Smart passenger service unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10219059-B2
Application number	US-201514869651-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2015
Priority date	Sep 29, 2014
Publication date	Feb 26, 2019
Grant date	Feb 26, 2019

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an overhead passenger service unit (PSU) for a vehicle, comprising: a mounting mechanism for mounting the PSU above at least one vehicle seat; a dynamic seat row marker that provides an indication of a seat position and a status portion indicating a status of a passenger or trip aspect that is readily viewable from a vehicle aisle and is changeable during a trip; and a programmable active display that is readily viewable from a passenger seat and provides trip changeable information about the trip to the passenger.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A passenger service unit for an aircraft cabin, comprising:
an oxygen supply module comprising an oxygen canister and a plurality of oxygen masks;
a lighting module comprising a plurality of LED reading light units disposed on a single contiguous flexible printed circuit board;
at least one mini-speaker comprising a horn element, wherein a first mini-speaker of the at least one mini-speaker is integrated with a first LED reading light unit of the plurality of LED reading light units, an LED for illuminating the first LED reading light unit is at least partially disposed in the horn element of the first mini-speaker, and sound waves from the first mini-speaker travel adjacent to the LED, wherein the horn element of the first mini-speaker is shaped and positioned with respect to the first LED reading light unit such that a geometric plane passes through the first LED reading light unit and a circular cross-section of the horn element of the first mini-speaker; and
control circuitry for controlling the oxygen supply module, the lighting module, and the at least one mini-speaker, wherein the control circuitry is connected to
a power converter for converting an external power supply to voltage usable by the control circuitry, and
a single communications interface for communicating with an external management computing system.

2. The passenger service unit of claim 1 , wherein the at least one mini-speaker further comprises three mini-speakers each integrated with a corresponding LED reading light unit of the plurality of LED reading light units.

3. The passenger service unit of claim 1 , wherein a sound output of the first mini-speaker is directionally optimized to direct sound to a passenger positioned to use the first LED reading light unit.

4. The passenger service unit of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry further comprises audio control circuitry for providing an audio signal to the at least one mini-speaker, the audio control circuitry including an amplifier and at least one audio filter.

5. The passenger service unit of claim 1 , further comprising a sign module for presenting lighted information to passengers seated beneath the passenger service unit.

6. The passenger service unit of claim 5 , wherein the sign module comprises a dynamic seat row marker for indicating at least one of a status of a passenger and a trip aspect, wherein the dynamic seat row marker is readily viewable from an adjacent aisle to a mounting position of the passenger service unit.

7. The passenger service unit of claim 6 , wherein the dynamic seat row marker is configured to identify a meal preference of a passenger seated beneath the passenger service unit.

8. The passenger service unit of claim 5 , wherein the sign module comprises a programmable active display providing trip changeable information regarding a flight for passenger review.

9. The passenger service unit of claim 8 , wherein the programmable active display is configured to display luggage claim information.

10. The passenger service unit of claim 5 , wherein the oxygen canister of the oxygen supply module is mounted perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the sign module.

11. The passenger service unit of claim 5 , further comprising a translucent cover disposed over the sign module.

12. The passenger service unit of claim 11 , wherein the translucent cover is a portion of a cover disposed over an entire bottom portion of the passenger service unit.

13. The passenger service unit of claim 1 , further comprising a single connector for a single wire bundle entering the passenger service unit from an external source, the single wire bundle comprising the single communication interface and a power supply to the passenger service unit.

14. The passenger service unit of claim 1 , wherein at least the first mini-speaker of the at least one mini-speaker is configured to execute a slight notch filter in a frequency range from 2 kHz to 5 kHz.

15. A passenger service unit for an aircraft cabin, comprising:
a lighting module comprising a plurality of LED reading light units disposed on a single contiguous flexible printed circuit board, wherein at least one LED reading light unit is an integrated speaker-light comprising a mini-speaker integrated with an LED, the mini-speaker comprising a horn element, wherein the LED illuminates through the horn element, wherein the horn element has a circular cross-section; and
control circuitry for controlling the lighting module, and the at least one mini-speaker, wherein the control circuitry is connected to
a single power converter for converting an external power supply to voltage usable by the control circuitry, and
a single communications interface for communicating with an external management computing system.

16. The passenger service unit of claim 15 , wherein the control circuitry is also disposed on the single contiguous flexible printed circuit board.

17. The passenger service unit of claim 16 , wherein the flexible printed circuit board comprises a control circuitry portion separated from an LED portion by a gap in the flexible printed circuit board, wherein at least one connecting extension connects the control circuitry portion to the LED portion.

18. The passenger service unit of claim 15 , wherein the horn element of the mini-speaker is at least partially surrounded by a housing of the integrated speaker-light.

Assignees

• Be Aerospace Inc

Inventors

• Dunn Matthew
• Johannessen Eric
• Gambeski Gannon T
• Barker John Terence
• Moss Ronnie R
• Peck Jesse Richard
• Linton Robert
• Todzia Jonathan
• Lasala Donald
• Sam Luis

Classifications

• H04R1/28

  Transducer mountings or enclosures modified by provision of mechanical or acoustic impedances, e.g. resonator, damping means {(combinations of transducers with horns, i.e. front-loaded horns H04R1/30)} · CPC title

• H04R2499/13

  Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles · CPC title

• F21V33/0056

  Audio equipment, e.g. music instruments, radios or speakers · CPC title

• B64D2231/025

  Oxygen masks; Mask storages; Features related to mask deployment · CPC title

• B64D2045/007

  Indicators or signs in the cabin, e.g. exit signs or seat numbering · CPC title