Project on In-Flight Service Trolleys

[rmarsha5]

Hello, I am a full time student studying engineering. I am currently doing my final year project on the food/beverage trolley for commercial airlines.

So far for my literature review, I have found plenty of websites of manufacturers that produce service trolleys but what I have problem with finding is any journals or thesis on trolleys? I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get hold of them?

There must be at least one journal in this entire world! :ugh:

Thanking in anticipation. :ok:

Ryan

[Dual ground]

Why must there be a journal about them? Component Maintenance Manual yes, but why must there be any other publication referring to them? Or for that matter a thesis about them?

[rmarsha5]

Basically I am trying to see if there are any comments or criticism on the service trolley itself. I just like to see if I can find any primary sources to strengthen up my research on them. It can be either engineering-wise, aesthetically or ergonomically of the existing trolleys design. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

[CD]

Something along these lines, perhaps?

SAE ARP4171 - Safety Considerations of Food and Beverage Service Carts (Cancelled Feb 2005) (http://standards.sae.org/arp4171a/)
SAE AS8056 - Minimum Design and Performance of Airplane Galley In-Flight Carts, Containers, and Associated Components (http://standards.sae.org/as8056/)

[PilotMikeTx]

Weight reduction and streamlining of the trolley operator would be a good idea. Maybe I'll write a journal article....
:E

[flapsforty]

Yes Texas Mike, why don´t you?

I'm sure it will be a tome of wit and meaningful insight. :rolleyes:

Best of luck with your research Marsha; anything that improves those trolleys is more than welcome. :ok:

Main problem in our lot seems to be the wheels. eg, only move in one direction, making it very difficult to move them in and out of their trolley garages and making it impossible to move them up and down the aisles without bumping them into the seats of poor long suffering pax. Brakes are also a weak point.

[dubh12000]

Wasn't there an exact clone of this question around this time last year....?


*goes on the search facility*

[dubh12000]

http://www.pprune.org/cabin-crew/362581-aircraft-trolleys-good-bad.html

[rmarsha5]

Thanks CD for the links for the SAE standards. Does it include ATLAS and KSSU standards?
Pilot Mike, if you do write a journal article that would be brilliant! :E

So basically the main problem is the weight issue as well as the wheels?
I have looked at the old thread as posted by dubh and I felt it didn’t really cover much of what I wanted to know for my project but thank you for finding it.:ok:
I was also wondering which standards are used more in commericial airlines? ATLAS or KSSU?

[617sqn]

Empty singe trolleys are not very stable.For this reason,at my airline they cannot be used for a hot beverage service.
Double trolleys are safer.

[dubaicrew]

Not sure if this is of any help, but i recently attended a presentation by the Alpha Group (uk) about a new lightweight trolley (half cart) that they have created.
They had comparisons etc, and it is to help reduce carbon emissions among other things..

[EISNN]

Yes that's right dubaicrew. I read an article about it too. it's made of a carbon fibre material as well I believe. Much lighter than what's already there. Most problems in regards to catering trolleys/carts is that the wheels get stuck or the brakes don't work or in fact the brakes are stuck and you can't get the damn things moving without looking like you're pushing the actual aircraft itself. :ugh:

just found the following links that might help

http://ides.typepad.com/plastics_news/2010/09/aerocat-introduces-leasing-program-for-new-lightweight-recyclable-airline-catering-trolley.html

http://www.driessen.com/pub/galleyequipment/trolleys/index.html

http://machinedesign.com/article/plastics-to-replace-aluminum-in-airline-catering-trolleys-0707

[Fargoo]

One idea would be to have recessed rails in the cabin floor, thin enough to not be unsightly.
There could then be a locking system on the underside of the trolley so that not only are the trolleys stable and secure at all times but also they wouldn't need steering down the cabin or bump into passengers' seats anymore.

Just a thought, I know it would add some expense and maintenance issues but might be one improvement to consider.

[UFGBOY]

Years ago on the Tristars the carts had a locking device that clicked onto a pull up (or when downstairs or in a stowage fixed round device) shaped like one of the above funghi...

Was excellent as you were not totally reliant on the brake alone on the cart

;)

[Mr Optimistic]

They look like ergonomic disasters to have to work with, too much bending and twisting in a confined space. How about urns instead of those old fashioned pots for the hot drinks ? All that handing over empty pots as the person nearest the gallery has to scamper back.

[rmarsha5]

Thanks guys for all the response. As I can see it is always an issue about the weight of the trolley. As 677sqn mentioned, the single (or half-sized trolley) wouldnt be stable when it is empty so this is
an important safety issue to bring up in my research. Um..Lifting pointed the other problem which are the wheels on the trolleys where it would get stuck or gives restricted movement.

The links from EISNN is very useful, thanks! The ideas ive read on here, it is very similar to some ideas that I have thought of like the rails on the floor or the ceiling.
Um..lifting - i think the way of putting short spikes that comes down to the carpet is a great alternative to the traditional brakes but a mystery question is does it actually make the trolley stay in one position with spikes holding on to the carpet?
The carpet would need to be quite thick and probably end up having to be replaced in under a year with the amount of times the carpet gets spiked.

I have thought about the cabin crew's problem with bending over to get to the bottom shelf/drawer to get something, and possibly could come up with something would able to push all the food and trolley up when the top line of food/drink is empty, kind of like a heavy based spring underneath.
Any other ideas on this part of the design?

[Dual ground]

Forget spikes. The wear on the carpet would be a secondary concern, compared to the potential for damage to the floor panels. These are of a composite, honeycomb construction and any punctures will compromise their rigidity and strength.

The idea of some kind of spring loaded lifting device would also add weight to your design, which I think would be counter productive. In order to convince customers that your product is an improvement you need to be looking at reducing weight, not increasing it.

[rmarsha5]

I was wondering if anyone knows how to get KSSU and ATLAS in-flight trolley dimensions or any technical data. I have only seemed to find some data from Driessen Website but it wasn't detailed enough and I need to find other resourecs to back me up on dimensions.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

[617sqn]

Haven't heard of KSSU trolleys.
When I first started flying we had atlas trolleys and galleys.Then our galleys were aced.
Have you tried finding info on ace trolleys as well?
This is the only type that my airline uses.

[rmarsha5]

Thanks for the tip but I haven't actually heard of Ace so I did a quick search on it but couldn't really find anything. There is an Ace website that does trolleys in their product range but it didn't seemed to have an aircraft trolley for the galleys in their range.

Do you know of anything like websites that I can look at for their aircraft trolley?

[Havana]

Hi.

The ACE carts are used on BA aircraft only only. They are a little bigger than the ATLAS units. KSSU again is a little different in size. I think there are another 1 or 2 types out there as well.

Carts are often specified by airlines, there is not really a "Standard" cart. The closest thing to standard is probably those made by Driessen.

Hope that helps

C

[Havana]

Hi again,

Maybe should have added,

The BA ACE units are made by Driessen to BA spec and therefore I doubt that you will find a website for them.
ACE is a BA code for Airline catering Equipment
I understand ATLAS is also an acromen (?) for the airlines involved in the design
A-Alitalia
T- Turkish(?) or TAP
L - Luthasa
A- (?)Air France
S - Sabana

I do not know where KSSU came from

H