Auditorium seating system

In a seating assembly including a frame member and a back located adjacent the frame member, a back mounting assembly for pivotably mounting the back to the frame member, comprising:

• a shaft mounted to and extending from the frame member;
• a pivot housing mounted to the back and including a sleeve defining a passage into which the shaft extends for providing pivoting movement of the back about a pivot axis defined by the shaft;
• and
• a stop arrangement interposed between the frame member and the pivot housing defining the range of pivoting movement of the back about the shaft.

A seating assembly, comprising:

• a pair of frames, wherein each frame comprises an upstanding member and a rearwardly extending support member mounted thereto;
• a seat located between the pair of frames;
• a pivoting seat mounting arrangement disposed between the seat and each upstanding member for pivotably mounting the seat thereto, wherein the seat is pivotable between a vertical storage position and an occupied position;
• first bias means for urging the seat toward its vertical storage position;
• a back located between the pair of frames;
• a pivoting back mounting arrangement disposed between the back and each support member for pivotably mounting the back to each support member, wherein the back is pivotable between a vertical storage position and an occupied position;
• and
• second bias means for urging the back toward its vertical storage position;
• wherein the seat and back are substantially parallel to each other when in their vertical storage positions.

In a seating assembly including a pair of spaced frame members and a seat disposed between the frame members, an assembly for pivotably mounting the seat to each frame member and for limiting the range of pivoting movement of the seat, comprising:

• a shaft mounted to the frame member;
• a bushing fixedly mounted to the shaft, the bushing defining an arcuate spherical outer surface;
• a stop member fixedly mounted to the shaft adjacent the bushing;
• a socket provided in the seat and including an arcuate spherical surface engaged with the bushing arcuate surface, wherein engagement between the bushing arcuate surface and the socket arcuate surface provides the sole means of support for the seat;
• and
• a pin member mounted to the seat adjacent the socket and movable with the seat, wherein the pin member is engageable with the stop member to limit movement of the seat in at least one direction of pivoting movement.

In a seating assembly including a pair of spaced frame members and a seat located between the frame members, the seat defining a pair of sides and a lower surface extending therebetween, a seat mounting mechanism for pivotably mounting the seat between the frame members, comprising:

• first and second seat mounting assemblies, each of which is located between the seat and one of the frame members, each seat mounting assembly including:
• a bushing mounted to the frame member;
• a cavity provided in the seat member adjacent each side of the seat member, the cavity opening onto the seat member side and onto the seat member lower surface, and wherein the cavity is defined in part by a bearing surface, wherein the bushing is received within the cavity and is engaged with the cavity bearing surface;
• and
• a cover member engaged with the seat to enclose the portion of the cavity which opens onto the lower surface of the seat and to maintain engagement between the bushing and the cavity bearing surface.

In a seating assembly including a pair of spaced frame members and a back located between the frame members, a back mounting mechanism for mounting the back between the frame members, comprising:

• first and second coaxial shafts extending one from each of the frame members, wherein the back is mounted to the shafts for pivoting movement about a pivot axis defined by the shafts by means of first and second pivot housings located one on either side of the back, wherein each pivot housing is pivotably mounted to one of the shafts, and wherein each pivot housing comprises a vertical wall and a series of side walls which cooperate to define an internal cavity associated with the pivot housing;
• a stop arrangement defining the range of pivoting movement of the back about the shaft, wherein the stop arrangement limits pivoting movement of the back in a first direction to a substantially vertical, upright storage position, and wherein the stop arrangement includes an opening formed in the vertical wall of each pivot housing, and a stop pin interconnected with the frame member to which the pivot housing is pivotably mounted, wherein the stop pin extends through the opening formed in the vertical wall of the pivot housing;
• and
• a biasing arrangement interposed between the back and the shaft for biasing the back toward its storage position.