Flexible headrest assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11192654-B2
Application number	US-201817264453-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 31, 2018
Priority date	Jul 31, 2018
Publication date	Dec 7, 2021
Grant date	Dec 7, 2021

Abstract

Described are passenger seat headrest assemblies and seats including headrest assemblies having a semi-rigid flap fixedly connected with an upper portion of the seat back or headrest assembly at a first location and movably connected with the seat back or headrest assembly at a receiving element separated from the first location. The distance of the movable connection from the first location can be adjusted to cause the flexible headrest assembly to flex outward from the seat to provide a greater or lesser degree of support for a passenger.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A seat, comprising:
a seat back having a front side and an upper end; and
a headrest assembly connected with seat back, the headrest assembly comprising:
a semi-rigid flap connected with the upper end of the seat back at a first location, the semi-rigid flap extending downwardly along the front side of the seat back; and
an adjustable connecting assembly comprising an attachment element attached to the flap and a receiving element attached to the front side of the seat back and including a track extending longitudinally in an upward and downward direction, the adjustable connecting assembly positioned to connect the flap to the seat back at a second location on the front side of the seat back and separated from the first location, the second location being movable such that a distance between the first and second locations can be increased or decreased, wherein decreasing the distance between the first and second locations causes the flap to extend away from the seat back,
wherein the attachment element comprises a locking protrusion and the receiving element comprises a discontinuous plurality of slots disposed along a length of the track and configured to receive the locking protrusion at a plurality of second locations, including the second location, corresponding to the plurality of slots, the distance between the first and second locations being adjustable depending on the slot of the discontinuous plurality of slots into which the locking protrusion is received, and wherein the locking protrusion is configured for movement in a direction perpendicular to the upward and downward direction and is spring-biased to maintain the locking protrusion in a locked configuration and is configured to release the locking protrusion to an unlocked configuration when an actuator is moved by the user against a bias of a spring.

2. The seat of claim 1 , wherein the attachment element is configurable between a locked configuration and an unlocked configuration, wherein the locking protrusion can be moved to vary the second location when the attachment element is in the unlocked configuration, and wherein the attachment element is secured at the second location when the attachment element is in the locked configuration.

3. The seat of claim 1 , wherein the semi-rigid flap is fixedly connected to the upper end of the seat back.

4. The seat of claim 1 , further comprising a cushion connected with the upper end of the seat back between the semi-rigid flap and the front of the seat back.

5. The seat of claim 1 , wherein the headrest assembly is attached with the seat back by a sliding connection such that a height of the headrest assembly can be adjusted relative to the seat back independent of the semi-rigid flap being adjustable by the adjustable connecting assembly.

6. The seat of claim 1 , wherein the distance between the first and second locations can be varied by moving the second location up to 10 cm (about 4″) closer to the first location from an initial second location.

7. A headrest assembly, comprising:
a semi-rigid flap configurable to connect with an upper portion of a seat back at a first location; and
an adjustable connecting assembly comprising an attachment element attached to the flap and a receiving element configurable to attach to a front side of the seat back and including a track extending longitudinally in an upward and downward direction, the receiving element and attachment element being operable to connect the flap to the front side of the seat back at a second location separated from the first location, the second location being movable such that a distance between the first and second locations can be increased or decreased, wherein decreasing the distance between the first and second locations causes the flap to extend away from the seat back,
wherein the attachment element comprises a locking element having a locked configuration and an unlocked configuration, wherein the attachment element can be moved to vary the second location when the locking element is in the unlocked configuration, and wherein the attachment element is secured at the second location when the locking element is in the locked configuration, and wherein the locking element comprises a pushbutton actuator configured for movement in a direction perpendicular to the upward and downward direction and comprising a spring-biased button that biases the attachment element in the locked configuration when the pushbutton actuator is not depressed and releases the attachment element to the unlocked configuration when the pushbutton actuator is depressed.

8. The headrest assembly of claim 7 , wherein the locking element comprises a spring-biased lever mechanically connected with a control arm positioned at a lateral offset from the headrest assembly, wherein the spring-biased lever biases the attachment element in the locked configuration when the control arm is not rotated and releases the attachment element to the unlocked configuration when the control arm is rotated.

9. The headrest assembly of claim 7 , further comprising an additional cushion connected with the flap and configurable to connect with the upper portion of the seat back proximate to the first location.

10. A method of adjusting a headrest thickness, the method comprising:
with a seat comprising a headrest assembly that comprises a semi-rigid flap fixedly connected to an upper portion of the seat at a first location and movably connected to a receiving element comprising an elongate track connected to a front of the seat by an attachment means at an initial second location separated from the first location by an initial distance in a downward direction from the first location;
releasing the attachment means at the initial second location so that the attachment means can move in an upward direction or the downward direction along a length of the track relative to the initial second location;
causing the flap to flex outward from the seat by moving the attachment means from the initial second location to a final second location separated from the initial second location such that a final distance between the first location and final second location is less than the initial distance between the first location and initial second location; and
securing the attachment means at the final second location,
wherein the attachment means comprises a locking protrusion, and the receiving element comprises a discontinuous plurality of slots disposed along the length of the track configured to receive the locking protrusion at a plurality of second locations that include the initial second location and the final second location, and wherein:
unlocking the attachment means comprises removing the locking protrusion from a first slot of the plurality of slots; and
locking the attachment means at the final second location comprises inserting the locking protrusion at a second slot different from the first slot of the plurality of slots, and wherein the attachment means further comprises a spring-biased actuator configured for movement in a direction perpendicular to the upward and downward directions and configured to maintain the attachment means in a locked configuration and configured to release the attachment means to an unlocked configuration when the actuator is moved by a user against a bias of a spring, and wherein:
unlocking the attachment means comprises moving the actuator; and
locking the attachment means comprises releasing the actuator.

11. A method of adjusting a headrest thickness, the method comprising:
with a seat comprising a headrest assembly that comprises a semi-rigid flap fixedly connected to an upper portion of the se

Assignees

• Safran Seats Usa Llc

Inventors

• Ruiz Lara Oscar
• Glain Arthur

Classifications

• B60N2/815

  Release mechanisms, e.g. buttons · CPC title

• B64D11/0642 Primary

  Adjustable headrests · CPC title

• B60N2/865

  providing a fore-and-aft movement with respect to the occupant's head · CPC title

• B60N2/818 Primary

  with stepwise positioning · CPC title

• A47C7/38

  for the head, e.g. detachable · CPC title