Attenuated seat back assembly for an aircraft passenger seat

Abstract

An attenuated aircraft seat back assembly for use on an aircraft passenger seat of the type which includes a seat back frame with a front side and a rear side, the attenuated assembly comprising a mount assembly structured to be secured at the rear side of the seat back frame, preferably at an upper end thereof, and an impact absorbent, generally rigid material panel fixedly secured thereto. The mount assembly is structured to securely maintain the rigid material panel in a generally parallel orientation relative to the seat back frame, and spaced apart from the seat back frame by a predetermined distance. The rigid material panel, which is sized and configured to shield an upper region of the seat back frame, is substantially lightweight and includes a honeycomb interior core structured and disposed to substantially resist the force of a direct impact thereto, while still yielding sufficiently so that an object impacting the rigid material panel will have a Head Injury Criteria (HIC) value which is acceptable under current Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Preferably, an energy absorbent, resilient material panel is adhered to a front face of the rigid material panel, and together have a combined thickness of generally about two inches, while being spaced apart from the seat back frame in assembled form so as to minimize an overall thickness of the assembly.