Staggered Armchair Seat Assembly With Height-Variable Access Passage
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Solution Overview
Problem
In passenger transport vehicles, the conversion of seats into beds often results in a narrow passage between rows, which reduces the number of seats that can be accommodated in a given cabin length, as existing solutions either reduce the passage width or eliminate it, causing discomfort for passengers accessing the aisle from non-adjacent seats.
Innovation Solution
The design reduces the passage width between seats by limiting the height range of the narrow section to maintain comfortable movement while minimizing the seat pitch, with a minimum width of 200-300 mm and a maximum width that increases with height to accommodate different body parts, ensuring sufficient space for feet and upper limbs, and incorporates a foot housing in the side box of the front seat for the rear seat occupant.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the passage width is reduced to minimize seat pitch, then the number of seats that can be arranged for a given cabin length increases, but passenger comfort in moving through the passage deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The passage cross-section is designed with non-uniform width distribution: the lower portion (near floor level) has a minimum width of 200-300mm to accommodate feet and lower legs, while the upper portion widens to 310-400mm to accommodate upper limbs and torso. This local differentiation of passage dimensions allows the overall passage to be more compact in the vertical direction (reducing seat pitch) while maintaining comfort for different body parts at different heights.
2Length of stationary object
If the passage width is reduced, then the seat pitch can be minimized, but the space required for passenger access to the aisle is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of reducing passage width uniformly in the horizontal direction, the invention exploits the vertical dimension by allowing the passage cross-section to vary with height. The passage width L(hz) is defined as a function of height hz above the floor, with the minimum width Lmin occurring at a specific height hzmin (200-500mm). This vertical variation in dimensions allows the passage to provide adequate access space where needed while minimizing the overall vertical envelope, thereby reducing seat pitch.
3Ease of operation
If the minimum passage width is increased to improve comfort, then passenger movement is facilitated, but the seat pitch increases and the number of seats that can be accommodated decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the parameter of passage width from a constant value to a height-dependent variable L(hz). By defining the minimum width Lmin (200-300mm) at a specific height hzmin (200-500mm) rather than maintaining a uniform width throughout, the passage provides adequate comfort at critical heights while allowing the width to increase at other heights. This parameter transformation enables optimization of both comfort and space efficiency, achieving higher seat density without compromising passage comfort.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4a
Figure 4b~4c
AI summary
An assembly (100) comprises a plurality of seats (10a, 10b, 10c), each seat comprising an armchair (11a, 11b, 11c) and a side compartment (12a, 12b, 12c) arranged laterally on one side of said armchair. The armchairs and the side compartments are arranged in a staggered pattern in two parallel rows. Each seat has an upholstery shell (14a, 14b, 14c) defining a rear surface (141) in a rear area of the armchair and a front surface (142) in a front area of the side compartment. A space between a rear surface (141) of a front seat and a front surface (142) of a rear seat forms a passage (21) for an occupant of the rear seat.In a vertical section, the rear surface (141) and the front surface (142) have convex profiles facing each other, a width L(hz) of the passage increasing in the direction of decreasing heights hz from a height hzmin of the minimum width Lmin, and increasing in the direction of increasing heights hz from the height hzmin.