Patent Application
20150274263
The present disclosure relates to convertible seats for watercraft, and more particularly to seat systems configured to provide both standard and elevated seating options for recreational watercraft, such as kayaks and the like.
Seats for kayaks typically are provided with a substantially horizontal seat bottom and a substantially vertical seat back. The seats may be adjustable to allow for incline adjustments for the seat back to accommodate paddlers of various heights. Height adjustability of the seat itself, however, typically is not provided.
The limited options that do exist for kayak seat height adjustments generally involve placing blocks or other rigid support structures beneath the entire seat structure. On-the-fly height adjustments, while afloat, for example, may be complicated and may require the paddler to carry the blocks or other rigid support structures at all times.
Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Various operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are order dependent.
The description may use perspective-based descriptions such as up/down, back/front, and top/bottom. Such descriptions are merely used to facilitate the discussion and are not intended to restrict the application of disclosed embodiments.
The terms “coupled” and “connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. “Coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. However, “coupled” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still cooperate or interact with each other.
For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “A/B” or in the form “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “at least one of A, B, and C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C). For the purposes of the description, a phrase in the form “(A)B” means (B) or (AB) that is, A is an optional element.
The description may use the terms “embodiment” or “embodiments,” which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as used with respect to embodiments, are synonymous.
Embodiments of the present disclosure include adjustable seats for watercraft, such as seat systems configured to provide both standard and elevated seat options for recreational watercraft, such as kayaks and the like. For example, various embodiments provide a self-contained height-adjustable seat system for sit-on-top kayaking that allows the seat to be adjusted into various height and angle positions, while maintaining independent adjustment to the fore/aft position of the seat in the kayak. In various embodiments, the seat system may include a pivoting mechanism that allows both the height and the angle of the seat to be adjusted independently of each other, and a glide mechanism that allows the fore/aft position of the seat to be adjusted. Additionally, in various embodiments, the adjustable seating system may permit seat height adjustments that do not rely on the boat geometry for the various height positions.
In various embodiments, the seating system may include a seat upper that provides support for the paddler, and that includes a seat bottom and a seat back. In particular embodiments, the seat upper may have a frame, such as a tubing frame, and a suspended fabric seat bottom and/or seat back, such as a suspended mesh seat bottom and/or seat back. In various embodiments, the seat upper may be coupled to a seat base that provides a self-contained structure for supporting the seat upper while still allowing the base to be adjusted forward or backward (e.g., fore/aft) in the kayak. In various embodiments, the seat base may include one or more glide members, such as molded glide members, that engage and move along a corresponding flat element on the kayak body, such as a rail glide element, integral molded glide feature, or another flat portion on the kayak body. In various embodiments, the fore/aft adjustability of the seat system may be used for maintaining proper trim in the watercraft, thus optimizing hull performance.
In various embodiments, the seat upper may be coupled to the seat base via at least two pivot mechanisms (e.g., front and rear pivot mechanisms) that rotate about at least two substantially parallel axes located generally near the front and rear of the seat base to allow the seat upper to be lifted, lowered, and/or tilted into one of three positions: low (e.g., for paddling), high (e.g., for fishing and/or scouting), and reclining (e.g., for relaxing). In some embodiments, the seat upper may include two substantially parallel axes (e.g., front and rear seat axes), the base may have a corresponding pair of substantially parallel base axes (e.g., front and rear base axes), and one or more pivot mechanisms may each span the distance between and rotate about the corresponding seat upper axes and seat base axes, thus allowing the seat upper to be raised, lowered, and reclined (e.g., tilted with respect to the seat base) relative to the seat base.
For example, in various embodiments, each of the front and rear pivot mechanisms may be pivoted about their respective seat and base axes to position the seat upper in the high position (e.g., for fishing and/or scouting), for example by pivoting the pivot mechanisms to position both of the front and rear seat axes above the corresponding front and rear base axes. Likewise, in various embodiments, each of the front and rear pivot mechanisms may be pivoted about their respective seat and base axes to position the seat upper in the low position (e.g., for paddling), for example by pivoting the pivot mechanisms to position both of the front and rear seat axes below the corresponding front and rear base axes. Additionally, in various embodiments, to position the seat upper in the reclined position, the front pivot mechanism may be pivoted about its seat and base axes to position the front seat axis above the corresponding front base axis, the rear pivot mechanism may be pivoted about its seat and base axes to position the rear seat axis below the corresponding rear base axis, and thus tilting the seat bottom and seat back relative to the seat base. In various embodiments, all three positions may be achieved by utilizing one or more grab handles on the seat upper to rotate the seat higher, lower, or at an angle of recline in the kayak. In various embodiments, the seat back may be configured to be folded down onto the seat bottom when not in use, and the angle of the seat back may be independently adjusted relative to the angle of the seat bottom.
In various embodiments, the seat system may be provided with additional features such as glides, straps, and tensioning elements that may allow the seat system to be adjusted in a fore-and-aft direction, and that may allow the seat to be easily removed from the kayak and easily reinstalled. In some embodiments, the seat system my include a biasing element that biases the seat system in a rear-ward direction, and a tensioning element, such as a strap, that may be tensioned in order to slide the seat system forward on the one or more glide members. In various embodiments, when the tension in the tensioning element is released, the biasing element may move the seat system in a rearward direction.
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In some embodiments, adjustment strap 228 may couple to (for example, loop through) a buckle member (or another type of attachment member, such as a loop, ring, or slide), and the buckle member may also couple to one or more front kayak attachment elements 234, and therefore may couple adjustment strap 228 (and therefore adjustable seat system 200) to kayak 226. In some embodiments, this configuration may leave a free end of the adjustment strap 228, and a user may apply tension to the free end of adjustment strap 228 in order to move adjustable seat system 200 towards the bow of the kayak 226. Conversely, loosening adjustment strap 228 may allow the adjustable seat system 200 to move stern-ward, for instance because of tension on the adjustable seat system 200 from tension members 230. In some embodiments, decoupling the adjustment strap 228 or buckle member and tensioning members 230 or attachment elements from the kayak 226 may allow the adjustable seat system 200 to be quickly and easily removed from the kayak 226 by a user.
Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that embodiments may be implemented in a very wide variety of ways. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that embodiments be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
