Components for enhancement of a low profile crew attendant seat

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10414503-B2
Application number	US-201916375002-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 4, 2019
Priority date	Dec 7, 2016
Publication date	Sep 17, 2019
Grant date	Sep 17, 2019

Abstract

A crew attendant seat assembly configured to be installed in an aircraft cabin and including a seat including a seat bottom hinged to a seatback to rotate between a stowed position and a deployed position, a spring member mountable to a static structure adjacent the and to an adjustable aperture on the hinge, the spring having two mounting positions, a harness mounted to the seat for restraining a seated passenger including a shoulder strap and a lap belt, and a storage area for retaining at least one of the lap belt and the buckle when the seat bottom is stowed, wherein at least one of the lap belt and the buckle are enclosed by the crew attendant seat assembly when the seat bottom is stowed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A crew attendant seat assembly configured to be installed in an aircraft cabin, the crew attendant seat assembly comprising:
a seat portion comprising a seat bottom hingedly connected to a seatback by a hinge mechanism, wherein the seat bottom is configured to hingedly rotate between a stowed position and a deployed position;
a spring member adapted to be mounted at a first end to a static structure adjacent the crew attendant seat assembly and at a second end to an adjustable aperture on the hinge mechanism, wherein the spring member has two mounting positions such that when in the deployed position, in a first mounting position, the seat bottom is biased upward toward the stowed position, and in a second mounting position, the seat bottom is configured to be maintained in the deployed position until urged upward toward the stowed position;
a harness mounted to the seat portion for restraining a seated passenger, the harness including at least one shoulder strap and a lap belt configured to be coupled together by a buckle disposed at one end of the lap belt; and
a storage area to retain at least one of the lap belt and the buckle when the seat bottom is in the stowed position, wherein the at least one of the lap belt and the buckle are enclosed by the crew attendant seat assembly when the seat bottom is in the stowed position.

2. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
in the stowed position, an upper surface of the seat bottom abuts an outer surface of the seatback; and
in the deployed position, the upper surface of the seat bottom is substantially perpendicular to the outer surface of the seatback.

3. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hinge mechanism includes a coupling element configured to couple the seat bottom and the seatback to the hinge mechanism such that the seat bottom and the seatback cooperatively hinge between the stowed position and the deployed position.

4. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 3 , wherein the coupling element of the hinge mechanism is configured to cause the seatback to cooperatively hinge to a partially reclined position as the seat bottom is moved from the stowed position to the deployed position.

5. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the adjustable aperture is one of a plurality of adjustable apertures disposed on the hinge mechanism, wherein each of the plurality of adjustable apertures is associated with a predetermined amount of biasing force applied by the spring member on the hinge mechanism.

6. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the spring member, when in the second mounting position, is configured to cause the seat bottom to automatically return to the deployed position until a predetermined amount of force is applied to move the seat bottom from the deployed position to the stowed position.

7. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the spring member is configured to apply an amount of damping force to the seat bottom such that movement of the seat bottom from the deployed position to the stowed position is delayed by a predetermined amount to allow sufficient time for at least one of the lap belt and the buckle to fall into the storage area as the seat bottom moves to the stowed position.

8. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a spring plunger configured to mount to the static structure adjacent the crew attendant seat assembly to lock the hinge mechanism coupled to the seat bottom in the deployed position.

9. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 8 , wherein upward force applied to the seat bottom causes the spring plunger to unlock the hinge mechanism to allow the seat bottom to move from the deployed position to the stowed position.

10. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a locking bolt mounted to one end of a spring-biased slide mechanism configured to mount to the static structure adjacent the crew attendant seat assembly, wherein the locking bolt is configured to protrude from the static structure adjacent the crew attendant seat assembly to lock the seat bottom in the deployed position.

11. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 10 , wherein an application of an inward sliding force to the slide mechanism and the locking bolt is configured to cause the slide mechanism and the locking bolt to withdraw into the static structure adjacent the crew attendant seat assembly to allow the seat bottom to move from the deployed position to the stowed position.

12. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an access door configured to be hingedly mounted to the static structure adjacent the crew attendant seat assembly, the access door covering a storage enclosure disposed below the seat bottom.

13. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the access door is configured to hingedly rotate in an outward and downward direction when moving from the closed position to an open position.

14. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a headrest portion positioned above the seatback, the headrest portion including a cushion configured to removably cover a storage enclosure disposed behind the headrest portion.

15. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the seat bottom includes extension members extending from lateral edges of the seat bottom, wherein the extension members are configured to cover a respective hinge mechanism to prevent injury or introduction of physical obstructions to the respective hinge mechanism.

16. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an inertial reel and retractor assembly configured to removably attach the at least one shoulder strap to the crew attendant seat assembly above the seatback portion, the inertial reel and retractor assembly including spools around which at least a portion of a respective shoulder strap is wound.

17. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 16 , wherein the inertial reel and retractor assembly includes a guide roller extending across a width of the inertial reel and retractor assembly, wherein the at least one shoulder strap is configured to pass over the guide roller during extension and retraction of the at least one shoulder strap from the spools to prevent twisting or tangling of the at least one shoulder strap.

18. The crew attendant seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the spring member includes a gas spring.

19. A crew attendant seat assembly, comprising:
a seat portion comprising a seat bottom hingedly connected to a seatback by a hinge mechanism, the seat bottom configured to move between a stowed position against the seatback and a deployed position substantially perpendicular to the seatback; and
a spring member mountable at a first end to a fixed structure adjacent the seat portion and at a second end to an adjustable aperture on the hinge mechanism, the spring member having two mounting positions including a first mounting position in which the seat bottom is biased upward toward the stowed position and a second mounting position in which the seat bottom is maintained in the deployed position until the seat bottom is urged upward toward the stowed position, and wherein the spring member, when in the second mounting position, causes the seat bottom to automatically return to the deployed position until a predetermined amount of force is applied to move the seat bottom from the deployed position to the stowed position.

Assignees

• Rockwell Collins Inc

Inventors

• Spagl Markus

Classifications

• B64D11/0691 Primary

  specially adapted for cabin crew · CPC title

• B64D11/064 Primary

  Adjustable inclination or position of seats · CPC title

• B64D11/0698

  Seats suspended from aircraft walls · CPC title

• B64D11/062

  Belts or other passenger restraint means for passenger seats · CPC title