1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of in-flight entertainment systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a seat electronics unit and corresponding replacement technique designed to reduce the amount of time required for removal and/or installation of the seat electronics unit.
2. Description of Art Related to the Invention
Over the last few decades, commercial aircraft has become a necessary mode of travel for personal and business reasons. In order to improve passenger comfort, many commercial airlines now offer on-board telephony as well as in-flight entertainment such as video games, pay-per-view movies, hotel reservations services, and the like. These telephony and entertainment services are controlled by a plurality of seat electronics units "SEUs" as shown in FIG. 1.
Typically, a first SEU ("SEU.sub.1 ") 10 is used to control the transfer of information between a telephone handset 30 and telephony transmitter/receiver circuitry (not shown) in order to establish and maintain audio-based communications with a telephone remotely located from the aircraft. A second SEU ("SEU.sub.2 ") 20 is connected to a number of hand-held control units (e.g., control unit 40) and their corresponding liquid crystal displays ("LCD") 50, mounted onto the back of one of a group of passenger seats 60 as shown, or to an armrest of the passenger seat. SEU.sub.2 20 receives control signals from each handheld control unit of passenger seats 70 to signal other electronic devices to provide video content (e.g., movies) for display on its associated LCD or to select a menu representing one of a number of in-flight entertainment activities. Both of these SEUs 10 and 20 include electrical circuitry encapsulated within its protective cover.
Referring to FIG. 2, each SEU (SEU.sub.2 20 for example) is connected to a pair of legs 75 of one of the passenger seats 70 by mounting hardware. The mounting hardware includes a mounting plate 100 with a number of pre-drilled mounting holes 110 arranged in a predetermined pattern. This pattern enables the mounting plate 100 to support a variety of SEU sizes provided by different original equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"). Bolts 120 are inserted through a flange element 125 of the SEU and mounting holes 110 of the mounting plate, and subsequently secured by hexagonal nuts (not shown). As a result, the SEU is secured to the mounting plate 100 and the flange element 125, adjacent to a first lateral side 121 of a protective cover 120 of the SEU, rests flush against the mounting plate 100.
A plurality of communication connectors 130.sub.1 -130.sub.m ("m" being a positive whole number), normally multiple-pin female connectors, are implemented on a back side 122 of the protective cover 120. Collectively, as shown, connectors 130.sub.1 -130.sub.6 provide an electrical interface so that information can be transferred into or from the SEU via communication cables 140.sub.1 -140.sub.6. Of course, the communication cables 140.sub.1 -140.sub.6 are mechanically and electrically adaptive to connectors 130.sub.1 -130.sub.6.
Over the last few years, it has been determined that the conventional SEU architecture possesses a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage involves design inflexibility in which the mounting plate is incapable of accommodating a variety of seat designs and SEU sizes. Another disadvantage is that it is time consuming to remove a conventional SEU for any number of reasons (e.g., scheduled servicing, repair after becoming completely or partially nonfunctional, etc.) as well as to install a SEU. More specifically, in order to remove the SEU, the communication cables 140.sub.1 -140.sub.6 would be initially disconnected from the SEU. After disconnecting the communication cables 140.sub.1 -140.sub.6, the bolts 120 are loosened and removed from the mounting holes 110 of the mounting plate 100. This allows the SEU to be disconnected from the mounting plate 100 and subsequently substituted with another SEU or repaired and reinstalled. Conversely, in order to install a new or repaired SEU, it is re-connected to the mounting plate 100 by re-attaching the bolts 120 and the communication cables 140.sub.1 -140.sub.6.
The replacement technique associated with the conventional SEU architecture clearly is labor intensive. This creates havoc with flight schedules because, if a few SEUs need to be replaced, it may result in aircraft downtime and subject commercial airline passengers to long flight delays. Such delays further increase maintenance costs creating an adverse tradeoff between maintenance costs and customer satisfaction. This tradeoff would pose adverse financial effects on the commercial airline. Moreover, this replacement technique may indirectly cause additional installation problems if the repair person accidentally damages a connector upon disconnecting and re-connecting its communication cable, mistakenly leaves the cables unconnected or improperly connected, and other related problems.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to develop a SEU and corresponding replacement technique which overcomes the above-identified disadvantages.