Arm cap for airplane seat or the like

An arm cap in the form of a resilient support for an armrest of a seat, the arm cap including an upper, resilient member and a lower rigid member secured to the upper member. The upper member includes a top wall and a pair of opposed side walls, each side wall having a number of inwardly projecting tabs which are connected by rivets or other fastener devices to the lower member. A layer of foam material is between the upper and lower members.

This invention relates to improvements in resilient accessories for use on 
seats or near seats, especially passenger seats in airplanes, and, more 
particularly, to an improved arm cap or resilient support for placement on 
or near the armrest of a chair or seat. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,360, a resilient accessory is disclosed for use on 
one of several different locations of an airplane passenger seat or other 
chair. The accessory disclosed in the patent includes a first resilient 
member and a second relatively rigid member secured to the first member by 
posts integral with the first member and passing through holes in the 
second member, the posts having lower heads which are flattened by the 
application of heat to form heads which permanently connect the upper and 
lower members together with the lower members being in engagement with 
downwardly projecting partitions integral with the inner surface of the 
upper or first member. 
While the foregoing construction is suitable for a number of different 
applications, it has been found that other applications of an arm cap 
might be improved by using another type of interconnection means for 
coupling the upper and lower members together. The present invention 
satisfies this additional need for improvements in an arm cap of the type 
described. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to an improved resilient support which 
can be used as an arm cap for an armrest of a chair or seat, such as an 
airplane passenger seat. To this end, the support of the present invention 
includes an upper resilient member having a top wall and a pair of side 
walls integral with the top wall, each side wall having a plurality of 
inwardly projecting tabs which are used to engage a second, rigid member 
between the side walls so that rivets or other fastening devices can 
interconnect the second member and the tabs. In this way, the first and 
second members are rigidly and positively interconnected to form a 
durable, sturdy unit of rugged construction. 
A layer of resilient foam material is preferably placed between the first 
and second members to add resilience to the overall arm cap itself. The 
tabs can be formed as integral parts of the side walls of the first 
member, and the fastening devices can be in the form of pop rivets which 
can be easily put into place with a conventional rivet. 
The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved 
resilient support adapted for use on or near the armrest of a chair or 
seat wherein the support includes an upper resilient member, a lower rigid 
member, and improved structure for rigidly securing the upper and lower 
members together to thereby provide a positive lock between the members as 
well as to provide a construction which is simple and rugged and is 
inexpensive to produce. 
Other objects of this invention will become apparent as the following 
specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings 
for an illustration of the invention.

The arm cap of the present invention is broadly denoted by the numeral 10 
and is suitable for use with a number of different applications. One 
application is the use of arm cap 10 as an armrest of a chair, such as a 
passenger seat of an airplane. 
Arm cap 10 includes an upper member 12 of resilient material and a lower 
member 14 which is generally rigid and in the form of a plate. Member 14 
is located in or near a bottom opening in member 12. Both members 12 and 
14 are of lightweight construction and are selected from materials which 
minimize the weight of arm cap 10 yet provide a construction which is 
strong and durable. For this purpose, member 12 is preferably molded from 
a polyurethane material or other suitable plastic, and member 14 is formed 
from aluminum. 
Member 12 has a top wall 16 and a pair of side walls 18 which diverge with 
respect to each other as the lower margins of the side walls 18 are 
approached (FIG. 3). The lower margins of the side walls 18 define the 
bottom opening in member 12. The upper surface of top wall 16 can be flat 
as shown or can be slightly convex. The outer surfaces of top wall 16 and 
side walls 18 are generally smooth and the junctions between the top wall 
and the side wall are slightly curved as shown in FIG. 3. To suit a 
specific chair or seat application, top member 16 has an inclined end 
segment 16a provided with corresponding side walls 18a (FIGS. 1 and 2). 
Other applications of the arm cap of the present invention will dictate 
the ultimate shape of top walls 16 and side walls 18, especially at the 
ends thereof. To this end, top wall 16 has a slight recess 16b at the end 
opposite to segment 16a for insertion into adjacent hold-down structure 
for releasably securing the end of the cap to the chair or seat, such as 
the passenger seat of an airplane, with which the arm cap is used. Similar 
hold-down means is provided for the opposite end of the arm cap. 
Member 14 has a main portion 20 which is generally parallel with and spaced 
below top wall 16 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. An end segment 20a forms a 
part of main portion 20 and extends downwardly and generally parallel with 
segment 16a of top wall 16. A layer 22 of resilient foam material is in 
the space between top wall 16 and main portion 20, layer 22 providing 
additional resilience for the arm cap to assure that shock or other forces 
applied to the arm cap are absorbed while preventing damage to the arm cap 
itself. 
Member 14 is coupled to member 12 so that they form a unitary construction. 
To this end, side walls 18 have a number of inwardly projecting tabs 24 
which are integral with respective side walls 18; thus, tabs 24 can be 
formed in a molding process along with top wall 16 and side walls 18. The 
tabs 24 are spaced slightly above the lower margins of side walls 18 and 
each tab 24 has a hole therein for receiving a pop rivet 26 which also 
extends through a corresponding hole in member 14, whereby the member 14 
is rigidly secured to member 12. 
Any suitable number of tabs 26 may be provided. For purposes of 
illustration, there are a total of 7 tabs 24 for each side wall 18 and a 
single tab 24 for each side wall segment 18a. All tabs 24 have rivets 26 
or other fastener devices associated with them so that the side walls and 
side wall segments of member 12 are effectively and securely coupled to 
member 14 to provide a rigid, stable interconnection therebetween. 
Each rivet 26 has a head at each end thereof and the rivet is put into 
place with a conventional rivet gun. Each rivet can be put into place even 
though layer 22 is between members 12 and 14, layer 22 being moved out of 
the way during the riveting step to accommodate the inner head of the 
rivet so that the inner head projects inwardly from member 14 in the 
manner shown in FIG. 3. 
When members 12 and 14 are connected together in the manner shown in FIGS. 
1 and 3, arm cap 10 is ready to be installed on an armrest. To this end, 
cap 10 is placed on the armrest so that the ends of top wall 16 are in 
positions to be engaged by the end moldings ordinarily carried by the 
armrest. Keyhole slots 30 are provided to receive studs on the armrest for 
releasable attachment of the arm cap to the armrest. When the moldings 
engage and thereby clamp or hold down the ends of the cap, the cap is 
ready to be used. 
During use, any downward forces exerted on top wall 16 will be resisted by 
the resilience of the top wall itself as well as by foam layer 22. Thus, 
the arm cap provides a means for supporting the arm of a person sitting in 
the seat adjacent to the arm cap as well as provide a soft, yieldable 
surface to absorb shock and other forces exerted downwardly on the arm 
cap, such as when the hand of a person engages the arm cap when the person 
is sitting down or leaving the chair itself. 
Other embodiments using the teachings of the present invention can include 
a seat cushion for a chair or other support. The seat can be of any 
desired shape, such as square, rectangular, circular or hexagonal. In all 
cases, the seat will include an upper resilient member provided with 
spaced tabs, and a lower member of rigid material, such as aluminum. The 
upper and lower members will be coupled together by pop rivets of the type 
described above with respect to arm cap 10. The upper and lower members 
will be of lightweight construction and the seat cushion or other support 
will be of lightweight construction having an attractive appearance and 
suitable for immediate mounting in an operative position.