Deployable Dining Table Using Non-Parallel Rails for Compound Movement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing deployable tables in aircraft passenger suites require complex mechanisms for vertical and horizontal movement, making them impractical and uncomfortable for use due to mismatched heights with static structures like vanities and desks, and hinder seat adjustability and ingress/egress.
Innovation Solution
A deployable table assembly with non-parallel static rails and hinges that allow compound movement between a stowed and deployed position, enabling vertical and horizontal translation, and featuring stabilizing arms for ergonomic positioning and compact stowage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a table deploys from beneath a forward static structure, then the table can be positioned closer to the seat for ergonomic use, but complex mechanisms are required to achieve both vertical and horizontal movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the table movable between stowed and deployed positions through hinges that enable compound movement. The table transitions from a fixed stowed position beneath the vanity to a deployed position where it is forward of and lower than the vanity, achieving ergonomic positioning without requiring overly complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs non-parallel static rails that guide hinge movement in multiple dimensions. The hinges travel along rails that are not parallel to each other, enabling the table to achieve both vertical lowering and horizontal forward movement simultaneously through a coordinated two-dimensional path rather than requiring separate mechanisms for each dimension.
2Adaptability or versatility
If complex hinge mechanisms are used to change table orientation, then the table can move between vertical and horizontal positions, but the mechanism becomes overly complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses non-parallel rails to guide hinge movement through a coordinated two-dimensional path. Instead of requiring complex mechanisms to achieve both vertical and horizontal movement separately, the hinges travel along non-parallel rails that naturally guide the table through the required orientation changes as a unified motion, simplifying the overall mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
A deployable table assembly including a table, first and second non-parallel static rails, and first and second hinges attaching the table to the first and second non-parallel static rails, wherein the first and second hinges configured to travel along the first and second non-parallel static rails to move the table between a stowed position and a deployed position, wherein the table when in the deployed position is forward of and vertically lower than the table when in the stowed position.