Vehicle armrest

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9567065-B2
Application number	US-90010910-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2010
Priority date	Oct 7, 2010
Publication date	Feb 14, 2017
Grant date	Feb 14, 2017

Abstract

An armrest for use by a pilot while operating a side stick inceptor has on its underside a number of secondary controls which can be operated when the side stick is not being used, the armrest then acting as a handgrip enabling the pilot to operate the secondary controls with a steady hand.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vehicle armrest for a forearm of an occupant of the vehicle, comprising:
a first surface facing generally upwardly towards an intended location of an occupant's forearm and positioned to support said forearm;
a second surface facing in an opposite direction to the first surface generally downwardly away from the intended location of the occupant's forearm, the second surface having a plurality of grooves extending from a distal end of the armrest towards a proximal end; and
a handgrip configured to be grasped for support by an occupant of the vehicle, each groove of the second surface having a control for operation by the occupant to control the vehicle whilst grasping the hand grip for support.

2. The armrest of claim 1 , wherein each control is disposed in a respective groove at the distal end of the armrest, which is an end farthest away from an intended location of an occupant for operation by a finger of an occupant.

3. The armrest of claim 2 , wherein each groove of the second surface is configured to receive a finger of the occupant for manipulating the control of the respective groove.

4. The armrest of claim 1 wherein at least one of the controls comprises:
a push-button and/or scroll wheel.

5. The armrest of claim 1 wherein at least one of the controls comprises:
a joystick.

6. The armrest of claim 4 , wherein a said push-button, scroll wheel or other control is disposed in at least one groove for receiving a finger of an occupant.

7. A vehicle comprising:
a vehicle armrest, the armrest being positioned within the vehicle to support an occupant's forearm during operation of a primary control inceptor of the vehicle, the armrest including:
a first surface facing generally upwardly towards an intended location of an occupant's forearm and positioned to support said forearm;
a second surface facing in an opposite direction to the first surface generally downwardly away from the intended location of the occupant's forearm, the second surface having a plurality of grooves extending from a distal end of the armrest towards a proximal end; and
a handgrip configured to be grasped for support by an occupant of the vehicle, each groove of the second surface having a control for operation by the occupant to control the vehicle whilst grasping the hand grip for support.

8. The vehicle of claim 7 wherein the primary control inceptor is a side stick controller.

9. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the vehicle is an aircraft.

10. The armrest of claim 1 , comprising:
a side surface adjacent to the first surface and the second surface, the side surface having a recess and a control disposed in the recess.

11. The armrest of claim 10 , wherein the control disposed in the recess is a joystick.

12. The vehicle of claim 7 , comprising:
a side surface adjacent of the first surface and the second surface, the side surface having a recess and a control disposed in the recess.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the control disposed in the recess is a joystick.

14. The armrest of claim 1 , wherein each groove of the second surface is configured to receive a substantial portion of a length along a respective finger of the occupant.

15. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein each groove of the second surface is configured to receive a substantial portion of a length along a respective finger of the occupant.

16. The armrest of claim 1 , wherein each control is disposed on a distal end of a respective groove.

17. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein each control is disposed on a distal end of a respective groove.

Assignees

• Coote David John
• Horton Oliver Trevor
• Bae Systems Plc

Inventors

• Coote David John
• Horton Oliver Trevor

Classifications

• Y10T74/20396

  Hand operated · CPC title

• Y10T74/20201

  Control moves in two planes · CPC title

• G05G9/047

  the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks {(for switches H01H25/04)} · CPC title

• G05G1/08

  Controlling members for hand actuation by rotary movement, e.g. hand wheels · CPC title

• G05G1/02

  Controlling members for hand actuation by linear movement, e.g. push buttons · CPC title