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US 7,739,838 B2Granted
Quickly and easily assembleable portable bleacher
OwnerKeith B. Borglum, Carl H. Arnsinventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An easily and quickly assembleable bleacher includes basic light-weight component which can be assembled by one person, if necessary, and without the use of tools. The assembly includes a latching and locking mechanism for attaching the seat boards, foot boards and riser boards without the use of fasteners, and most of the other connections are made with pinned connections that save time and assembly. The upper guard rails are attached to lie in a slight rearwardly angled plane that provides comfort for the spectators and also facilitates assembly.
Claims33
An easily and rapidly assembleable bleacher comprising:
- at least two main frame members each having a stepped construction defined by a plurality of horizontally spaced frame posts, the frame posts increasing serially in length from front to rear and having at their upper ends a seat board support, the lower ends of the frame posts attached to a lower frame member, and a horizontal foot board support interconnecting each pair of adjacent frame posts;
- a cross brace assembly interconnecting selected pairs of equal height frame posts;
- a seat board demountably attachable to the seat board supports of the equal height frame posts with a seat board latching mechanism self-actuated solely in response to horizontal movement of the seat board on the supports to simultaneously latch the seat board to both seat board supports against movement in any direction;
- a foot board assembly demountably attachable to the foot board supports between common pairs of adjacent frame posts with a foot board latching mechanism self-actuated solely in response to horizontal movement of the foot board assembly on the foot board supports to simultaneously latch the foot board to both foot board supports against movement in any direction;
- a rear guard rail assembly demountably attachable to the rearmost frame posts and including a rear guard rail section extending between the rearmost frame posts;
- and,
- a side guard rail demountably attachable at a rear end to each end of the rear guard rail assembly and at a front end to the associated main frame member.
4 more elements
An easily and rapidly assembleable bleacher comprising:
- at least two main frame members each having a stepped construction defined by a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical frame posts, the frame posts increasing serially in length from front to rear and having at their upper ends a support for a seat board, the lower ends of the frame posts attached to a lower frame member and a foot board support interconnecting each pair of adjacent frame posts;
- a seat board demountably attachable to the supports of the equal length frame posts with a seat board latching mechanism self-actuated by movement of the seat board on the supports;
- and,
- a foot board demountably attachable to the foot board supports between common pairs of adjacent frame posts with a foot board latching mechanism self-actuated by movement of the foot board on the foot board supports;
- and,
- each of said seat board and foot board latching mechanisms operable solely in response to horizontal movement of the board on the supports to simultaneously secure the respective seat board and foot board against movement in any direction from the latched position.
3 more elements
An easily and rapidly assembleable bleacher comprising:
- at least two main frame members each having a stepped construction defined by a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical frame posts, the frame posts increasing serially in length from front to rear and having at their upper ends a support for a seat board, the lower ends of the frame posts attached to a lower frame member, and foot board supports interconnecting each pair of adjacent frame posts;
- brace assemblies interconnecting selected pairs of equal length frame posts;
- a seat board demountably attachable to the supports of the equal length frame posts with a seat board latching mechanism actuated by horizontal movement of the seat board along its longitudinal axis on the supports;
- said seat board support comprising a flat tongue having an upper seat board-supporting face, and the seat board latching mechanism including a latch plate defining with the underside of the seat board a slot adapted to receive the flat tongue in response to said horizontal movement of the seat board;
- a latch bar pivotally attached at one end to and recessed in the seat board on a horizontal pivot axis transverse to the direction of seat board movement, said latch bar having an abutment notch on the other end adapted to drop into engagement with the seat board support in response to receipt of the tongue in the slot and downward pivotal movement of said other end of the latch bar;
- a foot board demountably attachable to the foot board supports between common pairs of adjacent frame posts with a foot board latching mechanism actuated by horizontal movement of the foot board along its longitudinal axis on the foot board supports;
- said foot board support comprising a flat horizontal support plate having an upper foot board-supporting face and a free edge, and the foot board latching mechanism including a latch plate for the foot board defining with the underside of the foot board a slot adapted to receive the free edge of the support plate in response to said horizontal movement of the foot board;
- and,
- a latch bar for the foot board pivotally attached at one end to and recessed in the foot board on a horizontal pivot axis transverse to the direction of foot board movement, said latch bar having an abutment notch on the other end adapted to drop into engagement with the foot board support in response to receipt of the free edge of the support plate in the slot and downward pivotal movement of the other end of the latch bar.
