JPH09168447A - Seat structure - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a seat part from being axially rotated between armrests by providing a seat structure having a forked yoke having a handle part and wing parts, forming part of side parts by the wing parts, forming a mounting structure for mounting the seat structure on a rail by the handle part, thereby providing a structure for axially rotating the seat part between wing parts. SOLUTION: This seat structure has a seat back 6 and a seat part 7, the seat part 7 is axially rotated between a substantially horizontal using position and a vertical access position. The seat structure has a forked yoke 9 having a pair of wing parts 10 and a handle part 11. The handle part 11 is substantially formed of a clamp 12, and the yoke 9 supports the whole seat structure on a rail by the clamp. The wing parts 10 are extended upward to form the sidewalls of the seat back 6. Further, the wing parts 10 support pivots 13. The seat 7 is mounted between the wing parts 10 so as to be axially rotatable by the horizontally arranged pivots 13. A pair of independent armrests 18 are independently fixed on the rail 3 without supporting the seat back or the seat part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a seat structure, and more particularly to a seat structure suitable for use in stadiums, public halls, theaters and the like. Generally, such seating structures are configured to be mounted on horizontally extending rails, splines or similar supports.

In such a seat structure, the position of the rail determines the position of the row. The seat structure is formed of a backrest and a seat portion, and the seat portion pivots between a substantially horizontal use position and a substantially vertical access position. The anteroposterior distance between adjacent rails determines the spacing between the rows and pivots the seat to a vertical position to allow people to walk along the rows.

In one form of prior art seat structure, the backrest is attached directly to the rail, with each backrest positioned between a pair of armrests. Each pair of armrests is directly clamped and fixed to the rail. A horizontal axis extends between each pair of armrests about which the seat pivots. An example of this prior art type seat includes that sold by the Applicant under the registered trademark PERFORMA.

In a second version of the prior art seat structure, the backrest is also directly clamped to a horizontal rail, but the clamping mechanism includes a pivot or hinge mounted to pivot the seat. Be done. When armrests are required, the armrests are provided independently and one of the armrests is clamped and fixed to the rail on each side of the seat structure. Examples of this type of seat include models TS-8002 and TS8003 sold by Kotobuki, Japan, and models BLM2173A and BLM2273A, also sold by Kotobuki, Japan.

A third form of prior art chair is a single base-mounted seat structure, rather than a rail-mounted seat structure. Here, a substantially Y-shaped frame is provided. The Y handle is attached directly to the floor, and the upper end of the Y arm supports a horizontally extending armrest.
The rear end of the armrest is joined by a band that extends horizontally and is connected to the backrest. The seat portion is attached so as to be axially rotatable about a horizontal axis extending from a substantially midpoint of the Y arm. An example of this type of seat structure is
Includes models 62-63 manufactured by JG Furniture Systems, Inc. of the United States and model TS3637 sold by Kotobuki of Japan.

All of the above prior art seat structures have various drawbacks. The third form, a single base-mounted chair, has the most waste of front and back spacing when the seat is in the vertical position. The second form requires a very tough and therefore expensive hinge, since the seat is pivotable on a substantially very short axis of rotation and susceptible to torsional damage. However, the second form of prior art seat structure has the advantage that an armrest is optional. The seat structures of the first and third forms both have the drawback that the armrest is forcibly required because the armrest supports the axis of the seat. However, since the seat has two pivot points located within the horizontal axis, the pivot structure of the seat can be robust and can be provided at low cost.

An object of the present invention is to provide an alternative seat structure to the above-mentioned prior art seat structure, in particular, a seat structure in which the armrest can be optionally installed because the seat portion does not pivot between the armrests. Is to provide.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a seat which is adapted to be mounted on a horizontally extending rail or similar support and which pivots between a substantially horizontal use position and a substantially vertical access position. A seat structure having, wherein the seat structure includes a bifurcated yoke having a handle portion and a pair of wings, each of the wings extending upward to form one of a pair of opposite side portions of a backrest, A handle portion forms at least a part of an attachment structure for attaching the seat structure to the rail, and the seat portion pivots about an axis extending between the wing portions of the yoke. A seat structure is disclosed.

Several embodiments of the chair of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, row 1 of the seat structure 2
Are formed by mounting a number of seat structures 2 on horizontally extending rails 3. The rails 3 can be supported at regular intervals by stanchions 4 mounted in a conventional manner on a horizontal surface or tread of a stepped public hall floor (not shown). Further, the rail 3 may be supported by an arm extending from a vertical surface of a floor of a public hall with steps and inclined with respect to the vertical surface, but illustration of this known configuration is omitted.

