Outboard facing herringbone seating arrangement
AssigneeAcumen Design Associates Ltd.
InventorsRichard NICHOLAS, Andrew WILLIAMS, Jonathan FENTON
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A passenger seating arrangement in an aircraft cabin including a column of seat units located adjacent an aisle. A seat unit, or a neighboring seat unit, of the column is configurable into a PRM-access configuration in which the seat module is moved to temporarily widen an access opening from a first width to a second width, greater than the first width, for enabling a disabled passenger to access the seat unit.
Claims27
A passenger seating arrangement in an aircraft cabin, the passenger seating arrangement comprising a column of seat units located adjacent an aisle, the column of seat units and the aisle both extending in a longitudinal direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft cabin, and wherein
- the column comprises a multiplicity of seat units, arranged consecutively along the longitudinal direction,
- and wherein each seat unit comprises a seat module at one end of the seat unit and a foot-receiving structure at the other end of the seat unit, the seat module comprising a seat pan, a seat back and a shroud enclosing the rear of the seat back,
- wherein each seat unit is configurable between a seating configuration and a flat-bed configuration,
- wherein each seat unit is orientated at an acute angle to the longitudinal direction and faces outwardly away from the aisle,
- wherein the spacing between a seat pan of a seat unit in the column and the shroud of a neighboring seat unit in the column defines an access opening for accessing that seat unit from the aisle
- wherein the access opening has a first width for access by an able-bodied passenger;
- and wherein the seat unit, or the neighboring seat unit, is configurable into a PRM-access configuration in which the seat module is moved to temporarily widen the access opening from the first width to a second width, greater than the first width, for enabling a disabled passenger to access the seat unit.
A method of providing access, for a disabled passenger, to a seat unit in a passenger seating arrangement of an aircraft, the passenger seating arrangement comprising a multiplicity of seat units, wherein each seat unit is configurable between a seating configuration and a flat-bed configuration, and wherein each seat unit is orientated at an acute angle to the longitudinal direction and faces outwardly away from the aisle, and each seat unit having a respective access opening having a first width for access by an able-bodied passenger;
- and wherein the method comprises:
- moving a seat module of the seat unit, or of a neighboring seat unit, to temporarily configure the seat unit into a PRM-access configuration in which the access opening is widened from the first width to a second width, greater than the first width, for enabling a disabled passenger to access the seat unit.
An outwardly-facing herringbone arrangement of lie-flat seat units for an aircraft, wherein each seat unit comprises a seat module having a seat pan, a backrest and a shroud and wherein the spacing between the seat pan of each seat module and shroud on the seat module of the adjacent seat unit defines an entrance way for accessing the seat unit, the entrance way having a minimum width, wherein the seat module of at least one of the seat units is moveable to temporarily enlarge the minimum width of the entrance way, thereby facilitating PRM-access to the seat unit.
A seat unit for use in a passenger seating arrangement, the seat unit comprising a seat module at one end of the seat unit and a foot-receiving structure at the other end of the seat unit, the seat module comprising a seat pan, a seat back and a shroud enclosing the rear of the seat back,
- wherein the seat unit is configurable between a seating configuration and a flat-bed configuration,
- wherein the seat unit is configured to be orientated at an acute angle to a longitudinal direction in an aircraft cabin and configured to face outwardly away from a cabin aisle,
- and wherein the seat unit is configurable into a PRM-access configuration in which the seat module is moved, via either a rotation or a translation, to temporarily widen an access opening from a first width to a second width, greater than the first width, for enabling a disabled passenger to access the seat unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.