MEMBER EXTENDING ALONG A SUPPORT TRACKS, SAID TRACK CONTAINING A CHANNEL DEFINED BY A BUTTON SUPPORT SURFACE AND BY UPPER FLANGES BETWEEN WHICH EXTENDS A SLOT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CHANNEL; A PAIR OF SUPPORT SHOES SECURED TO SAID ELONGATED MEMBER AT SPACED LOCATIONS AND HAVING A LOWER SURFACE SUPPORTED BY SAID BOTTOM SURFACE; EACH OF SAID SHOE HAVING A FOOT EXTENDING OUTWARDLY FROM EACH EDGE OF SAID LOWER SURFACE AND EACH SHOE BEING DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS WITH ONE FOOT ON EACH PART; EACH FOOT BEING SEPARATELY INSERTABLE THROUGH SAID SLOT AT SPACED LOCATIONS INTO SAID CHANNEL AND UNDERNEATH ONE OF SAID FLANGES SO THAT EACH SHOE IS SLIDABLY SECURED IN SAID CHANNEL WHEN SAID PARTS ARE MOVED OPPOSITE ONE ANOTHER AND SECURED TO SAID SUPPORT MEMBER; AND LOCKING MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY ENGAGING SAID BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID CHANNEL TO HOLD SAID MEMBER IN A SELECTED POSITION ALONG SAID TRACK; SAID LOCKING MEANS COMPRISING A PAIR OF CAM MEMBERS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID MEMBER AND SPACED APART ALONG SAID CHANNEL; THE CAM SURFACE OF ONE CAM MEMBER BEING MOVED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BOTTOM CHANNEL SURFACE BY CLOCKWISE ROTATION AND THE CAM SURFACAE OF THE OTHER MEMBER BEING MOVED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID BOTTOM CHANNEL SURFACE BY COUNTERCLOCKWISE ROTATION; AND MEANS FOR NORMALLY HOLDING SAID CAM SURFACES IN ENGAGEMENT WITH CHANNEL SURFACE.