Patent Application
20110101750
This invention pertains to a vehicle seat in general and, more particularly, to a passenger seat used in an aircraft.
Traditional seats were designed so that the seating portion of the seat was at a right angle to the backrest. These seats, however, proved to be uncomfortable to sit in during long trips or flights. In an effort to improve the comfort level of seats, manufactures have tried various designs including increased padding in the seat and backrests as well as installing lumbar cushions in the lower portion of the back rest in an attempt to relieve pressure in the lower back of the seat occupant.
Another way of making seating more comfortable was to incline the seat with respect to the backrest. The inclination of the seat by approximately 2-6° allows the weight of the occupant to be transferred toward the intersection of the seat bottom with the back rest. This reduces the fatigue on the gluteus maximus that results from sitting directly on one's bottom for extended periods of time.
Although the angling of the seat bottom with respect to the back rest provides for greater comfort over an extended period of time, such an arrangement is not always possible or practicable. For example, in an aircraft passenger seat the seat bottom or pad is angled at between 2-6° for taxi, take-off, and landing (TTOL). The seat could remain at this angle throughout the flight, however, should one attempt to work at a desk or tray table, or eat sitting at this angle they would have to move up to the edge of the seat or lean forward so as to be able to write or avoid dropping food down the front of themselves. This type of seating is not necessarily desirable, particularly for executive style seating on private or VIP aircraft.
It would be much easier and comfortable to work or eat in a chair in which the seat bottom was flat, as opposed to being oriented at approximately a 2-6° angle. For this reason, a seat having a drop down seat pan for which the position could be either flat or angled approximately 2-6° from the horizontal would be an important improvement in the art.
The invention involves a chair having an adjustable seat pan. The chair is comprised of a seat frame having a front end and a rear end. A seat back is attached to the rear end of the seat frame and a seat pan is pivotally connected to the back of the seat frame. A seat drop down link having a first end attached proximal to the front of the seat pan and a second end in contact with a catch member located beneath the seat pan.
The above-noted and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description of the invention provided herein with reference to the attached drawings in which:
a) is a perspective view of the drop-down link showing the activation component without the activation lever;
A chair 10 having an adjustable seat pan 12 is disclosed. The chair 10, as shown in
In an embodiment, the catch member 28 is a transverse support member 30 connecting a first and a second side rail 32, 34 of the seat frame 12 to one another, In a more particular embodiment, as shown in
In another embodiment, the drop-down link 22 is biased with a spring 36 having a first end 38 attached to the drop-down link 22 and a second end 40 attached to the seat pan 12, as shown in
As shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
When in operation, the seat pan 12 is inclined at approximately a 2-6° angle for taxi, takeoff, and landing, as shown in
Although a seat angle of approximately 2-6° is described, various angles greater or less than those described could be achieved by adjusting the size of the drop down link 22.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. It should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplary only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.
