NZ568447A - Aircraft seating and seating arrangements - Google Patents

Abstract

A seating unit and seating arrangement for an aircraft cabin is disclosed. The seating unit includes a backrest (16) which is pivotally moveable from an upright position to a flat position. A side ottoman (22) is located beside the seat base. The rear of the seat includes a footwell (32) into which a front portion (42) of the side ottoman of another seat can locate. When the backrest is in the flat position a bed is formed. The bed is composed of a base (34) which is revealed when the backrest is in a flat position, the rear surface of the backrest, and the front portion of the ottoman (42).

Description

568447 - 1 - AIRCRAFT SEATING AND SEATING ARRANGEMENTS Field of the Invention This invention relates to an aircraft seat and seating arrangements, and to an aircraft cabin having the seating arrangements.

Background of the Invention International application no. PCT/SG2005/000041 discloses an aircraft seating arrangement particularly for first class or business class seating. The seat disclosed in this International application is intended 15 to fold from a position where a passenger can be seated, to a position where the seat becomes a bed.

The contents of the above International application are incorporated into this specification by this reference.

Summary of the Invention The object of the invention is to improve the seat so a longer bed can be provided by each seat whilst still 25 maintaining or reducing seat pitch. Alternatively, it is an object of the invention to at least provide the public with a useful choice.

The invention provides a seat for an aircraft cabin, 30 comprising: a backrest, having a front surface for • £r <' - supporting a passenger in a seating position when the ; - ^ ^ hO CO —■ backrest is in an upright position, and having a rear !"5uj ^ LU surface; [Sol 1X5 Mo — yj a seat base upon which a passenger is !}i! ix Ci LU > LU m LU seatable; a rear seat section behind the backrest when the backrest is in the upright position, the rear seat cr 301055179J .DOC:WEJ:wp 568Wo 2007/061381 section having an open space which has a base, and a footwell closed to the open space beside the open space; a fixed side ottoman located beside the seat portion and extending in front of the seat portion, the 5 side ottoman having a front portion, the front portion of the side ottoman being locatable within the footwell of another said seat in front of the said seat; the backrest being pivotally mounted for movement from the upright position to a flat position so 10 the base of the open space, the rear surface of the backrest when in the flat position and the side ottoman form a bed configuration; and the base, the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman form a substantially 15 flat surface when the seat is in the bed configuration.

Thus, according to the invention when two such seats are located one in front of the other the front portion of the ottoman of the rear seat is locatable in the 20 footwell of the front seat. This enables the actual length of the bed to increase compared to that of the abovementioned International application. Further still, because there is some overlap of the seat with the front portion locating in the footwell, although the 25 length of the bedding is increased, the amount of space taken up by the seats can be the same pitch or reduced pitch compared to those in the above International application. 3 0 Preferably the backrest has an extension piece pivotally mounted to the backrest for pivotal movement when the backrest is in the flat position to fill a space between the rear of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman, the extension piece forming part of the 35 substantially flat surface. 568W0 2007/061381 Preferably the extension piece folds flat against the rear surface of the backrest when the backrest is in an upright position.

Preferably the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the open space being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwell being formed partly in the rear panel as a box section extending forwardly of the rear panel .

Preferably the sides have first rear sections and second front sections, the rear sections being higher than the front sections, and the open space being defined between one of the rear sections and the footwell .

Preferably the footwell has a front wall and the backrest when in the upright position is adjacent to the front wall .

Preferably the footwell has a second part outside one of the sides, the second part being in line with the side ottoman.

Preferably the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the 25 said one of the sides.

The seat when in the bed configuration may provide a bed which is substantially horizontal or slightly upwardly inclined from the front portion of the side ottoman to 3 0 the base of the open space.

The invention also provides an aircraft cabin having at least two seats arranged one in front of the other; each of said seats having; 35 (a) a backrest having a front surface for supporting a passenger in a seating position when the 568Wo 2007/061381 4 - backrest is in an upright position, and having a rear surface; (b) a seat base upon which a passenger is seatable; <c) a rear seat section behind the backrest when the backrest is in an upright position, the rear seat section having an open space which has a base, and a footwell closed to the open space beside the open space (d) a fixed side ottoman located beside the seat portion and extending in front of the seat portion, the side ottoman having a front portion; and wherein the backrest is pivotally mounted for movement from the upright position to a flat position so the base 15 of the open space, the rear surface of the backrest when in the flat position and the side ottoman form a bed configuration; the base, the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman form a substantially 20 flat surface when the seat is in the bed configuration; the front portion of the ottoman of a rear seat of the two seats extending into the footwell of a front seat of the two seats; and wherein when the rear seat is in the bed 25 configuration a passenger can lie transverse with respect to a central axis of the aircraft with the passenger's head resting on the base of the open space of the rear seat and the passenger's feet located in the footwell of the front seat on the front portion of the 30 side ottoman of the rear seat.

