Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SUPPORT FOR PASSENGER ENTERTAINMENT AND PERSONAL
ELECTRONIC DEVICES MOUNTED IN AIRCRAFT SEAT TRACKS
TECHNICAL FIELD
5[0001]The invention relates to an easily installed and
removed support for personal electronic devices for
passenger use in an aircraft cabin mounted to the cabin
floor, mounted within the seat tracks in the cabin floor
and stowed away under the passenger seat or in a free
standing pedestal.
BACKGROUND OF THE ART
[0002]Aircraft passenger cabins are currently constructed or
are being retrofit with a wide assortment of personal
electronic devices with entertainment options accessible
from the passenger seat. To improve service and make the
flight more enjoyable or productive, airlines may provide
audio and video entertainment, telephone, intercom,
television, video games, internet, email and electrical
power supply for laptop computers, especially in business
class and first class cabins thus permitting passengers to
work during the flight, to communicateor to be entertained
without leaving their seat or disturbing other passengers.
[0003] Passenger entertainment systems such as seat mounted
flat screen video monitors, and credit card activated
cellular telephones are now commonly mounted in the seat
laacks and seat arm rests of passenger aircraft. Some
airlines also distribute compact personal DVD players with
a choice of movies, or personal audio CD. players in first
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class and business class cabins. Passengers may carry
their own laptop computers or CD players and seek power
outlets to preserve batteries and extend use during long
flights.
5[0004]Within the confines of a passenger seat fitted with a
conventional food service tray table, use of such
entertainment and personal electronic equipment creates
conflicts with the food and beverage service in an aircraft
cabin. The available space is often inadequate, the
electrical equipment is exposed to spillage of beverages,
and equipment may be damaged after sliding off the tray
table on to the cabin floor.
[0005] Given existing aircraft cabins and seating
arrangements, conventionally it has been considered
necessary to fit all such equipment within the passenger
seat itself. Armrests and seat backs are built with
compartments for such purposes adding to the cost of the
seats and requiring regulatory approval since the weight,
centre of gravity and performance during a crash could be
effected by adding the weight of equipment or modifying the
seat frame structure. Airlines desiring to upgrade service
by providing electric power, entertainment and personal
electronic device capacity are faced with the problem of
replacing expensive passenger seats before their service
life has ended and submitting new designs for regulatory
approval, both of which consume significant time and money.
[0006]Conventionally, passenger seat units are often fitted
with power sources, entertainment and personal electronic
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system units that are mounted in armrests, in consoles, in
the seat back or under the seat as an interim measure.
[0007].It is an object of the present invention to separate
the provision of personal electronic devices entirely from
the passenger seats.
[0008]It is a further object of the invention to provide a
compact stow-able support that stows personal electronic
devices on an arm that mounts to the seat tracks
independently of the seats thereby avoiding any redesign or
retrofit of the passenger seats to accommodate various
entertainment or personal electronic functions.
[0009]Further objects o-f the invention will be apparent from
review of the disclosure, drawings and description of the
invention below.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0010]The invention provides a support for equipment
associated with a passenger seat assembly mounted to a
floor in a passenger cabin. The support having a base
adapted to anchor to two seat tracks in the cabin floor
with a post extending upwardly from the base. Individual
support arms each have a proximal end mounted to the base
and a distal end with an equipment mount. Each arm has
independent deployment transferring the associated arm from
a stowed position to a deployed position extending upwardly
from the post. The arm can be stowed under an associated
passenger seat or in a free-standing pedestal for example.
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[0011] A significant benefit of the invention is that
existing seats or existing seat designs need not be changed
in order to accommodate newly added services, such as
personal video entertainment, laptop computer power,
virtual reality video games, email, internet capacity or
other such entertainment and personal electronic services
complete with keyboards, control pads, display screens and
media drives within the very restricted confines of the
immediate passenger airline seat area. The invention
provides a completely independent stand alone support that
is independently supported within the seat tracks of the
cabin floor to support various devices such as flat screen
video monitors or DVD players as well as accommodating
power source cables and receptacles in a compact stow-able
unit that stows under the seat or in a pedestal.
