Seat, Operating and Control System of Seats, Method of Operating and Controlling Seats

• US 20110278884A1
• Filed: 01/28/2010
• Published: 11/17/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IDEA Capital Funds SGR S.P.A. (DeA Capital SpA (Venture Capital)), Veneto Banca S.p.A. (Intesa Sanpaolo SPA)
• Original Assignee: Clerprem S.P.A. (CP International SpA)
• Inventors: Marchesi, GianRoberto
• Granted Patent: US 8,602,307 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/135
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 33/0007 Details; Accessories
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 41/00 Indicators for reserved seats; Warning or like signs; Devices or arrangements in connection with tickets, e.g. ticket holders; Holders for cargo tickets or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 2029/043 Seats; Arrangements thereof on vessels
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 29/04 Furniture peculiar to vessels floatable furniture B63C9/30
• 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 11/0624 Arrangements of electrical connectors, e.g. for earphone, internet or electric supply
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0638 with foldable tables, trays or cup holders
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 30/00 Transportation of goods or passengers via railways, e.g. energy recovery or reducing air resistance

Abstract

A seat for passengers comprising a seat body and at least one seat portion, wherein the seat comprises identification devices able to receive and verify the correctness of an identification code of the seat and activation devices, operatively connected to the identification devices, so as to be enabled and/or disabled depending on the result of verification of the identification code.

Claims

1-15. -15. (canceled)

16. Seat for passengers comprising a seat body having at least one seat portion, wherein

the seat comprises identification devices able to receive and verify the correctness of an identification code of the seat and activation devices, operatively connected to the identification devices, so as to be enabled and/or disabled depending on the result of verification of the identification code, the activation devices controlling main and/or additional functions of the seat.

17. Seat according to claim 16, wherein the identification devices comprise a bar-code reader or an optical, radio frequency or keypad system for the insertion of a code, able to receive an input identification code, check its correspondence with the identification code of the seat and respectively activate or deactivate activation devices of the seat following positive or negative verification.

18. Seat according to claim 16, wherein the activation devices are connected to an electric power supply of the seat, so as to respectively enable or disable electric powering of the seat following positive or negative verification of the identification code.

19. Seat according to claim 16, wherein the activation devices comprise drive means to move the seat portion and/or a backrest of the seat from an open configuration in use to a closed configuration of non-use, the drive means being controlled so as to position the seat in an open configuration in the case of positive verification of the identification code and vice versa.

20. Seat according to claim 16, wherein the seat portion is attached to the seat body so as to be able to rotate from a horizontal position in which the seat is in use to an essentially vertical position of non-use of the seat, so as to prevent access to the seat portion.

21. Seat according to claim 16, wherein the activation devices comprise additional seat accessories comprising at least one of the following:

heating and/or cooling devices, means of adjusting the seat portion, the backrest or portions of these, pull-out tables, storage compartments, WI FI connection devices, lighting devices of the seat, monitor.

22. Seat according to claim 16, wherein the activation devices comprise means of detecting the presence of a passenger on the seat, able to detect the presence of a passenger occupying the seat so as to enable the activation devices when the seat is occupied and disable the activation devices when the seat is not occupied by the passenger.

23. Seat according to claim 22, wherein said means of detection comprise at least one pressure sensor positioned in the seat portion and/or the backrest so as to detect whether the seat is effectively occupied by a user.

24. Seat according to claim 16, wherein said seat is connected to a processor unit able to monitor the status of the seat, signalling in real time whether the seat is in use or not.

25. Seat according to claim 16, comprising a support element mechanically connected to the seat body, so that the seat body is supported to overhang the support element.

26. Seat according to claim 25, wherein the support element supports a pair of seat portions with respective backrests overhanging it.

27. Seat according to claim 25, wherein said support element contains the identification devices and/or activation devices of the seat at least partially.

28. Operating and control system of seats for passengers comprising at least one seat according to claim 16, at least one processor unit connected to said seats so as to monitor in real time the functioning status of the seats, said unit signalling the effective availability of seats.

29. Method of operating and controlling a seat according to claim 16, comprising the phases of:

associating an identification code with the seat,

fitting the seat with identification devices able to acquire an external identification code and compare it to the identification code of the seat,

fitting the seat with activation devices to control the main and additional functions of the seat,

operatively connecting the activation devices to the identification devices, so as to power the activation devices only when the code acquired by the identification devices and the identification code of the seat correspond.

30. Method according to claim 29, comprising the phase of closing the seat portion of the seat so as to make access to the seat impossible in the case of non-correspondence between the code acquired by the identification devices and the identification code of the seat.