Impact Bracket Flex Release for Passenger Seat Monitor Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional rigid brackets in passenger seat assemblies can cause severe injury during impacts, and nylon screws used for breakage in emergencies often fail during regular operation, leading to field service issues and certification concerns.
Innovation Solution
An impact bracket with a flex member that defines a support region and a travelling region within an aperture, retaining a support pin under normal loads but releasing it into the travelling region upon a minimum impact load, allowing for controlled disengagement and potential tilting of attached monitors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid brackets are used to support the monitor, then structural strength is improved, but passenger safety during impact deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic system with a flex member that can change its mechanical properties. The flex member remains rigid under normal loads to support the monitor, but becomes flexible under impact loads to reduce injury risk, allowing the structure to adapt its behavior based on loading conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket changes its mechanical parameters (rigidity, load-bearing capacity) based on the magnitude of applied loads. Under normal operating loads, the bracket maintains high rigidity for structural support. Under impact loads exceeding the threshold, the bracket's effective rigidity decreases as the flex member deforms, allowing energy absorption and reducing the harmful forces transmitted to the passenger.
2Ease of operation
If nylon screws are used to connect the bracket, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the separate fastening components (nylon screws) from the bracket structure and integrates the retention function directly into the flex member itself. The flex member's deformation and relaxation naturally provide the retention and release mechanism, eliminating the need for separate fasteners that could fail or loosen during operation.
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 impact bracket effectively reduces the risk of injury by dissipating energy and maintaining structural integrity during regular operation while ensuring compliance with safety standards like Head Injury Criterion (HIC) values during impact events.
Implementation Method 1
the flex member is configured to flex in an upward direction responsive to the load that is at least the minimum impact load such that the support pin is released from the support region into the travelling region
Implementation Method 2
The impact bracket effectively reduces the risk of injury by dissipating energy and maintaining structural integrity during regular operation while ensuring compliance with safety standards like Head Injury Criterion (HIC) values during impact events
Data Source
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AI summary
Described are passenger seat assemblies having an impact bracket for a support pin. The support pin may be a component of a monitor assembly. The impact bracket includes a body that defines an aperture and a flex member within the aperture. The flex member defines a support region and a travelling region of the aperture. The flex member retains the support pin in the support region responsive to a load that is less than a minimum impact load, and releases the support pin from the support region into the travelling region responsive to a load that is at least the minimum impact load.