[0012]Therefore, it is no longer necessary for airlines to
consider replacing existing seats in the passenger cabin or
purchasing newer more expensive seat designs nor for
modi,fications to the existing design of seats that would
require testing and regulatory approval in order to provide
personal electronic services to the passengers. The
invention provides an independent stand-alone support unit
for electrical components, which can be modified to.support
any such entertainment or personal electronic device.
[0013]A further advantage of the invention is the
flexibility of design that aircraft operators can achieve
through complete separation of the seating function and the
entertainment or personal electronic function within the
cabin. More particularly, the seats can be designed for
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maximum safety, service life and passenger comfort without
premature replacement. Seats can be used throughout their
entire functional operating life without considering
upgrades or modification to accommodate changes to the
5 entertainment or personal electronic systems. The seat
function of comfort and safety may be segregated from the
entertainment and personal electronic systems provided by
the independent support according to the invention. Audio
and video signals can be conveyed to the independent
support that houses video displays for example and includes
receptacles or jacks for headphones completely
independently of the seat. The airline operator can
quickly reconfigure the cabin (for charters, long haul or
short commuter flights), adding or removing entertainment
or personal electronic services by simply installing or
removing the independent support unit. Seats need not be
modified at all since the support for entertainment and
personal electronic systems is independently installed and
removed from the cabin.floor seat tracks.
[0014]Zn contrast, seat designs that require modification to
include fold up video display monitors or additional audio
equipment for example often suffer from a change in the
seat's centre of gravity or from other structural
modifications to the seats to accommodate the added
equipment. Any such change requires significant regulatory
approval or testing since the seat and lap belt are safety
features of the aircraft in any crash scenario. The
primary functions of the seats are to provide comfort and
safety and therefore any modification requires approval to
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ensure that there has been no compromise of structural
integrity or safety features.
[0015] Further, airlines often acquire aircraft from other
airlines through mergers or purchases and require that all
of their aircraft provide a consistent level of passenger
service throughout the fleet. In such circumstances,
retrofitting of passenger seats to accommodate
entertainment and personal electronic devices may be a
costly exercise. The invention provides a simple solution
enabling retrofitting of existing aircraft or reconfiguring
of aircraft with a rapid turn around. For example,
entertainment and personal electronic devices are usually
more desirable on long haul flights while use of the same
aircraft for commuter flights places a premium on cabin
space and number of passengers per aircraft.
Reconfiguration to provide such services is relatively
simple when the invention is used since the independent
supports may be installed and removed very quickly to
reconfigure the aircraft, whereas conventional
reconfiguration involves removing and replacing the entire
seat assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016]In order' that the invention may be readily understood,
embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of
example in the accompanying drawings.
[0017] Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of a three
passenger seat assembly with a first "economy class"
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embodiment of the invention provided spanning between the
two seat tracks with an equipment supporting arm extending
upwardly on thxee arms that can be individually folded and
rotated downwardly in a stowed position under the seats..
5[0018] Figure 2 is a side elevation view of two passenger
seats with supports as shown in Fig. 1, showing in the
right side seat the under seat stowed position, the
deployed position and the upwardly telescoped deployed
position.
[0019]Figure 3 is a detail sectional view along line 3-3 of
Figure 2.
[0020]Figure 4 is a detail sectional view along line 4-4 of
Figure 2.
[0021]Figure 5 shows an elevation view of a second "first
class or business class" embodiment of the invention with a
two passenger seat assembly with conventional tray table
located at lap height and provided between the two seats an
equipment supporting table extending upwardly and laterally
on two articulated arms that can be individually folded
downwardly in a stowed position within pockets in the
support post.
[0022] Figure 6 is a side elevation view of the arrangement
shown in Figure 5.
[0023] Figure 7 is a top plan view thereof.
[0024] Figure B is a detail view of the table showing the
ability to pivot in a horizontal plane and showing four
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table leaves slidably disposed in the side edges of the
table to extend the support surface.
