Chairs and seats – Plural related seats – Relatively movable
Patent
1995-04-25
1998-03-17
Cranmer, Laurie K.
Chairs and seats
Plural related seats
Relatively movable
297232, 2441186, A47C 1500
Patent
active
057278458
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
Aircraft passenger seating is commonly constructed in units each comprising seats for two or more passengers abreast, mounted on a support frame having leg structure terminated by feet designed to engage releasably with a pair of parallel tracks secured in the aircraft cabin floor and extending longitudinally thereof.
BACKGROUND ART
Because some passengers are willing to pay more than others for travel on the same journeys, aircraft operators have developed fare structures which provide different fares for passengers occupying seats which provide different degree of comfort. In particular the seats have different widths and usually different lateral pitches. Because the proportion of passengers who wish to travel on the different fares on any one flight cannot usually be predicted long in advance there have been developed over a number of years convertible seating units which which can be manipulated to vary the width and frequently also the number of the seats provided in a unit. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,175 a unit is described which provides either three narrow seats abreast, separated by two armrests or two wider seats abreast, separated by a single wider armrest formed from a part of the backrest which previously served the middle seat, the said two armrests being folded down to an inoperative position to make way for the wider armrest. In a unit described in European Patent Specification No. 0 385 861 B1 which likewise provides either three narrow seats or two wider seats there are two intermediate armrests between the two outer seats, mounted on pantograph-type linkages enabling them to be moved laterally between first positions in which they will support a loose table between two wider seats and second positions spaced more widely apart in which they define a third seat between two narrower seats.
More recently there have been developed convertible seating units providing two or more seats abreast in which certain seats or parts of seats are laterally movable with respect to others so that the lateral pitch or spacing between them and/or their widths can be changed. Usually there is some locking means for fixing the laterally movable seats or parts releasably in different positions. Typically there are two such positions, one providing narrow seats, usually with narrow lateral spacing between them, for example for "Tourist Class" passengers, and one with wider seats, usually with wider lateral spacing, for example for "Business Class" passengers. Examples of such units are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,893,729, 4,881,702, 5,104,065, 5,131,607 and 5,178,345 and in European Patent Application No. 0 530 900 A1.
In British Patent Specification No. 2 249 721 A (WO 90/11930) a convertible seating unit is described which provides either narrow seats abreast, separated by two armrests (called "arm dividers") in a first fixed position or two wider seats abreast, separated by the same two armrests which have been moved closer together to a second fixed position and by a backrest part of the middle seat of the three, which has been folded down to co-operate with the armrests to form a tray for use by occupants of the two seats. In one embodiment each outer seat has a seat back comprising a central frame and interengagable shell sections which are laterally slidable and co-operate with alternative removable pieces of foam padding of two different widths which are used selectively to provide either narrow seat backs for the three-seat configuration or wider seat backs for the two-seat configuration. In another embodiment the side seat backs are laterally movable on the frame of the unit.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,607 a seating unit providing three seats abreast is described which is convertible between configurations providing three narrower seats and three wider seats. The three seats are constructed on three separate frame parts, the first and second of which are laterally movable relative to each other and to the third to enable the unit to be converted between the
REFERENCES:
patent: 5104065 (1992-04-01), Daharsh et al.
patent: 5284379 (1994-02-01), Arnold et al.
Cranmer Laurie K.
Flight Equipment and Engineering Limited
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