High end business class seating arrangement

Described are seating arrangements having at least one aisle column with at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit, and at least one non-aisle column having at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit. The at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column is positioned laterally proximate the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column, and the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column is positioned laterally proximate the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to seating arrangements for aircraft cabins and to the corresponding seat unit.

BACKGROUND

Common carriers, such as passenger airlines, bus lines, and train lines, often contain multiple seats in one or more cabins. Subject to their compliance with applicable safety regulations, seating arrangements may vary from carrier to carrier. Whereas passengers may prefer fewer seats per cabin to increase leg-room, privacy, or other factors associated with decreased seat density, common carrier operators may prefer greater seats per cabin to increase revenue per transport. Optimizing, or at least enhancing, both passenger comfort and revenue generation is a significant issue in cabin design and layout.

In the case of business class cabin design, various parameters, such as passenger comfort, bed and seat dimensions, living space, direct access to the aisle, and angle of the bed surface to the cabin floor are additional considerations that influence cabin seating arrangements. For example, for passenger comfort, it is desirable to achieve a horizontal bed surface when in transport or flight.

Numerous seat designs have included compromises on all of these parameters in an attempt to create the highest density seating arrangements that does not significantly impair passenger comfort.

For example, U.S. Publication No. 2012/0292957 teaches the use of a pair of angled seats having a longitudinal overlap between two pairs of seats. In this design, when the seats are in the bed position, there is a vertical overlap between the foot areas of the two side-by-side beds, with one bed having a high position, and the other bed having a low position. In this design, the longitudinal axis of the seats converges toward a point located in the vertical symmetry plane of the next-forward pair of seats. Because a wide passage exists to allow passengers seated in the seat located next to the window to egress the seat, there is a body contact hazard when the seat located next to the aisle is in the bed position, thus creating a feeling of shared living space with the passenger direct neighbor in the paired seats.

As a result, it is desirable to provide a cabin seating arrangement that further maximizes the seat density for business class cabins that also provides horizontal bed arrangement while in flight, while also providing every seat with direct aisle access to eliminate the potential for body contact hazard when a person seated in a seat located next to the window egresses the seat.

SUMMARY

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, a seating arrangement comprises at least one aisle column comprising at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit, and at least one non-aisle column comprising at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit, wherein the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column in the bed position is positioned laterally proximate and partially overlapping the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column in the bed position, wherein the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column in the bed position is positioned laterally proximate and partially overlapping the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column in the bed position.

In some embodiments, the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column in a bed position is configured to partially longitudinally overlap with the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column in a bed position by a first distance. In certain embodiments, the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column in the bed position is configured to partially longitudinally overlap with a second low bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column in the bed position by a second distance, wherein the second distance is smaller than the first distance.

In some embodiments, a first longitudinal space is located between the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column and a second low bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column, and a second longitudinal space is located between the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column and a second high bed seating unit in the at least one aisle column. According to some embodiments, the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column accesses an aisle via the first longitudinal space, and the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column accesses the aisle via the second longitudinal space.

In certain embodiments, the seating arrangement further comprises at least two privacy shells, each privacy shell positioned between the laterally proximate seating units. In these embodiments, each privacy shell comprises a high bed lateral well and a low bed lateral well. Each privacy shell may further comprise an upper section configured to divide an upper surface of the high bed lateral well into separate armrests for the laterally adjacent seating units.

In certain embodiments, the laterally proximate seating units are arranged to face toward each other.

In some embodiments, at least one aisle column is positioned adjacent an aisle, and the at least one non-aisle column is positioned adjacent a wall of a cabin.

According to some embodiments, the seating arrangement further comprises a plurality of aisle columns and non-aisle columns, wherein each aisle column is positioned adjacent an aisle, and each non-aisle column is positioned adjacent one of the plurality of aisle columns and another one of the plurality of non-aisle columns. In certain embodiments, the seating arrangement is an eight abreast configuration.

According to some embodiments, the seating arrangement further comprises a second aisle column comprising at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit, wherein the second aisle column is positioned adjacent the at least one non-aisle column, wherein the at least one high bed seating unit in the second aisle column is positioned laterally proximate the at least one low bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column, wherein the at least one low bed seating unit in the second aisle column is positioned laterally proximate the at least one high bed seating unit in the at least one non-aisle column. In certain embodiments, the seating arrangement is an seven abreast configuration.