Preferably the backrest has an extension piece pivotally mounted to the backrest for peripheral movement when the backrest is in the flat position to fill a space between 3 5 the rear of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman, the extension piece forming part of the 568Wo 2007/061381 substantially flat surface.

Preferably the extension piece folds flat against the rear surface of the backrest when the backrest is in an 5 upright position.

Preferably the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the open space being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwell being formed partly in 10 the rear panel as a box section extending forwardly of the rear panel .

Preferably the sides have first rear sections and second front sections, the rear sections being higher than the 15 front sections, and the open space being defined between one of the rear sections and the footwell.

Preferably the footwell has a front wall and the backrest when in the upright position is adjacent to the 2 0 front wall.

Preferably the footwell has a second part outside one of the sides, the second part being in line with the side ottoman.

Preferably the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the said one of the sides .

Brief Description of the Drawings A preferred embodiment of the invention will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a view of a seat according to the preferred embodiment in a seated position with the seat in an 568Wo 2007/061381 upright position; Figure 2 is a view of the seat of Figure 1 but showing a passenger reclined on the seat whilst the seat is in the upright position; Figure 3 is a view of the seat of Figures 1 and 2 in a bed configuration; Figure 4 is a rear view of a seat according to the preferred embodiment ; Figure 5 is a plan view through two seats; Figure 6 is a cross-section through the seats of Figure 5 ; Figure 7 is an illustration showing the configuration of the previously mentioned International application; and Figure 8 is an illustration of the preferred embodiment of the invention showing the difference between the preferred embodiment and the seat of Figure 7 .

Detailed Description of the Drawings Figure 1 is a view showing a seat 10 in an upright position with a passenger seated in the seat 10. 3 0 Figure 2 is a view of the same seat 10 shown in Figure 1 with one leg of the passenger resting on a side ottoman. In an aircraft cabin a number of these seats are arranged one in front of another and are fixed to suitable supports such as rails or the like (not shown) 35 to secure the seats in place. 568Wo 2007/061381 As shown in Figures 1 and 2 the seat has a shell 12 formed from any suitable rigid material such as aluminium, rigid plastic material or the like. The shell 12 supports a seat base 14 and the backrest 16 .

The shell 12 has a side shell 2 0 which supports a side ottoman 22. The side shell 2 0 typically extends adjacent the side wall of the aircraft cabin.

The shell 12 has first and second side portions 23 and 24 and first and second rear side portions 2 5 and 26. The rear sections 2 5 and 2 6 are higher than the front sections 23 and 24. The shell 12 also has a rear panel 27 .

The seat 10 will be provided with a safety belt as is conventional, which is not shown in the drawings. A separate set of safety belts can be provided for the seat when in the bed configuration.

Figure 3 is a view of the seat 10 in a bed configuration. In the configuration shown in Figure 3 the backrest 16 has been pivoted down to a flat position so that rear surface 17 is uppermost. Movement of the 25 backrest to the position shown in Figure 3 exposes a rear seat portion 3 0 located behind the backrest 16 when in the upright position, and which is generally defined by the back panel 27 and the side sections 2 5 and 26. The rear seat section 3 0 has an open space 3 2 which has 3 0 a base 34, and the first part 31 of a footwell cavity 32. The footwell part 31 is a box section formed from an upright panel 33, an inclined top panel 35, and a small front surface 36. A second part 3 8 of the footwell 32 is an extension of the part 31 defined 35 within the shell 12 beside wall 26. 56844WO 2007/061381 The side ottoman 22 has a shelf 3 9 which can be used both when the seat is in the seating configuration shown in Figures 1 and 2 and the bed configuration shown in Figure 3 . The ottoman 2 2 has an ottoman surface 4 0 and 5 a front portion 4 2 which is a continuation of the surface 40. The front portion 4 2 is located in front of the backrest 16 when the backrest in the position shown in Figure 3 .

An extension piece 4 1 is pivotally connected to the backrest 16 and can pivot from a position overlapping the backrest 16 to the position shown in Figure 3 to occupy the space between the rear surface 17 of the backrest and the front portion 4 2 of the ottoman. The 15 line 4 5 shown in Figure 3 generally shows the position of the rear panel 27' (Fig 6) of another seat io' (Fig 6) in front of the seat shown in Figure 3 .

