Sliding Seat Privacy Panel Assembly for Cabin Space Constraints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional passenger seats in vehicles, particularly aircraft, lack effective moveable privacy panels that can reduce sound and light while enhancing personal privacy within limited cabin space.
Innovation Solution
A passenger seat with a vertically extending privacy panel that slides between stowed and deployed configurations, featuring a sliding mechanism, manual or electronic control, and a lock mechanism, made of materials like polycarbonate or thermoplastic acrylic-polyvinyl chloride, with optional translucency and protective coatings, to provide privacy and adjustability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a moveable privacy panel is added to the passenger seat, then privacy and sound/light reduction are improved, but device complexity and space requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The privacy panel is nested within the seat structure, specifically integrated into the armrest assembly. When stowed, the panel is contained within the armrest; when deployed, it extends outward to provide privacy. This nesting approach adds privacy functionality without significantly increasing overall device complexity or occupying additional cabin space.
Solution Approach 2:
The privacy panel is designed as a moveable component that can transition between stowed and deployed configurations. This dynamic capability allows the panel to provide privacy when needed while remaining compact when not in use, thus balancing the improvement in privacy against the potential worsening of device complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a moveable privacy panel is added to the passenger seat, then personal space and privacy are improved, but available cabin space worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The privacy function is segmented as a separate moveable panel component rather than being integrated into the fixed seat structure. This segmentation allows the privacy panel to be deployed only when needed by individual passengers, creating personal space without permanently reducing the available cabin area for other passengers.
Solution Approach 2:
The privacy panel transitions between stowed and deployed states, dynamically adjusting the personal space available. When stowed, it occupies minimal space; when deployed, it creates a private enclosure. This dynamic behavior allows the seat to adapt to different privacy needs while minimizing the impact on overall cabin space utilization.
3Ease of operation
If a sliding mechanism is added to move the privacy panel, then adjustability and privacy control are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The sliding mechanism enables the privacy panel to move between stowed and deployed positions, providing adjustability and user control over privacy levels. This dynamic functionality is achieved through a mechanical sliding arrangement that, while adding some complexity, remains relatively simple in concept and implementation compared to more sophisticated actuation systems.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
A privacy panel assembly for a passenger seat includes a vertically extending panel attached to a lateral surface of the passenger seat such that the vertically extending panel includes a forward edge and an aft edge and at least one sliding mechanism attached to an interior surface of the vertically extending panel. The vertically extending panel includes a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration. In the stowed configuration, the aft edge of the vertically extending panel is disposed on an aft side of a rear surface of a seatback of the passenger seat. In the deployed configuration, the aft edge of the vertically extending panel is approximately aligned with a seating surface of the seatback on a forward side of the passenger seat.