Exterior of the Advanced Spacewall Lavatory
The bulk of my experience with Collins was working on the Advanced Spacewall Lavatory for the Boeing 737 aircraft family. This great thing about this monument was that the curved forward wall allowed for an extra row of seats in a customer’s layout. Alternatively, this would let the existing row of seats actually recline, which is impossible with a lavatory with a flat forward wall. These features are discussed in a report from the US Government Accountability Office GAO-20-258.
My primary focus was on some of the internal mechanisms and more of the generally “unseen” aspects of the Spacewall and Advanced Flatwall lavatories including:
- Internal Vanity Latches
- Primary Door Hinges
- Integrated Waste Flap Mechanisms
- Potable Water Systems and Routing
Interior of the Advanced Spacewall Lavatory
I also worked on a number of “touch” items like tissue and light bezels, counter tops, and sinks. Much of this involved the modification of injection molding tooling which required working closely with the supplier. We came up with changes that both accomplished the goal and did so efficiently , from both a cost and tool-change perspective.
Some of my most enjoyable work included automation and design constraint tools that helped with the repeatability and standardization of our designs. For instance, a tool to create standard length potable water hoses using excel spreadsheet data rather than tedious design work. These hoses would then snap to 3D spline geometry and show a designer if it would work or not. I developed a script inside NX9 which pulled our standard panel mortise and tenon geometry and automatically generated cuts into the panel geometry.
“Pax Plus” Lavatory + Galley Complex
I was also a design focal for the Pax Plus Lavatory and Galley Complex production development. Pax Plus is an exceptional monument that was designed from the start to comply with US Department of Transportation rules for Persons/Passengers of Reduced Mobility (PRM). The major feature of this complex is the movable wall which allows for significantly easier wheelchair access. Prior to this, the aircraft used for short and domestic US flights (Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 class) mostly didn’t have lavatories with wheelchair accessible features. This lavatory configuration is also discussed in the GAO report mentioned above.
My responsibilities on this program included the full detailed design of the upper vanities, lower vanities, and potable water systems. I was also the focal to ensure a common design language on the interior of the lavatories. It was critical to ensure that all our gaps, colors, and finishes were consistent across the design.
