Design of Entrance Door Mechanism for Sabreliner Jet Aircraft

Abstract The redesign of the entrance door of a Sabreliner corporate jet to improve access to the aircraft cabin is described. The current aircraft design uses a door that opens into the cabin space allowing the top of the door to swing through the opening. The door rotates into its final position where it becomes the entrance steps to the aircraft cabin. In the present configuration, the open door is inclined 60° with the top step situated 14 inches above the cabin floor. This paper presents two new designs for the cabin door where the top step is reduced to the same height as the cabin floor. In addition, the incline of the steps has been reduced from 60° to about 45° improving access to the cabin. The final designs, developed using LINCAGES 4[1] and LINCAGES 6[2] computer software, are 6-bar mechanisms — one using pin joints and the other using a rotating slider link. In both cases, the floating coupler (the door) is driven by hand.