Aircraft Seat Units with Movable Privacy Shields for Wheelchair Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft seat units with fixed privacy shields in tight configurations pose difficulties for passengers with reduced mobility due to limited access space, making it challenging to transfer them from wheelchairs to seats and access seat equipment.
Innovation Solution
Aircraft seat units with a movable privacy shield comprising a fixed and movable part, allowing the movable part to retract and deploy, creating an access space by moving away from the seat, thereby increasing the accessible space for passengers with reduced mobility and facilitating equipment access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a fixed privacy shield is used to delimit a semi-enclosed space around the seat, then passenger privacy is improved, but access space for passengers with reduced mobility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The privacy shield is transformed from a fixed structure to a dynamic one with movable parts that can rotate between a retracted position (providing privacy) and a deployed position (clearing access space). This allows the same structure to serve both privacy and accessibility functions at different times.
Solution Approach 2:
The privacy shield is divided into a fixed part and a movable part that can independently rotate. The movable part can be deployed to clear access space while the fixed part remains in place to maintain structural integrity and privacy when needed.
2Productivity
If the pitch between successive seat units is reduced to optimize filling, then productivity is improved, but access space for wheelchair transfer deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The movable privacy shield creates variable access space that can be deployed when needed for wheelchair transfers, allowing tight pitch configurations to maintain accessibility. The shield rotates to clear the path between wheelchair and seat during transfer operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The privacy shield is positioned in the deployed state before wheelchair transfer to pre-clear the access path, ensuring sufficient space is available for the transfer operation without requiring additional maneuvers or adjustments during the critical transfer moment.
3Ease of operation
If a movable privacy shield is deployed to clear access space, then ease of operation is improved, but passenger privacy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The privacy shield transitions between static (privacy mode) and dynamic (access mode) states based on operational needs. The movable part rotates to deployed position for access and returns to retracted position for privacy, providing temporal separation of functions.
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft seat unit includes a seat that can be moved between a seated position and a reclining position and a privacy shield extending at least partly around the seat. The privacy shield includes a fixed portion and a movable portion that can be moved relative to the fixed portion. The movable portion is movable between: a retracted position in which the movable portion delimits, with the fixed portion, a partially enclosed space around the seat to give the passenger privacy, and a deployed position in which the movable portion is at a distance from the seat so as to free up space for accessing the seat.