Aircraft Seat Lever Visual Indicator for Locking Status
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft seat fastening systems lack clear visual indicators to confirm whether the system is in a stable locking or unlocking position, leading to operator uncertainty and additional verification checks.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a visual indicator, such as a color-coded slider on the operating lever, which moves based on the locking latch's position to provide a clear visual cue to the operator about the system's locking or unlocking state, using a slider with different color zones (e.g., green for locked and red for unlocked) visible under a light, allowing the operator to easily determine the system's status.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If no visual indicator is provided, then the device complexity is reduced, but the operator cannot determine the locking status reliably
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color-coded zones (e.g., green for locked, red for unlocked) on the operating lever to provide immediate visual feedback about the locking status. This resolves the contradiction by adding a simple visual indicator that requires minimal structural modification while significantly improving reliability of status confirmation.
Solution Approach 2:
The operating lever itself serves dual purposes: it functions as the mechanical operating component and simultaneously displays the locking status through its color-coded zones. This eliminates the need for separate indicator mechanisms, maintaining device simplicity while improving reliability.
2Reliability
If additional verification checks are required, then the reliability of locking status determination improves, but the time required for operation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The color-coded visual indicator provides immediate feedback about the locking status directly to the operator. This eliminates the need for additional verification checks because the status is clearly and immediately displayed, thereby improving reliability while reducing the time required for status determination.
3Ease of operation
If a visual indicator system is added, then the ease of operation improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the operating lever with the visual indicator function by placing color-coded zones directly on the lever surface. This integration improves ease of operation for status identification while minimizing the increase in device complexity, as no separate indicator components are required.
Data Source
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Figure 3~4
AI summary
This system for securing an aircraft seat to the rest of the aircraft, comprising a base (4) linked to the seat (5) and comprising means for fastening to a rail (6) of the aircraft (3), which can be moved by an operating lever (7) between locked and unlocked positions, is characterised in that the operating lever (7) comprises means (11) forming a visual indicator of the locked/unlocked position of the means for fastening the base with respect to the rest of the aircraft.