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A hingeless door system for a pressure vessel; especially, aeronautic and astronautic crafts. The door system has the following major components: a contour in a pressure vessel wall, a doorway opening, a seal, an upper track, a lower track and a door. The door translocates laterally along the tracks

A hingeless door system for a pressure vessel; especially, aeronautic and astronautic crafts. The door system has the following major components: a contour in a pressure vessel wall, a doorway opening, a seal, an upper track, a lower track and a door. The door translocates laterally along the tracks from an open position to a closed position and moves radially along the tracks to a sealed position against the contour which closes the door opening. The problem solved by the invention is to reduce weight, operational volume and complexity and increase durability of a door system for a pressure vessel.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A hingeless door system for a pressure vessel having a wall that partitions a pressurizable internal space from an external environment comprised of: a. a contour in the wall on the internal side of the vessel wall that forms a retaining surface capable of conformingly receiving an exterior engag

1. A hingeless door system for a pressure vessel having a wall that partitions a pressurizable internal space from an external environment comprised of: a. a contour in the wall on the internal side of the vessel wall that forms a retaining surface capable of conformingly receiving an exterior engaging surface of a door;b. a doorway opening that goes through the retaining surface and wall to allow for passage between the internal space and the external environment;c. a pair of spaced-apart, oppositely opposed tracks mounted to the pressure vessel in tangential proximity to the doorway opening, where each of said tracks is comprised of: i. an inner guide wall;ii. a running surface which mates to the inner guide wall with a section of said running surface opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface such that a door can move radially on the outward extension between a sealed position and an unsealed position, where the track is of sufficient length such that a door can move transversely between an unsealed position and an ingressable-egressable door position;iii. an outer guide wall which mates with the running surface other than at the outward extension such that the inner guide wall and outer guide wall are oppositely opposed to form a channel andd. a door delimited by an outer edge that has an exterior engaging surface that conforms to the retaining surface and has at least one member with the capabilities of running along the running surfaces and moving radially on the outward extension that is movably mounted between the running surfaces on the opposing tracks; ande. a seal having a mounting selected from the group consisting of a mounting on the retaining surface that circumscribes the doorway opening and a mounting on the exterior engaging surface of the door delimited by the outer edge, so as to be capable of forming an airtight engagement with an exterior engaging surface of a door. 2. The hingeless door system of claim 1 where the section of the track having an outward extension is a separate extension member that is mounted to the remainder of the track. 3. The hingeless door system of claim 1 where the seal is a strip seal with there being a plurality of strip seals mounted on the retaining surface in a spaced-apart arrangement that circumscribes the doorway opening. 4. The hingeless door system of claim 3 further comprising a bead seal that is seated between two strip seals. 5. The hingeless door system of claim 1 where elements a and b are disposed in a bezel ring wall extender having a major opening and a minor opening that is mounted at the major opening to the doorway opening whereby the minor opening becomes the doorway opening. 6. A hingeless door system for a pressure vessel having a wall that partitions a pressurizable internal space from an external environment comprised of: a. a contour in the internal side of the vessel wall that forms a retaining surface having a concave-like configuration capable of conformingly receiving an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration of a door;b. a circular doorway opening that goes through the retaining surface and wall to allow for passage between the internal space and the external environment;c. a strip seal mounted to the retaining surface that circumscribes the doorway opening so as to be capable of forming an airtight engagement with an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration of a door;d. a pair of oppositely opposed arcuate tracks mounted to the pressure vessel in diametrically spaced apart parallel arrangement in tangential proximity to the doorway opening, where each of said tracks is comprised of: i. an inner guide wall;ii. a running surface which mates to the inner guide wall having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration such that a door can move radially on the outward extension between a sealed position and an unsealed position, where the track is of sufficient length such that a door can move transversely between an unsealed position and an ingressable-egressable position;iii. an outer guide wall which mates with the running surface other than at the outward extension such that the inner guide wall and outer guide wall are oppositely opposed to form a channel ande. a circular door delimited by a rounded outer edge that has an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration that conforms to the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration that hermetically engages the strip seal where the circular door is movably mounted between the running surfaces on the opposing tracks such that the rounded outer edge runs on the running surface and moves radially on the outward extension,whereby when the circular door is in the sealed position and the internal space is pressurized, the exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration of the circular door hermetically seals against the strip seal and the circular door remains in said place so long as the internal space is pressurized. 