AIRCRAFT PASSENGER ACCOMMODATION UNIT WITH MOVEABLE OTTOMAN

Abstract

An aircraft passenger accommodation unit is disclosed. The aircraft passenger accommodation unit comprises a seat, a wall, an ottoman, and a console. An access path comprising a width is defined between the wall and the ottoman, the access path providing passenger access to the seat. The ottoman is moveably mounted with respect to the console and moveable between an extended position and a retracted position to change the width of the access path, and the ottoman is at least partially received within the console when the ottoman is in the retracted position.

Claims

1. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit comprising a seat, a wall, an ottoman, and a console, wherein an access path comprising a width is defined between the wall and the ottoman, the access path providing passenger access to the seat, wherein the ottoman is moveably mounted with respect to the console and moveable between an extended position and a retracted position to change the width of the access path, and wherein the ottoman is at least partially received within the console when the ottoman is in the retracted position.

2. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 1, wherein the console defines an aperture that is shaped to receive the ottoman.

3. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 1, wherein the seat faces in a direction defining a longitudinal axis and wherein the ottoman is moveable between the extended position and the retracted position along an axis substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

4. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 1, wherein the ottoman is lockable in the extended and/or retracted position.

5. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 1, wherein the ottoman is moveably mounted upon a base.

6. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 5, wherein the ottoman comprises a track that runs along an underside of the ottoman and wherein the track slidingly engages with one or more projecting members that project from an upper surface of the base, or wherein the base comprises a track that runs along an upper surface of the base and wherein the track slidingly engages with one or more projecting members that project from an underside of the ottoman, the ottoman thereby being configured to be slidable along the base between the extended position and the retracted position to change the width of the access path.

7. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 6, wherein the ottoman comprises a track that runs along an underside of the ottoman and wherein the track slidingly engages with one or more projecting members that project from an upper surface of the base.

8. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 7, wherein the projecting members are bosses that are spaced apart along an upper surface of the base.

9. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 8, wherein the ottoman comprises a lock mechanism configured to engage with one or more of the bosses to lock the ottoman in the extended and/or retracted position.

10. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 9, wherein the lock mechanism is configured such that the ottoman becomes automatically locked in the extended position when the ottoman is moved into the extended position.

11. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 9, wherein the lock mechanism is configured such that the ottoman becomes automatically locked in the retracted position when the ottoman is moved into the retracted position.

12. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 10, wherein ottoman comprises a release handle configured to operate the lock mechanism to release the ottoman from being locked in the extended position and/or retracted position.

13. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 5, wherein the base forms part of the console.

14. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 13, wherein the console comprises a main body and the base, wherein the base projects away from the main body, and wherein the ottoman is at least partially received in the main body when in the retracted position.

15. An aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to claim 1, wherein the wall is positioned on a first side of the aircraft seat and wherein the console is positioned on a second, opposite side of the aircraft seat.

16. An ottoman and base suitable for use as the ottoman and base according to claim 6, wherein the ottoman comprises a track that runs along an underside of the ottoman and wherein the track slidingly engages with one or more projecting members that project from an upper surface of the base, or wherein the base comprises a track that runs along an upper surface of the base and wherein the track slidingly engages with one or more projecting members that project from an underside of the ottoman, the ottoman thereby being configured to be slidably moveable with respect to the base.

17. An ottoman and base according to claim 16, wherein the ottoman comprises a track that runs along an underside of the ottoman and wherein the track slidingly engages with one or more projecting members that project from an upper surface of the base, wherein the ottoman comprises a lock mechanism configured to engage with one or more of the bosses to lock the ottoman in the extended and/or retracted position.

18. An ottoman and base according to claim 17, wherein the lock mechanism is configured such that the ottoman becomes automatically locked in the extended position when the ottoman is moved into the extended position and/or wherein the lock mechanism is configured such that the ottoman becomes automatically locked in the retracted position when the ottoman is moved into the retracted position.

