EP1799547A1

EP1799547A1 - Stowable member for a vehicle

Info

Publication number: EP1799547A1
Application number: EP05783817A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Steve Aerospace Concurrent Engineering Ltd. QUINCEY; Kevan Aerospace Concurrent Engineering Ltd. HODGINS
Original assignee: Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd
Current assignee: Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd
Priority date: 2004-09-17
Filing date: 2005-09-19
Publication date: 2007-06-27
Also published as: WO2006030228A1; GB0420759D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a stowable member such as a table (12) for a vehicle, particularly a passenger aircraft. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stowable table (12) for a vehicle, particularly a passenger aircraft, said stowable table (12) comprising: a mounting frame (30) adapted to be fixedly secured to a supporting structure and having a generally vertical orientation when secured to the supporting structure; table-top means comprising a table-top member (19) having a planar surface; connecting means for connecting said table-top means to said mounting means, said connecting means comprising guiding means which are adapted to allow the table-top means to slide substantially vertically with respect to the mounting means when travelling between a first lower stowed position and a second upper deployed position, and to allow said table-top member (19) to rotate downwardly about a substantially horizontal axis between an upright deployment orientation, and a substantially horizontal cantilevered deployed orientation when in the deployed position.

Description

Stowable Member for a Vehicle

The present invention relates to apparatus for providing a stowable member such as a table for a vehicle, particularly a passenger aircraft.

It is commonplace in the art to provide each passenger on a vehicle such, for example, as a passenger aircraft with a stowable table, particularly, but not exclusively, for the purpose of supporting receptacles for food or drink which the passenger may consume during the course of a journey. Generally, such a stowable table should provide a table surface which is sufficiently large to accommodate the food and drink receptacles with which the passenger will be provided during the journey, and should be stowable to provide the passenger with more room when the table is not required and, in the case of an aircraft, for take-off and landing. Furthermore, such a table should also be sufficiently large to provide a convenient working surface, especially for business-class passengers.

In a conventional passenger aircraft cabin arrangement, a plurality of seats are arranged in rows, one row behind another, with the seats in the different rows being aligned with one another, such that, except in the front row, each seat has another seat directly in front of it. Where the rows are sufficiently closely spaced (i.e. have a relatively small pitch) a table associated with a seat may be conveniently mounted on the back of a seat in front. Such a table may be stowed by folding it flat against the back of the seat in front, and may be deployed when required by folding it down to a substantially horizontal orientation, over the knees of the passenger using the seat. Stowable tables of this kind are, however, only practical when the pitch between adjacent rows of seats is sufficiently small.

Rows of seats in business-class and first-class sections of the passenger aircraft are typically set at greater pitch than the rows in an economy-class cabin, and typically comprise more elaborate seats including more substantial arm-rests on each side of the seat. For such seats, it has become commonplace to provide a stowable table in one of the arm-rests, and numerous different mechanisms are known in the art for deploying a table from an arm-rest to a substantially horizontal position in which it extends over the knees of a passenger using the seat, so that it is conveniently positioned for the passenger to work on the table, or to support crockery, glassware, trays, and the like for meals.

Recently, more innovative seat designs have been developed especially for use in the business and first-class cabins of passenger aircrafts. Whilst such seats are still generally arranged in rows which extend across the width of a passenger aircraft cabin, they are quite often arranged at an angle to the front-to-back axis of the cabin, such that each seat does not have another seat directly in front. Furthermore, as before, the pitch between adjacent rows of such seats is typically too great to enable a seat in front to provide a suitable support for a table to be used by a passenger using a seat behind. Examples of such seating systems are disclosed in WO 96/18537 A1 and WO 03/013903 A1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. A common feature of such designs is the provision of a shaped screen disposed on at least one side of each seat to shield each seat at least partially from its neighbouring seat(s), and to give each passenger a well-defined, personal cabin space.

Whilst there has therefore been significant development in the field of seat design, there has been relatively little progress in the design of stowable tables for seats. Clearly, the size and style of a table to be stowed in an arm- rest is dictated to a large extent by the size of the arm-rest. As a result, such tables tend to be fairly small, and are typically fairly insubstantial in that in order to be stowed within the arm-rest they must comprise a plurality of folding parts, and this tends to reduce the overall stability and rigidity of the table. Furthermore, such tables must usually be supported by the other arm-rest to provide some degree of stability.

