Patent Grant
12145730
Currently, rotorcraft troops are often required to wear an equipment pack while seated. Conventional troop seating covers include a one-piece fabric cover with a straight back positioned at an angle to the seat bottom, which can cause an occupant to be pushed forward away from full contact with the seat back when the occupant is wearing an equipment pack. This reduction in body support can degrade comfort and safety for the occupant.
In one aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to a system. The system may include a vehicular seat assembly. The vehicular seat assembly may include a first seat support beam, a second seat support beam, a fold-out seat pan, a bar, a fabric seat back, and at least one detachable attachment means. The fold-out seat pan may be configured to fold out to a seat pan deployed state. The fold-out seat pan may be rotatably coupled to first seat support beam and the second seat support beam. The bar may be positioned between the first seat support beam and the second seat support beam. The fabric seat back may have a first end and a second end. The fabric seat back may be secured at the first end to the bar. The fabric seat back may extend from the first end toward the second end. The fabric seat back may have an expandable seat back section. The expandable seat back section may be secured at the second end to the fold-out seat pan. Each of the at least one detachable attachment means may be secured at a first detachable attachment means end to the fold-out seat pan. Each of the at least one detachable attachment means may be secured at a second detachable attachment means end to a portion of the fabric seat back located between the first end and the second detachable attachment means end. The expandable seat back section may extend from the second end at least to the second releasable attachment means end. Each of the at least one detachable attachment means may be configured to be in an attached state or a detached state. When all of the detachable attachment means are in the detached state an effective length of the fabric seat back may extend to include the expandable seat back section.
Implementations of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be better understood when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the included drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, and in which some features may be exaggerated and some features may be omitted or may be represented schematically in the interest of clarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings may represent and refer to the same or similar element, feature, or function. In the drawings:
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein in detail, it is to be understood that the inventive concepts are not limited in their application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components or steps or methodologies set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. In the following detailed description of embodiments of the instant inventive concepts, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the inventive concepts. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the instant disclosure that the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features may not be described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the instant disclosure. The inventive concepts disclosed herein are capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As used herein a letter following a reference numeral is intended to reference an embodiment of the feature or element that may be similar, but not necessarily identical, to a previously described element or feature bearing the same reference numeral (e.g., 1, 1a, 1b). Such shorthand notations are used for purposes of convenience only, and should not be construed to limit the inventive concepts disclosed herein in any way unless expressly stated to the contrary.
Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary, “or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by anyone of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).
In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements and components of embodiments of the instant inventive concepts. This is done merely for convenience and to give a general sense of the inventive concepts, and “a” and “an” are intended to include one or at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.
Finally, as used herein any reference to “one embodiment,” or “some embodiments” means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the inventive concepts disclosed herein. The appearances of the phrase “in some embodiments” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, and embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed may include one or more of the features expressly described or inherently present herein, or any combination of sub-combination of two or more such features, along with any other features which may not necessarily be expressly described or inherently present in the instant disclosure.
Broadly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to a system including a seat assembly. In some embodiments, the seat assembly may include: a fabric seat back having an expandable seat back section; and at least one detachable attachment means configured to be in an attached state or a detached state, wherein when all of the at least one detachable attachment means are in the detached state, an effective length of the fabric seat back extends to include the expandable seat back section.
Some embodiments may include a fabric seat back having a two-state configuration that can be quickly and easily switched to an attached state (e.g., a no-pack state) and a detached state (e.g., a pack-equipped state), which may carry occupant loading during flight and crash situations. Some embodiments may improve occupant comfort and safety by allowing both an unequipped or a pack-equipped occupant to nest fully back into the fabric seat back for comfort and effective load transfer.
Referring now to
For example, each seat assembly may have at least one seat support beam 106 (e.g., two seat support beams 106 as shown), at least one fold-out seat pan 108, a bar 110, a fabric seat back 112, an expandable seat back section 114, at least one top attachment structure 116 (e.g., at least one top attachment bracket), at least one bottom attachment structure 118 (e.g., at least one bottom attachment pin), a harness 120, at least one hinge 122, at least one hinge bracket 124, and/or at least one fabric seat side 132, some or all of which may be coupled to another at any given time.