6 more elements
A method for easily and rapidly assembling a bleacher comprising the steps of:
- (1) providing at least two main frame members each having a stepped construction defined by a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical frame posts, the frame posts increasing serially in length from front to rear and having at their upper ends a seat board support, the lower ends of the frame posts attached to a lower frame member, and a horizontal foot board support interconnecting each pair of adjacent frame posts;
- (2) interconnecting the main frame members with a cross brace assembly;
- (3) attaching a seat board to the seat board supports of the equal length frame posts with a seat board latching mechanism self-actuated solely by longitudinal horizontal movement of the seat board on the supports;
- and,
- (4) attaching a foot board to the foot board supports between common pairs of adjacent frame posts with a foot board latching mechanism self-actuated solely by longitudinal horizontal movement of the foot board on the foot board;
- and,
- (5) each of said attaching steps operable to simultaneously latch the seat board and the foot board to a respective pair of seat board and foot board supports.
4 more elements
An easily and rapidly assembleable bleacher comprising:
- at least two main frame members each having a stepped construction defined by a plurality of horizontally spaced vertical frame posts, the frame posts increasing serially in length from front to rear and having at their upper ends a support for a seat board, the lower ends of the frame posts attached to a lower frame member, and a foot board support interconnecting each pair of adjacent frame posts;
- a seat board demountably attachable to the supports of the equal length frame posts with a seat board latching mechanism self-actuated by movement of the seat board on the supports;
- a foot board demountably attachable to the foot board supports between common pairs of adjacent frame posts with a foot board latching mechanism self-actuated by movement of the foot board on the foot board supports;
- each of said seat board and foot board latching mechanisms operable solely in response to horizontal movement of the board on the supports to simultaneously secure the respective seat board and foot board against movement in any direction from the latched position;
- and
- a rear guard rail assembly including a pair of rear posts, each supported at a lower end on a lower frame member and operatively connected at an intermediate location to the upper end of a rearmost frame post, the rear post having a free upper end extending above the intermediate location, and a unitary planar rear guard rail section having a horizontal lower frame member and a horizontal upper frame member each received in open channel brackets on said rear posts and demountably attached with pinned connectors to the rear posts adjacent the intermediate locations and the upper ends thereof, said rear posts extending rearwardly at a small angle to the vertical from the lower to the upper ends thereof such that the rear guard rail section lies in a plane extending rearwardly at said angle.
3 more elements
An easily rapidly assembleable bleacher comprising:
- at least two main frame members each having a stepped construction defined by a plurality of horizontally spaced frame posts, the frame posts increasing serially in length from front to rear and having at their upper ends a seat board support, the lower ends of the frame posts attached to a lower frame member, and a horizontal foot board support interconnecting each pair of adjacent frame posts;
- a cross brace assembly interconnecting selected pairs of equal height frame posts;
- a seat board demountably attached to the seat board supports of the equal height frame posts with a seta board latching mechanism self-actuated solely in response to horizontal movement of the seat board on the supports to simultaneously latch the seat board to both seat board supports against movement in any direction;
- and,
- a foot board assembly demountably attachable to the foot board supports between common pairs of adjacent frame posts with a foot board latching mechanism self-actuated solely in response to horizontal movement of the good board assembly on the foot board supports to simultaneously latch the foot board to both foot board supports against movement in any direction.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.