2 and 3, each seat structure 2 comprises a backrest 6 and a seat 7, the seat 7 being substantially vertical from the substantially horizontal use position shown in FIG. It will be appreciated that there is pivoting between the access positions.

As best shown in FIG. 4, a bifurcated yoke 9 having a pair of wings 10 and a handle 11 is provided. The handle 11 essentially consists of a clamp 12 by means of which the yoke 9 and thus eventually the entire seat structure 2 can be supported on the rail 3. The wing portion 10 extends upward to form a side wall of the backrest 6. Furthermore, each wing portion 10 supports a pivot 13. With the pivots 13 aligned horizontally, the wings 10
The seat 7 can be mounted so that it can pivot between the two. Details of the preferred form of the pivoting device are described in the applicant's co-pending patent application No. PN3766 (attorney), entitled "Pivoting Mechanism", the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Reference number: 306258).

Referring now to FIG. 5, the handle 1 of the yoke 9
Details of manufacturing method 1 are shown. Preferably, the entire backrest 6 and yoke 9 are injected in a single step using air-forming techniques known per se, which allow the wings 10 to be hollow, as shown at 16 in FIG. It can be molded. The seat 7 is also preferably injection molded using air molding techniques. With such a configuration,
Significant strength can be achieved while at the same time being light weight and material savings.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of the chair of the present invention having a pair of individual armrests 18. The armrests 18 can be independently sandwiched and fixed to the rails 3, and neither supports the backrest nor the seat portion. In addition, the seat structure shown in FIG. 6 also includes an optional head support 19 (ie, an extension of the backrest) that can be secured to the backrest 6. 7 and 8 show armrests 20 and 2
1 shows another form.

Some public halls require so-called "storable seats". This seat is especially useful when the stage area changes. Therefore, in the case of various performances that require a small stage area, the floor space available to the audience is expanded, and a temporary seat can be provided in this floor space. When accommodating performances that require a larger stage area, this seat can be stowed if not needed.

Such a retractable seat has each rail attached to a corresponding one of a series of pull-out drawers similar to drawers in a chest of drawers. However, each drawer forms a stepped structure when fully extended, and adjacent rails are located at progressively higher positions of the stepped drawer. In order to be able to store the drawer, the entire seat structure must be foldable downward so that it is in a substantially horizontal position.

FIG. 9 shows a first mechanism for doing this for the chair of FIGS. 1-8 by utilizing the pivots 31 located on each of the struts 34 supporting the rails 33. To move from the seated configuration to the folded configuration, one moves from the left drawing of FIG. 9 to the right drawing. First, the seat 37 is moved to a vertical position close to the backrest 36 in order to bring the seat structure to the configuration shown in the middle drawing of FIG. Next, pivot the rail 33 as a whole.
Swivel around and move adjacent seat 37 and back 3
6 is placed in the substantially horizontal position shown in the drawing on the right side of FIG. Those skilled in the art will understand that the pivot 31 can be moved in the opposite direction to that shown in FIG. 9 so that the backrest 36 is above the seat 37, as shown in FIG. Will be done. That is, the seat structure may be pivoted forward rather than backward as shown.

FIG. 10 shows an alternative arrangement for performing the pivoting movement required to utilize a retractable seat. Here, the seat portion 47 and the backrest 46 are the same as those described above, and are also mounted on the rail 43. However, the wings 40 each include a pivot 41. In this configuration, the rail 43 does not pivot, but
The seat 47 and the backrest 46 rotate about the pivot 41. In the illustrated structure of the right drawing of FIG. 10, the seat portion 47 is located above the backrest 46 and is configured to pivot rearward. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the seat 47 and the backrest 46 can be pivoted forward so that the backrest 46 is above the seat 47 by moving the pivot 41 in the opposite direction.

Preferably, the retractable seat structure of FIGS. 9 and 10 is modified so that the seats 37, 47 are spring loaded so that they are in a generally vertical position whenever a person is not sitting in the seat. . However, the sudden rise of an excited crowd presents the problem of the seat lying vertically behind him without the audience's knowledge. Therefore, when the audience tries to sit down again, there is no seat, and the audience suddenly falls on the floor. To avoid this problem from occurring, the structure shown in FIG. 11 is provided. Here, the backrest 56 is substantially the same as that described above, but the pivot 13 limits the arc that the seat 57 draws when it rises upwards, such as an elastically compressible material (rubber or other material). Elastomer, etc.) block. Thus, the seat 57 is at a constant angle from the vertical, typically 15 degrees.
It stops before 30 degrees. Under these circumstances, if an excited crowd suddenly stands up, the butt of the crowd contacts the front edge of the seat 57 when the crowd returns to his seat, so that when the audience takes a sitting position, The part 57 can be returned to a substantially horizontal position. Thus, the possibility of an accident is avoided.