19. A kit of parts configured such that when assembled, the kit of parts forms an aircraft passenger accommodation unit as defined in claim 1.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings of which:

[0022] FIG. 1 is a plan view of an aircraft passenger accommodation unit according to a first embodiment of the invention positioned within an aircraft cabin;

[0023] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the aircraft passenger accommodation unit shown in FIG. 1;

[0024] FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the base plate of the console of the aircraft passenger accommodation unit;

[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the underside of the ottoman of the aircraft passenger accommodation unit;

[0026] FIG. 5a is a schematic plan view illustrating the locking mechanism within the ottoman, with the features of a base plate shown in broken lines and the features of the ottoman shown in unbroken lines, in the figure the ottoman is shown as being locked in a retracted position;

[0027] FIG. 5b corresponds to FIG. 5a but wherein a release handle of the ottoman has been actuated and the ottoman is being moved from the retracted position to an extended position;

[0028] FIG. 5c corresponds to FIG. 5b but wherein the ottoman is being moved into the extended position;

[0029] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the aircraft passenger accommodation unit with the ottoman in an extended position in which the passenger access path of the aircraft passenger accommodation unit is too narrow to allow wheelchair access into the aircraft passenger accommodation unit; and

[0030] FIG. 7 corresponds to the view of FIG. 6 but with the ottoman moved to a retracted position to increase the width of the passenger access path to allow wheelchair access to the aircraft passenger accommodation unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] An aircraft cabin 1 comprising an aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3 according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3 is positioned adjacent to an aisle 5 of the aircraft cabin 1 and comprises an access path 7 that provides passenger access from the aisle 5 into the aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3, as will be discussed in more detail below.

[0032] The aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3, which is shown in more detail in FIG. 2, comprises a seat 6 facing in a direction defining a longitudinal axis X. The seat 6 is partially surrounded by a shell 9, the shell 9 comprises a aisle-side privacy wall 91 which extends along the aisle-side of the seat 6 and a rear privacy wall 93 that encloses the aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3 to the rear of the seat 6. A console 11 comprising a main body 111 is positioned parallel to the privacy wall 91 on the opposite, non-aisle side of the seat 6. The main body 111 provides a table surface 118 for a passenger of the accommodation unit 3, and stows a meal table. The distance between the outside surface of the main body 111 and the outside surface of the privacy wall 91 defines an aircraft passenger accommodation unit width of 115 centimetres. An ottoman 15 having a width of 65 centimetres in a direction along a transverse axis Y, which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X, is positioned in front of and spaced apart from the seat 6. The seat 6 is configurable between an upright seating configuration, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6, and 7 and a lie-flat bed-mode configuration (not shown) in which the seat 6 forms a contiguous flat surface with the ottoman 15.

[0033] The console 11 comprises a base plate 112, which is shown in more detail in FIG. 3, that is secured to the floor of the aircraft cabin 1 and upon which the ottoman 15 is mounted. The base plate 112 projects at substantially 90 degrees away the main body 111 of the console 11 towards the aisle 5. Two guide bosses 113A, 113B project upwardly from the upper surface 114 of the base plate 112 and are spaced apart along the transverse axis Y. As can be seen in FIG. 4, a track 153 configured to receive the bosses 113A, 113B runs along the length of ottoman 15 on the underside 151 of the ottoman 15 and a plurality of high friction pads 152 are positioned either side of the track 153. The track 153 has an aisle-side end 1531 at the aisle-side end 155 of the ottoman 15, the aisle-side end 155 of the ottoman being the end situated closest to the aisle 5 and furthest away from the main body 111 of the console 11. The track 153 has a non-aisle-side end 1532 at the non-aisle-side end 154 of the ottoman 15, the non-aisle-side end 154 of the ottoman 15 being the end situated furthest away from the aisle 5, at the opposite end of the ottoman 15 to the aisle-side end 155 of the ottoman 15. In use, the bosses 113A, 113B of the base plate 112 are contained within the track 153 of the ottoman 15 and the high friction pads 152 rest against the upper surface 114 of the base plate 112. The ottoman 15 is therefore slidable along the transverse axis Y, allowing the ottoman 15 to be moved towards or away from the aisle 5. The high friction pads 152 engage with the upper surface 114 of the base plate 112 to prevent the ottoman 15 sliding freely when unlocked and subjected to inertial loads. An aperture 116 is defined in the main body 111 of the console, above the base plate 114 where the base plate 114 meets the main body 111. The aperture 116 being shaped to receive the ottoman 15 such that when the ottoman 15 is moved in the direction away from the aisle 5, the non-aisle end 154 of the ottoman 15 moves into the aperture 116.

