INCREASED SECURITY FLIGHT DECK DOOR STRIKE APPARATUS AND METHOD

摘要

A door strike apparatus 10 for enabling opening of a door 142 in the event of a decompression condition experienced within a flight deck area includes a housing 12 supported adjacent the door 142 and a strike arm 84 movable between a locked state restricting rotation of the door 142 and an unlocked state permitting rotation of the door 142. A solenoid 52 having a lock member 54 retracted from the strike arm 84 when the strike arm 84 is in the unlocked state and engaged with the strike arm 84 when the strike arm 84 is in the locked state. The solenoid 52 is responsive to the decompression condition and selectively toggles the lock member 54 out of engagement with the strike arm 84 to permit automatic unlocking of the strike arm 84 and opening of the door under the decompression condition and into engagement with the strike arm 84 to permit selective locking of the door 142 when the decompression condition is absent. The door strike apparatus 10 may include a secondary lock mechanism to temporarily absorb the force on strike arm 84 in the decompression condition, enabling the solenoid 52 to retract the lock member 54.