Adjustable seats

Details Adjustable seats Adjustable seats

2001-05-25

2004-06-01

Cranmer, Laurie K. (Department: 3636)

Chairs and seats

Movable bottom

Tiltable

C297S318000, C297S322000, C297S317000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06742840

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to adjustable seats and components thereof, including but not limited to tray tables, and more particularly (although not exclusively) to aircraft passenger seats designed to enhance comfort of both the occupants and those persons positioned in seats behind the innovative seats described herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Increasing comfort of seat-bound passengers, especially on long-haul flights, remains a significant objective of many commercial airlines. A recent article from the May 2001 issue of
Conde Nast Traveler
, entitled “Pain Be Gone!” (the “Conde Nast Article”) details some of the difficulties associated with conventional coach-class aircraft seats. Noted in the Conde Nast Article is that
the conventional seat is an L with the back hinged at seat level. When [a passenger presses] the recline button, the back just tilts backward from the hinge point, or pivot. The seat itself remains where it was. This tends to put the body into a state of stress known as shear[,]
decreasing the overall comfort of the passenger. Recognized as well in the Conde Nast Article is that an “ideal” pivot point for a reclinable seat is “at the axis of the seat's ideal rotating movement,” with a seat so configured functioning, in some respects, as a cradle or hammock.
Commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/329,854 of Bentley, et al., which has been allowed and had its issue fee paid, discloses various multi-function passenger seats differing from the simple “L”-shaped structure described above. As noted in the Bentley application:
In addition to providing “rocking” motion . . . , seats of the . . . invention may enhance passenger comfort by having bottoms whose lengths are adjustable, allowing passengers to match the effective lengths of their seat bottoms more closely with the lengths of their upper legs. Tables stowable in the seats additionally are adjustable vertically, moving food or other substances or materials closer to mouths and further from legs of seat occupants (or vice-versa) as desired . . . Each of these aspects of the seats and systems of the invention is intended to improve comfort-related performance of seats used commercially for transportation, whether in aircraft, land-based vehicles, or otherwise.
See Bentley at p. 3, 11. 7-21.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,587 to Hadden, Jr. details other adjustable seats. Discussed in the Hadden, Jr. patent are two types of bucket seats, one (shown in
FIG. 8
) having a hinge between an upper backrest and a lower seat portion and the other (shown in
FIG. 13
) lacking such a hinge. In either version the seat portion is integral, with a “flexible forward diaphragm” extending from the front portion thereof. According to the Hadden, Jr. patent, the flexible diaphragm is not mechanically adjustable, instead merely being “depressible downwardly” by a passenger's legs. See Hadden, Jr., col. 7, 11. 23-29.
Also disclosed in the Hadden, Jr. patent are upper and lower track members, the upper tracks connected to the upper backrest and the lower tracks connected to the lower seat portion. Received in the tracks, which appear similar to those illustrated in the Conde Nast Article, are followers in the form of rollers. The combined rollers and tracks “facilitate seat adjustability while reducing corresponding encroachment on adjacent space,” coordinating movement of the entire seat rather than merely its backrest.
Further described in the Hadden, Jr. patent is a tray table positioned in the rear of the backrest. Incorporated centrally into the table is an elongated slot. When the table is not deployed, the slot is engaged by a “T” member attached to the seat bucket, with the “T” member permitted to move within the slot when the attitude of the seat changes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides adjustable seats and components differing not only from conventional “L”-shaped seats, but also from the designs detailed in the Hadden, Jr. and other patents. By contrast with the seats of the Hadden, Jr. patent, for example, those of the invention may have a discontinuous (or non-integral) seat bottom, although the interface itself between the bottom and backrest may remain continuous. Included among other aspects of the innovative seats are mechanically-adjustable forward portions of the seat bottoms, which may be locked in position as selected by the passenger. Thus, unlike the mere “flexible forward diaphragm” of the Hadden, Jr. patent, the forward portions of seat bottoms of the present invention may be both adjusted by passengers and fixed in position once adjusted.
Seats as described herein, while able to rotate, additionally are adapted for greater forward translation than heretofore occurs. Such translation is available in part because tracks and followers of the present seats are located differently than as described in the Hadden, Jr. patent, with all tracks moved from the backrest portion of the chair essentially to the lower, or bottom, portion. Resulting is a seat that moves farther forward relative to its base when “reclined,” reducing inconvenience of the passenger seated directly behind the one reclining. Indeed, in some embodiments of the invention, the backrest may recline as much as 16° (from, e.g., 15° off vertical to 31°) yet have a linear rearward position change of less than four and one-half inches, substantially less than occurs today.
The present invention additionally extends to tray tables and mechanisms. Unlike those of the Hadden, Jr. patent, no central slot exists in the tables of the invention, enhancing the reliability, functionality, and appearance of the tables. In one version, embodied within the tables are movable pins which engage slots attached to side or, preferably, rear surfaces of the seats when the tables are not deployed. When a backrest is moved under these circumstances, the pins of the table are permitted to slide within the slots. To deploy tray tables, passengers need merely rotate knobs (or otherwise act upon alternative devices) to disengage the pins from the slots. In another version, a frame distinct from (but attached to) the seat includes both a table and latching mechanism, with a pin in the tray table engaging a slot present within the seat back.
Versions of tray tables described in this document further may include slots in their sides so permit the tables to slide toward a passenger in use and away from the passenger for stowage. Unlike existing trays, neither these slots nor the axis about which the tables pivot need be positioned at or adjacent an end of the trays. Instead, the trays may pivot about an axis closer to the mid-sections. Additionally, tray tables consistent with the invention may be bi-fold, in essence defining two pivot axes rather than one. So structuring the trays may be advantageous in some circumstances, where little height of the chair back is available for stowing them.
It thus is an object of the present invention to provide alternatives to existing adjustable seats.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide seats adapted for greater forward translation than conventional aircraft seats.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide seats having discontinuous, or non-integral, bottom portions, with the forward parts being adjustable mechanically.
It is another object of the present invention to provide seats with tracks permitting adjustment of both the bottoms and backrests located essentially in their bottom portions.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide tray tables omitting central slots.
It is, moreover, an object of the present invention to provide tray tables having pins adapted to be received by, and slide within, slots protruding from seat backs.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide bi-fold tray tables and other components of table assemblies.
Other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the remaining te

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