[0034] The main body 111 of the console 11 has a width of approximately 8 centimetres. The ottoman 15 is thereby moveable between an extended position in which the ottoman 15 is located fully outside the main body 111 and a retracted position in which approximately 8 centimetres of the length of the ottoman 15 is received within the main body 111. When the ottoman 15 is in the extended position the aisle-end 155 of the ottoman 15 and the aisle-side privacy wall 91 are spaced apart along the transverse Y axis by approximately 37 centimetres. When the ottoman 15 is in the retracted position the aisle-end 155 of the ottoman 15 and the aisle-side privacy wall 91 are spaced apart along the transverse Y axis by approximately 45 centimetres.

[0035] The ottoman 15 comprises a locking mechanism 40 that is configured to engage with the guide bosses and automatically lock the ottoman 15 in either the extended position or the retracted position when the ottoman 15 is moved into either of those respective positions, as will now be described with reference to FIGS. 5a to 5c. The lock mechanism 40, comprises an aisle-side latch 41A that is spaced apart along the track 153 of the ottoman from a non-aisle-side latch 41B. The aisle-side latch 41A is spaced-apart from the aisle-side end 1531 of the track 153 by a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the aisle-side guide boss 113A, and the non-aisle-side latch 41B is spaced-apart from the non-aisle-side end 1532 of the track 153 by a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B (in the presently described embodiment the diameters of the guide bosses 113A, 133B are equal). The latches 41A, 41B are biased by a spring into the position as shown in FIG. 5a in which they span the width of the track 153, so that when the guide bosses 113A, 113B are moved along the track 153 the guide bosses 113A, 113B come into contact with and abut the latches 41A, 41B.

[0036] In FIG. 5a the ottoman 15 is shown as locked in the retracted position. As can be seen, the aisle-side guide boss 113A is positioned between the aisle-side latch 41A and the aisle-side end 1531 of the track 153. If the ottoman 15 is moved in a direction that would move the ottoman 15 further into the console 11 (from left to right in FIG. 5a) then the aisle-side guide boss 113A would abut the aisle-side end 1531 of the track 153. If the ottoman 15 is moved in the opposite direction, towards the extended position (from right to left in FIG. 5a), then the aisle-side guide boss 113A would abut the aisle-side latch 41A. The lock system 40 is configured such that the aisle-side latch 41A is not movable by the aisle-side guide boss 113A from the position in which the aisle-side latch 41A spans the track 153 when the aisle-side guide boss 113A abuts the aisle-side latch 41A as the ottoman 15 is moved from the retracted position towards the extended position. The aisle-side latch 41A therefore prevents the aisle-side guide boss 113A from moving along the track 153, out of the retracted position. Because the aisle-side latch 41A is spaced apart from the aisle-side end 1531 of the track 153 by a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the aisle-side guide boss 113A, the ottoman 15 is effectively locked in the retracted position when the aisle-side guide boss 113A is positioned between the aisle-side latch 41A and aisle-side end 1531 of the track 153.

[0037] Similarly, the ottoman 15 becomes locked in the extended position when the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B is positioned between the non-aisle-side latch 41B and the non-aisle-side end of the track 1532. The non-aisle-side latch 41B is not movable by the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B from the position in which the non-aisle-side latch 41B spans the track 153 when the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B abuts the non-aisle-side latch 41B as the ottoman 15 is moved from extended position towards the retracted position. Because the non-aisle-side latch 41B is spaced apart from the non-aisle-side end 1532 of the track 153 by a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B, the ottoman 15 is effectively locked in the extended position when the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B is positioned between the non-aisle-side latch 41B and non-aisle-side end 1532 of the track 153.

[0038] To release the ottoman 15 from the retracted position, the release handle 157 must be pulled. The release handle operates a linkage 43 that is connected to both the aisle-side latch 41A and the non-aisle-side latch 41B. When the release handle 157 is pulled, the linkage 43 rotates both the aisle-side latch 41A and the non-aisle-side latch 41B simultaneously. The aisle-side latch 41A is rotated in a direction away from the aisle-side end 1531 of the track 153 (anti-clockwise as shown in FIGS. 5a to 5c) and the non-aisle-side latch 41B is rotated in a direction away from the non-aisle-side end 1532 of the track 153 (clockwise as shown in FIGS. 5a to 5c). When the release handle 157 is pulled, the latches 41A, 41B are rotated to a position in which they are no longer positioned across the track 153. Therefore with the release handle 157 pulled, the latches 41A, 41B can no longer prevent movement of the guide bosses 113A, 113B along the track 153, as can be seen in FIG. 5b. As such, to move the ottoman 15 from the retracted position, as shown in FIG. 5a, to the extended position, the release handle 157 must be pulled to rotate the aisle-side latch 41A to the position as shown in FIG. 5b in which it no longer prevents the aisle-side guide boss 113A from moving along the track 153. Similarly, to move the ottoman 15 from the extended position in which the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B is positioned between the non-aisle-side end 1532 of the track 153 and the non-aisle-side latch 41B, to the retracted position, the release handle must be pulled to move the non-aisle-side latch 41B to a position in which it no longer prevents the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B from moving along the track 153.

