TECHNICAL FIELD

The technical field relates generally to aircraft and seat track assemblies for vibration isolation of floor mounted components, and more particularly relates to aircraft isolators and mounting assemblies for isolators disposed within a seat track.

BACKGROUND

A conventional passenger aircraft includes a fuselage, a cabin interior attached to and/or supported by the fuselage, and a floor that defines a bottom of the cabin interior and is supported by the fuselage. As the aircraft is flown, the fuselage interacts with the atmosphere. This interaction generates vibration that travels through the floor to any components secured to the floor. The vibrating components, if left unchecked, will be perceived by occupants of the aircraft as noise, which is undesirable.

The noise generated by these vibrating components may be reduced by using a vibration isolation assembly. One conventional vibration isolation assembly rigidly mounts a support fitting to the floor, and then fastens the mounted component to the support fitting using a vibration isolator. These conventional assemblies have spatial constraints that limit the size of the vibration assemblies. Such limited size can limit the noise reduction potential of these conventional assemblies. Although these conventional vibration isolation assemblies are suitable for their intended purpose, there is room for improvement.

As such, it is desirable to provide improved aircraft and assemblies for vibration isolation of floor mounted components. In addition, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS

Various non-limiting embodiments of aircraft, vibration isolation assemblies, and methods of assembling vibration isolation assemblies are disclosed herein.

In a first non-limiting embodiment, a vibration isolation assembly includes, but is not limited to, a mounting track, a plate, a clamp block, a vibration isolator, and a support fitting. The mounting track defines a cavity and includes flanges that define an opening to the cavity. The plate is configured to be positioned on the flanges outside of the cavity. The clamp block is configured to be fastened to the plate under the flanges of the mounting track within the cavity. The vibration isolator is configured to be laterally constrained by the clamp block within the cavity and by the mounting track underneath the vibration isolator. The support fitting is configured to be secured to the vibration isolator outside of the cavity and to be separated from the plate and the clamp block.

In a second non-limiting embodiment, an aircraft includes a floor and a vibration isolation assembly secured to the floor. The vibration isolation assembly includes a seat track, a plate, a clamp block, a vibration isolator, and a support fitting. The seat track defines a cavity and includes flanges that define an opening to the cavity. The plate is positioned on the flanges outside of the cavity. The clamp block is fastened to the plate under the flanges of the seat track within the cavity. The vibration isolator is laterally constrained by the clamp block within the cavity. The support fitting is secured to the vibration isolator outside of the cavity and is separated from the plate and the clamp blocks.

