Seat assembly including an armrest with a lever handle and method for making the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10894495-B2
Application number	US-201916425666-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2019
Priority date	May 29, 2019
Publication date	Jan 19, 2021
Grant date	Jan 19, 2021

Abstract

Seat assemblies and methods for making seat assembly are provided. In one example, a seat assembly includes a seat base and a seat backrest. An armrest is disposed adjacent to the seat base and has an upper armrest section that extends towards a forward armrest section for supporting an arm of a seat occupant. A lever handle is disposed within a hand-length below the upper armrest section such that the lever handle is accessible to a hand of the seat occupant while at least a portion of the arm of the seat occupant is supported on the upper armrest section. A lever arm has a first end coupled to the lever handle and a second end pivotally coupled to a part of the armrest that is disposed below the upper armrest section such that the lever handle moves in an arcuate upward direction when actuated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat assembly for supporting a seat occupant, the seat assembly comprising:
a seat base extending from a rearward seat base section to a forward seat base section;
a seat backrest extending substantially upright from the rearward seat base section; and
an armrest disposed adjacent to the seat base and extending from a rearward armrest section to a forward armrest section that is forward of the seat backrest, the armrest having an upper armrest section extending towards the forward armrest section and configured for supporting an arm of the seat occupant, wherein the armrest comprises:
a lever handle disposed within a hand-length below the upper armrest section such that the lever handle is accessible to a hand of the seat occupant while at least a portion of the arm of the seat occupant is supported on the upper armrest section; and
a lever arm having a first end coupled to the lever handle and a second end pivotally coupled to a part of the armrest that is disposed below the upper armrest section such that the lever handle moves in an arcuate upward direction when actuated by the hand of the seat occupant, wherein the armrest has an outer armrest side on a side opposite the seat base and extending from the rearward armrest section to the forward armrest section below the upper armrest section, and wherein the lever handle is at least partially disposed in the outer armrest side.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lever handle is partially disposed in the outer armrest side and is partially disposed in the forward armrest section.

3. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the armrest has a curved outer armrest corner that forms a transition between the outer armrest side and the forward armrest section, and wherein the lever handle is at least partially disposed in the curved outer armrest corner.

4. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second end of the lever arm is pivotally coupled to the part of the armrest that is disposed rearward of the forward armrest section and adjacent to the upper armrest section, and wherein the lever handle is positioned on the armrest such that when actuated, the lever handle moves along the arcuate upward direction via the hand of the seat occupant such that the at least the portion of the arm of the seat occupant remains stationary and supported on the upper armrest section.

5. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least the portion of the arm of the seat occupant includes a wrist of the seat occupant, and wherein the lever handle is disposed below the upper armrest section such that the lever handle is accessible to the hand of the seat occupant while the wrist of the seat occupant is supported on the upper armrest section.

6. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lever handle has an exposed outer surface and an inner surface opposite the exposed outer surface, and wherein
the first end of the lever arm is coupled to the inner surface of the lever handle.

7. The seat assembly of claim 6 , wherein the lever handle has a perimeter edge that forms a transition between the exposed outer surface and the inner surface, and wherein the perimeter edge includes a lower perimeter edge section, and wherein the lever handle defines a finger grip on the inner surface adjacent to the lower perimeter edge section.

8. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lever arm and the lever handle cooperate to direct movement of the lever handle along the arcuate upward direction from a nominal position to an actuated position when actuated by the hand of the seat occupant, and wherein the seat assembly further comprises a biasing element that is operatively coupled to the lever arm to bias the lever handle in the nominal position.

9. The seat assembly of claim 8 , wherein the biasing element is one of proximate to and disposed at the second end of the lever arm.

10. The seat assembly of claim 9 , wherein the second end of the lever arm is a dual pronged end including a first prong and a second prong that are spaced apart, and wherein the biasing element is disposed between the first and second prongs.

11. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the second end of the lever arm includes at least one opening formed therethrough, and the seat assembly further comprises a pin that is coupled to the part of the armrest and that is disposed through the at least one opening of the second end to pivotably couple the lever arm to the part of the armrest.

12. The seat assembly of claim 11 , wherein the second end of the lever arm is a dual pronged end including a first prong and a second prong that are spaced apart, and wherein the at least one opening includes a first opening that extends through the first prong and a second opening that extends through the second prong and that is aligned with the first opening, and wherein the pin is disposed through the first and second openings of the first and second prongs, respectively.

13. The seat assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lever arm has a proximal section that includes the second end, a distal section that includes the first end, and an elbow section that is disposed between and couples the proximal section to the distal section.

14. The seat assembly of claim 13 , wherein the lever arm and the lever handle cooperate to direct movement of the lever handle along the arcuate upward direction from a nominal position to an actuated position when actuated by the hand of the seat occupant, and wherein the proximal section extends in a generally downward direction from the first end to the elbow section and the distal section extends in a generally forward direction from the elbow section to the first end when the lever handle is in the nominal position.

15. The seat assembly of claim 13 , further comprising a cable that is operatively coupled to the proximal section of the lever arm to move when the lever handle is actuated for adjusting a position of the seat assembly.

16. The seat assembly of claim 15 , wherein the proximal section has a slot formed therein and the cable has an end section that is disposed through the slot and that is coupled to the proximal section adjacent to the slot.

17. The seat assembly of claim 15 , wherein the position of the seat assembly is adjustable at least one of fore, aft, side to side, and rotationally when the lever handle is actuated.

18. The seat assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an armrest structure and an armrest housing that is coupled to the armrest structure, and wherein the second end of the lever arm is pivotably coupled to the armrest housing.

19. A method for making a seat assembly for supporting a seat occupant, the method comprising the steps of:
arranging a seat backrest extending substantially upright from a rearward seat base section of a seat base, wherein the seat base extends forward from the rearward seat base section to a forward seat base section:
disposing an armrest adjacent to the seat base, wherein the armrest extends from a rearward armrest section to a forward armrest section that is forward of the seat backrest, and wherein the armrest has an upper armrest section configured for supporting an arm of the seat occupant;
coupling a first end of a lever arm to a lever handle;
disposing the lever handle within a hand-length below the upper armrest section such that the lever handle is accessible to a hand of the seat occupant while at least a portion of the arm of the seat occupant is supported on the upper armrest section; and
pivotably coupling a second end of the lever arm

Assignees

• Gulfstream Aerospace Corp

Inventors

• Davies Richard
• Mallette Jeremiah
• Kasparian Aram
• O'Hara Timothy

Classifications

• B64D11/0644

  Adjustable arm rests · CPC title

• B60N2/79 Primary

  Adaptations for additional use of the arm-rests · CPC title

• B60N2/763 Primary

  adjustable · CPC title

• B60N2/797

  for use as electrical control means, e.g. switches · CPC title

• B60N2/76 Primary

  in a recess of the cushion · CPC title