Aircraft Seat Load-Bearing Base Eliminates Floor Tracks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for attaching aircraft seats to the fuselage using seat tracks are weight-intensive, costly to manufacture, and complicate the installation, certification, refurbishing, and upgrading processes, especially when seat pitch is indexed to the frame pitch, limiting the ability to selectively position seats and increasing design, production, and certification costs for both manufacturers.
Innovation Solution
A system where aircraft seats are attached directly to load-bearing structural bases connected to proximal and distal lateral floor beams without the use of seat tracks, allowing for attachment and detachment of the seats relative to the structural base, which simplifies installation, certification, and refurbishing, and reduces overall aircraft weight and manufacturing costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If seat tracks are used to attach aircraft seats to the fuselage floor, then seats can be selectively positioned at various longitudinal locations, but the aircraft weight increases substantially (2,000 to 3,000 pounds or more)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the seat track system from the aircraft floor structure. Instead of using traditional seat tracks that extend longitudinally through the cabin floor, the invention attaches seat legs directly to the lateral floor beams, removing the unnecessary seat track components while retaining the essential function of seat attachment and positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the seat attachment function with the existing lateral floor beam structure. Rather than having separate seat tracks and floor structure, the invention integrates seat leg attachment directly to the lateral floor beams, combining multiple functions into the existing structural elements.
2Shape
If seat tracks are integrated into the cabin floor structure with floor surface panels, then a flush appearance is achieved, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the complex integration of seat tracks with floor surface panels. Instead of embedding seat tracks within the floor structure requiring precise panel alignment and flushing, the invention attaches seat legs directly to exposed lateral floor beams, eliminating the need for integrated floor panel designs.
3Area of moving object
If the frame pitch is increased to 28-36 inches for composite fuselages, then reduced-perimeter aircraft can be designed with increased seat width, but traditional seat tracks become less effective for indexing seat pitch to frame pitch
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the seat attachment system with the lateral floor beams that are spaced according to frame pitch. By attaching seat legs directly to these beams, the system naturally indexes seat positions to the frame structure, enabling effective utilization of increased frame pitch for reduced-perimeter aircraft designs.
Data Source
AI summary
A fuselage is described that includes a plurality of frames and a plurality of seat rows spaced apart according to a seat pitch. Each frame includes a lateral floor beam, and each seat row of the plurality of seat rows includes a load-bearing structural base with a plurality of legs attached to a proximal lateral floor beam and a distal lateral floor beam. Each seat row also includes a seat or bank of seats attached to the load-bearing structural base, where the seat or bank of seats includes at least one seat bottom and at least one seat back. Further, each seat row includes an interface between (i) the load-bearing structural base and (ii) the seat or bank of seats to allow for attachment and detachment of the seat or bank of seats relative to the load-bearing structural base.