IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,559,238
Granted Patent B2
US 12,559,238 · App. 18/734,130 · Granted Feb 24, 2026

Configurable multi-class passenger seat assembly

Inventors: Michael Princip (Winston-Salem, NC); Alexander Velet (Clemmons, NC); Charles Martin Hansson (Winston-Salem, NC); Travis Vaninetti (Bothell, WA); Daniel Mills (Pilot Mountain, NC); James Kash (Winston-Salem, NC); Ferhad Tabakovic (Winston-Salem, NC); Travis Finlay (Winston-Salem, NC); Brian Green (King, NC)
Assignee: B/E Aerospace, Inc.
B64D11/0605B64D11/0606B64D11/0636B64D11/0638B64D11/064B64D11/0642B64D11/0644
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,559,238
App. No.
18/734,130
Granted
Feb 24, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A passenger seat assembly includes a first seat, a second seat, and a center console. In embodiments, a privacy divider is positioned atop the center console and serves as a mounting location for amenities for serving the first and second passenger seats. The center console is configurable to include various privacy, comfort, and utility features depending on the intended seating class for the passenger seat assembly. In embodiments, the first and second passenger seats include headrests and privacy assemblies associated with the headrests for enhancing privacy between the seats and/or relative to adjacent aisles.

Claims (60)

1 . An aircraft passenger seat assembly, comprising:

a first passenger seat including a first headrest and a first privacy provision positioned on an outboard side of the first headrest;

a second passenger seat including a second headrest and a second privacy provision positioned on an outboard side of the second headrest;

a center console positioned between the first passenger seat and the second passenger seat, the center console including:

a first armrest for the first passenger seat;

a second armrest for the second passenger seat;

a table positioned forward of the first and second armrests,

a first cup holder positioned below the table and adjacent the first passenger seat; and

a second cup holder positioned below the table and adjacent the second passenger seat; and

an upwardly extending fixed privacy divider positioned atop the center console and between the first armrest and the second armrest;

an upwardly extending movable privacy divider deployable in a forward direction relative to the upwardly extending fixed privacy divider;

at least one first amenity mounted to a first side of the upwardly extending fixed privacy divider facing the first passenger seat; and

at least one second amenity mounted to a second side of the upwardly fixed privacy divider facing the second passenger seat.

2 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 1 , wherein: the at least one first amenity includes at least one of an article holder and a reading light; and the at least one second amenity includes at least one of an article holder and a reading light.

3 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the center console further comprises: a first open storage compartment positioned below the first armrest; and

a second open storage compartment positioned below the second armrest.

4 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 3 , further comprising:

a first remote control removably mounted to the first side of the center console and positioned below the fixed table;

at least one first power outlet mounted in the first open storage compartment;

a second remote control removably mounted to the second side of the center console and positioned below the fixed table; and

at least one second power outlet mounted in the second open storage compartment.

5 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a first vertically adjustable armrest positioned on an outboard side of the first passenger seat;

a second vertically adjustable armrest positioned on an outboard side of the second passenger seat;

an end bay positioned on an outboard side of the first passenger seat; and

an elevated step mounted in the end bay.

6 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 1 , further comprising a deployable table mounted in the center console, the deployable table deployable through a forward end of the table.

7 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 1 , wherein:

the first and second passenger seats are positioned side-by-side and are parallel;

the first and second passenger seats are mounted on a frame assembly including transverse beams and legs for mounting the passenger seat assembly to a floor;

a first footwell is positioned under the first passenger seat;

a second footwell is positioned under the second passenger seat; and

at least one amenity is mounted on a backside of each of the first passenger seat and the second passenger seat.

8 . The aircraft passenger seat assembly according to claim 1 , wherein:

the first privacy provision is a first headrest privacy assembly mounted behind the first headrest, the first headrest privacy assembly including at least one laterally positioned panel that extends forward past the first headrest; and

the second privacy provision is a second headrest privacy assembly mounted behind the second headrest, the second headrest privacy assembly including at least one laterally positioned panel that extends forward past the second headrest.

9 . An aircraft two-seat passenger seat assembly, comprising:

a first passenger seat having a first headrest and including a first privacy assembly positioned on an outboard side of the first passenger seat;

a second passenger seat having a second headrest and including a second privacy assembly positioned on an outboard side of the second passenger seat;

a center console positioned between the first passenger seat and the second passenger seat, the center console including:

a first armrest for the first passenger seat;

a second armrest for the second passenger seat;

a table positioned forward of the first and second armrests; and

two cup holders positioned below the table; and

an upwardly extending fixed privacy divider positioned atop the center console and between the first armrest and the second armrest;

an upwardly extending movable privacy divider deployable in a forward direction relative to the upwardly extending fixed privacy divider;

at least one first amenity mounted to a first side of the upwardly extending fixed privacy divider facing the first passenger seat; and

at least one second amenity mounted to a second side of the upwardly fixed privacy divider facing the second passenger seat.

10 . The aircraft two-seat passenger seat assembly according to claim 9 , wherein the center console further comprises:

a first open storage compartment positioned below the first armrest; and

a second open storage compartment positioned below the second armrest.

11 . The aircraft two-seat passenger seat assembly according to claim 9 , further comprising:

a first vertically adjustable armrest positioned on an outboard side of the first passenger seat;

a second vertically adjustable armrest positioned on an outboard side of the second passenger seat;

an end bay positioned on an outboard side of the first passenger seat; and

an elevated step mounted in the end bay.

