Patent ID: 7731283

Claim:
A transportation seat assembly, comprising: a seat having a hip/thigh support secured rigidly to a supporting surface on a transportation vehicle, a back support hingedly connected to the hip/thigh support and movable from a fully erect condition to a condition reclined relative to the hip/thigh support, at least one gap being defined between the hip/thigh support and the back support to accommodate hinged movement therebetween; and a seating pad assembly removably positionable on the seat, the seating pad assembly including a viscoelastic foam cushion having a bottom surface facing the seat, a top surface opposite the bottom surface for supporting a traveler, a width slightly less than a width defined by the transportation vehicle seat and a length at least equal to a length of the hip/thigh support and the back support measured in directions substantially perpendicular to the hinged connection therebetween, the viscoelastic foam cushion of the pad having a density and hardness selected to permit portions of the viscoelastic foam adjacent the bottom surface to flow into and conform to the gap between the hip/thigh support and the back support to define a convex lower conformal area nesting with the gap, and the viscoelastic foam cushion of the pad further having firmness, resiliency and thickness characteristics so that a concave upper conformal area caused by weight of the traveler is spaced sufficiently to support the traveler across the gap and above the hip/thigh support and the back support, the seating pad assembly further comprising a cover assembly substantially surrounding the viscoelastic foam cushion and being sufficiently stretchable or loose to permit substantially unimpeded deformation of the viscoelastic foam cushion into the gap of the seat.