The front portion of the ottoman 4 2 extends into the 20 footwell 32" of the seat io1 in front of the seat 10 shown in Figure 3 as is best shown in Figure 4 .

In Figure 4 the front seat io1 located in front of the seat 10 shows the cavity which forms the footwell 32" 25 into which the front portion 4 2 extends.

When the seat is in the bed configuration shown in Figure 3 the base 34 of the open space 32, the rear surface 17 of the backrest 16, the extension piece 4 1 30 and the front portion 42 of the ottoman 22 form a flat surface which forms a bed.

The preferred embodiment of the invention includes the side ottoman 22 as part of the available bed surface 35 when the seat is in the bed configuration. The height 5684^-0 2007/061381 of the ottoman 22 is designed to match the height of the other bed components (i.e. rear surface 17) when the seat is in the bed configuration.

The base 34, rear surface 17 and extension piece 4 2 can be covered by a comfortable foam material or the like as is the ottoman surface 4 0 and front portion 4 2 .

Figure 5 is a plan view of two seats 10 and io1 with the 10 seat 10 in the bed configuration. As is apparent from Figure 5 a person's head can locate in the open space 3 2 resting on the base 34 (or on a pillow or other comfortable head support located on the base 34) and the person can lay diagonally across the rear surface 17 of 15 the backrest 16 with the person's feet locating on the front portion 4 2 of the ottoman 2 2 within the footwell 32' of the front seat io1.

A side view of the two seats is shown in Figure 5 . In 20 Figure 6 a pivotal coupling 51 can be seen which enables the backrest 16 to move from the upright position to the flat position as shown by dotted line A, and also the pivotal coupling 52 which enables the extension piece 4 1 to move from the folded position against the rear 25 surface 17 of the backrest 16 into positions shown in Figure 6 as illustrated by the dotted line B in Figure 6 . It is also apparent from Figure 6 that the front portion 4 2 of the side ottoman 2 2 extends into the footwell 31' of the front seat ion. Figure 6 also shows the supporting structure 52 which supports the seat in the aircraft cabin. The supporting structure 52 is conventional and therefore will not be described in any further detail. Figure 6 also shows seat mechanism 5 3 for enabling the seat to be adjusted between a fully 35 upright position shown in Figures 1 and 2 and into a 56844\yo 2007/061381 reclined position in which the seat base 14 moves slightly forward causing the backrest 16 to take up a more inclined upright position. Again the mechanism 5 3 is conventional and therefore will not be described in 5 further detail.

Figure 7 is a plan view of two seats according to the abovementioned International application with the rear seat in the bed configuration. As can be seen from 10 Figure 7 the width of the actual seat portion itself is 3 8 inches with the overall width of the seating configuration being 4 6 inches. The length of the bed is generally illustrated by double-headed arrow C in Figure 7 .

Figure 8 shows the rear seat 10 of the preferred embodiment of the invention in the bed configuration, with the front seat io' in the normal upright configuration. As is apparent from Figure 8 the width 2 0 of the seat is reduced to about 3 0 inches whilst the overall width of the configuration remains the same. However, the length of the bed is increased as shown by arrow D . Arrow C is also shown in Figure 8 for comparison purposes. Thus, the bed configuration is 25 larger without sacrificing the overall width of the seat configuration shown in Figures 7 and 8 or the overall length of the seat configuration. Thus, a larger bed length is achieved for the same pitch of seating within the aircraft cabin.

The rear of the panel 2 7 may be provided with a television screen for the person behind that seat or with other items such as a foldable shelf etc.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the shell 12 can be formed in a number of parts such as a first 5684^-0 2007/061381 part containing the sides 2 3 and 2 4 and the lower part of the footwell part 3 1 and the rear sections 2 5 and 26. The upper part of the rear panel 3 0 together with the upper part of the footwell 3 1 can be formed as a second 5 part and joined to the first part along, for example, line 7 0 shown in Figure 3 .

