Why light components are important for business class aircraft seats

On Oct 20, 2016

Choosing the right components for first and business class aircraft seats is essential in order to meet the light weight and compact size required by the aerospace industry, yet complying with the sturdiness and loading capacity typically required by these applications.

Light weight plays a major part in the aerospace industry as a whole and is an key factor to be taken into account when designing a first or business class aircraft seat. By taking into account the total number or seats, a weight reduction of each seat has a major impact, directly affecting fuel consumption for each flight and therefore playing a key role in terms of cost reduction. This is why seat manufacturers, in order to meet lightness requirements, are constantly focusing on searching for components able to provide a high performance within this constraint.

Figure 1 - DE series telescopic rails, 30% lighter than standard products. — Figure 1 – DE series telescopic rails, 30% lighter than standard products.

More specifically, components used to move seats and its parts are particularly important:
the linear and telescopic rails used for tracking seats and for moving all its components (arm rests, head rests, fold-out tables) must be light and compact and, at the same time, ensure a smooth and quiet movement. Above all, they must be able to withstand high loading capacities and a high degree of sturdiness: associated tests are very strict, requiring deceleration up to 16g. This is why Rollon, a multinational group specialized in the production of linear and telescopic rails and actuators, by working for years with top designers of first and business class aircraft seats, has devised special solutions dedicated to the aerospace industry.

Figure 2 - Linear ball bearings from the Compact Rail family. — Figure 2 – Linear ball bearings from the Compact Rail family.

They are linear and curved rails, able to ensure a very smooth and quiet operation, and telescopic rails with special profiles designed to reduce weight compared to standard products, without affecting sturdiness and rigidity. More specifically, the DE series telescopic rails (Fig. 1) are 30% lighter than standard products, thanks to a new design of the cold drawn profile and to the removal of excess material, without affecting the quality and reliability typical of all Rollon products. Hardened raceways, in fact, withstand in excess of 100,000 cycles, even when the maximum load is applied (approximately 130kg at the end, where the rail is fully extracted) and retain the self-aligning capability to the surfaces they are fitted to. This ensures a smooth, friction-free movement, as well as a more ergonomic position and better comfort for passengers. The construction of the rail makes it specially suitable for applications such as tracking aircraft first and business class seats, horizontally extracting the armrests and pulling out tables.

Figure 3 - Curved rails with ball bearings from the Curviline family. — Figure 3 – Curved rails with ball bearings from the Curviline family.

The Rollon linear rails from the Compact Rail family (Fig. 2), on the other hand, featuring ball bearing sliders and hardened and ground raceways, are used to vertically move the armrests and can handle up to 4mm misalignments in terms of parallelism for the bigger sizes. Lastly, the rails from the Curviline family (Fig. 3), with ball bearing sliders, are used to move sliding tables where design requirements make it necessary to provide curved sliders with different radiuses.

For more information:
Rollon India Pvt. Ltd.
www.rollonindia.in

Rollon India Pvt. Ltd.