However, an elastically compressible material (not shown) can be compressed beyond its initial position by the application of sufficient force so that the backrest 56 is moved forward as shown in FIG. The foldable backrest can be placed in a low, generally horizontal position that allows the retractable seat to be used.
6 can be positioned. Thus, the retractable seat can accommodate the seat 57 even when the seat 57 does not reach a position of 15 to 30 degrees to the vertical as shown in the middle drawing of FIG.
Can be used. As a result, a safety structure is guaranteed even if a retractable seat is used.

Still another embodiment is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. Here, the backrest 66 is a seat 67.
The shaft is rotated by reference numeral 63. The seat 67 is a shelf 68.
Mounted directly on top. Each of the shelves 68 is provided with a wheeled leg portion 69 so as to be capable of reciprocating left and right as shown in FIG.
Attached to. FIG. 13 shows the fully extended shelf position, which can be retracted by pushing to the left as shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the lower shelf 68
Is stored.

The backrest 66 can be pivoted counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 13 when the corresponding shelf 68 is extended. Prior to storing the shelf 68, the backrest 66 of the seat 67 attached to the shelf 68 pivots clockwise as shown in FIG. This allows the backrest 66 of each lower shelf to pass underneath the shelf immediately above.

The main advantage of this embodiment is that the height between adjacent trays can be reduced.

Although only some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, modifications obvious to those skilled in the art may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0025]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a row of armrestless seats mounted on rails according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a front perspective view of one of the seat structures of FIG. 1,
It is the figure which showed the seat part of a substantially horizontal position.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the seat raised to a generally vertical access position.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3, but showing the backrest and yoke without the seat.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a clamp device that supports a seat structure on a rail.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment seat with a head support extension on a backrest and an optional armrest.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an armrest according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an armrest of another embodiment.

FIG. 9 includes three side views of a first embodiment of a rail support device suitable for retractable seats.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9, but showing an alternative configuration for a retractable seat.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIGS. 9 and 10, but showing still another configuration.

FIG. 12 is a truncated front view of yet another partially retractable retractable seat embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in the front-rear direction of the configuration of FIG. 12 when completely extended.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 row of seat structure 2 seat structure 3 rail 4 post 6 backrest 7 swivel seat 9 yoke 11 wings 13 pivot 19 optional head support 18 armrest 20 armrest 21 armrest 31 pivot 41 pivot 33 backrest 46 backrest 46 backrest 46 66 backrest 37 seat part 47 seat part 57 seat part 67 seat part 40 wing part 68 shelves 69 leg part

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A seat configured to be mounted on a horizontally extending rail or similar support and pivotable between a substantially horizontal use position and a substantially vertical access position. A seat structure, wherein the seat structure includes a bifurcated yoke having a handle portion and a pair of wings, each of the wings extending upward to form one of a pair of opposite side portions of the backrest, The handle portion forms at least a part of a mounting structure for mounting the seat structure on the rail, and the seat portion pivots about an axis extending between the wing portions of the yoke. Characteristic seat structure. 2. The seat structure according to claim 1, wherein the axis is positioned on the wing below the lower edge of the backrest. 3. The seat structure according to claim 2, wherein the axis is positioned in front of the backrest. 4. One or a pair of armrests, each or each armrest being located on one or a corresponding side of the seat structure and independently supported on the rail or similar support. The seat structure according to claim 1, wherein: 5. Seat structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the rails or similar supports are pivotally mounted in order to make the seat structure pivotable. . 6. The handle according to claim 1, wherein the handle portion of the yoke is pivotable with respect to the mounting means in order to pivot the seat structure. Seat structure. 7. The seat structure according to claim 6, wherein the seat structure is pivotable rearward in order to position the backrest below the seat portion. 8. The seat structure according to claim 6, wherein the seat structure is pivotable forward so as to position the backrest on the upper side of the seat portion. 9. The seat structure according to claim 1, wherein the handle portion is directly attached to a retractable shelf.