Base frame for an aircraft seat

A base frame assembly for passenger seats comprising:

• a) a plurality of spaced stretcher tubes having top, bottom and side quadrants and having longitudinally spaced apertures in said side quadrants;
• b) stretcher stirrup members having a cradle section, configured to encircle at least a portion of said bottom quadrant, and spaced wall sections;
• c) leg stirrup members having a cradle section, spaced wall sections and a leg secured to said cradle section of said leg stirrup;
• d) connectors for securing said stirrup members and said saddles to capture segments of said stretcher tubes such that said stretcher tubes are reinforced and stiffened by said stirrup members to resist bending moments;
• e) spreaders having spaced saddles configured to encircle at least a portion of said top quadrant and to be mounted on and supported by segments of said spaced stretcher tubes, each of said saddles having a generally channel-shaped portion having a concave surface and spaced flange segments, said flange segments having receptacles to receive said spaced wall sections of said stretcher stirrup members and said spaced wall sections of said leg stirrup members;
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• d) connectors for securing said stirrup members and said saddles to capture segments of said stretcher tubes such that said stretcher tubes are reinforced and stiffened by said stirrup members to resist bending moments.

An improved base frame for a passenger seat, said base frame having a front leg structure for supporting a front horizontal stretcher tube and a rear leg structure for supporting a rear horizontal stretcher tube, wherein said improvements comprise:

• (a) a base frame spreader for maintaining the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes in parallel, spaced-apart relationship, said spreader having a front portion for connecting to said front horizontal stretcher tube and a rear portion for connecting to said rear horizontal stretcher tube, the front portion of the spreader having an inverted, generally U-shaped saddle structure formed thereon that is positioned over the front horizontal stretcher tube, and the rear portion of the spreader having an inverted, generally U-shaped saddle structure formed thereon that is positioned over the rear horizontal stretcher tube;
• (b) a first stirrup having a generally U-shaped structure that is positioned under the front horizontal stretcher tube in cooperative contact with and fastened to the inverted, generally U-shaped saddle structure formed on the front portion of the spreader to releasably clamp the front horizontal stretcher tube therebetween;
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• (b) a second stirrup having a generally U-shaped structure that is positioned under the rear horizontal stretcher tube and fastened to the inverted, generally U-shaped saddle structure on the rear portion of the spreader to releasably clamp the rear horizontal stretcher tube therebetween.

An apparatus for supporting a passenger seat having at least one individual seat for a passenger with a seat bottom portion and a seat back portion, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one front leg supporting a front horizontal stretcher tube;
• at least one rear leg supporting a rear horizontal stretcher tube that is spaced apart from the front horizontal stretcher tube, said front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes each having a plurality of aligned apertures therethrough that are spaced-apart along the stretcher tubes;
• at least two spreaders for maintaining the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes in spaced-apart, parallel relationship, each of the spreaders having a first portion extending generally horizontally between the front horizontal stretcher tube and the rear horizontal stretcher tube for supporting the seat bottom portion of said at least one individual seat and having a second portion extending generally vertically for at least partially supporting the seat back portion of said at least one individual seat, wherein the first portion of the spreader has a front end with an open curved surface formed thereon and spaced-apart downwardly extending wall sections that generally conform to a segment of the upper surface of the front horizontal stretcher tube and the first portion of the spreader has a rear end with an open curved surface formed thereon and spaced-apart downwardly extending wall sections that generally conform to a segment of the upper surface of the rear horizontal stretcher tube, each of the downwardly extending wall sections having an aperture formed therein, whereby the spreader can be removably positioned over the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes and such that the apertures in the downwardly extending wall sections align with selected apertures in the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes;
• generally U-shaped stirrups having an open curved surface and generally upwardly extending wall sections for engaging a segment of the lower surfaces of the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes, each of the upwardly extending wall sections having an aperture formed therein, whereby the stirrups can be removably positioned over the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes, such that the apertures in the upwardly extending wall sections align with selected apertures in the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes and with the aperture of said downwardly extending wall sections of said spreaders;
• connector means for connecting the downwardly extending wall sections of the spreaders to the upwardly extending wall sections of the stirrups through selected apertures in the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes whereby the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes are releasably clamped between the spreaders and the stirrups and such that the spreaders can be positioned as desired along the front and rear horizontal stretcher tubes.