A number of recent seat designs for business-class and/or first-class passengers comprise a "buddy seat" associated with each main set, which , "buddy seat" may be used temporarily in-flight by another passenger who is visiting the passenger using the main seat. In some designs, the "buddy seat" may also be used as a foot-stool. Clearly, it would be desirable for airlines to provide such a visiting passenger with the possibility of dining with the passenger he or she is visiting at the main seat. However, for this, a table which deploys only over the knees of the passenger using the main seat would be undesirable, and a table of greater size would be needed to provide sufficient room for two meals.

WO 96/18537 A1 discloses a seat unit for a first-class section of a passenger aircraft, which seat unit comprises a primary seat and an opposing secondary "buddy seat". A stowable table is accommodated within a table storage portion of a wall positioned adjacent the seat unit, which table can be selectively deployed between the primary and secondary seats via an access slot in the wall. In the deployed position the table is cantilevered from the table storage position. However, the overall size of the table is limited by the space available within the table storage portion, and in the deployed position the cantilever between the table and the wall is relatively unstable, limiting the load that can be supported by the table.

Co-pending application number PCT GB 04/02610 (Virgin Atlantic Airways) discloses a stowable tray which is concealed flush in a partition wall between business class type seats. Such tables have proved somewhat awkward to deploy in view of the combination of vertical motion and rotation that is required in order to mount the tables. For a passenger new to the process, help is often required from cabin crew, which is inconvenient both for passengers and crew.

The present invention seeks to provide a stowable table particularly suitable for an aircraft, which may be installed in a seat partition wall, and which has an improved deployment mechanism which reduces the amount of manipulation required by the passenger deploying the member.

Furthermore, the invention also seeks to provide improved apparatus for providing other stowable members such as extra seats and television or LCD screens which are often also required in vehicles such as aircraft. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for providing a stow able member such as a table in a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a mounting frame adapted to be fixedly secured to a supporting structure of the vehicle in a generally vertical orientation; a stowable member; connecting means for connecting the stowable member to said mounting frame, said connecting means comprising guiding means which are adapted to allow the member to slide substantially vertically with respect to the mounting means when travelling between a first lower stowed position and a second upper deployed position, and to allow said member to rotate downwardly about a substantially horizontal axis between an upright deployment orientation, and a substantially horizontal cantilevered deployed orientation when in the deployed position; and wherein the connecting means further comprises a deployment chassis which curries said guiding means, which deployment chassis is movable from a stowed position in which the chassis is substantially vertically oriented within or next to said mounting frame, to a deployment position in which an upper end region of the deployment chassis is laterally offset from an upper end region of the mounting frame so as to present a free path through which the stowable member may travel substantially vertically in sliding from the first lower stored position to the second upper deployed position.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for providing a stowable member such as a table in a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a mounting frame adapted to be fixedly secured to a supporting structure of the vehicle in a generally vertical orientation; a stowable member; connecting means for connecting said the stowable member to said mounting means, said connecting means comprising offset guiding means which are adapted to allow the member to slide substantially vertically and outwardly with respect to the mounting means when travelling between a first lower stowed position and a second upper deployed position, and to allow said table-top member to rotate downwardly about a substantially horizontal axis between an upright deployment orientation, and a substantially horizontal cantilevered deployed orientation when in the deployed position; and first biasing means provided for biasing stowable member from the stowed position towards the deployed position, so that the member can travel under biasing towards the upper position from the lower stowed position; and manually operable actuation means for the biasing means, whereby deployment of the member is facilitated or invoked by manual actuation of the biasing means.

The following aspects of the invention relate to particular embodiments, and may be combined with one and other without limitation, other than when one embodiment is inconsistent with another.

The deployment chassis and mounting frame may be pivotably connected at respective lower end regions thereof, so that the deployment chassis travels between the stowed position and the deployment position occurs by pivoted limited rotation of the chassis about the pivotable connection until the upper end region of the chassis is offset from the upper end region of the mounting frame.

Said guiding means may comprise track means on said deployment chassis and corresponding track following means on said stowable member (or vice versa), which track following means are constrained to slide along said track means in order to guide the member between said stowed and deployed positions.

