Angled Aircraft Seating Configuration for Density and Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft first/business class cabins face a challenge in balancing passenger comfort with seat density, as increased recline of seats reduces the number of seats that can be accommodated, necessitating a seating configuration that maximizes seat density while maintaining comfort.
Innovation Solution
A seating assembly with longitudinally staggered and angled seating columns, where each seat is movable between upright and fully reclined positions, featuring privacy shells with foot recesses and asymmetrical head rests, allowing for efficient use of space and passenger comfort, with seats angled between 1° and 44° relative to the cabin's longitudinal axis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If seats are allowed to recline to a horizontal position for maximum passenger comfort, then passenger comfort is improved, but the number of seats that can be accommodated in the aircraft decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies longitudinal staggering to offset adjacent seats along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, effectively utilizing the longitudinal dimension to resolve the conflict between seat recline space and seat density. This dimensional approach allows seats to be positioned at different longitudinal locations while maintaining lateral adjacency, thereby accommodating full-recline seats without reducing overall seat count
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs asymmetric positioning where adjacent seats are offset by different longitudinal distances from the transverse centerline. This asymmetric arrangement optimizes space utilization by creating non-uniform spacing patterns that better fit the cabin geometry, allowing maximum seat density while providing adequate recline space for each seat
2Quantity of substance
If seats are positioned at angles relative to the longitudinal axis to optimize space utilization, then seat density is improved, but the complexity of the seating configuration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the seating configuration into modular units with standardized angular offsets (e.g., 15 degrees from the longitudinal axis). This segmentation into repeatable modules simplifies the overall design and implementation complexity while achieving high seat density, as each module can be independently designed and then replicated throughout the cabin
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes seat density by adjusting key parameters including the angular offset from the longitudinal axis, the longitudinal stagger distance between adjacent seats, and the transverse spacing. By systematically varying these parameters, the configuration achieves maximum seat density while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized parameter sets
Data Source
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AI summary
There is a seating assembly adapted to be positioned in an aircraft cabin. The seating assembly comprises a first seat having a first seat back and a first seat bottom and defining a first longitudinal axis, and a second seat having a second seat back and a second seat bottom and defining a second longitudinal axis. The first and second seats are positioned adjacent to one another. The seating assembly comprises a third longitudinal axis that is approximately parallel with a longitudinal axis defined by the aircraft cabin when the seating assembly is positioned in an aircraft cabin. The first seat faces fore and is positioned such that the first longitudinal axis forms an angle with the third longitudinal axis that is between about 1° and about 44° and the second seat faces fore and is positioned such that the second longitudinal axis forms an angle with the third longitudinal axis that is between about 1° and about 44°. The first and second seats each face away from each other and away from the third longitudinal axis.