INDEPENDENT TRANSLATING ROLLER SEAT

• US 20170313213A1
• Filed: 01/12/2017
• Published: 11/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Original Assignee: B/E Aerospace, Inc. (Raytheon Technologies Corporation d/b/a RTX)
• Inventors: MEISTER, Peter C., OLIVEIRA, Perci, IOSSIFIDIS, John
• Granted Patent: US 10,232,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/2209 by longitudinal displacement of the cushion, e.g. back-rest hinged on the bottom to the cushion and linked on the top to the vehicle frame
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/34 into a bed
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/838 Tiltable
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0641 Seats convertible into beds
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0642 Adjustable headrests

Abstract

A passenger seat may be configured to adjust between an upright seating position and a lie-flat sleeping position (which may include one or more intermediate reclined seating positions) via independent rollers attached to the seat pan, or seat bottom, and to the backrest. As the passenger seat transitions between the upright seating position and the lie-flat sleeping position, guide channels set into the left and right frame rails direct the movement of the independent rollers through the guide channels and thereby control the angles of the seat pan and the backrest throughout the transition.

Claims

1. An adjustable passenger seat, comprising:

a seat pan;

a backrest pivotally attached to the seat pan;

rollers carried on the seat pan and the backrest; and

frame rails arranged on left and right sides of the seat pan and backrest, each of the frame rails having guide channels along which the rollers travel to adjust seat pan and backrest angles as the adjustable passenger seat moves between an upright sitting position and a Lie flat sleeping position.

2. An adjustable passenger seat, comprising:

a seat pan associated with a left side and a right side;

a backrest pivotably attached to the seat pan at a variable angle;

a plurality of rollers rotatably coupled to either the seat pan or the backrest, each roller associated with one or more of the left side and the right side; and

frame rails including at least a left frame rail associated with the left side and a right frame rail associated with the right side, each frame rail having one or more guide channels, each guide channel configured to accommodate at least one roller of the plurality of rollers, the at least one roller configured to adjust the variable angle as the seat pan and the backrest move between a first orientation associated with an upright sitting position and a second orientation associated with a lie flat sleeping position by traveling through the accommodating guide channel.

3. The adjustable passenger seat of claim 2, wherein the first orientation is associated with at least one first position of the at least one roller within the accommodating guide channel, and the second orientation is associated with at least one second position of the at least one roller within the accommodating guide channel.

4. The adjustable passenger seat of claim 2, further comprising:

at least one headrest pivotably coupled to the at least one backrest.

5. The adjustable passenger seat of claim 2, further comprising:

at least one fixed frame member slidably coupled to at least one of the seat pan and the backrest by at least one carriage, the at least one carriage configured to translate the seat pan and the backrest relative to the at least one fixed frame member between a first position associated with the first orientation and a second position associated with the second orientation.

6. The adjustable passenger seat of claim 2, wherein the seat pan and the backrest are positionable in at least one intermediate orientation between the first orientation and the second orientation.