Pivoting Tray Table With Guide Track Motion Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current deployable tray tables on passenger seats, such as those on aircraft, buses, and trains, face difficulties in movement due to concurrent rotational and translational motion, leading to instability and potential spills or items being knocked off, making it hard for passengers to adjust the tray table for comfort or during ingress and egress.
Innovation Solution
A deployable tray table system with two distinct regimes of movement: one combining translation and rotation for deployment and another limited to fore and aft translation without rotation, using a guide track with a curved, transition, and linear portion to stabilize the tray table in the deployed position, allowing for easier adjustment and reduced risk of unintentional motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the tray table allows concurrent rotational and translational movement, then the tray table can deploy smoothly, but the tray table becomes unstable and difficult to adjust
Solution Approach 1:
The movement of the tray table is segmented into two distinct phases: deployment motion (combining translation and rotation) and adjustment motion (translation only). This segmentation is achieved through the guide track design with curved, transition, and linear portions, allowing the tray table to have different motion characteristics at different stages, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of deployment and stability during use.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the tray table is mounted on linkages allowing concurrent rotational and translational movement, then the tray table can deploy, but adjustment becomes difficult requiring stabilization
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes its degrees of freedom based on the operational phase. During deployment, the tray table utilizes both rotational and translational movement for adaptability. During adjustment in the deployed position, the linear guide track restricts motion to translation only, simplifying the operation. This dynamic adaptation of motion constraints resolves the contradiction between deployment versatility and adjustment ease.
3Ease of operation
If the tray table rotates or translates into a partially stowed position, then movement is possible, but spills or items may be knocked off
Solution Approach 1:
The guide track is designed with curved, transition, and linear portions that pre-determine the tray table's path of movement. This preliminary design of the motion path ensures that the tray table maintains a stable, level position during deployment and adjustment, preventing unintended rotation that could cause items to spill. The linear portion of the guide track specifically ensures stable positioning during adjustment operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Described are pivoting and sliding tray tables (10) that move through a substantially constant plane from a stowed position to a deployed position for use with passenger seats. The tray table (10) rides on two elements (14, 18) that themselves ride along guide tracks or guide rails (21, 22, 23) to provide a combination rotating and translating motion during deployment. In the deployed position, the tray table may be displaced linearly but is restricted from rotation. The tray table may be moved to accommodate passengers of differing size or to allow ingress and egress from the passenger seat with a reduced risk of unintentional rotation.