Cantilevered Mattress Hinged Section for Seat Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Airplane passengers face discomfort while trying to sleep on long flights due to unreclined seats and lack of a flat, private sleeping surface, as standard seats do not provide adequate comfort or privacy, and existing solutions require specially modified seats or do not allow for easy movement during takeoff and landing.
Innovation Solution
A cantilevered mattress system that attaches to airplane seats, extending over the footwell to create a flat surface, with a hinged section for easy access during takeoff and landing, and optional features like a seatback cover for storage and lighting, and a privacy curtain for enhanced privacy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a mattress extends across a full row of seats to provide a flat sleeping surface, then sleeping comfort is improved, but the ability to access and use individual seats during takeoff and landing deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress is divided into multiple sections corresponding to individual seats, with each section independently removable. This allows the mattress to provide full coverage when needed for sleeping comfort, while enabling individual sections to be removed for seat accessibility during takeoff and landing.
Solution Approach 2:
The mattress incorporates hinged sections that can be dynamically adjusted or removed. This dynamic design allows the mattress to transition between a complete flat surface configuration for sleeping and a partially open configuration that allows access to individual seats when required by safety regulations.
2Ease of operation
If specially modified airplane seats are installed to enable flat sleeping, then sleeping comfort is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress acts as an intermediary layer placed between the passenger and the existing airplane seats. This intermediary solution provides the flat sleeping surface without requiring modification of the airplane seats themselves, thus avoiding increased device complexity and cost associated with seat modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of modifying the existing seats to create sleeping surfaces, the invention creates a separate, portable mattress structure that replicates the needed sleeping function. This copying approach allows the sleeping function to be added without altering the original seat design.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the mattress is securely attached to seats, then sleeping stability is improved, but ease of installation and removal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mattress incorporates pre-designed attachment mechanisms and alignment features that guide installation. These preliminary design elements ensure stable attachment while making the installation process straightforward and intuitive, reducing the effort required by passengers to install and remove the mattress.
Data Source
AI summary
A cantilevered mattress that can be positioned along a row of airline seats to provide a resting surface for a user includes a mattress pad and an at least one cantilever. The at least one cantilever is adjacently connected to the mattress pad and laterally extends from the mattress pad in order to engage with the airline seats. The mattress pad includes a padded layer and a plurality of bottom supports, wherein the padded layer cushions the user and the plurality of bottom supports maintain the padded layer in a flat position across the airline seats. The padded layer has a first section that is hinged to a second section, allowing the first section to be lifted and thus enabling the user to take a seated position during takeoff and landing. A seatback cover and privacy curtain may also be included to provide additional privacy, storage, lighting, etc.