According to some embodiments, the seating arrangement further comprises a second aisle column comprising at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit, and a third aisle column comprising at least one high bed seating unit and at least one low bed seating unit, wherein the at least one high bed seating unit in the second aisle column is positioned laterally proximate the at least one low bed seating unit in the third aisle column, and wherein the at least one low bed seating unit in the second aisle column is positioned laterally proximate the at least one high bed seating unit in the third aisle column. In certain embodiments, the seating arrangement is an six abreast configuration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the embodiments of vehicle seats may be described with reference to an aircraft seat, they are by no means so limited. In fact, the seats may be used in conjunction with any type of vehicle or otherwise as desired.

According to certain embodiments of the present invention, as shown inFIGS. 1-9, a cabin14may include a seating arrangement10of a plurality of seating units12A, and a plurality of seating units12B.

According to certain embodiments, each seating unit12A,12B comprises a seat back16, a seat pan18, and a leg rest20, which are configured to convert from an upright or reclined chair position to a horizontal position, also commonly referred to as a bed position, as shown inFIGS. 1-4 and 6.

Because the combined length of the seat back16, seat pan18, and the leg rest20in the bed position is typically not long enough for a passenger to lie down in a horizontal position, the leg rest20of each seating unit12A,12B in the bed position may configured to be positioned proximate a foot well22A,22B.

The foot wells22A,22B may be positioned within a portion of a privacy shell26that separates two longitudinally adjacent seating units12A,12B or may be provided as a stand-alone monument positioned between two longitudinally adjacent seating units12A,12B. As a result, each foot well22A,22B is positioned in front of the corresponding seating unit12A,12B. Because the foot well22A is vertically offset from and substantially overlapping with the foot well22B, a lower surface24of each of the foot wells22A,22B is configured to align with the leg rest20when the seating unit12A,12B is in the bed position, as shown inFIGS. 1-2 and 4. As a result, the combined seating unit12A,12B in the bed position and the associated foot wells22A,22B provide a comfortable sleeping length for a passenger to lie down in a horizontal position.

To further maximize lateral sleeping space for each passenger, additional lateral wells24A,24B may be provided within a portion of the privacy shell26that separates two laterally adjacent seating units12A,12B, and therefore is positioned to one side of the particular seating unit12A,12B. Similar to the foot wells22A,22B, because the lateral well24A is vertically offset from and substantially overlapping with the lateral well24B, a lower surface28of each of the lateral wells24A,24B is configured to align with the seat back16, seat pan18, and/or leg rest20when the seating unit12A,12B is in the bed position, as shown inFIGS. 1-3.

In order to also maximize space within the cabin14, the seating units12A may be configured to have a first bed position (or high bed position), and the seating units12B may be configured to have a second bed position (or low bed position) that is vertically offset from the first bed position (or vice versa). In this configuration, a difference in height between the high bed position and the low bed position is arranged so that the foot wells22A,22B may be positioned in an overlapping arrangement, and the lateral wells24A,24B may be positioned in an overlapping arrangement, as best illustrated inFIGS. 1-4. In certain embodiments, the vertical distance between the height of the high bed position and the low bed position is not less than 10 inches, and may range from 13 to 15 inches. By providing a suitable height difference that is not too large, the sleeping experience between the two seating units12A,12B is balanced so that one seat is not too low, and the other seat is not too high.

An upper section30of the privacy shell26may be configured to bisect an upper surface of the lateral well24A to divide the surface into armrests38A,38B for the two laterally adjacent seating units12A,12B.

In these embodiments, as best illustrated inFIGS. 7-9, a standard four-seat unit44comprises two substantially longitudinally aligned and alternating facing seating units12A,12B in an aisle column32, and two substantially longitudinally aligned and alternating facing seating units12A,12B in a non-aisle column36.

Each seating unit12A,12B in the aisle column32is configured to have direct aisle access without the need to pass by or through another seating unit12A,12B to access the aisle34. In contrast, because these seating units12A,12B in the non-aisle column36are not positioned proximate an aisle34, these seating units12A,12B access one of the aisles34through a longitudinal space40located between the non-mating seating units12A,12B within the aisle column32.

