Patent Publication Number: US-2004045482-A1

Title: Multi surface knee board

Description:
[0001] Pilots of light aircraft are required to review and update a collection of documents during the course of a flight. These documents need to be ready to hand and presented in an orderly way and in the tight confines of the cockpit. These documents may convey information or may require regular updating, to this end knee board desks are generally employed. The requirement as defined above is not met by existing devices which are either of too small in surface area to support all documents or have a large flat surface which is restricting to the pilot in the confines of the cockpit. The invention described here uses multiple, rotating and stackable surfaces to provide both a large accessible surface area and a concise package. It is however envisaged that this invention will have application beyond the light aircraft cockpit. 
     
    
    
     [0002] A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:  
     [0003]FIG. 1 shows the end view of the knee board illustrating the method of attachment of two moving surfaces.  
     [0004]FIG. 2 shows the knee board in use with one moving surface being brought into play on top of the central surface. 
    
    
     [0005] Referring to the drawings, this invention comprises a central clipboard, knee board or desk I to which is attached one or more moving surfaces  2 . The moving surfaces comprise additional clipboard or desk surfaces that are hinged in such a way that each can be brought into play on top of the central surface FIG. 2. The double sided moving surfaces  2  are mounted on a “U” shaped wire type hinge  3  that enables the attached surfaces to be folded like the leaves in a book, through the action of the hinge at  4 , and rotated through the action of the hinge at  5 . Each moving surface provides an additional two clipboard / desk surfaces, each surface can be brought to the top of the stack through rearrangement and or rotation. The folding device as described above may have clips or other fixings that can be used to secure papers or other items. The central surface to which moving surfaces are attached I is the surface to which an anchorage device right be attached. Alternatively the board may be free and unsecured, for example hand held.