Powered Seat Calibration Using Stored Position Difference
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing calibration process for powered airplane seats is cumbersome, requiring multiple manual steps and significant operator intervention, taking over nine minutes to complete, and lacks efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method where the first and second reference positions of seat parts or actuators are pre-determined and stored in memory, allowing the seat controller to automatically calculate and store the second position by adding a predetermined difference to the first position, enabling calibration with minimal operator intervention.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual movement of seat to reference positions is performed step-by-step, then calibration accuracy is ensured, but calibration time becomes excessively long (over nine minutes)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing the difference value between first and second reference positions during manufacturing. This predetermined difference is stored in the controller's memory, eliminating the need for time-consuming manual measurement during field calibration. When calibration is needed, the controller automatically retrieves this stored difference and uses it to determine the second reference position, reducing calibration time from over nine minutes to a few seconds while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of physically moving the seat through multiple steps with an automated electronic calculation system. Instead of manually positioning the seat and measuring positions with potentiometers, the system uses the controller to automatically calculate the second reference position by adding the stored difference value to the first reference position's sensor output, thereby substituting mechanical manual operations with electronic computation.
2Reliability
If multiple manual steps are performed for calibration, then complete calibration is achieved, but operator intervention becomes complex and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the seat controller to automatically perform the calibration process without requiring operator intervention in the manual positioning steps. The controller reads the first reference position from the sensor, automatically calculates the second reference position using the stored difference value, and completes the calibration autonomously. The operator only needs to initiate the calibration sequence, transforming a complex multi-step manual process into a simple one-button operation that is both reliable and easy to perform.
3Measurement precision
If potentiometer travel range is ensured through manual positioning, then position sensing accuracy is maintained, but calibration process becomes lengthy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-determining and storing the difference value between reference positions during manufacturing, before the seat is deployed. This preliminary calculation ensures that the potentiometer's mechanical travel range is compatible with the seat's travel range, while eliminating the need for time-consuming verification steps during field calibration. The stored difference value guarantees position sensing accuracy without requiring the operator to spend time manually verifying potentiometer range.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of calibrating a powered seat includes storing a first position of at least one seat part in a memory, calculating a second position of the at least one seat part by adding to the first position a difference between a predetermined value of first position and a predetermined value of the second position, and storing the calculated second position in the memory.