Seating Arrangement, Seat Unit, Tray Table and Seating System

Abstract

A row of a plurality of adjacent seats supported by a support frame. The seat includes a seat back, a seat pan and a leg rest. The leg rest of each seat includes a leg support surface and is mounted relative to the seat frame in a manner to allow it to move between (a) a stored condition and (b) a fully deployed condition where the seat pan and the leg rest support surface are substantially coplanar. The leg rest and seat pan of each seat in the row can cooperate to define a reconfigurable horizontal support surface for at least one passenger.

1 . A passenger aircraft seating arrangement comprising:
 a row of at least three adjacent seats mounted on a support frame, the row of seats defining an accommodation zone that can be occupied by at least two adult passengers, wherein the accommodation zone is able to be configured between:   i) an individual mode in which the passengers can be in an upright sedentary position in a respective seat of the row, and   ii) a communal sharing mode where the passengers can share at least one seat of said row and can at least partially occupy at least two seats in the row,   wherein flanking each side of each seat in the row is an armrest, the arm rest intermediate of two seats in the row being movable between a usable position and a stowed position,   wherein each seat in the accommodation zone is independently extendable in a direction perpendicular to the row direction to span a gap such that a person cannot stand up between said row and a row of seats immediately in front thereof,   wherein when extended, the extended seats are solely supported by the support frame, and adjacent extended seats cooperate to form a coplanar and contiguous extended support surface for passengers,   wherein in one configuration of said communal sharing mode, at least three adjacent seats are extended and at least the armrests adjacent central seat(s) in the row is/are stowed, such that the extended support surface provides a sleeping surface for supporting the at least two adult passengers in a reclined position such that their legs can extend in a direction parallel to the row direction.   
     
     
         2 . A passenger vehicle seating arrangement as claimed in  claim 1  wherein there are 4 adjacent seats of said row. 
     
     
         3 . A passenger vehicle seating arrangement as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the accommodation zone is able to be configured to allow the at least two passengers to lie horizontally and adjacent to each other across all seats in said row. 
     
     
         4 . A passenger vehicle seating arrangement as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the accommodation zone is able to be configured by at least one of the at least two passengers. 
     
     
         5 . A passenger vehicle seating arrangement as claimed in  claim 1  wherein each seat comprises a seat pan and a leg rest, and each seat is extendable by moving the leg rest between a stowed condition and a fully deployed condition relative to said seat pan, wherein in the fully deployed condition, the leg rest is presented adjacent said seat pan in a manner such that when the leg rests of all seats in the row are positioned in a fully deployed condition, the seat pans and leg rests define a horizontal surface to be able to support the at least two passengers in a reclined position. 
     
     
         6 . A method of configuring an accommodation zone for at least two adult passengers on board a passenger vehicle, said accommodation zone defined at least in part by a row of at least three adjacent seats mounted on a support frame, each seat being independently extendable in a direction perpendicular to the row direction to span a gap such that a person cannot stand up between said row and a row of seats immediately in front thereof, each seat when extended is solely supported by the support frame, the method comprising the step of configuring the seats to a first mode in which all seats in the row are extended to form a coplanar and contiguous extended support surface for the two passengers to recline or lie flat by extending in a direction parallel to the row direction, and at least one of the following steps:
 a. configuring the seats to a second mode in which none of the seats in the row are extended or all of the seats are retracted, to allow the two passengers to be in an upright sedentary position in a respective seat of the row,   b. configuring the seats to a third mode in which two adjacent seats in the row are extended to form a coplanar and contiguous extended support surface for shared use by the two passengers,   c. configuring the seats to a fourth mode in which only the seat(s) at one or both ends of the row is/are extended, and   d. configuring the seats to a fifth mode in which only the seat(s) intermediate of the ends of the row is/are extended.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein each seat comprises a seat back and a seat pan, and flanking each side of each seat in the row is an arm rest, wherein the method further comprises the step of moving the arm rest intermediate of two seats in the row from a usable position wherein it is positioned intermediate of the seat back and the seat pan, to a stowed position wherein the arm rest is not positioned intermediate of the seat back and the seat pan, when configuring the zone into said second or third mode. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein each seat comprises a seat pan and a leg rest, wherein each of the configuring steps comprises moving the leg rest between a stowed condition and a fully deployed condition relative to said seat pan, wherein in the fully deployed condition, the leg rest is coplanar and contiguous with the seat pan, such that when two or more adjacent seats are extended to form said second or third mode, the leg rests and seat pans of said extended, adjacent seats cooperate to form a coplanar and contiguous extended support surface for shared use by the two passengers. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising assigning only two passengers to a row of only three seats. 
     