Because of the additional longitudinal space40between the non-mating seating units12A,12B within the aisle column32, the seating units12A,12B in the non-aisle column36that face one another are spaced farther apart so that the seating units12A,12B will properly align and overlap with the adjacent seating unit12A,12B in the aisle column32, and therefore may have a smaller degree of overlap (or no overlap) in the foot wells22A,22B to achieve the necessary bed length for a passenger to lie down in a horizontal position in the seating units12A,12B in the non-aisle columns36.

As a result, in these four-seat units44, the seating unit12A (in the high bed position) in the aisle column32is laterally adjacent and partially overlapping with the seating unit12B (in the low bed position) in the non-aisle column36, and the seating unit12A (in the high bed position) in the non-aisle column36is laterally adjacent and partially overlapping with the seating unit12B (in the low bed position) in the aisle column32. As a result, the two laterally adjacent seating units12A,12B share the portion of the privacy shell26that separates the two laterally adjacent seating units12A,12B, and therefore have access to the corresponding overlapping lateral wells24A,24B.

In other words, the four-seat units44may be replicated through the cabin14to achieve the desired seating capacity.

As shown inFIGS. 5-9, these four-seat units44may be positioned between the aisle34and the wall42of the cabin14with the aisle column32adjacent the aisle34, and the non-aisle column36adjacent the wall42.

In certain embodiments, as shown inFIG. 9, these four-seat units44may laterally doubled and positioned between the aisles34, with the aisle columns32adjacent the aisles34, and the non-aisle columns36positioned adjacent each other along the center axis C′ of the cabin14. In these configurations, the cabin14may have an eight abreast configuration.

In other embodiments, as shown inFIG. 7, the four-seat units44in the center of the cabin14may be modified to include the two aisle columns32positioned between the aisles34, and one non-aisle column36positioned adjacent the two aisle columns32. In these configurations, the cabin14may have a seven abreast configuration.

In yet other embodiments, as shown inFIGS. 5 and 8, the four-seat units44in the center of the cabin14may be modified to include only the two aisle columns32positioned between the aisles34. Because there are no non-aisle columns36with seating units12A,12B that require access to the aisle34in the center of the cabin14, the seating units12A,12B in the aisle columns32may be positioned so that the privacy shells26are in direct contact with one another without any longitudinal spaces40between seating units12A,12B. In these configurations, the cabin14may have a six abreast configuration.

A person of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that, depending on bed dimensions, seat widths, cabin dimensions, etc., other combinations of aisle columns32and non-aisle columns36may be possible to achieve the desired number of seats abreast the cabin14.

In certain embodiments where the longitudinal space40is provided between the proximate and non-mating seating units12A,12B within the aisle columns32, as illustrated inFIG. 6, the longitudinal space40may also serve as an alcove for persons to temporarily clear the aisle as needed for others to pass and/or for service carts or the like. Because the longitudinal space40is located between the proximate and non-mating seating units12A,12B, the passengers seated in the seating units12A,12B in the non-aisle columns36are able to access the aisle without having to cross over another passenger, thus eliminating the potential for body contact hazard with persons seated in the seating units12A,12B in the aisle columns32.

In other embodiments, the laterally adjacent seating units may be integrally formed or connected as a double, triple, quad, or other suitably-sized seat unit.

In certain embodiments, as best illustrated inFIG. 8, the seats within seating units12A may form a longitudinal axis LA, and the seats within the seating units12B may form a longitudinal axis LB. In certain embodiments, LA and LB may be substantially parallel to one another, while also forming an angle with a center axis C of the overall seating unit12A,12B (wherein the center axis C may be positioned parallel to the center axis C′ of the cabin14).

In certain embodiments, when in the upright or reclined chair positions, the seating units12A,12B are positioned at the height associated with the TTL position. Thus, to convert the seating units12A,12B between the upright or reclined chair position and the bed position, the seating units12A are raised from the height of the TTL position to the height of the high bed position (and vice versa), and the seating units12B are lowered from the height of the TTL position to the height of the low bed position (and vice versa). These movements of the seating units12A,12B may be performed by any mechanical or electronic device having a configuration that allows for the desired movements described above, including but not limited to electronic actuators and gas springs.