First biasing means such as spring means may be provided for biasing the stowable member towards the deployed position, so that on adoption of the chassis deployment position, the member can automatically travel substantially vertically in a deployment direction. A deployment brake may be provided which is adapted to interrupt vertical deployment of the member at an intermediate position between the first stowed position and the second deployed position. The member is thus presented for the passenger manually to complete deployment, where full deployment is not yet required, or would restrict passenger seat access.

In one embodiment said first biasing means acts to move the member vertically from its first stowed position to its second deployed position.

Preferably, the first biasing means comprises a gas strut linear actuator which is secured at one end region thereof to the mounting frame. Preferably the first biasing means further comprises a halyard cable and pulley system which transmits linear extension of a free end of the gas strut to draw a driving carriage of the member upwardly in the guide means, thereby deploying the member.

Second biasing means may be provided to control operation of the first biasing means, the second biasing means being adapted to become loaded as the first biasing means unloads during deployment travel of the member, the second biasing means thereby acting to bias the member to the first stowed position during stowage return of the member from the upper deployed position.

The second biasing means may comprise a tension spring having one end connected to the mounting frame and a free end connected to a tensioning pulley of the pulley system, thereby tensioning the halyard cable routed through the pulley.

The connecting means may be adapted to permit rotation of the member about the horizontal axis by the provision of a horizontal pivot means operative between the stowable member and the connecting means. The member is the upright deployment orientation is preferably over-centred with respect to the horizontal pivot means, so that gravity acts upon the member to encourage its downward rotation to the horizontal deployed orientation. The pivot means should provide sufficiently free rotation to permit the member automatically to rotate to the horizontal deployed orientation, although a friction restricted pivoting embodiment may be preferred. The pivot means in one preferred embodiment comprises a rotatable shaft comprised in the member, and corresponding shaft mounting bearings in the connecting means (or vice versa).

In another aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises cantilevering means for cantilevering the stowable member from an upper end region of the deployment chassis in the upper deployed position such that said member is capable of bearing loads in said horizontal deployed orientation, said cantilevering means comprising cooperating means on said member and on said deployment chassis, mounting frame or connecting means respectively; said cooperating means being configured and arranged to engage one another when the member is rotated to the deployed position. For example, the cooperating means may comprise abutment means which engage one another by mutual abutment, or may comprise engaging means on the stowable member and abutment means on the deployment chassis, mounting frame or connecting means.

The rotatable shaft preferably rotates with the member, and the said cooperating means are provided by, or move with, the rotatable shaft. The member may be connected to the rotatable shaft through a shaft rider which is slidably mounted for travel along the shaft, thereby permitting travel of the member back and forth in the horizontal axial direction. This movement may be friction damped and controlled by pulley and halyard combinations. The slidable rider may be keyed with respect to the shaft against rotation of the rider with respect to the shaft.

The apparatus may be installed in an aperture of a partition wall of a vehicle and the deployment chassis may be retained within the partition wall when the chassis is in its stowed position, but which chassis is presented offset from a surrounding partition portion when the chassis moves to the deployment position from the stowed position. The amount of chassis offset is sufficient to prevent fouling of the surrounding partition portion by the member when the member is moved axially along the rotatable shaft, in particular when the member no longer corresponds in axial alignment with the partition wall aperture in which the member is stowed.

The chassis offset may be sufficient to permit manual rotation upwards of the member from the horizontal orientation, without fouling of the surrounding partition wall.

The deployment chassis is preferably provided, as an outer surface thereof, with a partition screen portion which portion corresponds to the apparatus stowing aperture and which screen portion is flush with the surrounding partition portion when the deployment chassis is in the stowed position.

Third biasing means such as spring means may be provided, which means bias the deployment chassis towards the offset position, thereby to facilitate movement of the chassis in the deploying of the member.

A manually operable deployment actuator means should be provided, which is adapted to release the third biasing means from a latched and loaded configuration to deploy the chassis to its offset position under biased movement, and wherein the first biasing means is concurrently or consecutively released thereby to deploy the member through the free path formed by the chassis offset.

Following is a description, by way of example only and with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, of one preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings: Figures IA to IG are schematic representations showing the apparatus according to the present invention used to deploy a table from a partition screen which forms part of a seating arrangement for luxury seating in a passenger aircraft.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from a front quarter of a stowable table assembly of a type shown in figure 1 , in this view separate from the partition screen.

Figure 3 is a perspective view from a rear (partition) side of the stowable table.

Figure 4 is a side view from the rear of a mounting frame and deployment chassis forming part of the embodiment.

