Array of aircraft seats

• US 20100038484A1
• Filed: 08/11/2009
• Published: 02/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Airlines Incorporated (American Airlines Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: American Airlines Incorporated (American Airlines Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Ersan, Ali
• Granted Patent: US 8,348,195 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/118.600
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/06 Arrangements of seats, or adaptations or details specially adapted for aircraft seats crew seat constructions for emergency purposes B64D25/04
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0601 Arrangement of seats for non-standard seating layouts, e.g. seats staggered horizontally or vertically, arranged in an angled or fishbone layout, or facing in other directions than the direction of flight
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0641 Seats convertible into beds

Abstract

The sleeper seats are shown in sleeping mode. Each comprises a head rest, a back rest, a seat pan or seat cushion and a leg rest, all of which move in a conventional manner when the seat is moved from sleeping mode to sitting mode. The seats also include ottomans. Further they have inter-seat dividers between the individual seats within the their column. The six seats are arranged in a chevron formation or array and two columns. All the seats in each column are parallel with each other and have central axes A set at a “herringbone” angle a to the column direction and in particular to a longitudinal axis 10 of the array.

Claims

1. An array of aircraft seats comprising:

two columns of seats arranged for array along an aircraft cabin on respective sides of a longitudinal axis of the array;

the seats having respective central axes,

the seats in both columns having their central axes angled with respect to the longitudinal axis and

the array including at least one quartet of the seats having;

two seats from one column on one side of the longitudinal axis, with

one of these two seats facing inwards towards the longitudinal axis and

the other of these two seats facing outwards from the longitudinal axis and

two seats from the other column on the other side of the longitudinal axis, with

one of these two seats facing inwards towards the longitudinal axis and

the other of these two seats facing outwards from the longitudinal axis.

2. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, wherein the seats in the or each quartet of seats are arranged in pairs of adjacent seats,

each pair of adjacent seats having one seat from one column on one side of the longitudinal axis and the other seat from the other column on the other side of the longitudinal axis,

the pairs of seats facing in opposite directions along the longitudinal axis:

the seats of one pair facing inwards towards the longitudinal axis and

the seats of the next pair along the longitudinal axis facing outwards from the longitudinal axis.

3. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, wherein all the seats are arranged with their central axes at substantially the same angle with respect to the longitudinal axis.

4. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 3, wherein the seats in one column are arranged substantially parallel with the seats in the other column, that is with the central axes of all the seats in both columns making with the longitudinal axis substantially the same angle measured in the clockwise (or anti-clockwise) direction.

5. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 3, wherein the seats arranged in a chevron array, that is with the seats in one column angled with respect to the seats in the other column, and with the central axes of all the seats in one column making with the longitudinal axis substantially the same angle measured in the clockwise (or anti-clockwise) direction as the central axes of all the seats in the other column make with the longitudinal axis measured in the anti-clockwise (or clockwise) direction.

6. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, wherein the seats are staggered along the longitudinal axis, whereby the seats in the pairs are displaced along the longitudinal axis with respect to each other with their central axes intersecting the longitudinal axis at different positions.

7. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, wherein the seats are equivalently positioned along the longitudinal axis, whereby the central axes of the seats in the pairs intersect the longitudinal axis at substantially the same positions.

8. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, wherein the seats in the pairs are separated by a longitudinal divider along the longitudinal axis.

9. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, wherein the seats are sleeper seats.

10. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 9, wherein:

the seats in the pairs are separated by a longitudinal divider along the longitudinal axis,

the seats of the pairs facing inwards towards the longitudinal axis have respective ottomans on respective sides of the divider and

each ottoman being triangular,

one side of the ottoman extending along the divider,

a second side of the ottoman extending transversely of the central axis of the respective seat across an end of a leg rest of the seat in sleeping mode and

a third side of the ottoman extending away from the divider.

11. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 10, wherein an inner corner of the leg rest of each inwards facing seat in sleeping mode substantially abuts the longitudinal divider.

12. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 10, wherein an inner corner of a head rest of each outwards facing seat in sleeping mode substantially abuts the longitudinal divider.

13. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, including inter-seat dividers between the individual seats within each column.

14. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 13 as appendant to claim 8, wherein at the longitudinal divider, the inter-seat dividers have inner portions extending substantially, at right angles to the longitudinal divider.

15. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 14, wherein the inter-seat dividers have intermediate portions extending substantially parallel to the central axes of the two seats which they divide.

16. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 15, wherein the inter-seat dividers have outer portions, either extending substantially at right angles to the longitudinal divider, where the respective outer portion extends behind a head rest end of a seat, or extending at an angle intermediate right angles to the longitudinal divider and the central axis of the seat, where the respective outer portion extends behind an ottoman end of a seat.

17. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 15, wherein the inter-seat dividers have aisle extensions at least from their outer portions extending behind a head rest end of a seat, to at least partially enclose the head rest end.

18. An array of aircraft seats according to claim 1, including at least one further column of seats spaced by an aisle from the neighbouring one of the two columns of seats:

the seats of the further column having respective central axes,

the seats in the further column having their central axes angled with respect to the longitudinal axis and

the seats in the further column facing in opposite directions along the longitudinal axis, one facing towards the longitudinal axis and the next facing away from the longitudinal axis.