Seating unit

Details Seating unit Seating unit

1998-10-29

2001-04-03

Barfield, Anthony D (Department: 3624)

Chairs and seats

Plural related seats

Face to face

C297S354130, C297S233000, C297S067000, C244S118600

Reexamination Certificate

active

06209956

ABSTRACT:

The invention relates to a seating unit. More specifically the invention relates to a seating unit for an aircraft cabin.
In most aircraft the first class cabin is fitted with large, widely spaced apart seats in order to provide passengers with space and comfort during their journey. Presently, virtually every first class cabin is fitted with large double seats with a pitch (longitudinal distance between seats) of at least 1500 mm.
The present seat design suffers from several disadvantages. The seats are not designed to lie flat, and this makes sleeping uncomfortable. There is also a lack of privacy between the two seats. This can be very disconcerting for passengers, particularly when sleeping. Passengers have said that the sensation is akin to being in bed with a stranger. It would of course be possible to design these seats to lie flat. However, this creates another a problem relating to the manner in which the seats recline. Where a seat is reclined its back tilts into the accommodation space of the passenger behind. This is psychologically unpleasant for passengers who feel that their living space is being violated. It also makes it difficult for passengers behind a reclined seat to leave their own seats without disturbing other passengers. This is especially difficult for passengers occupying a window seat, who will disturb both passengers in the reclined seats in front and the passenger in the aisle seat next to him when he leaves his seat. One way of overcoming this problem would of course be to increase the pitch between seats up to say 2 meters. This is undesirable because, clearly, it reduces the seating capacity within the cabin for the sake of only one, relatively minor advantage.
Furthermore, the design of existing first class seating does not lend itself to providing individual storage space for each passenger. Passengers prefer to keep personal belongings within reach and presently this is only possible if bags, pillows, newspapers etc. are placed on the floor of the cabin. Consequently, the cabin can become very untidy during a flight, particularly if it is long overnight flight.
The present invention aims to overcome or at least reduce the above discussed problems.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a seating unit for an aircraft cabin, the unit comprising a fixed housing containing a primary seat with a reclinable back, wherein the back is arranged to recline in such a manner that it remains within the housing.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided an accommodation unit comprising a reclinable principle seat and a secondary seat, the principle seat being movable to a reclined position at which, in co-operation with the secondary seat, a substantially flat sleeping surface is formed thereby.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided an aircraft including a cabin comprising a plurality of seating units or accommodation units as aforementioned.
Hitherto, the seats in an aircraft cabin have been arranged uniformly in a configuration in which rows of seats are positioned perpendicularly to the axis of the aircraft. Generally, each row of seats is spaced a fixed distance from the row in front so that each passenger has the same amount of space. The even spacing also enables the back of one seat to support a table and provide storage space; and in some cases even house a television screen and other ancillaries and utilities, for the occupant in the seat behind. The use of the rear of one seat to support utilities for the seat behind is an undesirable compromise which results in the actions of one passenger causing disruption to other passengers during a flight.
The invention provides a seating unit comprising a principal seat and a utilities unit for housing utilities for individual use by an occupant of the principal seat.
In the seating units to be described herein, each unit comprises a principal seat whose purpose is to provide support for a passenger sitting thereon. Utilities, i.e. ancillary features, such as a table, a television screen and storage are provided by a separate utilities unit or sideboard which together with the principal seat forms the seating unit. Thus, during a flight the use by a passenger of his utilities does not disrupt other passengers because such use is substantially contained within the domain of that passenger's seating unit.
The invention also provides an aircraft comprising a cabin containing a plurality of seats, at least some of the seats being arranged in an echelon.
It will be apparent from consideration of the description of our earlier application and of the description that follows hereinafter that an echelon configuration enables each passenger to be provided with a greater degree of privacy. Such an arrangement enables screens to be placed between adjacent seating units to define the extent of each passenger's domain. An echelon configuration can also enable more seats to be provided within the same cabin space without any perceived loss of individual passenger space.
In the following there will be described a reclining seat in which a leg support panel is cantilevered out from the front of the seat as the seat is reclined by a scissor-type cantilever arrangement. Such a scissor-type arrangement is used extensively in aircraft seats.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a seat comprising a back portion, a seating portion and a trolley associated with the seating portion, the trolley being drivable to move the seating portion between a retracted position and an extended position, the seating portion and the back portion cooperating such that as the seating portion is moved between the retracted and extended positions the back portion is caused to move between substantially upright and reclined positions.


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