Figures 5 A and 5B are views of a deployment chassis and table mounting assembly for use in the embodiment. Specifically, figure 5A Is a rear view of a deployment chassis. Figure 5B is a top view of the same chassis, showing a table mounting assembly. Figures 5A and 5B have detailed enlarged views, Figures 5C, 5F, 5G and 5H. Sections B-B (Figure 5D) and A-A (Figure 5E) are sections through Detail C and Figure 5A as shown in the drawings.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through a table mounting and deploying mechanism used in the embodiment.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the deployment chassis and table mounting mechanism shown in figures 5 and β.

Figure 8A is a top view of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8B is a side view of the embodiment.

Figure 9A is a sectional view through the embodiment shown in figure ΘB. Figure 9B is a sectional view through a table panel forming part of the table assembly. In figure IA a seating partition 10 corresponds to the partitions shown in seating arrangements disclosed in WO 03/13903 (the applicant being Virgin Atlantic Airlines). An aperture 11 in the partition is occupied by a stowable member, in this example a table (not visible). The apparatus has a flush surface screen 13 which is continuous with the curve of the partition.

Figure IB shows the apparatus in an initial stage of deployment, in which the table screen (and table chassis behind) is released so as to rotate outward to become offset at an upper end region 14 of the table screen. This forms a free path 15 for the delivery of the concealed table. Figure 1C shows the table 12 partially deployed to an intermediate deployment position in which the table tray has travelled upwards from the stowed and concealed position. This movement is driven by a linear gas spring actuator (not visible in this figure).

The passenger may then grasp the free table end 16 presented and draw the rest of the table out of concealment to a fully deployed position shown in figure 1 D. This second movement is aided by continued travel of the gas spring actuator, and therefore requires negligible effort on the part of the passenger. The underside 17 of the table-top member is shown in figure 1 D. In the vertically oriented deployed position shown in figure 10, the table lists outwards slightly so as to be over-centre with respect to a pivot (not visible) at the base 18 of the table. Thus gravity acts to aid rotation of the table top downwards (see arrow) to the horizontal orientation shown in figure 1 E. In this figure the table top planar surface is labelled as 19.

The deployed table may be adjusted by sliding fore/aft along the direction of the axis of table pivoting, as indicated by the arrows in figures 1 F and 1 G.

Having described in schematic terms the functional deployment of the table, the detailed mechanism is now described.

In figure 2 a frame 30 comprises two upright members 31 ,32 and a horizontal beam member 33. The surface screen 13 is attached to a deployment chassis, lower leg regions 34,35 of which are shown hingedly connected to lower end regions 36,37 of the frame upright members. The table surface 19 is formed for example by a metal or composite material panel. The table member is attached at a base end 18 thereof to an axle (not visible in this figure).

In figure 3 a rear side perspective view of the assembly is shown. The same assembly is shown in more detail in figure 4. The deployment chassis 40 comprises two upright struts 41 ,42 and upper and lower cross members 43,44. An off-centre median upright brace 45 extends between the cross members. The uprights carry on respective surfaces thereof elongate vertical toothed pinion racks 46,47. A pinion axle 48 carries on outer end regions thereof pinion wheels 49,50, which mesh with the pinion racks. The pinion wheels are themselves carried by pinion carriages 57,8. The pinion carriages are pivotably connected at front side regions thereof to the base end region of the table assembly (not visible in this figure, but shown in figure 6). A drive pinion carriage 57 (shown on the left hand side in the figure 4) is attached at an upper leading edge to one end (not visible) of a cable halyard 58. The cable halyard approaches the drive carriage leading edge over a first pulley wheel 51 , downwards and around a second pulley wheel 52, which is mounted on a lower end region of the chassis, across to a third pulley wheel (not visible in box 59 at lower end of frame end region 36), then upwards to a fourth pulley wheel (not visible) carried by an actuator head 53, returning downwards and around a tensioning pulley 54 which is spring mounted at an upper end of a tension spring 55. The end of the halyard is secured to an anchor pin 56 by a loop and crimp formed in the cable end.

The actuator head 53 is disposed on an upper end of an actuator plunger rod 60. The rod lower end is mounted in a vertically oriented gas spring cylinder 61 carried in the frame upright lower box section. In use, actuation of the gas spring drives the actuator head 53 upwards, and thereby increasing the halyard cable path. This draws up the halyard end attached to the pinion drive carriage 57, which also draws up the lazy pinion carriage 8. These carriages drive up the table member from the stowed position (within the mounting frame) and outside of the mounting frame and chassis assembly to the deployed positions (shown in figures 1C and 1D).

