A passenger seat rear-mounted meal tray assembly with a low-profile inline latch includes a meal tray substantially contoured to the seatback surface and a latch pin assembly mounted within the meal tray beneath the seatback surface, the latch assembly including a latch pin for engaging with the seatback to hold the meal tray in the stowed configuration. The meal tray includes a handle likewise contoured to the exterior surface of the tray, the handle having an outer face articulable by a passenger to pivot the handle and disengage the latch pin from the seatback. Disengaging the latch pin via the handle releases the meal tray by the handle into the hand of the passenger, who may manually pivot the tray into a substantially horizontal deployed configuration. The meal tray may similarly be restowed to the seatback (e.g., by pushing the tray back into stowed position) without engaging the handle.

A passenger seat is described which reduces neck deflection in a 16 G loading event. The passenger seat includes one or more seatback surfaces which translate to shield a surface, such as a latch mechanism, during the crash event. By shielding the latch mechanism, a smooth surface is created, thereby reducing a likelihood of a passenger's head becoming trapped on the latch mechanism. The seatback surfaces actuated include one or more of a shroud surrounding the latch mechanism, a pocket defined by the shroud, or a hinged surface.

A seat assembly for a vehicle having a vehicle body includes a seat bench adapted to be arranged inside the vehicle body and defines a passenger compartment and a service compartment inside the vehicle body. The seat bench includes a seat bottom to facilitate a seating of a one or more passengers, and a back support. The back support has a first support panel adapted to move between an upright position and a folded position relative to the seat bottom, and a second support panel arranged proximate to the seat bottom and removably coupled to the first support panel and the seat bottom. The first support panel is moved to the folded position from the upright position upon a disengagement of the second support panel from the first support panel and the seat bottom to provide an access of the service compartment.

A passenger includes at least one seat component including a first material and at least one additive manufactured component including a second material, the at least one additive manufactured component including a plurality of zones. The at least one additive manufactured component is attached to the at least one seat component. The at least one additive manufactured component includes a lattice structure. Each of the plurality of zones have different physical properties.

A seat mounting structure for at least one seat in a vehicle having a vehicle structure is provided. The seat mounting structure may have a seat rib cage configured as a universal solitary mounting bracket to which at least one seat can be affixed. The seat rib cage may have a plurality of rib cage elements connected with each other to form the seat rib cage. The seat rib cage may also have a plurality of seat mounting points for mounting the at least one seat to the seat rib cage. The seat rib cage may also have a plurality of vehicle structure mounting points for mounting the seat rib cage to the vehicle structure.

An example embodiment of a system and methods for detecting and reporting whether passengers are seated and secured in their seats within a vehicle may include a passenger sensor configured to provide an output indicative of a presence of a passenger in a seat in a vehicle, a restraint sensor configured to provide an output indicative of a status of a passenger safety restraint associated with the seat, a transmitter configured to be in electronic communication with the passenger sensor and the restraint sensor and to wirelessly transmit data indicative of the presence of a passenger in the seat and the status of the restrain, and a reporting module configured to be disposed proximate a driver of the vehicle. The reporting module may be configured to receive the data from the transmitter, and output a respective status for each of a plurality of seats.

Described are tray tables for passenger seats having a first surface, a second surface opposite from the first surface, and at least one of a pocket, a control panel, or a table support. The pocket may be defined in one of the surfaces of a tray table and have a pocket surface that is recessed in the tray table relative to the second surface. The control panel may be embedded in one of the surfaces of a tray table and may control at least one piece of cabin equipment associated with a passenger seat having the tray table. The table support may be connected between opposing sides of a tray table to pivotably support the tray table on a seat back of a passenger seat having the tray table.

A retractable table system that includes a main support for mounting on a trim element of a vehicle, a table having an auxiliary support and a table top supported by the auxiliary support, the auxiliary support being movably mounted on the main support so that the table can move between a retracted position and an extended position of the table, and a storage delimiting a storage space and having an access opening for accessing the storage space, wherein the storage is linked to the table in such a way that the storage space is reduced when the table is in the retracted position and the storage space is increased when the table is in the extended position.

A method and an apparatus, according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a seat back movable between an upright position and a folded position, and a platform coupled to the seat back with a support mechanism such that the platform is movable between a plurality of use positions when the seat back is in the folded position. The support mechanism includes at least one member that is selectively detached from the platform to provide at least one of the plurality of use positions.

The present disclosure relates to an occupant support element that may have at least one structural support element. Further, the present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat that may have such an occupant support element.