This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from UK patent application 2000692.0, filed Jan. 16, 2020, the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to seating, and is particularly, although not exclusively, concerned with auditorium or arena seating.
Folding seats are often used in auditoriums and arenas, in order to provide additional floorspace when the seats are not being used. The seat of the chair folds into a vertical orientation when not in use, and into a horizontal position in order to be used. When the seats are arranged in several rows or tiers, this is particularly useful for allowing people to pass unoccupied seats, allowing the rows or tiers of seats to be more compactly arranged.
GB2262880 shows such a seating system, where the movement of the seat is linked to the movement of an armrest, so that as the seat is folded from a horizontal unused orientation to a vertical orientation ready for use, the armrest also moves from a horizontal unused orientation to a vertical orientation. However, the linkage of this system causes the armrest to move together with any movement of the seat, and this is inconvenient. Small movement of the seat while in a substantially horizontal orientation can result in corresponding movements of the armrest. A similar effect occurs when the seat is in a substantially vertical unused position, where small movements of the seat cause corresponding movements of the armrest, and vice versa.
An objection of the present invention is to reduce the occurrence of one or both of these effects.
According to the present invention there is provided a seating arrangement as provided by claim 1.
‘Angle of rotation’ refers to the rotatable cam rotating from one angle to another angle through the angle of rotation.
In order that the present invention may be more fully understood a specific embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
References to orientations and directions left, right, upwards, downwards, clockwise and anti-clockwise are to be interpreted according to the representations shown in the figures. References to orientations and directions forwards and rearwards are to be interpreted with reference to a seat where the forward direction is the direction a user would be looking in if they were seated.
Referring to
Each support stem 30 may support a seat on one or both sides, so that the support stem 30 includes a seat hub 40, a seat 20, armrest 10 and actuating linkage 50 associated with each seat.
Referring also to
Referring to figure to
The support stem hinge part 35 includes arcuate contact surface 26 between a first limit surface 27 and a second limit surface 28; in use, as will be described below, the upper contact point 56 (shown in
Referring to
The actuating linkage 50 is generally elongate, and features an actuating linkage armrest bore 52 by which means the actuating linkage 50 is pivotally linked to the armrest 10 by an actuating linkage pivot pin 57.
Referring to
The seat hub 40 includes a torsion spring 41, one end of which is secured to a retaining groove 37 in the seat hub cavity 32, and the other end of which is secured to the seat hub 40. The seat hub 40 includes seat hub stop members 43 which radially extend from the seat hub pivot bore 44. The seat hub 40 is generally cylindrical, and features a cam lobe 42 on its outer edge surface.
Referring to figure back to
The armrest steel 12 pivotally joins to the support stem 30 with an armrest pivot pin 13 which extends through an armrest pivot hole 17 and the seat pivot bore 34 on the support stem hinge part 35.
Referring to
A tension spring 55 is secured at one end to an actuating linkage tension spring hole 53 on the actuating linkage 50, and at the other end to the body of the support stem 30. This subjects the actuating linkage 50 to a generally downward force from the tension spring 55, and the lower part of the actuating linkage 50 is constrained between the seat hub 40 and the back stop 60, while the upper contact point 56 of the actuating linkage 50 is constrained by the first limit surface 27 of the support stem hinge part 35. Additionally or alternatively, the movement of the armrest 10 may be constrained by a stud or pin 18 on the armrest 10 abutting the second limit surface 28.
The actuating linkage 50 and the armrest 10 are pivotally connected by a seat pivot pin 31 that extends through an actuating linkage armrest hole 52 on the actuating linkage 50 and ensures that the armrest 10 is held steady in the upright position.
Referring to
Referring to
As the actuating linkage 50 is pivotally secured to the armrest 10 by the actuating linkage pivot pin 57, the armrest 10 is forced to pivot about the armrest pivot pin 13, moving the armrest 10 downwardly (i.e. diminishing the angle between the armrest 10 and the horizontal). The upper contact point 56 of the actuating linkage 50 follows the arcuate contact surface 26 of the support stem hinge part 35.
Referring to
Referring to
When a user rises from the seat 20, the torsion spring 41 in the seat hub 40 urges the seat hub 40 to rotate anti-clockwise, which starts the raise the seat 20 (i.e. increases the angle between the seat 20 and the horizontal). This essentially reverses the process and steps shown in
As the seat 20 is raised under the urging of the torsion spring 41, the actuating linkage 50 is urged generally downwards by the tension spring 55. This causes the lower contact point 51 of the actuating linkage 50 to follow the cam lobe 42 as the seat hub 40 rotates anti-clockwise in the positions shown in
It will be seen that when the seat 20 is lowered from the positions shown in
When used in a row of seats, each seat will have two armrests on either side, while all but the outermost armrests will be shared between adjacent seats. These armrests will have two actuating linkages, controlled by two seat hubs and the other components described herein, each of the lateral walls 15 of the armrest steel 12 being attached to one actuating linkage 50. The support stem 30 includes a seat hub cavity 32 on each side to receive the two seat hub 40 for adjacent seats. Referring to
It should also be noted that the armrest position as described herein is determined by the rotation of a seat. However, the movement of the actuating linkage and armrest could be operated by a common shaft linking several armrests. Further, the movement could be adapted so that the raising and lowering of the seats is operated by a rotating hub and actuating linkage 50 linked indirectly to one or more seats, or independently of the seats.
In this specification an apparatus/method/product “comprising” certain features is intended to be interpreted as meaning that it includes those features, but that it does not exclude the presence of other features.
Many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2000692 | Jan 2020 | GB | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
8070233 | Schumacher | Dec 2011 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
4135841 | May 1993 | DE |
0713663 | May 1996 | EP |
2262880 | Jul 1993 | GB |
H0313233 | Mar 1991 | JP |
2009213604 | Sep 2009 | JP |
20010081186 | Aug 2001 | KR |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20210219728 A1 | Jul 2021 | US |