In some embodiments, the seat assembly (e.g., a vehicular seat assembly (e.g., an aircraft seat assembly (e.g., a rotorcraft seat assembly 104))) may be installed within the vehicle (e.g., aircraft (e.g., rotorcraft 102), watercraft, automobile, train, etc.), such as via the at least one top attachment structure 116 (e.g., the at least one top attachment bracket) and the at least one bottom attachment structure 118 (e.g., the at least one bottom attachment pin) being attached to interior attachment points of the vehicle.
Referring now to
In some embodiments, the second seat support beam 106 may be parallel to the first seat support beam. For example, the first seat support beam 106 may be a first vertical seat support beam, and the second seat support beam 106 may be a second vertical seat support beam. In some embodiments, each of the first and second seat support beam 106 may be telescoping beams.
The fold-out seat pan 108 may be configured to fold out to a seat pan deployed state (as shown). The fold-out seat pan may be rotatably coupled to first seat support beam 106 and the second seat support beam 106 via the hinges 122 and corresponding hinge brackets 124 such that the fold-out seat can move from the deployed state to a folded up stowed state (not shown). In some embodiments, the fold-out seat pan 108 may be composed at least of nylon (e.g., military grade nylon).
The bar 110 may be positioned between the first seat support beam 106 and the second seat support beam 106. In some embodiments, the bar 110 may be a horizontal bar. In some embodiments, the bar 110 may be coupled to the first seat support beam 106 and to the second seat support beam 106.
The fabric seat back 112 may have a first end and a second end, the fabric seat back 112 secured (e.g., wrapped around and sewn, or attached via rings) at the first end to the bar 110. The fabric seat back 112 may extend from the first end toward the second end. The fabric seat back 112 may have an expandable seat back section 114. The expandable seat back section may be secured at the second end to the fold-out seat pan 108. In some embodiments, the fabric seat back 112 may be composed at least of nylon (e.g., military grade nylon).
Each of the at least one detachable attachment means 126 may be secured at a first detachable attachment means end 126 to the fold-out seat pan 108. Each of the at least one detachable attachment means 126 secured at a second detachable attachment means end to a portion of the fabric seat back 112 located between the first end and the second detachable attachment means end.
The expandable seat back section 114 may extend from the second end at least to the second detachable attachment means end (e.g., of the strap 126C, as shown in
Each of the at least one detachable attachment means 126 may be configured to be in an attached state or a detached state. When all of the detachable attachment means 126 are in the detached state, an effective length (e.g., a usable length (e.g., by the occupant 200) of the fabric seat back 112) of the fabric seat back 112 may extend to include the expandable seat back section 114. For example, an occupant 200 wearing a pack 202 may sit in the seat assembly such that the pack 202 may be positioned against the fabric seat back 112 while the fold-out seat pan 108 and the fabric seat back 112 support (e.g., fully, safely, and/or comfortably support) the occupant 200 wearing the pack 202.
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For example, as shown in
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In some embodiments, such as shown in
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As will be appreciated from the above, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be directed to a system including a seat assembly.
As used throughout, “at least one” means one or a plurality of; for example, “at least one” may comprise one, two, three, . . . , one hundred, or more. Similarly, as used throughout, “one or more” means one or a plurality of; for example, “one or more” may comprise one, two, three, . . . , one hundred, or more. Further, as used throughout, “zero or more” means zero, one, or a plurality of; for example, “zero or more” may comprise zero, one, two, three, . . . , one hundred, or more.
In the present disclosure, the methods, operations, and/or functionality disclosed may be implemented as sets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods, operations, and/or functionality disclosed are examples of exemplary approaches. Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methods, operations, and/or functionality can be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein. The accompanying claims may present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.
It is to be understood that embodiments of the methods according to the inventive concepts disclosed herein may include one or more of the steps described herein. Further, such steps may be carried out in any desired order and two or more of the steps may be carried out simultaneously with one another. Two or more of the steps disclosed herein may be combined in a single step, and in some embodiments, one or more of the steps may be carried out as two or more sub-steps. Further, other steps or sub-steps may be carried in addition to, or as substitutes to one or more of the steps disclosed herein.
From the above description, it is clear that the inventive concepts disclosed herein are well adapted to carry out the objects and to attain the advantages mentioned herein as well as those inherent in the inventive concepts disclosed herein. While presently preferred embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein have been described for purposes of this disclosure, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made which will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and which are accomplished within the broad scope and coverage of the inventive concepts disclosed and claimed herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20240124143 A1 | Apr 2024 | US |
