Patent Description:
The present invention relates to a seat control device according to claim <NUM> and to a method according to claim <NUM>.

In one aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to an aircraft seat pod with a reclining seat and a controller interface that extends around a surface of the pod, include a surface obscured by the seat when in an upright position. The controller tracks the position and orientation of the seat and displays seat controls on the interface at a convenient location.

In a further aspect, more than one interface is disposed at different locations to conveniently accommodate passengers of different size or in different orientations. Vision sensors may track the position and orientation of a passenger and preemptively display controls at a convenient location.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and should not restrict the scope of the claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles.

The numerous advantages of the embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:.

Also, while various components may be depicted as being connected directly, direct connection is not a requirement. Components may be in data communication with intervening components that are not illustrated or described.

Broadly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to an aircraft seat pod with a reclining seat and a controller interface that extends around a surface of the pod, include a surface obscured by the seat when in an upright position. The controller tracks the position and orientation of the seat and displays seat controls on the interface at a convenient location. More than one interface may be disposed at different locations to conveniently accommodate passengers of different size or in different orientations. Vision sensors may track the position and orientation of a passenger and preemptively display controls at a convenient location.

Referring to <FIG>, a block diagram of a system for implementing a position sensitive interface according to an exemplary embodiment is shown. The system includes a processor <NUM>, memory <NUM> connected to the processor <NUM> for embodying processor executable code, and an interface <NUM>. The interface <NUM> may comprise a touch sensitive display configured to render controls and receive control inputs at any point along the interface <NUM>. Alternatively, or in addition, the interface <NUM> may be proximity sensing for hand gesturing or motion detection. Furthermore, the display aspect of the interface <NUM> may include feedback features separate from, or in addition to, rendered images; for example, haptic feedback and / or illuminated visual cues.

In at least one embodiment, the interface <NUM> defines a primary region including seat controls and a secondary region comprising areas without seta control. When an input is detected in the secondary region, the processor <NUM> may re-render the primary region focused on the detected input.

In at least one embodiment, the processor <NUM> is connected to one or more motors <NUM> and / or actuators to control aspects of a reclining seat or other elements of an aircraft pod. The processor <NUM> may determine, based on the disposition of the motors <NUM> or actuators, a current position and/or orientation of a reclining seat or other controllable features in the pod. Based on the determined position and orientation, the processor <NUM> may identify a desirable location for controls on the interface <NUM>, and re-render the controls in that location by default. Alternatively, or in addition, the processor <NUM> may identify a first contact on the interface <NUM> corresponding to a control input to a rendered control; while the passenger continues to contact the interface, but the point of contact is shifting (for example, due to the movement of the corresponding reclining seat), the processor <NUM> may continuously re-render the control on the interface <NUM> such that a current point of contact always corresponds to the control input of the first contact.

In at least one embodiment, the processor <NUM> is connected to one or more sensors <NUM>, including vision sensors, and configured to identify a position and / or orientation of a passenger, and render controls on the interface <NUM> at a location corresponding to that position and / or orientation. For example, when a reclining seat is in a fully reclined mode, the passenger may be lying down and facing either to the passenger's left or right. Sensor's <NUM> may use head tacking and / or eye tracking algorithms to determine a location of the interface <NUM> to render controls.

In at least one embodiment, the processor <NUM> may store specific passenger preferences in a data storage element <NUM>. For example, the processor <NUM> may store a passenger selected default location for a particular orientation of the reclinable aircraft seat.

In at least one embodiment, the interface <NUM> comprises electronic components embedded in injection molded components of an aircraft seating area. For example, a polymer injection molded panel may include a display element where the display element electronics are disposed within the injection molded panel. A touch sensitive glass element may be placed over the display element, or a glass or molded plastic element with a capacitive film disposed on an outward facing surface. The electronic components may follow the curvature of the injection molded panel.

Referring to <FIG>, an environmental view of a position sensitive interface according to an exemplary embodiment is shown. Where a reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>, or other features, are controllable via an interface <NUM>, <NUM>, the relative position of a passenger to the interface may change as the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> reclines. In at least one embodiment, the interface <NUM>, <NUM> includes a first interface segment <NUM> that is generally accessible, and a second interface segment <NUM> that is obscured while the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> is in an upright orientation.

When the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> is reclined, the second interface segment <NUM> becomes accessible. In at least one embodiment, the second interface segment <NUM> may wrap around a curved surface proximal to the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>. A controller in data communication with the interface <NUM>, <NUM> may determine the orientation of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> with reference to motors or actuators in data communication with the controller, or with reference to one or more vision sensors.

In at least one embodiment, a controller continuously adjusts a rendering location of controls on the interface <NUM>, <NUM> according to the continuously changing orientation of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>, potentially weighted by stored passenger preference locations, so that the rendered controls are always in a convenient location for the passenger. It may be appreciated that a convenient location for the passenger may be based on the passenger's size, reduced passenger mobility, etc..

