Patent Application
20230116152
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The disclosure relates to tray table device and more particularly pertains to a new tray table device for providing a surface that can be used for holding articles such as small electronics, to serve as a writing space, and to support food items in a location that is convenient within an aircraft cockpit and particularly those cockpits that include an extended center console positioned between pilot and co-pilot seats. These types of cockpits are well known for being very tight fitting and therefore do not provide room for typical table assemblies. As such, a pilot, in particular, is often left with little choice but to physically hold onto items such as notebooks, maps, computer tablets, coffee cups and the like or inconveniently set these articles on their lap.
The prior art relates to tray table devices that are useful when the can either be folded out of a chair armrest or extended rearwardly from a forwardly positioned seat. However, these types of devices cannot be readily modified to fit within a cockpit having a center console which includes aircraft avionic equipment.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an airplane cockpit having a pair of front seats. A console is positioned in front of the seats and includes a central section that extends between the seats. The central section has a first lateral wall positioned adjacent to a first one of the seats and a second lateral wall positioned adjacent to a second one of the seats. A top wall extends between the first and second lateral walls. A frame is mounted to the console and is positioned adjacent to and outside of each of the first and second lateral walls. A first tray is mounted on the frame adjacent to the first lateral wall and a second tray is mounted on the frame adjacent to the second lateral wall. The first and second trays laterally extend away from each other and over their respectively adjacent seats.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A frame 40 is mounted to the console 18 and is positioned adjacent to and outside of each of the first 24 and second 26 lateral walls. A first tray 42 is mounted on the frame 40 adjacent to the first lateral wall 24 and a second tray 44 is mounted on the frame 40 adjacent to the second lateral wall 26. The first 42 and second 44 trays laterally extend away from each other. That is, the first 42 and second 44 trays extend toward adjacent ones of the seats 14, 16 as opposed to extending over the top wall 28 of the central section 20. The first 42 and second 44 trays may be removably mounted to the frame 40.
More particularly, the frame 40 includes a first side support 46 positioned adjacent to the first lateral wall 24 and a second side support 48 positioned adjacent to the second lateral wall 26. A brace 50 may be attached to the first 46 and second 48 side supports and extend through the central section 20 to provide rigidity between the central section 20 and the frame 40 and between the first 46 and second 48 side supports. Since the first 46 and second 48 supports are located between the seats 14, 16 and the central section 20 and the brace 50 extends through the central section 20, any lateral movement of the frame 40 is greatly impeded.
Each of the first 46 and second 48 side supports has an upper end 52 and a lower end 54. In some embodiments, each of the first 46 and second 48 side supports includes a lower bracket 56 that is removably attached to the central section 20 with conventional fasteners and positioned adjacent to the lower end 54, as well as an upper bracket 58 that is removably attached to the central section 20 with conventional fasteners and positioned adjacent to the upper end 52. It should be readily apparent that the frame 40 may include additional or different bracketing and fasteners for attaching the frame 40 to the central section 20, to the seats 14, 16, or to a floor of an airplane cockpit 12.
For reasons that will be clear below, each of the upper ends 52 may comprise a receiver 60 having a pair of wells 62 vertically extending downwardly therein. The wells 62 are spaced from each other wherein one of the wells 62 is positioned rearwardly with respect to another one of the wells 62. The wells 62 may have therein detents 63 or other frictional engaging members. The detents 63 depicted in the Figures include ball bearings biased into the wells, perpendicular to vertical axis of the wells 62, by springs. The receiver 60 may include a plurality of wells 62 to allow different spacing as needed.
Each of the first 42 and second 44 trays includes a pair of legs 64 each having a top end 66 and a bottom end 68. The bottom ends 68 are each removably extendable into a respective one of the wells 62. The legs 64 may include indents 70 for receiving the detents 64 and each of the legs 64 may be telescopic and have an adjustable height. A strut 72 extends between and is attached to the legs 64 to add rigidity to the legs 72 and to the first 42 and second 44 trays they are respectively attached to.
The first 42 second 44 trays further each include a panel 74 having a top side 76 and a bottom side 78. The panel 74, comprising a rigid material such as plastics wood, or metals, is coupled to the legs 64 adjacent to the top ends 66 of the legs 64 and serves as the table, or tray, of the system 10. In some embodiments, the panel 74 may be attached to the legs 64 pivotally to allow the panel 74 to fold down, as shown in
In use, typically the frame 40 will be attached to the central section 20 as described above and generally shown in the Figures. This will place a pair of receivers 60 on opposite sides of the central section 20 to accommodate the first 42 and second 44 trays. The first 42 and second 44 trays can be removed from storage and engaged with the receivers 60 and the panels 74 extended with the supports 80 to place the panels 74 in a generally horizontal orientation extending over adjacent ones of the seats 14, 16. In this position, the panels 74 serve as a table for placement of tablets, items to be written on, food items and the like. When the user does not require the panel 74, they are removed and stowed. The panels 74 are positioned such that they do not interfere with the central section 20 controls or with the joystick 30 and therefore do not impede operation of the aircraft.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
