Uop Lcc

Kidde, Inc.

Ptc Aerospace Inc.

Rene J Brunelle

William A Long

Ward E Fischer

Edward J Brennan

Improved, lightweight multi-passenger aircraft seating unit utilizes an elongated, generally S-shaped, composite panel to provide the sole support for the seat cushions, the seat back and seat back tray table, the seat belt anchors and the armrests. Front legs and rear legs made of thin sheet metal can be attached directly to the panel by bolts passing through the panel. A downwardly projecting front portion of the panel and an upwardly projecting rear portion, in cooperation with channel-shaped members bonded to the panel's peripheral edges, enhance the rigidity of the panel. The unit provides cantilever support without the necessity for the front and rear tubular stretcher members and the fore and aft support members used in conventional seats. The composite panel has a honeycomb core and its top and bottom skin surfaces are formed of continuous layers of resin-impregnated fibrous material such as graphite fibers, with additional swatches of such material overlying and integrally bonded into the skin. The additional reinforcement material is laminated into regions of additional stress such as those where the legs, back, seat belt anchors and armrests are to be attached. The seat back is doubly curved to provide lumbar and shoulder support and good comfort with a thin constant thickness rear pad. The seat allows spacing between seat rows to be determined virtually solely by the dimensions of the occupants.

Multi-passenger aircraft seat having composite panel frame

Anti-rattle track fitting for anchoring loads to slotted seat tracks has a vertically movable shear pin at its forward end and a rotationally adjustable threaded stud at its rearward end. The shank of the adjustable stud extends above the fitting and supports a stop collar which prevents excessive loosening of the stud while permitting the stud to be tightened so as to force it into engagement with the lips of the floor track. The shank is hidden from view by being inside the rear leg of a seat but a slot(s) at its upper end is engageable through a small aperture in the rear surface of the leg.

Seat back mounting system

An improved track fitting for anchoring an aircraft seat to a seat track has a threaded 'anti-rattle' fastener for forcing a flanged top portion of a movement restricting shear pin against the top of the seat track to prevent rattle and wear due to aircraft vibrations. A pivoted lever which also functions as a cover for the fitting is mounted on the body of the fitting for lifting the shear pin against the force of a shear pin spring which normally urges the pin into locking engagement with one of the slots in a seat track. To prevent tampering by a passenger, the lever is rendered inoperable when the anti-rattle fastener is actuated. A leaf spring carried by the lever engages the body and prevents the lever from rattling due to vibration. The lever can lock the shear pin in its upper disengaged position as the seat fitting is lowered into the seat track and can then be released so that the shear pin will drop into one of the slots in the seat track automatically as the fitting is moved fore or aft.

Track fitting

Mounting system for the back rest of a vehicle seat permits normal reclining action as well as two modes of forward movement. In a first mode, a slight forward force applied near the top of the seat back, such as about 10 lbs. or less, will pivot the top of the seat back forwardly several inches to facilitate access to the space behind the seat. The slight rearward force produced by an occupant leaning back against the seat back as he occupies the seat will then return the back to its normal upright position. A substantially larger forward force, such as one of about 25-35 lbs., can also be applied to the top of the seat back in a second mode to cause the back to 'break-over' about 90.degree. and lie flat. The various movements are achieved by means of a channel-shaped quadrant member which overlies the back rest frame on one side of a seat, pivots on the back rest support shaft, and includes a long curved slot and a short curved slot. A pair of bolts are adjustably tightened to varying degrees such that one bolt will frictionally engage and support the long slot of the quadrant member for movement relative to the seat back frame with substantially more force than the other bolt, which passes through the short slot, frictionally applies to the seat back reclining mechanism. The ability to control friction between the bolt and the short slot allows adjustments for friction changes due to wear and also permits the elimination of the first mode, if such appears desirable, by tightening the bolt in the short slot so that it takes more force to move it than it does to move the bolt in the longer slot.

Improved framing system for a multi-passenger seat incorporates a generally inverted L-shaped rear leg whose shorter leg portion is joined to the rear stretcher tube at its free end and to a compression member at its point of intersection with its longer leg portion. The compression member and short leg portion form one side of a triangle which includes the front leg and a support member connecting the front and rear stretcher tubes. The longer leg portion forms one leg of a triangle which includes the compression member and a seat track covering member. The design provides greatly improved passenger leg room for close pitch seating arrangements.

Framing system for aircraft passenger seat

Multi-passenger aircraft seat

An aircraft seat comprising a pair of pivot pins, a pair of spaced seat back mounting brackets having apertures therein to permit the insertion of the pins therethrough, a pair of side frame forgings, each including a boss, each of the bosses including a peripheral clamping surface and an aperture therein for receiving one of the pins such that the pin and the boss surface have a common axis, a tray assembly including a pair of legs having bifurcated clamp ends for clamping over the peripheral clamping surfaces for selective pivotal motion relative thereto, whereby the tray assembly and the seat back brackets pivot about the common axis, the tray assembly can be removed without removing the seat back mounting brackets, and the seat back mounting brackets may be removed, by removing the pins, without removing the tray assembly.

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Wolcott, CT, United States of America

Rene J Brunelle