Figure 5 shows the deployment chassis and table anchorage assembly in detail. The lazy and drive carriages 57,08 are shown in figure 6. The upper end regions 62, 63 of the pinion carriages (shown in figure 6) are formed with bearings which receive respective end regions of torque rod 64. The torque rod carries a slidably disposed rider sleeve 65. The sleeve is keyed with a flat surface 66 (shown in section A-A in figure 5) and the rider is formed with a corresponding mating flat 67, which together holds the sleeve against rotation on the torque rod. The sleeve carries a triangular plan table mounting fin 70, shown in figure 5B. A base end region of the mounting fin is formed with a bore which slidably receives a guide rod 71. The guide rod is movable with respect to the mounting fin, with sliding movement controlled by means of two halyard 72,73 and pulley combinations 74,75 visible in figures 5B and Details H and G.

The offset deploying of the deployment chassis is now described, with reference to figure 4. A gas spring 85 is mounted in an upper end region of frame upright 32. An upper cylinder end is anchored to a pin 86. An actuation rod 87 of the gas spring is downwardly directed. The lower end of the rod acts to depress an actuation lever cam 88. The lever cam acts to rotate door torque rod 90. The torque rod carries at each end thereof door levers 91 ,92 (91 shown in figure 9A). The door levers act on door stop brackets 95,96 carried on an inward side of the uprights 41 ,42 of the deployment chassis. The levers thereby shift the chassis away from the mounting frame, by rotating about the chassis lower pivots 97 and thereby deploy the chassis as shown in figure 1 B and figure 9A.

Deployment is actuated by a remote single push-button (not shown). The push button is electrically connected to, and triggers, a solenoid actuator 100 in figure 9A. The actuator is attached to an upper surface of the frame beam 33. The actuator draws up one end 101 of a see-saw pivot latch lever, via a pull cable 103. The latch lever has an opposite end 104 which is biased against pull cable actuation by means of a tension spring 105. A door stop seat 106 is provided on the frame upright 32 side face, which stop limits inward shifting of a horizontal locking bar (not visible) carried by an upper end region of door stop bracket 96. A downwardly oriented knee 107 on the latch lever retains the locking bar in the locked position. On actuation, the latch lever end 101 is raised, thereby raising the lever knee 105 and releasing the locking bar. This allows the chassis to move outwardly under the biasing of the door torque rod and levers, to the position shown in figures 8A, 8B and 9A. This creates a free path for egress of the table assembly.

The table drive gas spring 61 ,60 is then released to extend and draw the drive carriage 57 and lazy carriage 08 upwards, thereby driving the table panel 19 up, as shown in figure 1C. Once deployed, the table rotates to a horizontal orientation and is stopped by the abutment of a fin roller 110 against an underside of the beam 33. The fin roller is carried at an inwardly directed end projection 111 of the fin. A further fin roller 112 is carried on an inward internal bracket face of the fin, and abuts an upper end 113 of a chassis upright. The two fin rollers (and corresponding further fin rollers at the other side of the chassis) stop the table against over-rotation. A damper 115 (figure 5, Detail C) damps the downward rotation of the table. The damper is has an upper pin 116 which projects over a lever cam 117 projection (figure 5 section B-B) of the torque rod 64. Thus, as the rod rotates with the table panel, the lever cam acts on the damper pin, to extend the damper an slow rotation. The bottom end is attached to a bracket on the chassis upright. This provides controlled damped downward rotation of the table under gas spring biasing.

As shown in figure 9A and 9B₁ the mounting fin 70 is inserted into an internal cavity 124 in the planar table panel. The table panel is releasably attached to outer end regions of the guide rod by hooks 120. The hooks are each resiliently held in an engaged position by an elongate, spring mounted plunger 121. The plungers are accommodated in respective closed bores in the fins. By manually depressing the plungers at each end of the table panel, the hooks 120 may be released from engagement, and the table panel removed from the table fin 70. In this way the table may be replaced or removed for servicing or cleaning. The table panel is shown in plan view in figure 8A. Figure 8B is a side view.