7. The hingeless door system of claim 6 where the section of the track having an outward extension is a separate extension member that is mounted to the remainder of the track. 8. The hingeless door system of claim 6 with there being a plurality of strip seals mounted on the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration in a spaced-apart arrangement that circumscribes the doorway opening. 9. The hingeless door system of claim 8 further comprising a bead seal that is seated between two strip seals. 10. The hingeless door system of claim 6 where elements a and b are disposed in a bezel ring wall extender having a major opening and a minor opening that is mounted at the major opening to the doorway opening whereby the minor opening becomes the doorway opening. 11. A hingeless door system for a pressure vessel having a wall that partitions a pressurizable internal space from an external environment comprised of: a. a contour in the wall on the internal side of the vessel wall that forms a retaining surface having a concave-like configuration capable of conformingly receiving an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration of a door;b. a circular doorway opening that goes through the retaining surface and wall to allow for passage between the internal space and the external environment;c. a strip seal mounted to the retaining surface that circumscribes the doorway opening so as to be capable of forming an airtight engagement with an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration of a door; andd. a pair of oppositely opposed arcuate tracks mounted to the vessel in a diametrically spaced-apart parallel arrangement in tangential proximity to the doorway opening, where each of said tracks is comprised of: i. an inner guide wall;ii. a running surface which mates to the inner guide wall;iii. outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface such that a door can move radially on the outward extension between a sealed position and an unsealed position;iv. an outer guide wall which mates with the running surface other than at the outward extension such that the inner guide wall and outer guide wall are oppositely opposed to form a channel, where the track is of sufficient length such that a door can move transversely between an unsealed position and an ingressable-egressable position; ande. a circular door delimited by a rounded outer edge that has an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration that conforms to the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration that hermetically engages the seal where the door is movably mounted between the running surfaces on the opposing tracks such that the rounded outer edge runs on the running surface and moves radially on the outward extension,whereby when the circular door is in the sealed position and the internal space is pressurized, the exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration of the circular door hermetically seals against the strip seal and the circular door remains in said place so long as the internal space is pressurized. 12. The hingeless door system of claim 11 where the radii of the arcuate tracks are about the same. 13. The hingeless door system of claim 11 where the radius of one arcuate track is greater than the radius of the other arcuate track. 14. The hingeless door system of claim 11 where the section of the track having an outward extension is a separate extension member that is mounted to the remainder of the track. 15. The hingeless door system of claim 11 with there being a plurality of strip seals mounted on the retaining surface in a spaced-apart arrangement that circumscribes the doorway opening. 16. The hingeless door system of claim 15 further comprising a bead seal that is seated between two strip seals. 17. The hingeless door system of claim 11 where elements a and b are disposed in a bezel ring wall extender having a major opening and a minor opening that is mounted at the major opening to the doorway opening whereby the minor opening becomes the doorway opening. 18. A hingeless door system kit for a pressure vessel having a wall with a doorway opening that is outfitable having a retaining surface and usable with a door with an exterior engaging surface comprised of: a. a first track having a running surface, a first guide wall which mates to the running surface with a section of said running surface positionable opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface, a second guide wall oppositely opposed to the first guide wall which mates to the running surface so as to form a channel which extends at least a portion of the length of the track other than at the outward extension where the track is of sufficient length for the movement of a door running along said running surface between an unsealed position alignable with the doorway opening and an ingressable-egressable position not aligned with the doorway opening;b. a second track having a running surface, a first guide wall which mates to the running surface with a section of said running surface positionable opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface, a second guide wall oppositely opposed to the first guide wall which mates to the running surface so as to form a channel which extends at least a portion of the length of the track other than at the outward extension where the track is of sufficient length for the movement of a door running along said running surface between an unsealed position alignable with the doorway opening and an ingressable-egressable position not aligned with the doorway opening; andc. a seal that is configurable to be mounted on a mounting selected from the group consisting of a mounting on a retaining surface with a doorway opening so as to circumscribe the doorway opening and a mounting on the exterior engaging surface of a door with an outer edge so as delimit the outer edge. 19. The hingeless door system kit of claim 18 where the section of the track having an outward extension is a separate extension member that is mountable to the remainder of the track. 