FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improvement for a seating arrangement. More particularly but not exclusively it relates to a side support arrangement for use with a seating arrangement of a commercial passenger vehicle, and a seating arrangement comprising a side support arrangement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In commercial vehicles such as aircraft, service providers have attempted in the past to offer reconfigurable seating arrangements that may be moved between several configurations to allow for flexibility and passenger's increased control of their flying experience.

One such example is currently a series of patent applications by the current applicant, notably PCT application WO2010086785 the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This application shows a seating arrangement including at least three seats located adjacent each other and side by side. Each of the seats include leg rest mechanisms, which can be individually reconfigured to provide a wide variety of intermediate and alternate configurations for passengers travelling as a group, such as a family with children, or couples. In this regard, figure 1 for an example of some of the various configurations of seating that is rendered possible.

A number of the configurations available to this seating arrangement result in one or more of the passengers sitting at least partially diagonally, with their backs against the armrest or the inside shell of the aircraft. It is anticipated that a passenger sitting such a position for a length of time would result in undesirable discomfort for the passenger.

In this specification, where reference has been made to external sources of information, including patent specifications and other documents, this is generally for the purpose of providing a context for discussing the features of the present invention. Unless stated otherwise, reference to such sources of information is not to be construed, in any jurisdiction, as an admission that such sources of information are prior art or form part of the common general knowledge in the art.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a side support arrangement for a seating arrangement which overcomes or at least ameliorates some of the abovementioned

disadvantages or which at least provides the public with a useful choice. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect the present invention broadly consists in a side support

arrangement for a seating arrangement including at least one seat back and a seat pan, said side support arrangement comprising

^■ a planar support panel; and

" a moving mechanism for enabling movement of the support panel between

o a first position, and

o a supporting position in which the support panel is disposed in a position for providing support to a passenger's back when said passenger is sitting at least partially laterally across the seat pan of a seat.

Preferably, the planar support panel defines at least one major face.

Preferably, the planar support panel defines a plurality of major faces.

Preferably, the planar support panel is cushioned on at least one major face.

Preferably, the planar support panel is cushioned on both major faces.

Preferably, when the support panel is in its first position, it is disposed in a stowed position where it does not extend substantially into a passengers seating space.

Preferably, when the support panel is in its first position, it is disposed in a fashion with a major face abutting a seat backrest.

Preferably, when the support panel is stowed with its major face abutting a seat backrest, its cushioned surface is configured and adapted to form part of and align with the seat backrest outer surface.

Preferably, when the support panel is in its first position, it is disposed in a fashion with a major face abutting a seat pan.

Preferably, when the support panel is stowed with its major face abutting a seat backrest, its cushioned surface is configured and adapted to form part of and align with the seat pan outer surface.

Alternately, when the support panel moves into its first position, it is received within a slot alongside said seat pan.

Preferably, the support panel is pivotally moveable between its first position and its supporting position. Preferably, the support panel is pivotally moveable between its first position and its supporting position on a pivoting mechanism.

Preferably, the pivoting mechanism includes one or more pivoting arms.

Alternately, the support panel is slidingly moveable between its first position and its supporting position.

Alternately, the support panel is slidingly moveable between its first position and its supporting position in a telescopic fashion.

Alternately, the support panel is both pivotally and slidingly moveable between its first position and its supporting position.

Preferably, the planar support panel defines a slight curve for the purpose of increasing its ergonomic properties.

Preferably, the planar support panel is adjustable to be used as an armrest to provide horizontal support for a passengers arm.

Preferably, the support panel is movable forwardly of the back rest to provide support to a passenger.

Alternately, the support panel is movable rearwardly of the seating arrangement to its support position for providing similar support to a passenger in a similar seating arrangement disposed behind the seating arrangement.

In a further aspect the present invention broadly consists in a seating arrangement comprising a side support arrangement as described above.

In a further aspect the present invention broadly consists in a seating arrangement comprising at least three or more seat units arranged adjacent each other and side by side to present two outer ends, said seating arrangement further including a side support arrangement as described above associated with each of the two outer seats, for providing side support to passengers at the outer ends.

In a further aspect the present invention broadly consists in a side support cushion suitable for use with a seating arrangement of a passenger vehicle, said side support cushion comprising

at least one cushion member wherein the cushion member includes a recess formation for receiving an armrest of a seat of a passenger vehicle, to allow the cushion to be located against and on the armrest.

Preferably, the recess is shaped to be complementary to the shape of the armrest. Preferably, the recess is shaped to be complementary to the shape of the armrest, to allow the cushion member to be located against and/ or over and/ or engaged with the armrest in a complementary fashion, to provide a support surface for a passenger to lie against in a direction facing at least partially transversely to the direction that they would face when seated in the seat.

Preferably, the recess is a V-shaped channel.

Preferably, the recess is includes two flat orthogonally oriented surfaces.

Preferably, the side support cushion includes a curved surface for location against an interior surface of a passenger vehicle.

Preferably, the side support cushion provides reclining surface for a passenger when located against an interior surface of a passenger vehicle.

Preferably the reclining surface is operationally oriented at an angle of between vertical and 45 degrees to the vertical.

Preferably, the side support cushion includes internal and/ or external reinforcing formations for increasing the rigidity of the cushion to provide more rigid support to a passenger.

Preferably, the side support cushion includes engaging formations for rigidly engaging the side support cushion with a seating arrangement or other suitable structural member.

In a further aspect the present invention may be said to be a seat unit for a commercial passenger aircraft that comprises a row of at least two seats, each seat including a seat back and a seat pan, each seat in the row being contiguous an adjacent seat, wherein deployable from the seat back of at least one of the seats at the ends of the row is a secondary back rest that can move to be in a stowed position where it is incorporated with the back rest of the seat and a deployed condition where it is presented to allow a passenger in the row to face in the row wise direction and have their back supported by said secondary back rest in its deployed condition.

Other aspects of the invention may become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As used herein the term "and/ or" means "and" or "or", or both.

As used herein "(s)" following a noun means the plural and/ or singular forms of the noun.

The term "comprising" as used in this specification means "consisting at least in part of. When interpreting statements in this specification which include that term, the features, prefaced by that term in each statement, all need to be present but other features can also be present. Related terms such as "comprise" and "comprised" are to be interpreted in the same manner.

The entire disclosures of all applications, patents and publications, cited above and below, if any, are hereby incorporated by reference. This invention may also be said broadly to consist in the parts, elements and features referred to or indicated in the specification of the application, individually or collectively, and any or all combinations of any two or more of said parts, elements or features, and where specific integers are mentioned herein which have known equivalents in the art to which this invention relates, such known equivalents are deemed to be incorporated herein as if individually set forth.

The invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the drawings in which:

Figures la-c shows various seating configurations available to passengers;

Figure 2 shows perspective view of a first embodiment of a side support arrangement that folds out from a seat back;

Figure 3 shows a front elevation view of a second embodiment of a side support arrangement that slides out from a slot;

Figure 4a, b & c shows a top perspective view of a third embodiment of a side support arrangement pivoting out from a seat back on a pivoting mechanism having two pivoting arms;

Figure 5 shows a front cutaway view of a first embodiment of a side support cushion in operation installed against the interior surface of an aircraft and over an armrest;

Figure 6 shows a front cutaway view of a second embodiment of a side support cushion in operation installed over an armrest;

Figure 7 shows a front elevation view of a fourth embodiment of a side support arrangement that pivots out from a seat pan; and

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of a side support arrangement that pivots out from a seat back to form armrests.

With reference to the above drawings, in which similar features are generally indicated by similar numerals, a side support arrangement according to a first aspect of the invention is generally indicated by the numeral 100.

In one embodiment now described, there is provided a side support arrangement 100 suitable for a seating arrangement 500 of a passenger vehicle such as an aircraft (not shown). It is envisaged that the seating arrangement 500 will include at least one seat back 510, a seat pan 520 and an armrest 530.

The side support arrangement 100 is for allowing a passenger's back to be supported against a relatively comfortable support surface 102 when the passenger is sitting facing at least partially transversely across the seat pan 520. The side support arrangement 100 comprises a planar support panel 110 (which forms the surface against which a passengers back can be supported), and a moving mechanism 120.

The support panel 110 is preferably substantially planar in shape, but it is envisaged that it could include a slight two or three dimensional curve (not shown) in it to make it more comfortable for a passenger to lean back on as described above.

The moving mechanism 120 enables movement of the support panel 110 between a first position and a supporting position (both as shown in figure 2). In the supporting position, the support panel 110 is disposed in a position for providing support to a passenger's back when the passenger is sitting at least partially laterally or transversely across the seat pan of a seat (i.e. facing the adjacent seat alongside it).

In a preferred embodiment, the planar support panel 110 defines a pair of major faces 112, with a cushioned lining 114 on at least one major faces 112. However, it is envisaged that the support panel 110 could be cushioned on both major faces 112.

It will be appreciated that a wide variety of configurations and types of moving

mechanisms 120 are available for moving the support panel 110 between a first position and a supporting position. A number of embodiments are described below without intending to limit the number of embodiments available.

In one embodiment, the support panel 110 in its first position is disposed in a stowed position (as shown in figure 3) where it does not intrude substantially into a passengers seating space, nor hinder normal activities of a passenger. It also does not provide other support as shown by the embodiments shown in figures 2, 4 and 7.

In such an embodiment as shown in figure 3, the support panel is received into and extends upwardly from a slot 130 under an armrest 530 or alongside the armrest 530. In this way the support panel 110 is not used at all in its stowed position, and does not hinder the passenger's passage to and from the seating arrangement 500.

In another embodiment, the support panel 110 is stowed against a seat pan or a seat back when in its first position, with one of its a major faces 112 abutting a seat backrest or seat pan.

It is envisaged that the moving mechanism 120 will allow the support panel 110 to move so that the cushioned support surface 102 on at least one of its major faces 112 is presented outwardly to form part of and align with the seat pan's 520 or seat back's 510 outer surface. Alternately, the support panel could have both major faces cushioned, and to present a cushioned support surface 102 on both major faces 112, to allow for an increased variety of uses and configurations. It is envisaged that in one embodiment the support panel 110 can be moved out from its first position by pivotal movement about an axis on a pivoting mechanism 140 including pivoting arms 142 (as shown in figures 4 a, b & c), or preferably about a pair of axes for a wide variety of movement and end configurations of its support position. In another embodiment the axes can be aligned orthogonally to each other.

In another embodiment (not shown), the support panel 110 can also be slidingly moveable to extend from itself in a telescopic fashion.

Preferably, when the support panel 110 is in its first position, it is disposed so that at least one of its major faces 112 is abutting a seat pan 520 or a seat back 510.

It is envisaged that the planar support panel 110 can also be configured to be used as an armrest at the side of a seat arrangement 500 to provide horizontal support for a passengers arm, as shown in figure 8.

As shown in figure 2, in a preferred embodiment it is envisaged that the support panel is movable forwardly of the back rest 510 to provide support to a passenger using the seat arrangement 100, however this need not be the case. It is also envisaged that such a side support arrangement could extend rearwardly of the seating arrangement to provide support for a passenger using a similar seating arrangement 500 behind the seating arrangement 500 with which the side support arrangement 100 is associated (not shown) .

In another aspect the invention comprises a seating arrangement 500 comprising a side support arrangement as described above.

It is envisaged that the side support arrangement will be typically used in a seating arrangement 500 where three seats 540 are disposed alongside each other to present two outer ends. In this arrangement, the armrests 530 between the seats will be stowable in a position where they do not extend forward of the seat back 510, to provide a single lying space extending transversely across the direction in which passengers would be facing when seated in the seat 540. A side support arrangement 100 as described above is associated with each of the two outer seats 540, for providing side support to passengers at the outer ends. In this way, passengers can face at least partially transversely while lying with their legs across the seat pans 520 of the three seats 540 and lean back onto the support panel 110 in its supporting opposition. Further, when the support panel 110 is deployed in its supporting position as an armrest, then the two outer seats 540 can provide such armrests at their outer ends, to thereby allow two passengers to sit snugly alongside each other and in contact with each other (i.e. not separated by an armrest) In yet another aspect of the invention , there is provided a side support cushion 200 suitable for use with a seating arrangement 500 of a passenger vehicle having at least one armrest 530,. The side support cushion 200 comprises one or more cushion members 210,wherein the cushion members 210 include a recess formation 220 for receiving an armrest 530 of a seat 540. This allows the cushion member 210 to be located against and/ or over and/ or engaged with the armrest 530 in a complementary fashion, to provide a support surface 102 for a passenger to lie against in a direction facing at least partially transversely to the direction that they would face when seated in the seat 540.

In a preferred embodiment, the recess formation 220 is a V-shaped channel, including two flat orthogonally oriented surfaces 222 for abutment against the side and top of an armrest 530.

In another embodiment as shown in figure 5, the side support cushion 200 includes a curved surface 230 for location against an interior surface 550 of a passenger vehicle.

Preferably, the side support cushion 200 provides slightly reclining surface 240 for a passenger when located against an interior surface 550 of a passenger vehicle, or against an armrest 530. Preferably the reclining surface 240 is operationally oriented at an angle of anywhere between vertical and 45 degrees to the vertical.

In another embodiment, the side support cushion 200 can include internal or external reinforcing formations 260 (which can be metal, plastic or composite in nature) for increasing the rigidity of the cushion to provide more rigid support to a passenger. It is envisaged that side support cushion 200 can also include engaging formations 250 for rigidly engaging the side support cushion 200 to a seating arrangement 500 or other suitable structural member.

Where in the foregoing description reference has been made to elements or integers having known equivalents, then such equivalents are included as if they were individually set forth.

Although the invention has been described by way of example and with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and/ or improvements may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

In addition, where features or aspects of the invention are described in terms of Markush groups, those skilled in the art will recognise that the invention is also thereby described in terms of any individual member or subgroup of members of the Markush group.