Fold-out tray tables are a well-recognized a part of flying, however Ford may carry an identical thought to its automobiles.

A patent utility from the automaker printed by the USA Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on March 14, however initially filed on Sept. 14, 2022, offers with tables that deploy from a car’s heart console.

In accordance with the appliance, the quilt of the middle console storage bin would kind the desk. It might slide ahead on tracks and pop up utilizing specifically designed hinges, offering an area between the entrance seats that Ford suggests may very well be used as a piece floor.

That is simply the most recent of many reconfigurable inside bits engineered by Ford to make working in a automotive simpler. The F-150 pickup truck is already obtainable 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 functions for quite a few in-car work station ideas.

Ford heart 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 functions 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 aside from driving signifies that that is one thing Ford is critical about pursuing.

The middle-console desk described right here can also be one the only of the concepts we have seen up to now, and does not rely upon adjustments to seats, steering wheels, or different fixtures. So it might need a better likelihood of reaching manufacturing.