When the table is to be stowed, the table panel is manually returned to a vertical configuration. The table is then pushed downwards, aided by the return tension spring. As the table is returned into the chassis and frame, the deployment gas spring is loaded ready for the next deployment. When the offset chassis is returned to a flush configuration in the frame, the chassis offset driving gas spring is loaded so that the offset action is loaded, ready for further deployment. The door latch retains the chassis in place until the actuator button is next pressed to release the chassis and table.

Claims

1. Apparatus for providing a stowable member such as a table in a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a mounting frame adapted to be fixedly secured to a supporting structure of the vehicle in a generally vertical orientation; a stowable member; connecting means for connecting the stowable member to said mounting frame, said connecting means comprising guiding means which are adapted to allow the member to slide substantially vertically with respect to the mounting means when travelling between a first lower stowed position and a second upper deployed position, and to allow said member to rotate downwardly about a substantially horizontal axis between an upright deployment orientation, and a substantially horizontal cantilevered deployed orientation when in the deployed position; and wherein the connecting means further comprises a deployment chassis which carries said guiding means, which deployment chassis is movable from a stowed position in which the chassis is substantially vertically oriented within or next to said mounting frame, to a deployment position in which an upper end region of the deployment chassis is laterally offset from an upper end region of the mounting frame so as to present a free path through which the stowable member may travel substantially vertically in sliding from the first lower stowed position to the second upper deployed position.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the deployment chassis and mounting frame are pivotably connected at respective lower end regions thereof, so that the deployment chassis travels between the stowed position and the deployment position by limited pivotal rotation of the chassis about the pivotable connection until the upper end region of the chassis is offset from the upper end region of the mounting frame.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said guiding means comprises track means and corresponding track following means on said stowable member and on said deployment chassis respectively, which track following means are constrained to slide along said track means in order to guide the member between said stowed and deployment positions.

4. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein first biasing means are provided for biasing the stowable member towards the deployed position so that on adoption of the chassis deployment position, the member can automatically travel substantially vertically in a deployment direction.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein a deployment brake is provided which is adapted to interrupt vertical deployment of the table-top means at an intermediate position between the first stowed position and the second deployed position.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first biasing means acts to move the table-top vertically from its first stowed position to its second deployed position.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 6, wherein the first biasing means comprises a gas strut linear actuator which is secured at one end region thereof to the mounting frame.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first biasing means further comprises a halyard cable and pulley system which transmits linear extension of a free end of the gas strut to draw a driving carriage of the stowable member upwardly in the guide means, thereby to deploy the member.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 7, wherein second biasing means is provided to control operation of the first biasing means, the second biasing means being adapted to become loaded as the first biasing means unloads during deployment travel of the stowable member, the second biasing means thereby acting to bias the member to the first stowed position during stowage return of the member from the second deployed position.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the second biasing means comprises a tension spring having one end connected to the mounting frame and the other end connected to a tensioning pulley of the pulley system, thereby tensioning the halyard cable routed through the pulley.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the connecting means is adapted to permit rotation of the stowable member about the horizontal axis by the provision of a horizontal pivot means operative between the member and the connecting means.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 wherein the stowable member in the upright deployment orientation is over-centred with respect to horizontal pivot means, so that gravity acts upon the member to encourage its downward rotation to the horizontal deployed orientation.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein the pivot means provides sufficiently free rotation to permit the member automatically to rotate to the horizontal deployed orientation.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the pivot means comprises a rotatable shaft, and corresponding shaft mounting bearings, comprised in the stowable member and in the connecting means respectively.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising cantilevering means for cantilevering the stowable member from an upper end region of the deployment chassis in the upper deployed position such that said member is capable of bearing loads in said horizontal deployed orientation, said cantilevering means comprising cooperated means provided on said stowable member and on said deployment chassis, mounting frame or connecting means respectively; said cooperating means being configured and arranged to engage one another when the stowable member is rotated to the deployed position.

16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 and claim 14, wherein the rotatable shaft rotates with the stowable member, and the said cooperating means is provided by, or moves with, the rotatable shaft.

17. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the stowable member is connected to the rotatable shaft through a shaft rider which is slidably mounted for travel along the shaft, thereby permitting travel of the stowable member back and forth in the horizontal axial direction.

18. Apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein the slidable rider is keyed with respect to the shaft against rotation of the rider with respect to the shaft.

19. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, which apparatus is installed in an aperture of a partition wall of a vehicle and wherein the deployment chassis is retained within the partition wall when the chassis is in its stowed position, but which chassis is presented offset from a surrounding partition portion when the chassis moves to the deployment position from the stowed position.

20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19 and claim 17, wherein the amount of chassis offset is sufficient to prevent fouling of the surrounding partition portion by the table-top member when the stowable member is moved axially along the rotatable shaft, in particular when the stowable member no longer corresponds in axial alignment with the partition wall aperture in which the table-top member is stowed.

21. Apparatus as claimed in claim 20 wherein the chassis offset is sufficient to permit manual rotation upwards of the stowable member from the horizontal orientation, without fouling of the surrounding partition wall.

22. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 19 to 21 wherein the deployment chassis is provided as an outer surface thereof, with a partition screen portion which portion corresponds to the table stowing aperture and which screen portion is flush with the surrounding partition potion when the deployment chassis is in the stowed position.

23. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein third biasing means are provided which bias the deployment chassis towards the offset position, thereby to facilitate movement of the chassis in the deploying of the stowable member.

24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 23 wherein a manually operable deployment actuator means is provided which is adapted to release the third biasing means from a latched and loaded configuration to deploy the chassis to its offset position under biased movement, and wherein the first biasing means is concurrently or consecutively released thereby to deploy the stowable member through the free path formed by the chassis offset.

25. Apparatus for providing a stowable member such as a table in a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a mounting frame adapted for fixedly securing to a supporting structure of the vehicle in a generally vertical orientation; a stowable member; connecting means for connecting said the stowable member to said mounting means, said connecting means comprising offset guiding means which are adapted to allow the member to slide substantially vertically and outwardly with respect to the mounting means when travelling between a first lower stowed position and a second upper deployed position, and to allow said stowable member to rotate downwardly about a substantially horizontal axis between an upright deployment orientation, and a substantially horizontal cantilevered deployed orientation when in the deployed position; and first biasing means provided for biasing the stowable member from the stowed position towards the deployed position, so that the member can travel under biasing towards the upper deployed position from the lower stowed position; and manually operable actuation means for the biasing means, whereby deployment of the member is facilitated or invoked by manual actuation of the biasing means.

26. Apparatus as claimed in claim 25 wherein a deployment brake is provided which is adapted to interrupt vertical deployment of the member at an intermediate position between the first stowed position and the second deployed position.

27. Apparatus as claimed in claim 25 wherein said first biasing means acts to move the member completely from its first stowed position to its second deployed position.

28. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 25 to 27 wherein the first biasing means comprises a gas strut linear actuator which is secured at one end region thereof to the mounting frame.

29. Apparatus as claimed in claim 28 wherein the first biasing means further comprises a halyard cable and pulley system which transmits linear extension of a free end of the gas strut to draw a driving carriage of the stowable member upwardly in the guide means, thereby deploying the member.

30. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 25 to 29 wherein second biasing means are provided to control operation of the first biasing means, the second biasing means being adapted to become loaded as the first biasing means unloads during deployment travel of the member, the second biasing means thereby acting to bias the member to the first stowed position during stowage return of the member from the upper deployed position.

31. Apparatus as claimed in claim 30 wherein the second bias means comprises a tension spring having one end connected to the mounting frame and the other end connected to a tensioning pulley of the pulley system, thereby tensioning the halyard cable routed through the pulley.

32. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 25 to 29, wherein the connecting means is adapted to permit rotation of the member about the horizontal axis by the provision of a horizontal pivot means operative between the member and the connecting means.

33. Apparatus as claimed in claim 32 wherein the stowable member in the upright deployment orientation is over-centred with respect to the horizontal pivot means, so that gravity acts upon the member to encourage its downward rotation to the horizontal deployed orientation.

34. Apparatus as claimed in claim 33 wherein the pivot means provides sufficiently free rotation to permit the member automatically to rotate to the horizontal deployed orientation.

35. Apparatus as claimed in claims 33 and 34 arranged so that upon manual actuation of the biasing means, the member travels to the deployed position and the over-centred table-top member thereafter rotates automatically to the horizontal orientation, without further manual intervention.

36. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the stowable member is substantially planar.

37. Apparatus as claimed in claim 36, wherein the stowable member is a table-top member.

38. Apparatus as claimed in any claim 36, wherein the stowable member is a seat.