Seat support assembly

A passenger seat comprising a seat support assembly, wherein the seat support assembly comprises an energy absorption assembly comprising:

• (a) a tubular member comprising a ball joint pivotally coupled to a leg extension of the passenger seat;
• (b) a die slidingly coupled to the tubular member;
• and
• (c) a die holder coupled to the die, wherein the die holder comprises a hemispherical outer surface that is configured to pivotally mate with a hemispherical inner surface of a housing and rotate about an arc of rotation relative to the tubular member,
• wherein the ball joint and the hemispherical mating surfaces of the die holder and the housing provide rotational flexibility in the coupling between the passenger seat and the leg extension, thus allowing the energy absorption assembly to move in multiple directions to align with a load path without bending the tubular member.

A method of activating a pitch reducer assembly to minimize a pre-stress load within a passenger seat caused by up to a 10 degree change in vertical pitch of a vehicle floor, wherein the a pitch reducer assembly comprises at least one pitch riser and at least one pitch stop, wherein the at least one pitch riser comprises a plurality of rings, each of the plurality of rings comprising a ring aperture, and a riser shaft inserted through the ring aperture of each of the plurality of rings in a retracted position, wherein the passenger seat is coupled to the vehicle floor, the method comprising:

• (a) deploying the riser shaft from the retracted position to a deployed position by removing the riser shaft from the ring aperture of at least one ring of the plurality of rings;
• (b) positioning the at least one ring below the riser shaft so as to maintain the riser shaft in the deployed position;
• and
• (c) deploying a stop shaft from a retracted position within the at least one pitch stop.