Seating arrangement, seat unit, tray table and seating system

A passenger vehicle seat unit comprising:

• a row of a plurality of adjacent seats, each including a support frame, a seat back, a seat pan mounted on the support frame, and a leg rest, the leg rest of each seat being moveable relative to the support frame in a manner to allow the leg rest to move between
• (a) a stored condition and
• (b) a fully deployed condition where the seat pan and the leg rest are substantially coplanar, and wherein the leg rest is supported by the support frame via at least one support mechanism extending between the support frame and the leg rest for maintaining the leg rest in the fully deployed condition;
• wherein in the fully deployed condition, the leg rests of adjacent seats are contiguous with each other,
• wherein flanking each side of each seat in the row, is an armrest, the arm rest intermediate of two seats in the row being able to move between a usable position wherein it is positioned intermediate of the seatback and seat pan and a stowed position wherein it is not positioned intermediate of the seatback and seat pan, and
• wherein the leg rest and seat pan of each seat in the row can all cooperate to define a reconfigurable horizontal surface to support at least two adult passengers in a reclined or lie-flat position extending in a direction parallel to the row direction and occupy at least two seats of the row.

A passenger vehicle seating arrangement comprising:

• i) a first row of a plurality of adjacent seats,
• ii) a second row of a plurality of adjacent seats located adjacent, aligned and in a position advanced more in the vehicle to the first row of seats,
• each seat comprising a support frame, a seat pan mounted on the support frame, a seat back upwardly extending from the seat pan and a leg rest, said leg rest being moveable relative to the support frame to allow it to move between
• (a) a stored condition, and
• (b) a fully deployed condition wherein the leg rest is solely supported by the support frame via at least one support mechanism extending between the support frame and the leg rest for maintaining the leg rest in the fully deployed condition,
• wherein the leg rests, of two adjacent seats in said first row, when in the fully deployed condition, are contiguous with each other, and
• wherein the leg rests of said first row, when all in the fully deployed condition, span between their respective seat pan and the corresponding seat of said second row and together define a surface for two adults to lie or recline on, next to each other in a condition parallel to each other and to the row direction.

A passenger vehicle comprising

• (i) a first column of a passenger vehicle seating arrangement comprising at least
• a. first row of a plurality of adjacent seats,
• b. a second row of a plurality of adjacent seats located adjacent, aligned and in a position advanced more in the vehicle to the first row of seats,
• each seat comprising a support frame, a seat pan mounted on the support frame, a seat back upwardly extending from the seat pan and a leg rest, said leg rest being moveable relative to the support frame to allow it to move between
• (a) a stored condition, and
• (b) a fully deployed condition wherein the leg rest is solely supported by the support frame via at least one support mechanism extending between the support frame and the leg rest for maintaining the leg rest in the fully deployed condition,
• wherein the leg rests of two adjacent seats in said first row of said first column, when in the fully deployed condition are contiguous with each other, and
• wherein the seat pans and the leg rests of all the seats in the row can cooperate to provide substantially horizontal passenger support for two adults to lie or recline on and generally extend in a direction parallel to the row direction, and
• (ii) a second column of a passenger vehicle seating arrangement parallel to the first column and comprising at least
• a. a first row of a plurality of adjacent seats,
• b. a second row of a plurality of adjacent seats located adjacent, aligned and in a position advanced more in the vehicle to the first row of seats,
• each seat comprising a support frame, a seat pan mounted on the support frame, a seat back upwardly extending from the seat pan and a leg rest, said leg rest being moveable relative to the support frame to allow it to move between
• (a) a stored condition, and
• (b) a fully deployed condition wherein the leg rest is solely supported by the support frame via at least one support mechanism extending between the support frame and the leg rest for maintaining the leg rest in the fully deployed condition,
• wherein the leg rests of two adjacent seats in said first row of said second column, when in the fully deployed condition are contiguous with each other, and
• wherein the seat pans and the leg rests of all the seats in the row can cooperate to provide substantially horizontal passenger support for two adults to lie or recline on and generally extend in a direction parallel to the row direction,
• wherein there are two aisles intermediate of said first and second columns, said two aisles separated from each other by a third column of a passenger seating arrangement.

A passenger vehicle seat arrangement in a passenger vehicle, said arrangement comprising:

• a plurality of rows of seats each seat in each row facing in the same direction, wherein each row comprises:
• a plurality of juxtaposed and in-line seats, each seat including a seat frame supported seat back, seat pan, and leg rest, the leg rest of each seat being moveably mounted relative to the seat frame in a manner to allow the leg rest to move between
• a) a stored condition and
• b) a fully deployed condition wherein the leg rest is solely supported by the seat frame via at least one support mechanism extending between the seat frame and the leg rest for maintaining the leg rest in the fully deployed condition,
• wherein in the fully deployed condition the seat pan and the leg rest are substantially coplanar, the leg rests of adjacent seats are contiguous with each other, and
• wherein the leg rests and seat pans of adjacent seats in the row can cooperate to define a reconfigurable support surface for at least two adult passengers to recline or lie and generally extend in a direction parallel to the row direction, wherein the leg rest of each seat, when in the fully deployed condition is in close proximity to a seat pan of a seat next in front of the row.

A passenger accommodation system of a passenger vehicle, said system comprising

• i) a seating arrangement comprising
• a. a first row of a plurality of adjacent seats,
• b. a second row of a plurality of adjacent seats located adjacent, aligned and in a position advanced more in the vehicle to the first row of seats, each seat comprising a seat pan, a seat back upwardly extending from the seat pan and a leg rest, said leg rest mounted relative the seat pan to allow it to move between (a) a stored condition, and (b) a fully deployed condition to allow the leg rests in the row, together with the seat pans, to cooperate to provide substantially horizontal support for at least two adult passengers to recline in a direction parallel to the row direction,
• ii) a tray table located at the back of a backrest of each seat of said second row, said tray table comprising
• a. a primary table top, movable between
• a stowed position in which it is disposed towards the backrest, and
• a deployed position in which it extends generally horizontally and away from the backrest;
• and
• b. a secondary table top, defined by a plurality of adjacent extension panels each individually coupled to the primary table top, wherein the extension panels are disposed in a side by side configuration at at least one edge of the primary panel and can each be moved by a passenger between a stowed condition and a deployed condition where the extension panel projects from the edge of the primary table top and in a co-planar relationship to the primary table top.

A method of configuring a passenger resting zone onboard a passenger aircraft, said zone defined at least in part by a row of at least three reconfigurable and adjacent seats, each seat including a support frame, a seat back, a seat pan mounted on the support frame, and a leg rest moveable relative to the support frame in a manner to allow the leg rest to configure to

• a) a stored condition and
• b) an extended condition in which the leg rest is solely supported by the support frame via at least one support mechanism extending between the support frame and the leg rest for maintaining the leg rest in the extended condition, and where the seat pan and the leg rest are substantially coplanar and the leg rest is contiguous with an extended leg rest of an adjacent seat in the row, said method comprising configuring the leg rests of each seat in the row to at least one the following:
• i) a configuration where all the leg rests of the row are in their extended condition such that each leg rest and seat pan of adjacent seats in the row can cooperate to define a horizontal support surface for at least two adult passengers to lie on and extend in a direction parallel to the row direction,
• ii) a configuration wherein only the leg rest of a seat at one end of the row is in the extended condition,
• iii)a configuration wherein each of the leg rests of the seats at each end of the row is in the extended condition,
• iv) a configuration wherein the leg rest of a seat at one end of the row is not in the extended condition, and
• v) a configuration wherein only the leg rest(s) of the seat(s) intermediate of the ends of the row are in the extended condition.