20. The hingeless door system kit of claim 18 where the seal is a strip seal with there being a plurality of strip seals that are configurable to be concentrically mounted on the retaining surface so as to circumscribe the opening in said surface. 21. The hingeless door system kit of claim 20 further comprising a bead seal configurable to be seated between two strip seals. 22. The hingeless door system kit of claim 18 further comprising a bezel ring wall extender having a retaining surface, a major opening, and a minor opening that is mountable at the major opening to the doorway opening. 23. A hingeless door system kit for a pressure vessel having a wall with a doorway opening that is outfitable with a retaining surface having a concave-like configuration and usable with a door with an exterior engaging surface having a convex-like configuration comprised of: a. a first arcuate track having a running surface, a first guide wall which mates to the running surface with a section of said running surface positionable opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration, a second guide wall oppositely opposed to the first guide wall which mates to the running surface so as to form a channel which extends at least a portion of the length of the track other than at the outward extension where the track is of sufficient length for the movement of a door running along said running surface between an unsealed position alignable with the doorway opening and an ingressable-egressable position not aligned with the doorway opening;b. a second arcuate track having a running surface, a first guide wall which mates to the running surface with a section of said running surface positionable opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration, a second guide wall oppositely opposed to the first guide wall which mates to the running surface so as to form a channel which extends at least a portion of the length of the track other than at the outward extension where the track is of sufficient length for the movement of a door running along said running surface between an unsealed position alignable with the doorway opening and an ingressable-egressable position not aligned with the doorway opening; andc. a strip seal that is configurable to be mounted on a retaining surface having a concave-like configuration so as to circumscribe a doorway opening in said surface. 24. The hingeless door system kit of claim 23 where the section of the track having an outward extension is a separate extension member that is mountable to the remainder of the track. 25. The hingeless door system kit of claim 23 with there being a plurality of strip seals that are configurable to be concentrically mounted on a retaining surface having a concave-like configuration so as to circumscribe the opening in said surface. 26. The hingeless door system kit of claim 23 further comprising a bead seal configurable to be seated between two strip seals. 27. The hingeless door system kit of claim 23 further comprising a bezel ring wall extender having a retaining surface with a concave-like configuration, a major opening and a minor opening that is mountable at the major opening to the doorway opening. 28. A hingeless door system kit for a pressure vessel having a wall with a doorway opening that is outfitable with a retaining surface having a concave-like configuration comprised of: a. a first arcuate track having a running surface with a section of said running surface positionable opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration, a first guide wall which mates to the running surface and a second guide wall oppositely opposed to the first guide wall which mates to the running surface other than at the outward extension so as to form a channel where the track is of sufficient length for the movement of a door running along said running surface between an unsealed position alignable with the doorway opening and an ingressable-egressable position not aligned with the doorway opening;b. a second arcuate track having a running surface with a section of said running surface positionable opposite the doorway opening having an outward extension adapted to be approximately flush with the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration, a first guide wall which mates to the running surface and a second guide wall oppositely opposed to the first guide wall which mates to the running surface other than at the outward extension so as to form a channel where the track is of sufficient length for the movement of a door running along said running surface between an unsealed position alignable with the doorway opening and an ingressable-egressable position not aligned with the doorway opening; andc. a plurality of strip seals that are configurable to be mounted on the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration so as to circumscribe the doorway opening. 29. The hingeless door system kit of claim 28 where the section of the track having an outward extension is a separate extension member that is mountable to the remainder of the track. 30. The hingeless door system kit of claim 28 where the radius of the first arcuate track is about the same as the radius of the second arcuate track. 31. The hingeless door system kit of claim 28 where the radius of the first arcuate track is greater than the radius of the second arcuate track. 32. The hingeless door system kit of claim 28 further comprising a bead seal configurable to be seated between two strip seals. 33. The hingeless door system kit of claim 28 further comprising a bezel ring wall extender having a retaining surface that has a concave configuration, a major opening and a minor opening that is mountable at the major opening to the doorway opening. 34. The hingeless door system kit of claim 28 further comprising a door that has circular shape and exterior engaging surface that has a convex-like configuration for conformingly contacting the retaining surface having a concave-like configuration.