Chair for venues with tiered seating
AssigneePreferred Engineering
InventorKenneth L. Fongers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A chair that can be mounted to a bleacher comprises a dual-pivot structure to enable movement of a seat between an up position, wherein the seat compactly fits within the bleacher envelope, and a down position, wherein the seat is substantially aligned with the bleacher and located at a suitable seating height. The chair includes single-piece, injection molded bleacher bases, which are composed of a “no-break”, fade-resistant plastic and include strategically positioned strengthening ribs. Additional embodiments of the chair comprise a clip-on bleacher base for removably mounting the chair to the bleacher and riser bases and floor bases that can be affixed to a riser portion and a floor portion, respectively, of a step structure.
Claims19
A chair for use in a mass seating venue comprising:
- at least one base having an upper mounting portion and a lower mounting portion;
- a seat back mounted to the upper mounting portion of the base;
- a seat support pivotally mounted to the base for movement between a first lowered position and a first raised position about a first pivot axis and the seat support is biased into the first raised position by a first spring acting between the seat support and the base;
- a seat pivotally mounted to the seat support for movement between a second lowered position and a second raised position about a second pivot axis different than the first pivot axis, and biased into the second raised position by a second spring acting between the seat and the seat support;
- and
- a hinge assembly comprising a first mounting bracket mounted to the seat and a second mounting bracket mounted to the seat support, the first mounting bracket being supported for pivotal movement with respect to the second mounting bracket by a bearing;
- wherein the seat support comprises an arm connecting the first pivot axis with the second pivot axis and the second pivot axis moves with respect to the first pivot axis when the seat support is moved relative to the base;
- and
- wherein the second spring comprises a torsion spring acting between the first and second mounting brackets around the bearing.
A chair for use in a mass seating venue comprising:
- at least one base having an upper mounting portion and a lower mounting portion;
- a seat back mounted to the upper mounting portion of the base;
- a seat support pivotally mounted to the base for movement between a first lowered position and a first raised position about a first pivot axis;
- and
- a seat pivotally mounted to the seat support for movement between a second lowered position and a second raised position about a second pivot axis different than the first pivot axis;
- wherein the seat is biased into the second raised position by a spring acting between the seat and the seat support.
A chair for use in a mass seating venue comprising:
- at least one base having an upper mounting portion and a lower mounting portion;
- a seat back mounted to the upper mounting portion of the base;
- a seat support pivotally mounted to the base for movement between a first lowered position and a first raised position about a first pivot axis;
- a seat pivotally mounted to the seat support for movement between a second lowered position and a second raised position about a second pivot axis different than the first pivot axis;
- and
- a hinge assembly comprising a first mounting bracket mounted to the seat and supported by a bearing for pivotal movement with respect to a second mounting bracket mounted to the seat support, and a torsion spring acting between the first and second mounting brackets around the bearing.
A chair for use in a mass seating venue comprising:
- at least one base having an upper mounting portion and a lower mounting portion;
- a seat back mounted to the upper mounting portion of the base;
- a seat support pivotally mounted to the base for movement between a first lowered position and a first raised position about a first pivot axis;
- and
- a seat pivotally mounted to the seat support for movement between a second lowered position and a second raised position about a second pivot axis different than the first pivot axis;
- wherein one of the base and the seat support comprises an arcuate track and the other of the base and the seat support comprises a follower pin in register with the track, whereby the track provides a limited range of movement for the seat support relative to the base by virtue of the location of the follower pin within the track.
A chair for use in a mass seating venue comprising:
- at least one base having an upper mounting portion and a lower mounting portion;
- a seat back mounted to the upper mounting portion of the base;
- a seat moveable relative to the base for movement between a raised storage position and a lowered use position, wherein in the lowered use position the seat is positioned to be sat upon by a user;
- a seat support for mounting the seat to the base;
- a hinge assembly comprising a first mounting bracket mounted to the seat and supported by a bearing for pivotal movement with respect to a second mounting bracket mounted to the seat support, for both pivoting and laterally shifting the seat relative to the base as the seat moves between the raised storage and lowered use positions;
- and
- a torsion spring acting between the first and second mounting brackets around the bearing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.