Monocoque Passenger Seat Backs for Lightweight Ergonomic Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional passenger seats are heavy, bulky, and complex to manufacture, limiting design flexibility and passenger comfort, especially in terms of ergonomic support and integration of features like tray tables and storage pockets.
Innovation Solution
The use of monocoque or semi-monocoque structures for passenger seats, incorporating a forward and aft panel with integrated panels and baffles, allows for lighter, more compact designs with integrated features such as stowage pockets and monitor surrounds, and includes ergonomic elements like compound curvatures and suspension cushions tailored to support a wide range of body sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional passenger seats are manufactured with internal frames, metal tubes, bars, or stampings, then structural strength is ensured, but the seats become heavy, bulky, and complex to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite materials, specifically foam core panels with skin layers, to replace traditional metal tube and bar constructions. This composite approach maintains structural strength while significantly reducing weight and complexity, allowing the seat to support required loads without the bulk of conventional metal framing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes thin skin panels (flexible shells) covering foam cores to create the seat structure. These thin film-like skins provide the necessary structural integrity and surface geometry without requiring heavy internal metal frames, achieving strength through distributed load-bearing across the entire shell structure
2Strength
If traditional passenger seats use internal frames and separate cushions, then structural support is provided, but the seats become bulky and complex to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the seat cushion, backrest, and structural frame into integrated monocoque or semi-monocoque assemblies. The foam core and skin panels are formed as unified structures with built-in structural support, eliminating the need for separate internal frames and multiple cushion components, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The composite construction of foam cores with skin panels creates integrated structural-support elements that replace traditional separate frame and cushion assemblies. This composite approach allows complex geometries and ergonomic features to be formed in single manufacturing operations rather than assembled from multiple metal components
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional seats use standardized designs with separate components, then manufacturing is simplified, but design flexibility and ergonomic support are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the density, thickness, and composition of foam cores and skin panels in different regions of the seat. This allows customized ergonomic features, support zones, and aesthetic geometries in specific areas without changing the overall manufacturing process, enabling design flexibility while maintaining manufacturing simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in material properties (foam density, skin thickness, material composition) to achieve different ergonomic and aesthetic outcomes. By adjusting these parameters within the same monocoque manufacturing framework, the design can be adapted for different applications and passenger needs without requiring entirely different manufacturing processes
4Ease of operation
If complex curvatures are added to traditional seat frames for ergonomic support, then passenger comfort improves, but manufacturing becomes difficult or impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible skin panels that can be molded into complex curved geometries to provide ergonomic support surfaces. These thin films conform to desired shapes more easily than rigid metal frames, enabling sophisticated curvatures for headrests, seat backs, and armrests while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through forming and molding processes
Solution Approach 2:
The composite foam-skin construction allows complex ergonomic curvatures to be created by shaping the foam core and skin panel together as a unit. This approach enables intricate geometries for lumbar support, headrest contours, and seat pan shaping that would be extremely difficult to fabricate from assembled metal components
Data Source
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AI summary
Described are ergonomic passenger seats that may include monocoque or semi-monocoque seat backs, cellular suspension cushions, and tray tables with support arms that may be located within the interior volume of the monocoque or semi-monocoque seat backs when in their stowed positions. The passenger seats offer enhanced passenger comfort and space while providing a lightweight, simple to manufacture design. Monocoque and semi-monocoque seat backs may form integral parts of passenger seats to support additional loads without need for heavy, complex structures. The space within the monocoque or semi-monocoque seat back may then be used for storage or suspension cushions that offer improved comfort with a lighter seat frame. Monocoque and semi-monocoque seat backs may also facilitate the adoption of several other seating mechanisms, such as new seat mounts that allow for improved seat motion that allows for passenger recline with reduced impingement on other passengers' space.