Stowable Tray Table with Fore-Aft Translation Guide Rail
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional passenger seat tray tables lack a supporting arm assembly that allows the tray table to translate in fore and aft directions, making them unusable when moved away from the seat, and fail to provide increased free space during egress/ingress or when moved significantly from the passenger seat.
Innovation Solution
A stowable tray table assembly with a frame featuring vertical and horizontal guide rails, a lift bracket, and a tensioned cable system that allows the arm assembly to slide and lift the tray table, enabling it to maintain a usable position while moving fore and aft, and a rotatable reel for counterbalancing the weight of the tray table.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the tray table is moved significantly away from the passenger seat to facilitate egress/ingress or provide free space, then the passenger gets increased free space, but the tray table becomes unusable because conventional designs lack fore and aft translation capability
Solution Approach 1:
The arm assembly is made dynamically movable along the guide rail in fore and aft directions, allowing the tray table to maintain a usable position relative to the passenger even when moved significantly away from the seat. This dynamic adjustment capability resolves the contradiction by enabling both increased free space and continued usability.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is segmented into a movable arm assembly that can independently translate along the guide rail, separating the tray table's position adjustment from the seat structure. This allows the tray table to be repositioned fore and aft to maintain usability while creating free space.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the tray table is moved away from the passenger seat, then egress/ingress is facilitated, but the tray table cannot remain in a usable position without fore and aft translation capability
Solution Approach 1:
The arm assembly translates dynamically along the guide rail in fore and aft directions, enabling the tray table to adapt its position while maintaining usability. This dynamic capability allows the system to achieve both movement versatility and maintainable usability.
3Ease of operation
If a complex hinge mechanism is used to deploy the tray table from the armrest, then the tray table can be deployed, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex hinge mechanism is extracted and replaced with a simpler guide rail and arm assembly configuration. The tray table is deployed by translating the arm assembly along the guide rail rather than using complex hinges, reducing device complexity while maintaining deployability.
Solution Approach 2:
The complex hinge mechanical system is replaced with a guide rail-based translation mechanism. This substitution simplifies the deployment process by using linear motion along the guide rail instead of complex rotational hinge mechanisms.
4Ease of operation
If the tray table is pivotable into an operative position, then the tray table can be deployed, but the arm assembly cannot translate the table top in fore and aft directions
Solution Approach 1:
The arm assembly is designed with dynamic translation capability along the guide rail in fore and aft directions, adding adaptability to the deployable tray table system. This allows the tray table to be both easily deployed and positioned fore and aft for enhanced versatility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the tray table to remain usable and provide increased free space by allowing it to slide and lift, maintaining functionality during movement and providing counterbalanced weight for smooth operation.
Implementation Method 1
a rotatable reel associated with the frame and maintaining a tensioned cable connected to the lift bracket for providing a lifting force to the lifting bracket to counterbalance the weight of the tray table
Implementation Method 2
a frame comprising a vertical guide rail and a horizontal guide rail separately guiding movement of the arm assembly, the arm assembly engaging the vertical guide rail when the tray table is in a vertical position and engaging the horizontal guide rail when the tray table is in a horizontal position
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A stowable tray table assembly (20) including a tray table (34), an arm assembly (36) supporting the tray table, and a frame (38) comprising a vertical guide rail (40) and a horizontal guide rail (46) separately and consecutively guiding movement of the arm assembly, the arm assembly engaging the vertical guide rail when the tray table is in a vertical position and engaging the horizontal guide rail when the tray table is in a horizontal position.