The Boeing Company

James Gabauer

Karlton Kazumi Okamoto

Rosario Simon Saggio

Behrooz Afghani

Frank James Caldwell, Jr

A cargo handling system for a narrow body freighter aircraft employs caster rollers. The cargo handling system includes a horizontal panel disposed along a deck surface of the aircraft, and a plurality of caster rollers having a narrow body roller plane height. Each caster roller includes a roller bearing assembly for providing horizontal movement to a load along an axis of motion. A thrust bearing assembly aligns the roller bearing assembly with the axis of motion. A roller bearing support structure suspends the roller bearing assembly at an offset position at the narrow body roller plane height. The thrust bearing assembly includes a plurality of radially positioned needle bearings, and the roller bearing assembly uses roller bearings having a torus-like structure. The bearing assemblies are made of stainless steel to resist foreign object damage.

Growing community of inventors

Redondo Beach, CA, United States of America

James Gabauer