12 . The aircraft two-seat passenger seat assembly according to claim 9 , further comprising a deployable table mounted in the center console, the deployable table deployable through a forward end of the table.

13 . The aircraft two-seat passenger seat assembly according to claim 9 , wherein:

the first privacy assembly includes at least one laterally positioned panel that extends forward past the first headrest; and

the second privacy assembly includes at least one laterally positioned panel that extends forward past the second headrest.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 27, 2024
From: PRINCIP, MICHAEL; VELET, ALEXANDER L.; HANSSON, CHARLES MARTIN; VANINETTI, TRAVIS J.; MILLS, DANIEL; KASH, JAMES S.; TABAKOVIC, FERHAD; FINLAY, TRAVIS; GREEN, BRIAN D.
To: B/E AEROSPACE, INC.
Reel/Frame 068415/0514 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63471415 · Jun 6, 2023
Related Publication 20240409218A1 · Dec 12, 2024
References Cited (96)
US 3142461A · Tomlinson · 1964 [cited by applicant]
US 3381921A · Mcdonough et al. · 1968 [cited by applicant]
US 3486204A · Miller, Jr. et al. · 1969 [cited by applicant]
US 3578274A · Ginn et al. · 1971 [cited by applicant]
US 4809897A · Wright, Jr. · 1989 [cited by examiner]
US 4936620A · Francois et al. · 1990 [cited by applicant]
US 6059364A · Dryburgh et al. · 2000 [cited by applicant]
US 6347590B1 · D'Annunzio · 2002 [cited by examiner]
US 6669141B2 · Schmidt-Schaeffer · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 7156346B2 · Mercier · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7252268B2 · Saint-Jalmes · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 7367528B2 · Allison, Sr. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 7568759B2 · Schurg · 2009 [cited by examiner]
US 7578470B2 · Plant · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 8196864B2 · Ruiter et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 8196985B2 · Penner · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 8382036B2 · Ruiter et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8662447B2 · Johnson et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 8807481B2 · Plant · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 8944379B2 · Orson et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 8998139B2 · Dryburgh et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 9446848B2 · Jerome et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9550573B2 · Ersan et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 9617001B2 · Zimmermann · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 9828099B2 · Henshaw et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 10494101B2 · Wilson · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 10632933B2 · Line · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 10723462B2 · Ehlers et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 11034453B1 · Malecha · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11066170B2 · Pozzi · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11147384B1 · Lopez Ramirez · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 11401038B1 · Warwick · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11465749B1 · Lawson · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 11597522B2 · Frost · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20040195451A1 · Bentley et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20050151405A1 · Dowty et al. · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050268319A1 · Brady, Jr. · 2005 [cited by examiner]
US 20060086864A1 · Beroth · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20070034742A1 · Jaeger et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20070085389A1 · Schurg · 2007 [cited by examiner]
US 20070246981A1 · Plant · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20090146004A1 · Plant · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20090302158A1 · Darbyshire et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20100065683A1 · Darbyshire · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100065684A1 · Ruiter et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20120112500A1 · Rundle et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120146372A1 · Ferry · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120223186A1 · Henshaw · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120292957A1 · Vergnaud et al. · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130068887A1 · Ko · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140035330A1 · Henshaw · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140215534A1 · Meckes · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20140283296A1 · Jerome et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20140306500A1 · Dryburgh et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150001341A1 · Ersan et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150191111A1 · Marini · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20150274299A1 · Henshaw · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20150321592A1 · De Morais · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20150367942A1 · Parry et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160207468A1 · Fesenmyer · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160355109A1 · Geraty · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20170015420A1 · Henshaw · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170088267A1 · Dowty et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170129611A1 · Morgan · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170233057A1 · Charles · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170240283A1 · Dowty · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170259921A1 · Valdes De La Garza et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170341754A1 · Gross · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20180022458A1 · Weifenbach · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180029712A1 · Sieben et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180029713A1 · Weifenbach · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180281964A1 · Carlioz et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180370635A1 · Itzinger · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20190061955A1 · Wilson · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190077512A1 · Bentley et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190092475A1 · Carlioz et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190193860A1 · Ehlers · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190217957A1 · Wilson · 2019 [cited by examiner]
US 20190241269A1 · Martin et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190276151A1 · Dryburgh · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190308731A1 · Pozzi et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190315467A1 · Nicholas · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200055436A1 · Garcia Sanchez · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200108934A1 · Williamson et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200156794A1 · Dowty et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200369389A1 · Dowty · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200385125A1 · Dowty · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20210269163A1 · Woodington · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210371112A1 · Wisniewski · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20220033083A1 · Chareyre et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220106044A1 · Pence et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
EP 2234884B1 · 2012 [cited by applicant]
EP 3620377A1 · 2020 [cited by examiner]
FR 3095190A1 · 2020 [cited by applicant]
European Search Report received in EP Application No. 24180569.6, Feb. 14, 2025, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
European Patent Office, Extended European Search Report received in EP Application No. 24180556.3, Oct. 22, 2024, 6 pages. [cited by applicant]