Patent ID: 11801942

Abstract:
A passenger seat rear-mounted meal tray assembly with a low-profile inline latch includes a meal tray substantially contoured to the seatback surface and a latch pin assembly mounted within the meal tray beneath the seatback surface, the latch assembly including a latch pin for engaging with the seatback to hold the meal tray in the stowed configuration. The meal tray includes a handle likewise contoured to the exterior surface of the tray, the handle having an outer face articulable by a passenger to pivot the handle and disengage the latch pin from the seatback. Disengaging the latch pin via the handle releases the meal tray by the handle into the hand of the passenger, who may manually pivot the tray into a substantially horizontal deployed configuration. The meal tray may similarly be restowed to the seatback (e.g., by pushing the tray back into stowed position) without engaging the handle.