SEAT RAIL ASSEMBLY FOR FASTENING A SEAT ASSEMBLY IN A VEHICLE, USE OF A SEAT RAIL ASSEMBLY OF THIS TYPE IN AN AIRCRAFT, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A SEAT RAIL ASSEMBLY

Abstract

A seat rail assembly for fastening a seat assembly in a vehicle and a method for making such a seat rail assembly are described. The seat rail assembly includes a seat rail configured to fasten the seat assembly, the seat rail including a metal material. A fastening profile element of the seat rail assembly is configured to receive the seat rail, the fastening profile element being formed of a plastic material. The fastening profile element forms a receiving region, which is configured to receive the seat rail, and the seat rail includes a seat rail crown which is arranged in the receiving region of the fastening profile element such that a wall portion of the fastening profile element at least partly extends around the seat rail crown. The seat rail assembly may be used in an aircraft.

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. A seat rail assembly configured to fasten a seat assembly in a vehicle, comprising: a seat rail configured to fasten the seat assembly, wherein the seat rail comprises a metallic material; a fastening profile configured to receive the seat rail, wherein the fastening profile comprises a plastic material; wherein the fastening profile forms a receiving region, which is configured to receive the seat rail; and wherein the seat rail has a seat rail crown, which is arranged in the receiving region of the fastening profile such that a wall section of the fastening profile at least partly surrounds the seat rail crown.

14. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the wall section at least partly surrounding the seat rail crown is produced by a forming process at a forming temperature.

15. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the metallic material of the seat rail is a titanium material.

16. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the fastening profile comprises a fiber-reinforced plastic material.

17. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the seat rail crown is enclosed by at least two horizontal boundary walls and a vertical boundary wall of the wall section.

18. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the receiving region is of substantially cuboidal design and the seat rail is arranged such that the seat rail is arranged completely within the cuboidal receiving region.

19. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 13, wherein the receiving region is defined by two lateral boundary walls, a lower boundary wall and an upper boundary wall, and wherein the upper boundary wall has an opening, such that the receiving region is open in a vertical direction.

20. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 19, wherein the seat rail crown has a recess, which is configured to receive a connecting element for fastening a seat assembly on the seat rail assembly.

21. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 20, wherein the recess of the seat rail crown is configured as a depression in the vertical direction, such that the recess of the seat rail crown faces in a direction of the opening in the upper boundary wall of the receiving region when the seat rail is inserted into the receiving region.

22. The seat rail assembly as claimed in claim 19, wherein the seat rail crown has projections in a region of the recess, which extend in the vertical direction, and wherein the projections end at an edge of the opening in the upper boundary wall of the receiving region when the seat rail is inserted into the receiving region.

23. The seat rail assembly as claimed claim 13, wherein the seat rail assembly is incorporated in an aircraft.

24. A method for producing a seat rail assembly comprising the following steps: supplying a seat rail having a seat rail crown, wherein the seat rail comprises a metallic material; supplying a fastening profile having a receiving region and a wall section, wherein the fastening profile comprises a plastic material; inserting the seat rail into the receiving region of the fastening profile; heating the fastening profile to a forming temperature; forming the fastening profile, such that the wall section of the fastening profile at least partially surrounds the seat rail crown of the seat rail.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a seat rail according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0042] FIG. 2 shows a fastening profile according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0043] FIG. 3 shows the seat rail of FIG. 1, inserted into the fastening profile of FIG. 2, according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0044] FIG. 4 shows a seat rail assembly according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0045] FIG. 5 shows a seat rail assembly according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0046] FIG. 6 shows an aircraft with a seat rail assembly according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

[0047] FIG. 7 shows a flow chart for a method for producing a seat rail assembly according to one exemplary embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0048] The illustrations in the figures are schematic and not to scale.

[0049] If the same reference signs are used in various figures in the following description of the figures, they designate identical or similar elements. However, identical or similar elements can also be designated by different reference signs.

