Rotatable Shared Armrest With Divider for Aircraft Seat Space
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial aircraft seats with shared armrests often provide insufficient space for both passengers, leading to complaints due to immutable space constraints and safety considerations.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable armrest design featuring a shaft for rotating the arm pad and a locking mechanism with stopping positions, along with a cam-driven divider to delineate space for each passenger.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the armrest size is increased to provide more space for passengers, then passenger comfort is improved, but safety constraints and space limitations are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The armrest is designed to be rotatable between a first position (reduced area) and a second position (expanded area). This dynamic configuration allows the armrest to adapt its size based on operational requirements, providing more space when safe to do so while maintaining safety constraints when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The armrest configuration changes its effective area parameter by rotating between two positions. The locking mechanism ensures that the armrest maintains a stable configuration in either position, allowing the area parameter to be adjusted while maintaining structural integrity and safety.
2Area of moving object
If the armrest size is increased to provide more space for passengers, then passenger comfort is improved, but existing space constraints are violated
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable armrest dynamically adjusts its effective area by rotating between positions. In the first position, it occupies less space, while in the second position, it expands to provide more armrest area, optimizing space utilization based on operational needs.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing armrest area in a single dimension which would violate space constraints, the solution rotates the armrest to a different orientation, effectively utilizing space in another dimension while maintaining the same overall footprint.
3Ease of operation
If a rotatable mechanism is added to allow armrest rotation, then passenger comfort is improved, but device complexity is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The armrest is segmented into a rotatable portion and a stationary portion. The rotatable portion can be independently rotated and locked into position, while the stationary portion remains fixed. This segmentation allows the complex function of rotation to be isolated to a specific component.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism is designed to automatically engage and hold the armrest in its rotated position without requiring additional power or complex control systems. The mechanism serves itself by using the rotation motion to engage the lock, reducing overall system complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1A
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Figure 2
AI summary
A rotatable armrest includes a shaft (306) to allow the arm pad to rotate and a locking mechanism defining a set of stopping positions. The profile of the arm pad is defined to clearly delineate portions of the expanded arm pad for each passenger. The rotatable armrest may also include a cam driven divider that extends from the arm pad as the arm pad is rotated to further define delineate portions of the expanded arm pad for each passenger.