When the seat 16 is in the upright position the rear of the seat 17 can rest against the front wall 3 6 for 10 support. The seat may also lock in the upright position as is conventional until it is adjusted to move into the flat position shown in Figure 3 by means of a release mechanism 7 2 shown in Figure 3 which can be manoeuvred to allow the seat to fold into the flat position shown 15 in Figure 3 and used as a handle to return the seat to the upright position.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context 2 0 requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of 25 further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Since modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention may readily be effected by persons skilled 30 within the art, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiment described by way of example hereinabove. 568W0 2007/061381 AIRCRAFT SEATING AND SEATING ARRANGEMENTS

Claims (18)

CLAIMS 5

1 . A seat for an aircraft cabin, comprising: a backrest, having a front surface for supporting a passenger in a seating position when the backrest is in an upright position, and having a rear 10 surface; a seat base upon which a passenger is seatable; a rear seat section behind the backrest when the backrest is in the upright position, the rear seat IS section having an open space which has a base, and a footwell closed to the open space beside the open space; a fixed side ottoman located beside the seat portion and extending in front of the seat portion, the side ottoman having a front portion, the front portion 20 of the side ottoman being locatable within the footwell of another said seat in front of the said seat; the backrest being pivotally mounted for movement from the upright position to a flat position so the base of the open space, the rear surface of the 25 backrest when in the flat position and the side ottoman form a bed configuration; and the base, the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman form a substantially flat surface when the seat is in the bed configuration. 30

2 . The seat of claim l , wherein the backrest has an extension piece pivotally mounted to the backrest for pivotal movement when the backrest is in the flat position to fill a space between the rear of the 35 backrest and the front portion of the ottoman, the extension piece forming part of the substantially flat 568447 . 13- surface .

3. The seat of claim 2, wherein the extension piece folds flat against the rear surface of the backrest when the backrest is in an upright position. 5

4. The seat of claim 1, wherein the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the open space being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwell being formed partly in the rear panel as a box 10 section extending forwardly of the rear panel.

5. The seat of claim 4, wherein the sides have first rear sections and second front sections, the rear sections being higher than the front sections, and the 15 open space being defined between one of the rear sections and the footwell.

6. The seat of claim 5, wherein the footwell has a front wall and the backrest when in the upright 20 position is adjacent the front wall.

7. The seat of claim 4, wherein the footwell has a second part outside one of the sides, the second part being in line with the side ottoman. 25

8. The seat of claim 4, wherein the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the said one of the sides.

9. An aircraft cabin having at least two seats 30 arranged one in front of the other; each of said seats having; (a) a backrest having a front surface for supporting a passenger in a seating position when the backrest is in an upright position, and having a rear 35 surface; - 30105517 9J .DOC: WEJ:wp 568W0 2007/061381 PCT/SG2005/000401 - 14 - (b) a seat base upon which a passenger is seatable; (c) a rear seat section behind the backrest when the backrest is in an upright position, the rear 5 seat section having an open space which has a base, and a footwell closed to the open space beside the open space; (d) a fixed side ottoman located beside the seat portion and extending in front of the seat portion,

10 the side ottoman having a front portion; and wherein the backrest is pivotally mounted for movement from the upright position to a flat position so the base of the open space, the rear surface of the backrest when in the flat position and the side ottoman form a bed 15 configuration; the base, the rear surface of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman form a substantially flat surface when the seat is in the bed configuration; the front portion of the ottoman of a rear 20 seat of the two seats extending into the footwell of a front seat of the two seats; and wherein when the rear seat is in the bed configuration a passenger can lie transverse with respect to a central axis of the aircraft with the 25 passenger's head resting on the base of the open space of the rear seat and the passenger's feet located in the footwell of the front seat on the front portion of the side ottoman of the rear seat. 30 10. The cabin of claim 9, wherein the backrest has an extension piece pivotally mounted to the backrest for pivotal movement when the backrest is in the flat position to fill a space between the rear of the backrest and the front portion of the ottoman, the 35 extension piece forming part of the substantially flat surface. 568447 -15-

11. The cabin of claim 10, wherein the extension piece folds flat against the rear surface of the backrest when the backrest is in an upright position. 5

12. The cabin of claim 9, wherein the seat has a shell having sides and a rear panel, the open space being defined by one of the sides and the footwell, the footwell being formed partly in the rear panel as a box section extending forwardly of the rear panel. 10

13. The cabin of claim 12, wherein the sides have first rear sections and second front sections, the rear sections being higher than the front sections, and the open space being defined between one of the rear 15 sections and the footwell.

14. The cabin of claim 9, wherein the footwell has a front wall and the backrest when in the upright position is adjacent the front wall. 20

15. The cabin of claim 12, wherein the footwell has a second part outside one of the sides, the second part being in line with the side ottoman. 25

16. The cabin of claim 12, wherein the side ottoman has a shelf adjacent the said one of the sides.

17. A seat for an aircraft cabin, substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1-6 and 8 of the accompanying drawings. 30

18. An aircraft cabin substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1-6 and 8 of the accompanying drawings. 3010551 ?9_1 ,DOC:WEJ:wp