Patent Description:
Floor mounted cabin attendant seats leave a gap between the posterior surface of the seat of the nearest cabin wall or bulkhead. That gap may be covered by a seal frame that abuts the wall and supports fabric (leather, cloth, sheet metal, etc.) to cover and obscure the gap. The gap is often irregular, tapering side-to-side, top-to-bottom, or both; furthermore, such irregularity may be different from one aircraft to another, or at different locations within the same aircraft. Seat covers and frames are disclosed in <CIT>.

Generally, such irregularities require different gap covers for every individual scenario. Producing and fitting different gap covers increases design time, material needs, and installation complexity.

In one aspect, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to a floor mounted aircraft seat as defined by claim <NUM>.

In a further aspect, the displacement elements are leaf springs or coil springs. Alternatively, they may be manually adjustable threaded elements.

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:.

Broadly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed to a floor mounted aircraft seat having a seal frame, displacing elements connecting the frame to the posterior of the seat, and fabric tensioning elements that keep a gap covering fabric connected to the posterior surface of the seat in tension around the frame. The frame displacing elements allow the frame to conform to a wall behind the seat, regardless of the tapering of the wall.

Referring to <FIG>, block representations of top views <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and side views <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> of a floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> and seal frame <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> according to unclaimed examples are shown. In one orientation, such as in <FIG>, the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> may be substantially parallel to the corresponding wall <NUM> such that the seal frame <NUM> does not need to taper. Alternatively, such as in <FIG>, the wall <NUM> may be angled top to bottom with respect to the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> such that the seal frame <NUM> must extend further at the bottom than the top, but maintains a substantially constant cross-section from side to side. Alternatively, such as in <FIG>, the wall <NUM> may be angled side to side with respect to the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> such that the seal frame <NUM> must extend on one side than the other, but maintains a substantially constant cross-section from top to bottom. Alternatively, such as in <FIG>, the wall <NUM> may be angled top to bottom and side to side with respect to the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> such that the seal frame <NUM> must extend different distances at each corner. Traditionally, a floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> would require separately engineered seal frames <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> to account for each alternative, and potentially different degrees of each alternative depending on the aircraft and location within the aircraft.

Referring to <FIG>, a perspective view and a detail view of a frame <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment is shown. The frame <NUM> comprises two vertical elements <NUM>, <NUM>, each of the vertical elements <NUM>, <NUM> connected at a terminal to at least one horizontal element <NUM>. In at least one embodiment, the vertical elements <NUM>, <NUM> are connected to the horizontal element <NUM> via a pivot joint <NUM> such that the vertical elements <NUM>, <NUM> may pivot as necessary provide a flat surface to abut an aircraft wall when installed, no matter how the frame <NUM> is oriented with respect to the corresponding floor mounted aircraft seat. The interface between such flat surface and aircraft wall would include a fabric element as more fully described herein.

In at least one embodiment, the frame <NUM> includes a plurality of rigid fabric connection strips <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. The rigid fabric connection strips <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be disposed substantially parallel to the vertical elements <NUM>, <NUM> and horizontal elements <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a block representation of a side view of a floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> and seal frame <NUM>, and a detail view of a fabric tensioning element according to an exemplary embodiment are shown. The fabric tensioning element may comprise one or more rigid fabric connection strips <NUM> that each define a plurality of holes <NUM> or other features suitable for receiving or attaching an elastic element <NUM> such as an elastic cord. A gap covering fabric <NUM>, affixed to the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> may extend around one or more edges of the frame <NUM>. Each edge of the gap covering fabric <NUM> may define a plurality of holes <NUM> or other features suitable for receiving or attaching the elastic element <NUM>. The gap covering fabric <NUM> is thereby elastically attached to the rigid fabric connection strips <NUM>.

In at least one embodiment, the gap covering fabric holes <NUM> may be protected gromets or other edge protecting feature to distribute the load applied by the elastic element <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a rear view and a perspective view of a seal frame according to an exemplary embodiment are shown. A gap covering fabric <NUM>, extending from a posterior surface of a floor mounted aircraft seat, wraps around one or more edges of a frame <NUM> and connects to corresponding rigid fabric connection strips <NUM> via one or more elastic elements <NUM>. In actual application, the frame <NUM> may be displaced from the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat in an irregular fashion. The elastic elements <NUM> maintain tension of the gap covering fabric <NUM> no matter how the edges of the frame <NUM> are displaced. It may be appreciated that the disposition of the rigid fabric connection strips <NUM> and elastic elements <NUM> may maintain a set amount of tension on gap covering fabric <NUM> even when the frame <NUM> is minimally displaced.

