According to the US Patent and Trademark Office: “A seat gantry system and method are provided for handling, installing and removing heavy seat assemblies, and the components thereof prevent manual lifting of a heavy seat assembly during installation. A seat gantry system or method may include an outside seat gantry, a seat cart, an inside seat gantry and an artificial lifting torso.”
An abstract of the invention, released by the Patent Office, said: “An outside seat gantry is used for lifting a seat assembly off a shipping platform, moving and positioning a seat assembly over a seat cart and lowering the seat assembly onto the seat cart. A seat cart is used for transporting a seat assembly. An inside seat gantry is used for lifting a seat assembly from a seat cart and positioning and lowering the seat assembly for installation. An artificial lifting torso is used to provide a common lifting point at a balanced fore-aft centre of gravity of a seat assembly.”
The inventors were issued US Patent Number 7,226,264 on June 5 2007.
The patent has been assigned to Boeing Co., Chicago.
The original application was filed on September 3 2003.
