Energy absorbing brackets for passenger seats

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10227023-B2
Application number	US-201615554049-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 26, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Mar 12, 2019
Grant date	Mar 12, 2019

Abstract

Seat assemblies including seat brackets and spreader brackets are described. A seat bracket can include an upper portion, a lower portion, and a frangible portion. The frangible portion can be formed from composite material and include a particular layer orientation. A spreader bracket can include a first component configured to couple with a second component to form a coupled structure. A structural fill material can be disposed within the coupled structure. The first component and the second component can be formed from composite material.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A seat assembly, comprising:
a frame;
a set of spreader brackets attached to the frame, each spreader bracket comprising:
a first component formed from a composite material;
a structural fill material; and
a second component formed from the composite material, the second component configured to couple with the first component to form a coupled structure, the structural fill material extending within a cavity of the coupled structure; and

a set of seat brackets attached to the set of spreader brackets, each seat bracket comprising:
a frangible structure formed from a plurality of layers of the composite material, wherein, in a particular layer orientation, the plurality of layers is arranged such that:
first layers of the plurality of layers are discontinuous throughout a shear area of the frangible structure; and
second layers of the plurality of layers are continuous throughout the shear area of the frangible structure, the frangible structure configured to break at or near the shear area in response to a load applied to a seatback.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a seat pan disposed between lower portions of the set of spreader brackets; and
the seatback disposed between upper portions of the set of spreader brackets and attached to the set of spreader brackets.

3. The seat assembly of claim 2 , wherein each seat bracket further comprising:
a lower portion attached to the seat pan;
an upper portion attached to the seatback at a first location and at least one spreader bracket; and
a middle portion corresponding to the frangible structure that is attached to the seatback at a second location.

4. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the first component and the second component comprises:
a first flange;
a second flange; and
a web extending between the first flange and the second flange.

5. An assembly, comprising: a spreader bracket comprising:
a first hollow component formed from a composite material; a fill material; and
a second hollow component formed from the composite material, the second hollow component being configured to couple with the first hollow component to form a coupled structure, the fill material extending within a cavity of the coupled structure, the coupled structure comprising:
a first leg extending in a first direction and including one or more upper mounting locations; and
a second leg extending in a second direction and including one or more lower mounting locations disposed along a bottom portion of the second leg.

6. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein the one or more upper mounting locations comprise a seatbelt anchor extending within the cavity of the coupled structure from a first exterior surface on a first web of the first hollow component to a second exterior surface on a second web of the second hollow component.

7. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the coupled structure further comprises:
a first reinforcing zone comprising first one or more layers of the composite material disposed on the first web and extending between the seatbelt anchor and a first front flange of the first hollow component; and
a second reinforcing zone comprising second one or more layers of the composite material disposed on the second web and extending between the seatbelt anchor and a second front flange of the second hollow component.

8. The assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first one or more layers of the first reinforcing zone and the second one or more layers of the second reinforcing zone are selected such that, in a crash event, the seatbelt anchor moves toward the first front flange and the second front flange by crushing a portion of the fill material, a portion of the first reinforcing zone, and a portion of the second reinforcing zone.

9. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein the one or more mounting locations comprise one or more tubular rings extending through the cavity of the coupled structure from a first exterior surface on a first web of the first hollow component to a second exterior surface on a second web of the second hollow component.

10. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein the fill material comprises an energy absorbing foam material having a density of about 10 pounds per cubic foot.

11. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein the composite material comprises a thermoplastic structural composite or a thermoset structural composite.

12. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein each hollow component of the first hollow component and the second hollow component comprises:
a first flange;
a second flange; and
a web extending between the first flange and the second flange, at least one of the first flange or the second flange having a flange thickness that is greater than a web thickness of the web.

13. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein, in the coupled structure, an interior surface of the first hollow component contacts an exterior surface of the second hollow component.

14. The assembly of claim 5 , wherein, in the coupled structure the first hollow component comprises one or more darts disposed between the first leg and the second leg.

15. The assembly of claim 5 , further comprising: a seat bracket comprising:
an attachment location at which the seat bracket is attached to the spreader bracket; and
a frangible portion disposed below the attachment location and formed from a plurality of layers of the composite material, wherein, in a particular layer orientation, the plurality of layers are arranged such that:
first layers of the plurality of layers are discontinuous throughout a shear area of the frangible portion; and
second layers of the plurality of layers are continuous throughout the shear area of the frangible portion, the frangible portion configured to break at or about the shear area in response to a load applied to a seatback.

16. The assembly of claim 15 , wherein the shear area is a first shear area, and wherein the plurality of layers are further arranged such that:
the first layers of the plurality of layers are discontinuous throughout a second shear area of the frangible portion; and
the second layers of the plurality of layers are continuous throughout the second shear area of the frangible portion, the frangible portion configured to break at or about the first shear area and the second shear area in response to the force applied to the seatback.

17. An assembly, comprising:
a seat bracket comprising:
an upper portion comprising a first attachment location;
a lower portion comprising a second attachment location; and
a frangible portion disposed between the upper portion and the lower portion and formed from a plurality of layers of composite material, wherein, in a particular layer orientation, the plurality of layers are arranged such that:
first layers of the plurality of layers are discontinuous throughout a shear area of the frangible portion; and
second layers of the plurality of layers are continuous throughout the shear area of the frangible portion, the frangible portion being configured to break at the shear area when a predefined load is applied to the assembly.

18. The assembly of claim 17 , wherein the shear area is a first shear area, and wherein the plurality of layers are further arranged such that:
the first layers of the plurality of layers are discontinuous throughout a second shear area of the frangible portion; and
the second layers of the plurality of layers are continuous throughout the second shear area of the frangible portion, the frangible portion configured to break at or ab

Assignees

• Zodiac Seats Us Llc
• Safran Seats Usa Llc

Inventors

• Lasell Donald M

Classifications

• B60N2/42709

  involving residual deformation or fracture of the structure · CPC title

• B29K2025/06

  PS, i.e. polystyrene · CPC title

• B29K2023/12

  PP, i.e. polypropylene · CPC title

• B29K2101/12

  Thermoplastic materials · CPC title

• B60N2/4221

  due to impact coming from the front · CPC title