The present invention achieves technical advantages as a pilot and passenger seating. An aircraft employs a pilot seat, comprising a contoured structure having ergonomically formed and padded surfaces, with left and right arm supports that include an articulated control knob, movable in three rectangular axes and rotatable about a vertical axis to provide one or more aircraft steering functions for an aircraft, and a touch-sensitive control surface for controlling one or more power system components. A passenger seat, having a contoured structure, having ergonomically formed and padded surfaces, a headrest, a seat, a left support member, and a right support member are adapted to cradle a portion of a passenger's body to support the passenger during travel.

A headrest assembly including a plate attachable to a front side of a seat back, a flexible support structure attached to the plate, and a continuous fabric cover stretched over the flexible support structure and tensioned to create a hollow pocket behind the fabric cover and forward of the plate to allow the fabric cover to depress inward toward the plate in response to loading on a center portion of the fabric cover. The flexible support may be a flexible wire frame having symmetrical side portions angled away from the plate to induce a concave curve in the fabric cover to cradle the head of a seat occupant. The assembly may further include an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the position of the headrest relative to the seat back.

A cushion assembly such as an aircraft passenger seat cushion assembly including a solid foam component and an elastomeric lattice insert disposed in a void in the solid foam component, the elastomeric lattice insert having a compression profile that mimics a predetermined compression profile of a solid foam. The elastomeric lattice insert including repeating like cuboid structures such as interconnected repeating face-centered cube structures, interconnected repeating body-centered cube structures, or interconnected repeating kagome structures. The elastomeric lattice insert may be in thermal communication with an air conditioning system for delivering conditioned air through the elastomeric lattice insert.

The present invention achieves technical advantages as a pilot and passenger seating. An aircraft employs a pilot seat, comprising a contoured structure having ergonomically formed and padded surfaces, with left and right arm supports that include an articulated control knob, movable in three rectangular axes and rotatable about a vertical axis to provide one or more aircraft steering functions for an aircraft, and a touch-sensitive control surface for controlling one or more power system components. A passenger seat, having a contoured structure, having ergonomically formed and padded surfaces, a headrest, a seat, a left support member, and a right support member are adapted to cradle a portion of a passenger's body to support the passenger during travel.

A ventilated airline seating component including a porous air pad disposed in an interior volume of a housing and configured to collect air to be conditioned and ultimately forced out through the seating component to heat or cool a passenger to enhance comfort. The housing can serve as or be incorporated into a seating component such as an arm rest, leg rest or head rest, among other seating components within a passenger seating environment.

A customizable gesture controller is disclosed for retro-fitting and forward-fitting into existing spaces or structures. One embodiment of the controller comprises a controller board configured to host software; a response layer comprising a plurality of sections arranged sequentially, each of the plurality of sections comprising: one or more center LEDs; one or more runway LEDs; and one or more touch sensors; and an overlay comprising: a glass overlay layer; and a graphic overlay layer comprising a plurality of button icons corresponding to the plurality of sections. The response layer further comprises one or more marks positioned at boundaries between each of the plurality of sections, the one or more marks being configured to identify locations at which to adjust lengths of the response layer using an application of force.

Passenger seat assemblies including thermoelectric devices are described herein. An example passenger seat assembly may include a seat shell configured to receive a passenger seat. The seat shell (20) may include a plurality of surfaces. The passenger seat assembly may also include a thermoelectric device (78) disposed below or within at least one of the surfaces to define a thermal zone. The thermoelectric device may include a first side and a second side. The first side may be adjacent to the at least one surface. The thermoelectric device may be configured such that application of a first current having a first polarity causes a temperature of the thermal zone to increase, and application of a second current having a second polarity causes the temperature of the thermal zone to decrease.

A customizable gesture controller is disclosed for retro-fitting and forward-fitting into existing spaces or structures. One embodiment of the controller comprises a controller board configured to host software; a response layer comprising a plurality of sections arranged sequentially, each of the plurality of sections comprising: one or more center LEDs; one or more runway LEDs; and one or more touch sensors; and an overlay comprising: a glass overlay layer; and a graphic overlay layer comprising a plurality of button icons corresponding to the plurality of sections. The response layer further comprises one or more marks positioned at boundaries between each of the plurality of sections, the one or more marks being configured to identify locations at which to adjust lengths of the response layer using an application of force.

A customizable gesture controller is disclosed for retro-fitting and forward-fitting into existing spaces or structures. One embodiment of the controller comprises a controller board configured to host software; a response layer comprising a plurality of sections arranged sequentially, each of the plurality of sections comprising: one or more center LEDs; one or more runway LEDs; and one or more touch sensors; and an overlay comprising: a glass overlay layer; and a graphic overlay layer comprising a plurality of button icons corresponding to the plurality of sections. The response layer further comprises one or more marks positioned at boundaries between each of the plurality of sections, the one or more marks being configured to identify locations at which to adjust lengths of the response layer using an application of force.

A temperature management system for an occupant supporting device comprising an air-circulating circuit is provided, the air-circulating circuit comprising: an air distributing device; a main power device for circulating the air in the air-circulating circuit; and a temperature adjusting device for adjusting the temperature of the air in the air-circulating circuit, wherein an airflow, which has been temperature adjusted by the temperature adjusting device, out of the main power device comprises at least a first portion which flows into the air distributing device and a second portion which returns back to the main power device after circulating within the air-circulating circuit, and wherein the airflow which returns back to the main power device will be adjusted by the temperature adjusting device and circulated in the air-circulating circuit again. A seat cushion and a seat backrest comprising the temperature management system, and an occupant supporting device comprising the seat cushion and the seat backrest are also provided. The occupant supporting device can be a seat or a bed.