Fold-out tray tables are a well-recognized a part of flying, however Ford might convey the same concept to its automobiles.
A patent utility from the automaker printed by the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on March 14, however initially filed on Sept. 14, 2022, offers with tables that deploy from a automobile’s middle console.
Based on the applying, the duvet of the middle console storage bin would type the desk. It will slide ahead on tracks and pop up utilizing specifically designed hinges, offering an area between the entrance seats that Ford suggests might be used as a piece floor.
That is simply the newest of many reconfigurable inside bits engineered by Ford to make working in a automobile simpler. The F-150 pickup truck is already out there with a fold-down shifter that frees up area on the middle console, together with fold-flat seats for energy naps. Ford has additionally filed patent purposes for quite a few in-car work station ideas.
Ford middle console desk patent picture
Patent filings for a movable in-vehicle desk, in addition to a dashboard desk, surfaced in 2023. A table-like work station was additionally amongst a batch of patent purposes for reconfigurable interiors printed by the USPTO later within the yr. A patent utility that surfaced earlier this yr additionally talked about a deployable desk as a part of a reconfigurable seating structure for EVs.
None of those concepts are assured for manufacturing. However the sheer variety of patent filings associated to reconfiguring interiors for makes use of apart from driving signifies that that is one thing Ford is severe about pursuing.
The middle-console desk described right here can be one the best of the concepts we have seen to date, and would not depend upon modifications to seats, steering wheels, or different fixtures. So it may need a better probability of reaching manufacturing.