[0025] Figure 9 is a plan view of a passenger cabin of an
aircraft showing six parallel seat supporting tracks that
extend longitudinally for connecting seat legs and showing
an adapter plate mounted to the seat tracks which is also
bolted to the base of the equipment support between the two
seats of each two seat assembly.
[0026] Figure 10 is a front elevation view of the arrangement
10- shown in Figure 9 indicating the location of seat tracks
that anchor three pairs of passenger seats to the cabin
floor structure.
[0027] Figure 11 is a detailed frontal view of a support
according to the invention showing the base with a life
vest storage compartment and two articulated arms with
equipment support tables in the stowed position.
[0028] Figure 12 is a side elevation view of the stowed
position shown in Figure 11.
[0029] Figure 13 is a detailed view of the articulated arms
in a stowed position.
[0030]Figure 14 is a plan view of the equipment support
table with extension leaves shown in the extended position.
[0031] Figure 15 is an exploded elevation view of the
equipment suppo-rt table of Figure 14.
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[0032] Figure 16 is a partial sectional elevation view
showing housing of an electrical power source within the
base of the support and showing the cable raceway extending
cable from the power source to a receptacle in the top
portion of the post.
[0033] Figure 17 is a frontal elevation view of the support
with front compartment door removed to show mounting for
the power source and storage compartment for the life vests
as well showing a spring loaded latch to retain the
articulated arms in the stowed position.
[0034] Figure 18 is a side view of the detail shown in Figure
17.
[0035]Figure 19 is a sectional view along lines 19-19 of
Figure 17.
[0036]Figure 20 is a top plan view of the spring loaded
latch that detains the articulated arms in the stowed
position.
[0037] Figure 21 is a detailed elevation view of the latch.
[0038] Further details of the invention and its advantages
2G will be apparent from the detailed description included
below.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0039] Referring to the first embodiment shown in Figures 1-
4, a support 1 for personal electronic devices 2 is shown
maunted to seat tracks 3 independently of the associated
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seat assembly 4. In the first "economy class" embodiment
shown, the seat assembly 4 has three passenger seats 5 on a
common base with seat legs 6 mounted to the seat tracks 3
in a conventional manner. Two to five or more seats 5 can
5 be accommodated in a like manner.
[0040] Completely independently of tYie seat assembly 4 and
mounting of the seat legs 6 in the seat track 3 is the
support 1 which includes a base 7 adapted to anchor to the
two seat tracks 3 in the cabin flour of the aircraft cabin.
10 The base 7 includes two mounting brackets 8 each adapted to
engage the associated parallel seat track 3. Extending
upwardly from the mounting bracket 8 of the base 7 is a
post 9. A beam 10 expands between the upward end of each
post 9 and rotatably supports three arms 11.
[0041] Each arm 11 can be independently deployed from the
stowed position shown on the left of Figure 1 (under the
associated passenger seat 5 and to a deployed position
extending upwardly from the post 9. In the embodiment
shown, the base 7 is adapted for disposition between the
seat legs 6, however depending on the orientation of seat
legs 6, the base 7 may be positioned anywhere along the
seat track 3.
[0042] The arm 11 may include a telescoping portion to raise
and lower the equipment mount 12 and attached personal
electronic device 2 as indicated in arrows on the right
side of Figure 1. Further, the equipment mount 12 is
rotatably connected at pivot joint 13 to a distal end of
the arm 11 so that the personal electronic device 2 can be
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flipped downwardly as indicated in the left portion of
Figure 1 and then rotated about the lower end of the arm 11
on beam 10 to an under seat stowed position.
[0043]In order to power the personal electronic device 2 and
avoid unsightly cables, preferably the arm 11 is hollow or
includes a cable raceway enclosing cables extending between
the base 7 and a top portion of the arm 11. The beam 10
may also be hollow and include a cable raceway. Any wires
and cables can extend under the cabin floor or under the
carpet in cable raceways within the floor through mounting
bracket and up post 9 through the beam 10 and into arms 11.
