Patent ID: 7530631

Claim:
A passenger seat comprising: a frame adapted for being attached to a floor of a vehicle; a seat carried by said frame for supporting a passenger, said seat including a seat bottom and a seat back extending upwardly from said seat bottom; a storage unit disposed underneath said seat bottom, said storage unit having an access opening disposed at a front end thereof and being mounted so as to be moveable between: a first position in which said access opening is readily accessible by a passenger seated on said seat bottom, and a second position in which said storage unit is retained against a lower surface of said seat bottom so as to reduce the intrusion of said storage unit into a space defined by said seat bottom and said frame; and a latching mechanism for selectively retaining said storage unit in said second position, said latching mechanism comprising a pivotally mounted release handle, a connecting rod and a latch including a hook, the hook engaging a slot formed in said seat bottom to retain said storage unit in said second position generally parallel to said seat bottom, said latching mechanism operable to pivot said storage unit downward relative to said seat bottom to said first position by pivoting the release handle to cause the connecting rod to pull the latch to a released position wherein the hook is disengaged from the slot of said seat bottom.