Seat Console Closing Plate That Stays Level During Storage Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seat unit consoles lack a functional movable plate that can serve as a support for objects and provide access to storage compartments without requiring the object to be removed, especially in varying positions like seated, reclined, or lying positions.
Innovation Solution
A storage housing with a movable plate that extends horizontally and rotates on a vertical axis, allowing it to function as a table surface and maintain object placement during position changes, with features like a pivot connection and displacement limiters, and optionally includes a light source and device holders.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a movable plate is added to close the storage housing opening, then access to storage compartments is enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The movable plate serves dual functions: it acts as a closure for the storage housing opening and simultaneously functions as a support surface for objects. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components, thereby enabling storage access while avoiding excessive complexity increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The plate merges the closure function with the support function into a single integrated component. By combining these two functions that were previously performed by separate elements, the overall device complexity is minimized while achieving both storage access and object support capabilities.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the movable plate is designed to extend horizontally and rotate, then it can serve as a support for objects in varying seat positions, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The plate is designed with rotational movement capability around a vertical axis, transforming it from a static closure to a dynamic component that can adapt its orientation. This dynamic characteristic enables the plate to serve as a support surface in various seat positions (seated, reclined, lying) while maintaining a relatively simple pivot connection structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable plate performs multiple functions: it closes the storage opening when in the closed position and serves as an object support surface when rotated to the open position. This multi-functionality achieves adaptability to varying seat positions without requiring multiple separate components, thus limiting the increase in device complexity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the movable plate is maintained in a horizontal plane during movement, then it provides a stable support surface, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The plate rotates around a vertical axis rather than translating or tilting, which inherently maintains its horizontal orientation throughout the movement. This rotational dynamic mechanism provides a stable horizontal support surface without requiring complex leveling or positioning mechanisms, thus achieving stability with minimal mechanism complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The vertical axis rotation mechanism automatically maintains the plate in a horizontal plane during movement, eliminating the need for additional complex control systems or mechanisms. The geometry of the rotation itself ensures the horizontal orientation is preserved, allowing the mechanism to serve its own positioning function.
Data Source
AI summary
A console (13) for a sea unit (10) includes: —a storage housing (27) delimiting an internal space for accommodating objects, and—a plate (31) movable between a closed position in which the movable plate (31) closes the opening (28) of the storage housing (27) and an open position in which the movable plate (31) is disengaged from the opening (28) of the storage housing (27) to allow access to the internal space of the storage housing (27), —the movable plate (31) extending in a horizontal plane in the closed position and in the open position (28), the movable plate (31) being capable of being retained in the horizontal plane while the movable plate (31) is being moved from the closed position to the open position and vice versa.