Swivel seat with adjustable swivel resistance
AssigneeCrown Equipment Corporation
InventorsPeter Adelsperger, Christoph Babel, Michael Hoiss, James V. Kraimer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A swiveling seat comprises a seat bottom, a swivel mechanism and a swivel resistance system. The swivel mechanism allows the seat bottom to rotate at least partially around a first axis of rotation. The swivel resistance system may include a first member that rotates with the swivel mechanism, a second member that is fixedly positioned relative to the swiveling of the swivel mechanism and an operator adjustable resistance control that is operated by the vehicle operator to bias the second member into the first member so as to vary the resistance required to swivel the operator's seat.
Claims20
A swiveling seat for a materials handling vehicle comprising:
- a seat bottom;
- a swivel mechanism coupled to the seat bottom that allows the seat bottom to rotate at least partially around a first axis of rotation relative to an operator's compartment of the materials handling vehicle;
- and
- a swivel resistance system having:
- a first member coupled to the swivel mechanism so as to rotate with the swivel mechanism;
- a second member that is fixedly positioned relative to the swiveling of the swivel mechanism;
- and
- an operator adjustable resistance control to bias the second member to contact the first member in a manner that adjusts the resistance between the first member and the second member so as to vary the force required to swivel the operator's seat.
A materials handling vehicle having a base structure located in an operator's compartment and a swiveling seat supported on the base structure, the swiveling seat comprising:
- a seat bottom that provides a surface for supporting an operator of the materials handling vehicle in a sitting position;
- a swivel mechanism coupled to the seat bottom that allows the seat bottom to rotate at least partially around a first axis of rotation relative to the base structure upon exertion of a force manually applied by an operator seated on the seat bottom;
- and
- a swivel resistance system having:
- a first member coupled to the swivel mechanism so as to rotate with the swivel mechanism in response to the operator exerting a force to manually swivel the seat;
- a second member that is fixedly positioned relative to the swiveling of the swivel mechanism;
- and
- an operator adjustable resistance control, at least a portion of which extends through the base structure proximate to the seat bottom wherein the adjustable resistance control may be operated by the vehicle operator to bias the second member to contact the first member in a manner that adjusts the resistance between the first member and the second member so as to vary the force required to swivel the operator's seat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.