Aircraft service pit lid hinge

Abstract

A pit lid assembly is formed for a subsurface aircraft servicing pit and includes a lid frame formed with a flat, upper deck, a pit access opening surrounded by the deck, and a hinge pocket defined in the structure of the frame. The hinge pocket extends radially outwardly from the pit access opening and defines mutually opposing and mutually parallel pocket side walls. The pocket has a floor and an end wall slopes upwardly from the pocket floor at an obtuse angle relative to the surrounding flat deck of the frame. A pit lid is seated in the frame upon a bearing ledge formed about the periphery of the access opening. The pit lid has a hinge leaf projecting outwardly away from the access opening. Straight, narrow, linear bores are defined through the structure of both the hinge frame and the hinge leaf. These bores are in coaxial alignment with each other and reside in a horizontal plane located beneath the level of the flat, upper deck of the structure of the frame and above the level of a moisture barrier seal set into the underside of the pit lid. A hinge pin is inserted into the coaxially aligned bores in both the hinge frame and the hinge leaf. The structure of the hinge pin extends entirely through the hinge leaf and into the adjoining structure of the hinge frame. The pit lid may thereby be raised and lowered by rotation about the hinge pin, which is located beneath the surface of the surrounding deck of the frame.