US Patent Issued to Textron Innovations on Dec. 16 for "Automatic retractable center console system for an aircraft" (Kansas Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,497,190, issued on Dec. 16, was assigned to Textron Innovations Inc. (Providence, R.I.).

"Automatic retractable center console system for an aircraft" was invented by Merril Binford Williams (Wichita, Kan.) and Frank Joseph Rowe (Wichita, Kan.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A system for retracting a center console of an aircraft having a cockpit with an interior area includes the center console being positioned within the interior area of the cockpit and supporting one or more aircraft controls; a mechanism supporting the center console and to facilitate movement of the center console between an extended position and a retracted position...