Commercial aircraft passengers are increasingly demanding in-flight entertainment (IFE) and electrical power outlets to operate various electronic devices, such as laptop computers, at their seats. To provide the passenger with such features, electrical power and data must be delivered to each seat. Conventionally, power and data are delivered to aircraft passenger seats via numerous cables that, during aircraft assembly, are laid out in position on the floor of the aircraft passenger cabin. A portion of the cables is positioned beneath a covering, such as the seat track cover, and a portion that includes connectors for connection to the seats is left exposed to connect with the yet to be installed seat groups containing each passenger seat. During installation of the seat groups, the seat groups must be carried in over the exposed wires. Taking care to avoid the exposed wires increases both the complexity of the operation and the amount of time required to install the seats.
The seat groups can be arranged in various configurations and positions. As a result, a plurality of cables of various lengths and configurations are required to accommodate the desired seating configurations and positioning. The requirement for a variety of cables is expensive to purchase for initial installation and for spares. Additionally, when reconfiguring the seat groups or changing the positions, the existing cables may be inadequate and require re-wiring so that the wiring will reach the seats in their new positions. As would be expected, re-wiring an aircraft is a costly and time consuming process.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide an improved device for delivering power to aircraft passenger seat groups that will eliminate the need to separately connect each seat group to an individual power or data cable and the need to re-wire the power cables when the seat configuration is changed.