Seat for cabin crew

Detailed application description

Description of problem:

To help passengers with restricted mobility visit the on-board toilet, a major European aircraft manufacturer adapted the cabin space to make it more flexible. One of the seats for the cabin crew had to be converted for this purpose. This seat is only used during take-off and landing and is folded away during flight, resulting in increased free space in front of the toilets. The on-board communication system integrated in the seat had to be supplied with power. However, instead of the spiral or ribbon cables used in the past, which not only got in the way but were also prone to damage, a more elegant solution was sought. A mean time between failures (MTBF) of at least 180,000 cycles had to be guaranteed.

Description of solution:

LTN’s compact solution based on the SC020 slip ring enables a low-wear, maintenance-free rotary joint. The slip ring transfers power and data for on-board communications and is qualified to EN 2591 for use in flight-critical systems. It is standard equipment in all the manufacturer’s small to mid-sized passenger aircraft.

Thanks to the slip ring solution, moving cables which could get in the way are now out of sight. The ultra-compact design means all electronic devices are accommodated inside the component. The slip ring has IP68 protection and is extremely resilient to shock and vibration. It is qualified with 180,000 (oscillating) cycles. The Teflon cables are secured in the slip ring with tear protection. The electrical properties (contact resistance, insulation, noise) and temperature range from -55°C to 85°C allow operation in flight-critical systems. Extensive testing according to aviation requirements was carried out on a pre-production series by an external laboratory.