Sleep dreams

It’s a goldmine for the world’s aircraft seat manufacturers, who are ramping up production to meet the demand. In a market dominated by a handful of big players, one manufacturer alone, Germany’s Recaro, is currently selling some 120,000 seats worth $A780 million annually from its plants in Europe, the U.S. and China.

An it is expanding. In China, for example, it delivered 5,000 seats in 2015, 10,000 in 2016 and 20,000 last year, a number it expects to double in the next few years.

But behind this flurry of activity there is growing concern that as airlines invest in new jets that can fly ultra-long-haul distances – 17 hours and beyond non-stop – something has to be done to improve the lot of Economy Class passengers who have to endure long hours in cramped cabins.

Croudace thinks he has the answer: a new seat that will bring unprecedented levels of comfort to flyers in the back end of the aircraft. Earlier this year he won an international patent for his SleeperSeat, especially designed for use in Economy and Premium Economy cabins.

The seat was shortlisted for a Crystal Cabin Award in 2017 and he is currently in discussion with international manufacturers to take the project forward.

“I’m not proposing to actually manufacture and market the seat per se from Australia. The whole concept is to forge a relationship with an existing seat manufacturer and pursue it on that basis and have them put it under their umbrella or product portfolio,” he explained.

Croudace says that SleeperTech’s creative team is focused on improving passenger comfort for rest and sleep on long-haul flights through practical design and re-engineering of conventional premium economy and economy class seating. Prior to establishing this venture, he successfully developed and patented technology for the control of emissions which was applied to various facilities around the world by his environmental engineering company.

Having travelled extensively on long haul flights over many years, in relative discomfort at times, he recognised from an engineering perspective that aircraft seating comfort could be greatly improved, at little cost in terms of both hardware and space.

“It is well documented around the world that 135 degree angle is the ideal resting and sleeping position but Economy Class seats currently are under 120 degrees recline,” he explained.

Croudace’s unique design centres on the application of a backrest that provides the ideal minimum recline angle for sleeping of 135° at a seat pitch of 32”, without additional intrusion on the passenger area behind. The cushioned backrest, pivoted at the top of the seat back, moves forward at its base over the top of the seat cushion to the desired position and simultaneously lowers.

This combined action secures significant recline angles whilst providing full support for the lower lumbar region and back at any selected recline position. This may be in excess of 145° at a seat pitch of 38” when the standard seat back is fully reclined.

Croudace says much of the focus in the seat sector has been on First and Business Class seats but nothing much has been done in Economy.

“We’ve really got nowhere to go. We can change the thickness of the seat, we can take the screen out in the back of the seat or we can put a couple of USB connections for charging but there’s little else we can do.

The SleeperSeat gives them an opportunity to get out from that and create a new definition of Economy class seat. If people are going to be in an Economy cabin for 17 or 18 hours or longer, comfort is very important.

Unfortunately, my expression is the airline companies don’t put the same value in Economy as they do in Business and First and so as a consequence they don’t step out and invest in huge change. Their goal there is really to fill those seats.”

‘This combined action secures significant recline angles.’

The whole idea of designing a new seat came from his own experiences travelling internationally.

“I got out a tape measure and started measuring and thought: there’s got to be a far better way of addressing this issue of using pillows and cushions and trying to move your body forward… let’s make it an inner backrest that comes forward.

That’s how it all came about because I was looking to improve the level of comfort in Economy class for myself. I built a model and worked through it. No-one was doing what I can do with mine and that’s where I was able to get the patent because I can achieve recline conditions independently of the seat cushion coming forward far in excess of what the others can achieve.

You can actually straighten out your whole body with your knees straight, your feet out underneath the seat in front and with a seatbelt on it is surprisingly comfortable. The seatbelt gives you good constraint. Overall, it’s an extremely comfortable position.

I’ve had a great deal of interest expressed from the point of view that they like it, it’s innovative and it’s something that we should have. It’s just a matter of who’s going to step out first.”