     
         10 . A method of providing two adult passengers with flexible accommodation on a passenger aircraft having multiple rows of at least three adjacent seats, wherein the seats in each row all face in the same direction and are mounted on and supported by a support frame, the method comprising:
 assigning the two passengers to one row of seats,   allowing the passengers to individually or mutually customize the space between their seats and a row of seats in front by manually extending one or more of the seats in their row in a direction perpendicular to the row direction,   wherein in the extended position, each seat is solely supported by the support frame and is in close proximity to the row immediately in front thereof,   wherein when the passengers extend all seats in their row, the seats cooperate to provide a coplanar and contiguous support surface for supporting both of the adult passengers in a reclined or lie flat position such that their legs can extend in a direction parallel to the row direction.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein each seat comprises a seat back and a seat pan, and flanking each side of each seat in the row is an arm rest, wherein the method further comprises allowing the passengers to move the arm rest intermediate of two seats in the row from a usable position wherein it is positioned intermediate of the seat back and the seat pan, to a stowed position wherein the arm rest is not positioned intermediate of the seat back and the seat pan. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein each seat comprises a seat pan and a leg rest, wherein the step of manually extending the seat or seats comprises manually moving the leg rest between a stowed condition and a fully deployed condition relative to said seat pan, wherein in the fully deployed condition, the leg rest is coplanar and contiguous with the seat pan, such that when the passengers manually extend all seats in the row, the leg rests and seat pans of said extended adjacent seats cooperate to form said coplanar and contiguous support surface. 
     
     
         13 . A passenger vehicle seat unit comprising:
 a row of at least three adjacent seats mounted on a support frame, each seat being independently extendable in a direction perpendicular to the row direction to define a reconfigurable horizontal support surface that can be configured to assume each of a T-shape, L-shape and U-shape and I-shape when viewed in plan view,   wherein each seat when extended is solely supported by the support frame,   wherein flanking each side of each seat in the row, is an armrest, the arm rest intermediate of two seats in the row being movable between a usable position and a stowed position, and   wherein, by extending the at least three adjacent seats and stowing at least the arm rests adjacent central seat(s) in said row said horizontal support surface can be configured to allow   at least two adult passengers assigned to said row to recline on said support surface in a condition such that their legs can extend in a direction parallel to the row direction.   
     
     
         14 . An accommodation zone for at least two adult passengers on a passenger vehicle comprising:
 a row of at least three adjacent seats mounted on a support frame, wherein each seat is independently extendable in a direction perpendicular to the row direction, and each seat, whether extended or not, is solely supported by the support frame,   wherein said accommodation zone is expandable to a zone of greater area for said two passengers to share by extending one or more of the seats, and   wherein said accommodation zone is expandable to a greater area for both said passengers to recline in a lie-flat position such that their legs can extend parallel to the row direction, by extending all of the seats in said row to form a coplanar and contiguous reclining surface, wherein the longest dimension of the reclining surface is in the row direction.   
     
     
         15 . The accommodation zone of  claim 14 , wherein when extended, each seat spans a gap such that a person cannot stand up between said row and a row of seats immediately in front thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The accommodation zone of  claim 14 , wherein when extended, each seat is in close proximity to seat in a row immediately in front thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The accommodation zone of  claim 14 , wherein the seats are constructed to be manually extended by one or both passengers to expand the accommodation zone. 
     
     
         18 . The accommodation zone of  claim 14 , wherein the passenger vehicle is an aircraft and the accommodation zone is located in an economy class section of the aircraft.