Also preferably, the arms 11 can include a receptacle in
communication with cables for providing auxiliary power,
headphones jacks or other types of receptacles and
consoles. .
[0044] Figure 2 shows a side view illustrating clearly the
independent mounting of the support 1 in the seat tracks 3
separate from the mounting of the seats 4 in the same seat
tracks 3. Figures 3 and 4 show details of the base 7 for
mounting in the seat track 3, where the base 7 includes two
gusset plates 14 and four mounting struts 15.
[0045] Referring to Figures 5 through 8, the second "first
class or business class" embodiment of the invention
provides a pedestal support 16 for equipment such as
entertainment and-personal electronic devices that are
associated with a passenger seat 17 mounted to the floor 18
in the passenger cabin. With reference to Figure 7,
conventional paasenger seats 17 include arm rests 19 that
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may conventionally have hinged compartment doors in their
top surface to house foldable articulated arms with flat
screen video displays. Most armrests also conventionally
include jacks for head phones to access the aircraft audio
system as well as other personal electronic devices to page
a cabin attendant, light switches etc. built in to
conventional passenger seats 17.
[0046]The invention however provides a stand alone support
16 that has upwardly extending articulated arms 19 that
fold downwardly into a stowed position within the post 21
of the support 16 and optionally include an equipment mount
table 22. The embodiment shown includes a flat table 22 as
a means to mount entertainment and personal electronic
equipment with extension leaves 23 slidably disposed on
lateral edges of the table to accommodate a personal DVD
player ar CD player for example. However, it will be
understood that the invention is not limited to provision
of a table 22, but also includes other means to mount
various types of equipment such as a flat screen video
monitor, LED display or even a 3-D virtual reality helmet
for playing video games for example. The base 24 of the
support 16 is large enough to house a life vest storage
compartment and to house electrical components such as
power supply units 37 or other electronic components.
[0047]With reference to Figures 9 and 10, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that drilling holes
in the existing cahin floor 18 not only involves
significantly expense and disruption to the cabin interior
but alsa may involve weakening of the cabin floor 18
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structure in some aircraft. Therefore, it is much
preferable to utilize an adapter plate 26 which can be
disposed under the cabin carpet and between the metal legs
supporting the passenger seats 17 and anchored in existing
seat tracks 27. The seat tracks 27 are recessed in the
cabin floor 18 surface and enable the passenger seats 17 to
be positioned longitudinally at any point along the track
27 in a rapid manner. The invention therefore preferably
utilizes the adapter plate 26 that is also bolted to the
track 27 beneath the metal legs of the seats 17. The
embodiment in Figure 9 shows that the adapter plates 26
include large circular cut outs in order to reduce their
weight, which is a critical concern in aircraft
applications. Figure 16, shows the adapter plate 26
resting on the cabin floor 18 and bolted to the base 24 of
the support 16. The metal legs 28 of the passenger seats
17 clamp the plate 26 in position.
[0048] With reference to Figures 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19, the
basic sheet metal structure of the support 16 can be seen.
The support 16 includes a base 24 anchored to the tracks 27
in the cabin floor 18 with an adapter plate 26. The base
24 is disposed laterally adjacent and forward to the
passenger seats 17 that are served by the support 16.
[0049] Extending upwardly from the base 24 is a post 21,
.25 which includes two elongate pockets 29 within which the
articulated support arms 20 are shown (in Figures 11 and
12) in the stowed position. A proximal end of each support
arm 20 is pivotally mounted to a top portion of the post 21
with a T-bracket 30. The distal end of the arm 20 includes
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the equipment support table 22, which is also shown in the
stowed position.