[0050] FIG. 1 shows a metallic seat rail 20, in particular a seat rail crown 21, which is also referred to as a “Douglas crown”. The seat rail crown 21 has a recess 22 in the form of a depression 23 which, starting from an upper outer surface 26 of the seat rail crown 21, extends along a vertical direction 11 into the seat rail crown 21. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the seat rail 20 or seat rail crown 21, which has a substantially rectangular cross-sectional profile. The seat rail 20 or seat rail crown 21 can be an elongated component made of a titanium material, which extends into the plane of the drawing of FIG. 1.

[0051] FIG. 2 shows a fastening profile 30 made of a fiber-reinforced plastic material, this too being concerned with a cross section of the profile. As can be seen in FIG. 2, in order to form the profile, two substantially U-shaped profile cross sections can be arranged next to one another, which together form the fastening profile 30. The U-shaped profile cross sections each have a laterally projecting flange in the form of boundary walls, which project laterally from the U-shaped profile cross sections (the upwardly projecting walls in FIG. 2). These boundary walls form part of a wall section 32 of the fastening profile 30, wherein the wall section 32, including lateral, vertical boundary walls and a lower, horizontal boundary wall, forms a receiving region 31. Here, the wall section 32 has a fork shape.

[0052] As can be seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, the seat rail 20, which in the present case is formed completely by the seat rail crown 21, is inserted into the receiving region 31 of the fastening profile 30 of FIG. 2. Furthermore, the two lateral, vertical boundary walls 32c and 32d can be seen here. These lateral, vertical boundary walls 32c and 32d have extended regions of the boundary walls 32a which are formed in a forming process, in particular are bent over or folded over in the direction of the arrows illustrated, with the result that these extended regions of the boundary walls 32a together form an upper, horizontal boundary wall 32a of the wall section 32 and thus of the receiving region 31, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0053] FIGS. 4 and 5 show cross sections of two alternative examples of a seat rail assembly 10, wherein the seat rail assembly 10 in each case comprises the seat rail 20 and the fastening profile 30. The seat rail assembly 10 is embodied for fastening a seat assembly, not illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, in a vehicle 100 (FIG. 6), it being possible for fastening to be accomplished by means of a connecting element 40, illustrated by dashed lines. The connecting element can be part of the seat rail assembly 10 or part of the seat assembly, wherein the seat assembly and the seat rail assembly 10 can together form a seat system.

[0054] In any case, the seat rail assembly 10 has a seat rail 20 for fastening the seat assembly, wherein the fastening profile 30 is again designed to receive the seat rail 20 in the receiving region 31. The seat rail 20 has or is formed by the seat rail crown 21. The seat rail crown 21, that is to say, the region of the seat rail 20 which has the fastening recess 22, is arranged in the receiving region 31 of the fastening profile 30 in such a way that the wall section 32 of the fastening profile 30 at least partially surrounds the seat rail crown 21 and thus the fastening recess 22. The wall section 32 at least partly surrounding the seat rail crown 21 can be produced by a forming process at a forming temperature, wherein the upper boundary wall 32a is produced by folding over the extended walls 32a illustrated in FIG. 3 with respect to the lateral, vertical boundary walls 32c, 32d in the direction (arrow direction) of the receiving region 31, with the result that edges are produced in the wall section 32 at the dashed lines illustrated in FIG. 3 (cf. FIGS. 4 and 5). This can take place at elevated temperatures at which the plastic material of the fastening profile 30 or of the wall section 32 is softened. This can also be achieved by the wall section 32 being in the form of a pre-impregnated semi-finished product and then being shaped into the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and subsequently cured.

[0055] The seat rail crown 21 is enclosed by the two horizontal boundary walls 32a, 32b and a vertical boundary wall 32c as well as a further vertical boundary wall 32d of the wall section 32. In particular, a respective outer surface of the seat rail crown 21 faces each of the boundary walls 32a, 32b, 32c and 32d, or the outer surfaces in each case rest against the boundary walls 32a, 32b, 32c and 32d. The receiving region 31 is of substantially rectangular design in cross section in order to receive the seat rail 20 in such a way that it is arranged completely within the rectangular receiving region 31. Here, the receiving region 31 is defined by the two lateral boundary walls 32c, 32d, the lower boundary wall 32b and the upper boundary wall 32a.

[0056] However, the upper boundary wall 32a has an opening 33, with the result that the receiving region 31 is open in a vertical direction 11. The fastening profile 30 and also the seat rail 20 are each an elongate profile which extends into the plane of the drawing in FIGS. 4 and 5. Thus, in a three-dimensional representation, the opening 33 is an elongate opening 33.

[0057] The seat rail crown 21 has a recess 22, which is designed to receive the connecting element 40 (illustrated by dashed lines in FIGS. 4 and 5) for fastening the seat assembly (not illustrated) on the seat rail assembly 10. In this case, the recess 22 of the seat rail crown 21 is designed in the form of a depression 23 in the vertical direction 11 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), with the result that the recess 22 of the seat rail crown 21 faces in the direction of the opening 33 in the upper boundary wall 32a of the receiving region 31 when the seat rail 20 is inserted into the receiving region 31.

[0058] FIGS. 4 and 5 each show examples in which the seat rail 20 has been inserted into the receiving region 31. The connecting element 40 thus extends through the opening 33 in the upper, horizontal boundary wall 32a into the recess 22 or depression 23.

[0059] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate alternative embodiments, the above description applying mutatis mutandis to both alternatives. However, the example in FIG. 5 differs from the example in FIG. 4 in that the seat rail crown 21 has projections 24a, 24b in the region of the recess 22, which extend in the vertical direction 11 out of the upper outer surface of the seat rail crown 21. The projections 24a, 24b end at an edge of the opening 33 in the upper boundary wall 32a of the receiving region 31 when, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the seat rail crown 21 has been inserted into the receiving region 31. In this context, “end” can mean that contact between the connecting element 40 and the fiber-reinforced plastic of the fastening profile 30, in particular with the upper boundary wall 32a of the fastening profile 30, is prevented. This means, in other words, that undesirable impacts between the upper boundary wall 32a and the connecting element 40 can be avoided. Likewise, contact corrosion between the materials can thereby be avoided. Thus, the projections 24a, 24b serve primarily to protect the wall section 32 of the fastening profile 30, but can also bring about even better fastening of the seat rail 20 in the fastening profile 30.

[0060] The seat rail assembly 10 illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 can be arranged in the region of floor panels of a vehicle floor structure. Although these floor panels are not illustrated in the figures, a floor panel can, however, be arranged in such a way with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 that the lateral boundary wall 32c is located between the seat rail 20 and the floor panel. Likewise, a further floor panel can be arranged in such a way that the lateral boundary wall 32d is located between the seat rail 20 and the floor panel, resulting in a mirror symmetrical arrangement with respect to the vertical direction 11.

[0061] FIG. 6 shows a vehicle 100, in particular an aircraft 101 with a seat rail assembly 10, which can be integrated into a floor structure or a floor grid structure of the aircraft fuselage. In this case, the seat rail assembly 10 can be arranged in the region of floor panels or between floor panels of the floor structure. The seat rail assembly 10 can thus be used for the detachable or slidable fastening of passenger seats in the aircraft 101.

[0062] FIG. 7 shows a method for producing a seat rail assembly 10. In a step S1 of the method, a seat rail 20 having a seat rail crown 21 is supplied, wherein the seat rail 20 comprises a metallic material. In a further step S2, a fastening profile 30 having a receiving region 31 and a wall section 32 is supplied, wherein the fastening profile 30 comprises a plastic. In a further step S3, the seat rail 20 is inserted into the receiving region 31 of the fastening profile 30. In a further step S4, the fastening profile 30 is heated at least partially to a forming temperature S4. In a further step S5, the fastening profile 30 is deformed, with the result that the wall section 32 of the fastening profile 30 at least partially surrounds the seat rail crown 21 of the seat rail 20 S5.

[0063] In addition, it should be noted that “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and “a” or “an” does not exclude a multiplicity. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps which have been described with reference to one of the above exemplary embodiments can also be used in combination with other features or steps of other exemplary embodiments described above.

[0064] While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure the term “or” means either or both This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.