Furthermore, the gap covering fabric <NUM> extending around the edges of the frame <NUM> provides a barrier between the frame <NUM> and the corresponding wall, preventing wear on the wall, especially where the frame <NUM> comprises metal.

Referring to <FIG>, a block representation of a side view of a floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> and seal frame, and a perspective and detail views of a seal frame according to an exemplary embodiment are shown. A frame <NUM> connected to a posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> comprises two vertical elements <NUM> and one or more horizontal elements <NUM> connected to each other via pivoting elements <NUM> at their respective terminuses. The pivoting elements <NUM> allow the vertical elements <NUM> to abut the wall with a flat surface.

In at least one embodiment, leaf springs <NUM> are connected to each of the vertical elements <NUM> at two points, each point comprising a close C-section portion <NUM> of the frame <NUM> to retain the corresponding portion of the leaf spring <NUM>. For example, each leaf spring <NUM> may engage upper and lower bushings <NUM> in the corresponding vertical element <NUM>, retained by the C-section portion <NUM>.

In at least one embodiment, each leaf spring <NUM> is connected to the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> via a bracket <NUM> configured to allow the corresponding leaf spring <NUM> to translate up or down or a plurality of bolts <NUM> passing through corresponding holes in the center of the spring. Translation of the leaf springs within the frame allows the vertical elements <NUM> to reorient and conform to the vertical taper of the abutting aircraft wall. Furthermore, the force applied by the leaf springs <NUM> biases each vertical element <NUM> to contact the aircraft wall even if the aircraft wall has a complex taper that vertical elements <NUM> to extend different distances. Finally, the pivoting elements <NUM> allow the top of the frame <NUM> to have a different horizontal taper than the bottom of the frame <NUM>; or to put it another way, the two leaf springs <NUM> may have different translations with respect to the corresponding bracket <NUM> such that each vertical element <NUM> has a different vertical angle as well as a different displacement form the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, a block representation of a side view of a floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> and seal frame, and a perspective and a detail view of a seal frame according to an exemplary embodiment are shown. A frame <NUM> connected to a posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> comprises vertical elements <NUM> and one more horizontal elements <NUM> connected to each other via pivoting elements <NUM> at their respective terminuses. The pivoting elements <NUM> allow the vertical elements <NUM> to displace independently from the posterior surface of the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> without placing torsional stress of the elements connecting the frame <NUM> to the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM>.

In at least one embodiment, manually adjustable linear actuators <NUM> connect the frame <NUM> to the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> at points generally proximal to the corners of the frame <NUM>. The manually adjustable linear actuators <NUM> may comprise a threaded eyebolt <NUM> pivotably affixed to the corresponding vertical element <NUM> or horizontal element <NUM>. Furthermore, a mounting bracket <NUM> is affixed to a corresponding location on the floor mounted aircraft seat <NUM> with the threaded portion of the eyebolt <NUM> passing through. The mounting bracket <NUM> is free to rotate about a through-hole pivotably connecting the mounting bracket <NUM> to a back-skin bracket <NUM>, allowing the frame <NUM> to conform to the corresponding aircraft wall. A threaded adjusting wheel <NUM> disposed within the mounting bracket <NUM> and engaging the threaded portion of the eyebolt <NUM> allows the eyebolt <NUM> to be manually adjusted in or out, and thereby dictate the shape of the frame <NUM>. Such adjustments would be made at the time of installation and should not be necessary afterwards.

Claim 1:
A floor mountable aircraft seat (<NUM>) comprising a posterior surface, a seal frame and a gap covering fabric (<NUM>) extending from the posterior surface of the aircraft seat, the seal frame comprising:
a frame (<NUM>) disposed on the posterior surface of the floor mountable aircraft seat;
at least two frame displacing elements (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>); and
one or more fabric tensioning elements (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) configured to keep the gap covering fabric (<NUM>) connected to the posterior surface of the aircraft seat in tension around the frame (<NUM>), and wherein the at least two frame displacing elements are configured to independently displace vertical edges of the frame and independently displace horizontal edges of the frame to support the gap covering fabric .