Aircraft Seat Side Support with Rotatable Segments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft passenger seats lack adequate side support, leading to neck and back pain during long flights due to poor posture and lack of surface contact when passengers turn or sleep on their sides, resulting in discomfort and discomfort during flights.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates moveable side supports that can be deployed to increase the bearing surface area of the seat backrest, optionally rotatably or slideably coupled with the seat backrest assembly, allowing for adjustable height and locking in multiple positions to provide enhanced side support and reduce strain on the neck and back.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the seat backrest only provides basic backrest support, then the device complexity is low, but the bearing surface area is insufficient causing neck and back pain
Solution Approach 1:
The side support is divided into multiple segments that can rotate independently relative to each other, allowing the support surface to conform to the passenger's body contours while maintaining a manageable structural complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The side support incorporates rotatable joints that allow the support structure to dynamically adjust and adapt to different passenger positions and body shapes, transforming a static simple structure into a dynamic adaptive system that increases bearing surface area without proportionally increasing complexity
2Ease of operation
If the side support is always deployed, then the comfort is improved, but the device complexity increases due to moveable mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The side support system utilizes the passenger's own body weight and position to automatically trigger the deployment mechanism, eliminating the need for manual operation or complex control systems while maintaining high comfort through automatic adaptation to passenger needs
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the side support provides full surface contact, then the neck and back pain is reduced, but the device complexity increases due to adjustable mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The side support applies different levels of support and contact at different locations along the passenger's body, with increased bearing surface area concentrated in the upper half where neck and back pain occurs most, rather than uniformly distributing complexity throughout the entire structure
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable side support segments are nested within the seat backrest assembly, allowing the support structure to be compact when not in use and expand outward to provide full surface contact when deployed, reducing overall device complexity through space-efficient nesting
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention generally relates to passenger aircraft seats. Some examples provide systems for providing side support to seated passengers. Some examples include a passenger seat backrest having an extendable side support. An extendable side support may be integrated with a seat backrest and may be moved between a stowed position and a deployed position. When in a deployed position, the expandable side support may then provide additional side support to a seated passenger's body.