A floor that divides a passenger cabin from a cargo hold in an aircraft is equipped with support rails which are secured in the floor. The support rails are accessible from above by the locking device. Such locking devices include at least one locking element, that is rotatable in a carrier and has at least one projection for lockingly engaging the support rail, more specifically a locking rim of the support rail.
Such devices are used, for example, to secure seating structures or other equipment to the floor in a passenger cabin of an aircraft. However, such locking devices are not limited to the just given example. The devices may also be used, as another example for securing components, such as room dividers, in a cargo hold of an aircraft. Such room dividers are secured to respective rails in the floor of the cargo hold. However, conventional devices of this type leave room for improvement, since these devices do not permit a simple and rapid operation of the locking devices, for example, for changing a seating arrangement. Further, the operational locking devices are not especially compact and leave room for improvement with regard to securing such components in all three directions of space in a three-dimensional coordinate system having coordinates X, Y and Z.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds