Patent US3916588A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3916588A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Integrated industrial and urban airport complex with passenger and fright handling facilities
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1973-09-13
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Granted: 1975-11-04
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Expires: 1993-09-13
Abstract
Abstract An airport complex comprising: (a) a main multi-level terminal building having peripheral gates for the enplaning and deplaning of passengers and cargo, (b) a system of transit rails and expressways for transporting passengers to and from the airport complex and into the terminal building for selective discharge and reception thereof in the vicinity of the gates, (c) a system of rails and roads for transporting freight to the transfer buildings, (d) a system of cargo transporting rails for transporting container-enclosed cargo from the transfer buildings to selected locations within the terminal building for ultimate dispatch to the gates, and (e) a system of runways encompassing the terminal building and defining a ramp area for aircraft in the vicinity of the gates. The terminal building of the airport complex presents an outline which is conducive to uncongested mass passenger movements within the building as well as unobstructed aircraft ramp maneuvering. At one level within the multi-level terminal building, cargo rails define holding areas where the container-enclosed cargo may be switched, sorted and dispatched to various locations at such level while cargo elevators conduct such cargo selectively from one level to another. A central tower including a gate tower and a flight tower projects upwardly from the roof of the terminal building and affords visibility for aircraft in flight and for the various gates so that computerized equipment may be caused to control aircraft flight, gate assignments, and automatic cargo movement throughout the terminal building. A residential hotel building encompasses the lower region of the central tower and the portion of the terminal building roof surrounding the hotel building affords vehicle parking, car rental, heliport and other facilities. A main passenger level within the terminal building affords a wide variety of passenger conveniences such as restaurants, shops and airline passenger and baggage handling facilities. Inner and outer peripheral corridors extend completely around the building, straddle the passenger handling gate facilities, and function to alleviate the congestion which ordinarily is incident to passenger flow toward and away from the gate areas.
Inventors
- 👤 John W Magill
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 18:01
CPC Classifications
B; B64; B64F; B64F1/00; B64F1/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
367 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex embodying a large tract of land and including a system of aircraft landing and take-off strips surrounding and defining an aircraft loading and unloading ramp area, a multi-level terminal building including a ground floor level and a second floor level located on said ramp area, and consisting of a central section having an outline which approximates that of a parallelogram, and a pair of end wing sections each of which has an outline which approximates that of a triangle, said wing sections being connected to the central section in equiangular apex-to-apex fashion so that converging sides of each wing section approximately constitute linear extensions of adjacent converging sides of the central section, the outline of the building as a whole thus assuming a bow tie configuration, means defining a series of bi-level passenger gates along each of the four sides of the central section and each of the three sides of each wing section, each of said gates embodying ground floor level defining facilities and second floor level enplaning facilities, said aircraft landing and take-off strips and the terminal building being disposed centrally of said tract of land, said multi-story terminal building embodying, in addition to said ground floor level and said second floor level, a below grade level and additional floor levels above said second floor level, and a flat roof above the uppermost floor level, an outlying freight transfer building disposed on said tract of land remote from the terminal building for the reception of incoming freight, cargo-carrying rails for the transportation of containerized cargo extending between the freight transfer building and the terminal building and entering the latter at below grade level, endless-type cargo conveyors projecting outwardly of the terminal building from said ground floor level and into the ramp area for conducting enplaning cargo to aircraft on the ramp area, track-switching facilities on said below grade level establishing a cargo-holding and distribution area for receiving cargo from said cargo-carrying rails, cargo shuttles on said roof, ramp up-elevators extending from said below grade level to said cargo shuttles, and cargo downelevators extending from the shuttles to the ground floor level in the vicinity of said cargo conveyors.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
367 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex embodying a large tract of land and including a system of aircraft landing and take-off strips surrounding and defining an aircraft loading and unloading ramp area, a multi-level terminal building including a ground floor level and a second floor level located on said ramp area, and consisting of a central section having an outline which approximates that of a parallelogram, and a pair of end wing sections each of which has an outline which approximates that of a triangle, said wing sections being connected to the central section in equiangular apex-to-apex fashion so that converging sides of each wing section approximately constitute linear extensions of adjacent converging sides of the central section, the outline of the building as a whole thus assuming a bow tie configuration, means defining a series of bi-level passenger gates along each of the four sides of the central section and each of the three sides of each wing section, each of said gates embodying ground floor level defining facilities and second floor level enplaning facilities, said aircraft landing and take-off strips and the terminal building being disposed centrally of said tract of land, said multi-story terminal building embodying, in addition to said ground floor level and said second floor level, a below grade level and additional floor levels above said second floor level, and a flat roof above the uppermost floor level, an outlying freight transfer building disposed on said tract of land remote from the terminal building for the reception of incoming freight, cargo-carrying rails for the transportation of containerized cargo extending between the freight transfer building and the terminal building and entering the latter at below grade level, endless-type cargo conveyors projecting outwardly of the terminal building from said ground floor level and into the ramp area for conducting enplaning cargo to aircraft on the ramp area, track-switching facilities on said below grade level establishing a cargo-holding and distribution area for receiving cargo from said cargo-carrying rails, cargo shuttles on said roof, ramp up-elevators extending from said below grade level to said cargo shuttles, and cargo downelevators extending from the shuttles to the ground floor level in the vicinity of said cargo conveyors.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
48 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the end sections are connected to the central section by short corridor neck portions, and means are provided defining at least one similar bi-level gate at the outer side of each neck portion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
56 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the outer corners of each triangular end wing section and the outer corners of the central section are truncated in order to define linearly straight short building sides, and each of said latter building sides defines at least one bi-level gate.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
88 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 1 and wherein said multi-level terminal building embodies, additionally, a below grade level, and a high-speed mass transit passenger railway consisting of incoming and outgoing tracks, enters the airport complex at ground level, passes beneath the strips, enters the building at the end of one of said triangular wing sections below grade level, passes completely and longitudinally through the building, and leaves said building from the end of the other triangular wing section below grade level.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
36 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 4 and wherein said mass transit passenger railway enters the airport at one end thereof and leaves the airport at the other end thereof.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
41 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 4 and wherein said mass transit passenger railway is flanked on opposite sides by multi-lane vehicular expressways which also pass completely through the terminal building at below grade level.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
44 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 6 and wherein said mass transit passenger railway is provided with a series of up-grade and down-grade ramps leading to and from passenger boarding stations on the ground level of the building.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
38 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 1 and wherein said cargo-carrying rails for the transportation of containerized cargo extend between the transfer building and one triangular end section of the terminal building.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
48 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 8 and wherein said cargo-carrying rails which extend between the cargo transfer building and one of the triangular sections of the terminal building have interposed therein a cargo holding area consisting of a track switching arrangement.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
80 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 8 and wherein certain of said cargo elevators extend upwardly from said track switching facilities on the below grade level and communicate with cargo-transporting shuttles on said roof, the shuttles communicate with certain others of the cargo elevators at peripheral regions of the building, and said latter cargo elevators extend to ground level in the vicinity of the cargo conveyors which lead to the aircraft on the ramp.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
38 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 10 and wherein said shuttles are four in number and extend radially outwardly from the central region of said roof to the periphery of the latter.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
94 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the terminal building is further provided with a balcony-like mezzanine level immediately above one of said floor levels, kitchen facilities are disposed on said mezzanine level for the preparation of passenger flight meals, food elevators extend between the mezzanine level and the ground floor level, and additional endless-type conveyors project outwardly of the building from said ground floor level in the vicinity of the food elevators and into the ramp area for conducting food to aircraft on the ramp.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
31 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 12 and wherein said food elevators consist of both up-elevators and down-elevators, and said additional conveyors are two-way conveyors.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
77 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 3 and wherein the multi-level building is provided with a flat roof which is substantially coextensive with the outline of the building, a tower structure projects upwardly and centrally from said roof, and a multi-story inhabitable building encircles said tower structure, projects upwardly from said roof and, in combination with the tower structure, defines an internal sheltered courtyard area on the level of the roof.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
60 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 1 and wherein a high-speed mass transit passenger railway which consists of incoming and outgoing tracks enters the airport complex at ground level, passes beneath the strips, and enters the terminal building through the wing sections at below grade level for the discharge of passengers within the buildings.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex according to claim 14 and wherein heliport and vehicle parking facilities are formed on the roof exteriorly of the continuous inhabitable building.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
256 words
An intEgrated industrial and urban airport complex including a system of aircraft landing and take-off strips surrounding and defining an aircraft loading and unloading ramp area, a multi-story terminal building located on said ramp area and embodying a ground floor level, a below grade level, a second floor level, additional floor levels above said second floor level, and a flat roof above the uppermost of said floor levels, means defining a series of bi-level passenger gates along the sides of the terminal building, a high-speed mass transit passenger railway consisting of incoming and outgoing tracks entering the terminal building at ground floor level, passing beneath the airstrips, entering the building at below grade level, and passing completely through the building in a longitudinal direction for the discharge of passengers at selected locations in the vicinity of the various gates, each gate embodying passenger enplaning and seating facilities including ticket issuing and baggage checking counters on the second floor level, and passenger deplaning facilities including baggage claiming counters on the ground lever, a down-escalator extending between the second floor level and the ground floor level in the vicinity of said passenger enplaning and passenger deplaning facilities, covered passageways projecting outwardly into the ramp area from the second floor level, a service and passenger corridor extending peripherally around the building on the second floor level on the outer side of said passenger enplaning facilities, and a main passenger corridor extending peripherally around the building on the second floor level on the inner side of said passenger enplaning facilities.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
53 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 17 and wherein said down-escalators are disposed in the vicinity of the service and passenger corridor, and additional up and down escalators extend between the second floor level and the ground floor level in the vicinity of the main passenger corridor.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 17 and wherein parking facilities for the vehicles of enplaning and deplaning passengers are provided on said roof.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
30 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 19 and wherein said roof is further provided with a heliport for the landing and take-off of helicopters.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
An integrated industrial and urban airport complex as set forth in claim 20 and wherein automobile rental offices are disposed on said roof in selected peripheral regions thereof.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3157374A
Cited
US3571990A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-11-03 | 1979-05-05 | 1979-11-04 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-11-03 | 1983-05-05 | 1983-11-04 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-11-03 | 1987-05-05 | 1987-11-04 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |