Reclining passenger seat having a visual seat position indicator

Abstract

A reclining passenger seat having a visual seat position indicator. The seat includes a seat frame for being attached to a supporting deck, a seat bottom carried by the seat frame, a seat back carried by the seat frame and moveable relative to the seat bottom between a fully upright and reclined positions, and a sensor for determining when the seat back is and is not in the fully upright position. A visual seat position indicator light is operatively associated with the sensor and positioned so as to be observed by a cabin attendant without having to directly observe the seat back for determining whether the seat back is in a fully upright position. The passenger seat may include an end bay for being positioned adjacent a passageway, and the visual seat position indicator light is positioned on the end bay, or the indicator lights may be mounted on one or more display panels.

I claim:  
     
         1 . A reclining passenger seat having a visual seat position indicator, comprising: 
 (a) a seat frame for being attached to a supporting deck;    (b) a seat bottom carried by the seat frame;    (c) a seat back carried by the seat frame and moveable relative to the seat bottom between a fully upright and reclined positions;    (d) a sensor for determining when the seat back is and is not in the fully upright position; and    (e) a visual seat position indicator light operatively associated with the sensor and positioned so as to be observed by a cabin attendant without having to directly observe the seat back for determining whether the seat back is in a fully upright position.    
     
     
         2 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the passenger seat includes an end bay for being positioned adjacent an aisle, and wherein the visual seat position indicator light is positioned on the end bay.  
     
     
         3 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises a proximity switch.  
     
     
         4 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 1 ,  2  or  3 , wherein the sensor is adapted to detect when the seat back is not in the fully upright position and to activate the light to provide a signal that the seat back is not in the fully upright position.  
     
     
         5 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 1 ,  2  or  3 , wherein the visual seat position indicator comprises a light, and wherein the sensor is adapted to detect when the seat back is in the fully upright position and activate the light to provide a signal that the seat back is in the fully upright position.  
     
     
         6 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 5 , and including a master switch operatively connected between the sensor and the light for deactivating the position indicator during times that a reclined seat back is permitted.  
     
     
         7 . A passenger seat group comprising at least two reclining passenger seats, the seat group having a visual seat position indicator, each of the passenger seats comprising: 
 (a) a seat frame for being attached to a supporting deck;    (b) a seat bottom carried by the seat frame;    (c) a seat back carried by the seat frame and moveable relative to the seat bottom between the fully upright and reclined positions;    (d) a sensor for determining when the seat back is and is not in the fully upright position; and    (e) a visual seat position indicator operatively associated with the sensor and positioned to be observed by a cabin attendant without direct observation of the seat back for determining whether the at least two seats are in a fully upright position.    
     
     
         8 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 7 , and including an end bay for being positioned adjacent an aisle, and wherein the visual seat position indicator is positioned on the end bay.  
     
     
         9 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 7 , wherein the sensor comprises a proximity switch.  
     
     
         10 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 7 , wherein the visual seat position indicator comprises a light, and wherein the sensor is adapted to detect when the seat back is not in a fully upright position and activate the light to provide a signal that the seat back is not in the fully upright position.  
     
     
         11 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 7 ,  8 ,  9  or  10 , wherein the visual seat position indicator comprises a light, and wherein the sensor is adapted to detect when the seat backs are in the fully upright position and activate the light to provide a signal that all of the seat backs are in the fully upright position.  
     
     
         12 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 11 , wherein said seat group comprises at three seats.  
     
     
         13 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 12 , wherein the visual seat position indicator includes a single indicator light adapted to activate when any of the three seat backs is not in the fully upright position.  
     
     
         14 . A passenger seat group according to  claim 13 , wherein the visual seat position indicator includes a single indicator light adapted to activate when all of the three seat backs are in the fully upright position.  
     
     
         15 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 13 , wherein the visual seat position indicator includes three lights adapted to activate to provide an indication of when respective ones of the three seats backs are not in an upright position.  
     
     
         16 . A reclining passenger seat according to  claim 12 , wherein the visual seat position indicator includes three lights adapted to activate to provide an indication of when a respective seat back is in an upright position.  
     
     
         17 . A method of determining whether a reclining passenger seat back is or is not in a fully upright position, comprising the steps of providing: 
 (a) at least one reclining passenger seat having a visual seat position indicator, comprising: 
 (i) a seat frame for being attached to a supporting deck;  
 (ii) a seat bottom carried by the seat frame;  
 (iii) a seat back carried by the seat frame and moveable relative to the seat bottom between a fully upright and reclined positions;  
 (iv) a sensor for determining when the seat back is and is not in the fully upright position; and  
 (v) a visual seat position indicator positioned at a location to be observed by a cabin attendant without direct observation of the seat back for determining whether the seat back is in a fully upright position; and  
   (b) observing the visual seat position indicator from a position remote from the seat to determine whether the seat back is in a fully upright position.    
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 17 , and including the step of providing a plurality of passenger seat groups, each seating group including a plurality of passenger seats.  
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 17 , and including the step of deactivating the sensor during times that a reclined seat back is permitted.