Shock absorbing vehicle seat frame
AssigneeThe C.E. White Co.
InventorCorwin L. Crose
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The frame of a crash resistant school bus seat is designed to undergo plastic flow when an impact is applied to the back rest portion of the seat. One or more stopping mechanisms are provided to retard movement of the back rest farther than a predetermined limit, thereby keeping a passenger in an upright position in the seat as a result of a crash. The frame is made from inexpensive, off-the-shelf metal tube and sheet stock and hence is inexpensive to design and build.
Claims34
A shock absorbing frame for making a crash-resistant vehicle seat composed of a seat member and a back rest arranged at a first seating angle with respect to the seat member, the back rest being adapted to bend forward to a second seating angle upon application of an impact force exceeding a predetermined magnitude to the back rest, a first energy-absorbing part of the frame for absorbing at least a portion of the impact force as the back rest moves from the first to second seating angles, the frame further including at least one stopping mechanism designed to make the back rest essentially rigid with respect to the seat member when the back rest reaches the second seating angle thereby keeping a passenger sitting in the vehicle seat substantially upright during a crash.
A shock absorbing frame for making a crash resistant vehicle seat comprising a first steel tube defining a seat section and a second steel tube defining a back section, segments of the steel tube in at least one of the seat and back sections extending into the other section, transition portions of the extending segments being strong enough to maintain the back section fixed in a first position with respect to the seat section under normal conditions but weak enough to undergo plastic flow and thereby allow the back section to move forward when an impact force exceeding a predetermined magnitude is applied to the back section,
- the frame further including at least one stopping mechanism designed to prevent the impact force from moving the back section of the frame past a second predetermined position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.