Continuous Knee Bolster Layout for Offset Transit Seat Rows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat arrangements in public transportation vehicles fail to effectively protect the lower limbs of passengers in rear seats laterally offset from the front seats during collisions, leaving unprotected spaces and causing uneven impact forces on the limbs.
Innovation Solution
A continuous knee bolster extending laterally across the backrests of the front seats, equipped with an energy-absorbing structure, covers the lower parts of the backrests to ensure simultaneous impact absorption for both knees, using elastically or plastically deformable materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual knee pads are provided on front seats, then impact energy absorption is improved for aligned rear seats, but unprotected spaces remain when rear seats are laterally offset
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual knee pads into a single continuous knee bolster that spans across the backrests of multiple front seats. This continuous structure ensures uninterrupted protection for passengers in laterally offset rear seats, eliminating the gaps that exist when individual pads are used separately on each front seat.
Solution Approach 2:
The continuous knee bolster serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides impact energy absorption for passengers in various seating configurations (both aligned and laterally offset positions), and it covers the lower parts of multiple front seat backrests. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate protection systems for different seating arrangements.
2Ease of manufacture
If separate knee pads are used for each front seat, then manufacturing is simpler, but impact force distribution becomes uneven on the lower limbs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines separate knee pads into a unified continuous knee bolster structure. This merging ensures that impact forces are distributed evenly across the entire structure and transferred uniformly to the lower limbs, eliminating the uneven force distribution that occurs with separate, disconnected pads.
3Device complexity
If the front seat back structure is used for protection, then no additional components are needed, but the rigid structure causes injury in collision scenarios
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates an energy-absorbing material layer between the rigid front seat back structure and the potential impact zone. This cushioning layer is pre-installed to absorb impact energy during collisions, preventing the rigid structure from directly contacting and injuring the passenger's lower limbs.
Solution Approach 2:
The knee bolster combines the rigid structural support of the front seat back with a compliant energy-absorbing material layer. This composite construction maintains the structural integrity needed for positioning while providing the shock-absorbing properties necessary to reduce injury risk during impact events.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures simultaneous and uniform impact force distribution across both knees, reducing the risk of injury by absorbing energy uniformly during collisions.
Implementation Method 1
The energy absorbing structure may comprise an elastically deformable structure, e.g. a set of one or more springs
Implementation Method 2
and/or a plastically deformable structure, e.g. a plastically deformable foam or honeycomb structure
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a seat arrangement (10) in a public transportation vehicle, with a front row (14) of at least two seats (16A, 16B) with individual backrests (18 A, 18B) and a rear row (20) of at least one seat (22 A, 22B) laterally offset with respect to the at least two seats (16A, 16B) of the front row (14). A back of the front row (14) is provided with a continuous knee bolster (34) that extends laterally to cover a lower part of the backrests (18A, 18B) of the two seats (16A, 16B) of the front row (14).