Aircraft Seat Backrest Sandwich Structure for Crash Impact Damping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft seat devices lack improved safety and modularity features, particularly in the backrest unit, which is crucial for effectively absorbing impact forces during crashes and accommodating various functional components.
Innovation Solution
The aircraft seat device incorporates a backrest unit with a sandwich structure featuring a support element and an impact-damping rigid foam element, which includes recesses for functional components, and a cover element to enhance safety and modularity. The rigid foam element is designed to absorb impact forces and can be configured with insert components to accommodate different functional elements, ensuring consistent impact characteristics across various configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the backrest unit uses a simple structure without recesses in the rigid foam element, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the modularity and adaptability for different functional components is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid foam element is segmented by creating recesses that divide it into distinct zones for different functional components. This segmentation allows each functional element (headrest, speaker, display) to have its own dedicated space while maintaining the overall integrity of the impact damping structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The recesses in the rigid foam element are designed with universal dimensions and positions that can accommodate multiple types of functional components. The same rigid foam element structure can serve different configurations (e.g., with headrest, speaker, or display) without requiring custom modifications, achieving multi-functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the backrest unit is designed with fixed impact characteristics, then crash testing is simplified, but the ability to accommodate different functional components with varying weights is limited
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the rigid foam element have different local qualities through the recesses. The foam density, thickness, or structural properties can vary in different zones to compensate for the varying weights of functional components placed in different locations, ensuring that the overall impact characteristics remain consistent across different configurations.
3Reliability
If multiple crash tests are conducted for different configurations, then the safety and performance of each configuration is verified, but the approval costs and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The backrest unit is designed with universal mounting structures and recess dimensions that allow different functional components to be installed in the same configuration framework. This universality enables a single crash test certification to cover multiple functional configurations, as the underlying structural integrity and impact absorption characteristics remain consistent.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the rigid foam element is designed without recesses, then the impact damping performance is more consistent, but the ability to integrate functional components is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Functional components are nested within the recesses of the rigid foam element. The recesses are designed to accommodate the functional components while maintaining the outer dimensions and overall shape of the rigid foam element. This nesting approach allows functional integration without significantly altering the impact damping characteristics of the original structure.
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 solution provides enhanced safety by effectively cushioning head impacts during crashes and allows for modular integration of functional components, ensuring consistent performance and simplifying crash testing across different configurations, thereby reducing approval costs.
Implementation Method 1
at least one impact damping element, in particular a rigid foam element, arranged downstream of the support element
Implementation Method 2
The rigid foam element is designed to absorb impact forces and can be configured with insert components
Data Source
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AI summary
According to the invention, an aircraft seat device is proposed, comprising a backrest unit (12) which includes a head area (26) with at least one sandwich unit (28) which has at least one support element (30) and, in the direction of a rear (20) of the backrest unit (12), at least one impact damping element, in particular a rigid foam element (48), which is subordinate to the support element (30).