Referring to <FIG>, an environmental view of a position sensitive interface according to an exemplary embodiment is shown. In at least one embodiment, multiple interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may be disposed on surfaces near a reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>. Each interface <NUM>, <NUM> is configured via processor to render seat controls at various locations on the interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> based on the disposition and orientation of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>, passenger preference, etc..

In at least one embodiment, each interface <NUM>, <NUM> may be configured and disposed to render specific sets of controls at separate locations based on unique factors or preferences specific to such controls. For example, a first interface <NUM> may be dedicated to a first set of actuators or features of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> such as a back cushion and headrest, while a second interface <NUM> may be dedicated to a second set of actuators or features of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> such as a bottom cushion and footrest.

In at least one embodiment, the disposition of the rendered controls on the interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> are separately determined based on the orientation of the corresponding actuators or features, or by passenger preference, included a previously recorded default preference. For example, in one embodiment, controls may be rendered to keep them within convenient reach of the passenger no matter how the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> is oriented. Alternatively, controls may be separately rendered to maintain some dispositional relationship to the portions of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> they control.

Embedded electronics may enable integration of interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> with 3D electronic HMI surfaces in areas not previously practical. Embedded electronic components integrate circuits into injection molded components.

Referring to <FIG>, an environmental view of a position sensitive interface according to an exemplary embodiment is shown. In at least one embodiment, one or more interfaces <NUM> are disposed to render controls for actuators or features of a reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>. In addition to the controls for the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>, the interface <NUM> may provide controls for the orientation of other features of the seating area or pod such a passenger light or air flow gasper <NUM>.

In at least one embodiment, a processor, configured to render controls at various locations on the interface <NUM>, is also configured to control actuators connected to the other features. Based on the disposition of reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>, the processor maintains those other features in orientations that may be generally convenient for the passenger, such as keeping a reading light focused on a portion of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> as the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> shifts from an upright to a reclined orientation.

In at least one embodiment, orientation control of the other features may be relative to a passenger selection. For example, the passenger may manipulate the orientation of an air flow gasper <NUM> via the interface <NUM>. Then, as the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> shifts from an upright to a reclined orientation, the orientation of the air flow gasper <NUM> may be automatically adjusted according to an algorithm to keep the air flow gasper <NUM> pointed toward the passenger selected potion of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>. Furthermore, the force of the airflow may be automatically adjusted to account for an increasing or decreasing distance between the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> and the air flow gasper <NUM>.

In at least one embodiment, where the interface <NUM> and corresponding processor may control audio and video components within the pod. The processor may adjust aspects of the audio and video components according to the orientation of the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, environmental views of a position sensitive interface according to an exemplary embodiment are shown. In at least one embodiment, a reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> may lay completely flat and a passenger <NUM> on their side might face either left or right while lying down. In a pod or semi enclosed seating area, one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may be disposed around the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM> such that at least one interface <NUM>, <NUM> is disposed on either side of the passenger. Alternatively, a single interface <NUM>, <NUM> may continuously wrap around the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>.

In at least one embodiment, one or more vision sensors <NUM>, <NUM> may be disposed around the reclinable aircraft seat <NUM>. A processor controlling the disposition of controls on the one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may identify which direction the passenger <NUM> is facing based on data from the vision sensors <NUM>, <NUM>. In at least one embodiment, the processor may employ head tracking or eye tracking algorithms to determine which direction the passenger <NUM> is facing. In at least one embodiment, the processor may further utilize eye tracking to render controls at a location corresponding to the line of sight of the passenger <NUM>.

Embodiments of the present disclosure enable adjustable seating based on the preferred ergonomics of the passenger and accommodate mobility-disadvantaged passengers. Furthermore, embodiments may be utilized anywhere that a passenger interface needs to accommodate various ergonomics and / or passenger location.

It is believed that the inventive concepts disclosed herein and many of their attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description of embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the broad scope of the inventive concepts disclosed herein, which is defined according to the following claims, or without sacrificing all of their material advantages; and individual features from various embodiments may be combined to arrive at other embodiments. The form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof.

Claim 1:
A seat control device comprising:
one or more motors (<NUM>);
at least one touch sensitive interface device; and
at least one processor (<NUM>) in data communication with the one or more motors (<NUM>), the at least one interface device, and a memory storing processor executable code for configuring the at least one processor (<NUM>) to:
render a set of input controls on the interface device;
receive an input from the interface device;
continuously track a current location of an uninterrupted contact with the interface device;
activate at least one of the one or more motors (<NUM>); and
continuously re-render the input controls at different locations on the interface device based on the current location of the uninterrupted contact with the interface device to maintain a relative position between the input controls and the current location.