Aircraft Headrest With Oblique Deployable Side Supports
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing headrests lack sufficient configurability to provide effective support for the sides of the head, limiting comfort and ergonomics, especially in seats designed for safety and comfort like aircraft passenger seats.
Innovation Solution
A headrest assembly with a center portion and deployable left and right ears, where each ear is equipped with a dogleg support that rotates about an axis oblique to the center portion's plane, allowing the ears to move between stowed and deployed positions for enhanced side support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional headrest design with limited height and tilt adjustment is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the configurability to support the sides of the head is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The headrest is divided into multiple independent segments: a center portion and two separate ear portions. Each ear can be independently positioned relative to the center portion, allowing customized configuration for head support while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure. The segmentation enables adaptability without requiring complete structural redesign.
Solution Approach 2:
The ear portions are designed to be movable relative to the center portion through rotatable joints with oblique axes of rotation. This dynamic capability allows the ears to rotate between stowed and deployed positions, providing configurability for side head support while keeping the mechanism simple enough for practical manufacturing and operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If ears are added to provide side support, then support configurability is improved, but the number of components and structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ear portions are integrated with the center portion through shared rotational joints and common mounting structures. The oblique axis joints serve dual purposes: they connect the ears to the center while simultaneously providing the rotational movement capability. This merging reduces the total number of separate components compared to having fully independent ear assemblies.
Solution Approach 2:
The oblique axis rotational joints serve multiple functions: they provide the mechanical connection between ears and center portion, enable the rotational movement for deployment, and define the geometric relationship for proper ear positioning. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components.
3Ease of operation
If ears are made deployable with oblique rotation, then ergonomics and comfort are improved, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ear portions are designed with rotatable joints that have oblique axes of rotation, enabling smooth deployment and adjustment movements. This dynamic design allows users to easily position the ears for optimal head support comfort while maintaining a relatively simple mechanical implementation using basic rotational joints rather than complex actuation mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
A headrest assembly (100) and an aircraft passenger seat (136) including a headrest assembly. In embodiments, the headrest assembly includes a center portion (104) including left and right lateral receivers (118, 120) each defining an axis of rotation (122) oblique to a plane of the center portion, and left and right ears (106, 108) each including a dogleg support (124) rotatably received in its respective lateral receiver, wherein each ear is configured to rotate independently about its axis of rotation between a stowed position alongside the center portion and a deployed position oblique to the plane of the center portion. In use, for example, the ears may be deployed to provide a provision for sleeping in which the sides of the head are supported.