[0050]Figure 13 shows an improved detailed view of the
articulated arms 20-. It can be appreciated that each arm
20 is independently deployable and pivotally mounted to an
associated T-bracket 30 to rotate about the shoulder bolt
31. A gas spring 32 resiliently biases the articulated arm
20 to the deployed position (shown in Figure 5). A lower
end 33 of the gas spring 32 is pivotally maunted to the
post 21 on a small bracket while the upper end 34 is
pivotally connected to the arm 20 at a short distance from
the shoulder bolt 31. The gas spring 32 exerts a rotary
force to resiliently bias the arm 20 toward the deployed
position.
[0051] Therefore, each arm 20 has independent deployment
means for transferring the associated arm 20 from the
stowed position (shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13) housed
'within the associated pocket 29 of the post 21 to the
deployed position (shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3) extending
upwardly and laterally from the post 21 toward a central
portion of the associated seat 17.
[0052]As shown in Figure 16 and 18, the post 21 preferably
includes a cable raceway 35 housing at least one cable 36
extending between the base 24 and the top portion of the
post 21. In the embodiment shown, the base 24 houses an
electrical power supply unit 37 held in place with a
bracket 38 that is provided with a power receptacle 39 in
communication with the cable 36 to provide power for laptop
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computers for example. Cables from the base 24 to the
aircraft services can be hidden beneath the carpet, under
the floor or in floor mounted raceways.
[0053]As best seen in Figures 17, 18, 20 and 21, the pocket
5 29 also preferably includes a latch 40 for releasably
detaining the arm 20 in the stowed position (shown in
Figure 11, and 12) As seen in the detailed views of
Figures 20 and 21, the latch 40 includes a manual button 41
which is spring loaded to the catch position shown in
10 Figure 20 to resiliently detain the arm 20. Depressing the
button 41 against the force of spring 42 releases the arm
from dog 43. The arm 20 is resiliently biased by the
gas spring 32 to the deployed position and when free of the
latch 40 rotates upwardly.
15 [0054]With reference to Figures 8, 14 and 15, an equipment
support table 22 is constructed of an upper plate 44 and a
lower plate 45 which sandwich together the sliding table
leaves 23. As well, the table 22 can rotate about a bolt
46 (shawn in Figure 8) that rotatably connects the table 22
20 to the distal end of the articulated arm 20.
[0055]Turning to the detailed view of the articulated arms
20 in Figure 13, the arm 20 can telescope longitudinally by
means of a carriage 47 with pins 48 and 49 sliding in
tracks 50 of a first arm segment 51. Carriage release dog
52 holds the carriage 47 in the stowed position until
sufficient rotation occurs about bolt 31 when the latch 10
is released to release the carriage release dog 52. Under
the biased force of the gas spring 32, rotation occurs and
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the arm 20 rotates upwardly about the shoulder bolt 31. At
a predetermined position above a level plane, the carriage
release dog 52 releases the carriage 47 and the carriage 47
can manually slide on pins 48 and 49 in the tracks 50.
When the trailing pin 49 reaches the closed end of its
track 50-, the leading pin 48 is released from the track 50
and permits table 22 and the second arm segment 38 (which
is pivotally mounted to the carriage 47 with bolt 54) can
rotate about the trailing pin 49 to the deployed position
of Figures 5 and 6.
[0056]Of course, to move from the deployed position shown in
Figures 5 and 6 to the stowed position shown to Figures 11
and 12 for example, the passenger manually rotates the
table 22, second arm segment 23 and carriage 47 about
trailing pin 49, then re-engages leading pin 48 into its
track 50 to slide the carriage 47 relative to the first arm
segment 51 and to engage the carriage 47 on the caxriage
release dog 52 simultaneously rotating the arm 20 about the
shoulder bolt 31 against the resilient biasing force
exerted by the gas spring 32. Once sufficiently rotated,
the arm 20 engages the spring loaded dog 43 of the latch 40
and is held in the stowed position until the button 41 of
the latch 40 is released again. Gas spring 32 are
preferred for this application of course because they
provide a slow controlled motion.
[0057]Although the above description relates to a specific
preferred embodiment as presently contemplated by the
inventor, it will be understood that the invention in its
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broad aspect includes mechanical and functional equivalents
of the elements described herein.
