Apparatus for opening an aircraft door and for arming and disarming an

Abstract

An escape slide container is mounted for selective, upward movement with a track-mounted, overhead sliding door in an aircraft fuselage. Slide deployment mechanism for releasing the container from the door and for attaching it to the floor of the aircraft allows the door to move upwardly independently of the container, leaving the container attached to the floor. An over-center linkage supports the container above the floor while upward movement of the door trips the over-center linkage to propel the container outwardly through the door opening to deploy the escape slide under the urging of gravity. Apparatus for arming and disarming the slide for deployment operates in conjunction with door opening and closing apparatus that simultaneously effects movement of a door carrier to unplug the aircraft door from the opening in the fuselage and initiates upward traverse of the door along a plurality of tracks from which the door is supported at three points. Upon movement of a manually-actuated lever in a first direction, the door is unplugged and is opened. Upon movement of the same lever in the opposite direction, the door is closed, plugged in the door opening in the fuselage. Depending upon the position of a second manually-actuated lever, the slide either rises with the door or is deployed through the fuselage opening.