[0039] Once the ottoman 15 is no longer locked in position, the release handle 157 can be released and the guide bosses 113A, 113B are free to slide along the track 153 as the ottoman 15 is moved. The ottoman 15 becomes automatically locked in position only when moved into the extended or retracted positions. Automatic locking is achieved by the latches 41A, 41B being configured to be rotatable out of the track 153 by the bosses 113A, 113B when the bosses 113A, 113B abut the respective latches 41A, 41B upon being moved into the respective extended or retracted positions. FIG. 5c shows the ottoman 15 being moved into the extended position. As can be seen, the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B has come into contact with the non-aisle latch 41B and has pushed the non-aisle latch 41B away from the position in which it blocks the track 153 (anti-clockwise as shown in FIG. 5c). The latches 41A, 41B are resiliently biased by a spring towards the position shown in FIG. 5a in which they block the track 153 so that when the non-aisle guide boss 113B moves from the position in which it is shown in FIG. 5c further towards the non-aisle-side end 1532 of the track 153, the non-aisle-side guide boss 113B eventually moves past the non-aisle-side latch 41B whereupon the non-aisle-side latch 41B returns to the position in which it blocks the track 153. The non-aisle-side guide boss 113B is then positioned between the non-aisle-side latch 41B and the non-aisle-end 1532 of the track 153, and the ottoman 15 is thereby locked in the extended position.

[0040] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the width of the passenger access path 7 is at its narrowest between the aisle-side corner 158 of the ottoman 15 that is closest to the seat 6 and the non-aisle side corner 95 of the privacy wall 91. The distance between the ottoman corner 158 and the privacy wall corner 95 defines a passenger access path 7 width W. With the ottoman 15 in the extended position, the width W of the access path 7 of the presently described embodiment of the invention is approximately 36 centimetres which, as can be seen from FIG. 6, is too narrow to allow a wheelchair 20 which has a width of approximately 41 centimetres into the aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3. However, when the ottoman 15 is moved to its retracted position, where the ottoman 15 is partially received within the console 11, the corner 158 of the ottoman 15 closest to the wall 91 is moved away from the wall 91, thereby increasing the width W of the passenger access path 7 to a size of approximately 45 centimetres. With the ottoman 15 in the retracted position, therefore, the wheelchair 20 can be moved into the aircraft passenger accommodation unit 3, as shown in FIG. 7, to allow a passenger with reduced mobility access to the aircraft seat.

[0041] Whilst the present invention has been described and illustrated with reference to particular embodiments, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the invention lends itself to many different variations not specifically illustrated herein. For example, in a further, different, embodiment of the invention, the ottoman is moveable along an axis that is substantially parallel with the axis defined by the passenger seat such that the ottoman is moveable towards and away from the passenger seat to change the width of the passenger access path. In this embodiment of the invention the ottoman is moveable away from the seat to a retracted position in which the ottoman is partially received within a console positioned in front of the seat.

[0042] In another embodiment of the invention, the ottoman and base plate are arranged in substantially the same way as the ottoman and base plate of the first embodiment of the invention. However, the base plate is independent of a console.

[0043] In a further, different embodiment of the invention, the aircraft accommodation unit is substantially identical to the accommodation unit of the first embodiment of the invention. However, the two guide bosses project downwardly from underside of the ottoman and a track configured to receive the bosses runs along the upper surface of the base plate, with the high friction pads being fixed either side of the track. Similarly to the first embodiment of the invention, the bosses are contained within the track such that the ottoman is slidable towards or away from the aisle.

[0044] Where in the foregoing description, integers or elements are mentioned which have known, obvious or foreseeable equivalents, then such equivalents are herein incorporated as if individually set forth. Reference should be made to the claims for determining the true scope of the present invention, which should be construed so as to encompass any such equivalents. It will also be appreciated by the reader that integers or features of the invention that are described as preferable, advantageous, convenient or the like are optional and do not limit the scope of the independent claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that such optional integers or features, whilst of possible benefit in some embodiments of the invention, may not be desirable, and may therefore be absent, in other embodiments.