Ford desires to make automobile interiors extra like dwelling rooms.
A current patent utility from the automaker printed by the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) April 20, 2023, however initially filed October 14, 2021, reveals a movable in-vehicle desk positioned among the many seats in a automobile cabin.
Ford movable in-vehicle desk patent picture
In response to the patent utility, the desk can be mounted to a base affixed to the ground, and have a pivoting arm that may enable it to be positioned both parallel or perpendicular to a automobile’s middle line. The movable floor might additionally flip up, revealing a display screen mounted on the underside. Ford included footrests as effectively.
The drawings present tables behind what would probably be an SUV and rather than the entrance passenger seat. Additionally they present again seats mounted longitudinally within the automobile as a substitute of latitudinally like normal to face the desk.
This isn’t the primary time an automaker has designed an in-vehicle desk. The Chrysler City & Nation and Dodge Grand Caravan as soon as provided a fold-out desk as a part of an optionally available swiveling-seat configuration. This allowed seats within the rear two rows to face one another with the desk in between. That function went away with the introduction of the Chrysler Pacifica for the 2017 mannequin 12 months.
Ford movable in-vehicle desk patent picture
Ford hasn’t offered minivans within the U.S. in years, nevertheless it does appear interested by including furnishings to the cabins of different autos. It already gives fold-flat seats within the F-150 pickup truck, in addition to a folding shifter that turns the middle console right into a flat workspace.
Ford has additionally tried to patent a dashboard desk and lay-down entrance seats. The previous describes a small desk that pops out from a recess beneath the dashboard, whereas further patent purposes focus on reclining seats packaged with a retractable steering wheel and pedals to make in-car naps extra comfy. Whether or not any of those options make it into manufacturing autos stays to be seen, nonetheless. Automakers typically patent concepts to safe mental property earlier than locking in manufacturing plans.