Abstract:
A seat for use in a motor vehicle has a seat portion, and a back portion having a lower end that is pivotably coupled to the seat portion. The back portion has a cut-out section adjacent the lower end, with the thickness of the back portion at the cut-out section being less than the thickness of the remainder of the back portion. The cut-out section accomodates the police officer&#39;s gun belt so that the gun belt and its objects (such as a pistol and handcuffs) will not exert an awkward pressure on the lower back region of the officer&#39;s body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a seat for use in a police patrol vehicle, in particular, to a seat that is effective is reducing the pressures caused by a gun belt on a police officer&#39;s back.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Police officers typically wear a gun belt and armor in addition to their regular uniforms. The gun belt can be quite thick in dimension (e.g., up to three inches), and therefore protrudes from the officer&#39;s waist. Most officers will wear the gun belt when they are seated inside a patrol vehicle during their on-duty hours. When seated inside a patrol vehicle wearing a gun belt, the gun belt and its objects (such as a pistol and handcuffs) will exert an awkward pressure on the lower back region of the officer&#39;s body. As a result, many police officers have experienced sore, stiff backs, and lower back pains that are caused by the pressure exerted by the gun belt.  
           [0005]    Thus, there remains a need for an improved seat for use in a patrol vehicle which overcomes the problems described above.  
         SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE  
         [0006]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a car seat for a patrol vehicle which allows a police officer to wear a gun belt while seated therein.  
           [0007]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a car seat for a patrol vehicle that is effective in reducing the pressures caused by a gun belt on a police officer&#39;s back.  
           [0008]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a car seat for a patrol vehicle that allows for a shotgun to be positioned in a conveniently-accessible location while maintaining a high level of comfort for the police officers seated in the patrol vehicle.  
           [0009]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a car seat for a patrol vehicle that provides improved cushioning of the seat portion.  
           [0010]    In order to accomplish the objects of the present invention, the present invention provides a seat for use in a motor vehicle, having a seat portion, and a back portion having a lower end that is pivotably coupled to the seat portion, the back portion having a cut-out section adjacent the lower end where the thickness of the back portion at the cut-out section is less than the thickness of the remainder of the back portion. The cut-out section accomodates the police officer&#39;s gun belt so that the gun belt and its objects (such as a pistol and handcuffs) will not exert an awkward pressure on the lower back region of the officer&#39;s body.  
           [0011]    The seat of the present invention can also include a shotgun holder provided in a cut-out on the door-facing side of the seat portion to accomodate a shotgun. In addition, the seat portion can be provided with a wire mesh and at least one stiffening rod extending across a portion of the wire mesh, so as to provide improved cushioning for the seat portion. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a side plan view of a seat for use in a patrol vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the seat of FIG. 1.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the seat of FIG. 1.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is an isolated view of the stiffening rod used in the seat of FIG. 1.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is an exploded top plan view of the seat of FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]    The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.  
         [0018]    One preferred embodiment of a seat  10  according to the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The seat  10  can have the same construction and features as any conventional vehicle seat, except for the features described below. The seat  10  has a conventional internal frame and conventional seat springs that support a seat portion  12  and a back portion  14 . The back portion  14  has a lower end which can be pivoted with respect to the seat portion  12  (see arrow A in FIG. 1) in the same manner as any conventional vehicle seat. A release lever  56  can be provided on one side of the seat portion  12  for pivoting the back portion  14  in the two directions indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1. A conventional head rest  15  can be provided at the top of the back portion  14 . Conventional seat belts  17  can be provided on the seat portion  12  and the back portion  14 . A pair of seat rails  16  are provided to secure the frame  58  and the seat portion  12  to the automobile in the same manner as for conventional vehicle seats. A conventional slide lever  18  can be provided to adjust the position of the seat portion  12  with respect to the rails  16 . For example, the slide lever  18  can be embodied in the form of a bar that is connected to a spring release mechanism (not shown) that unlocks the seat portion  12  from the rails  16  to allow the seat portion  12  to be slid along the rails  16 .  
         [0019]    The seat portion  12  can be the same as any conventional seat portion. However, the back portion  14  is provided with a cut-out section  24  at the lower one-third of the back portion  14 . In other words, the lower one-third of the back portion  14  has a smaller thickness than the other portions of the back portion  14 . In particular, the back portion  14  has an outer surface  26  that extends from the top of the back portion  14  down to the cut-out section  24 , where the outer surface  26  transitions into a tapered or angled surface  28  into the cut-out section  24 , where it transitions into a rear surface  30 . The depth of the cut-out section  24  is preferably sized and configured so as to comfortably accomodate a gun belt, and in one embodiment can be about 4 inches to accomodate the typical three-inch thickness of most conventional gun belts. The angled surface  28  is angled in a manner such that the front opening  32  of the cut-out section  24  is larger than the rear surface  30  of the cut-out section  24 . The angled surface  28  is angled in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 so that the gun belt will not catch the surface  28  when a police officer gets up from the seat  10 .  
         [0020]    In addition, as best shown in FIG. 2, the corners  31  of the seat portion  12  at the location where the outer surface  26  transitions into the angled surface  28  can be rounded upwardly so that the side opening  33  of the cut-out section  24  is larger than the normal height  35  of the rear surface  30  of the cut-out section  24 . This feature will help to minimize the part of the back portion  14  that normally pushes against the butt of the pistol on a gun belt typically worn by a police officer while seated in the seat  10 .  
         [0021]    To further assist a police officer in exiting the vehicle, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the seat bolsters of the seat portion  12  that typically wraps around the sides of the legs of the person sitting in the seat portion  12 . The seat bolsters are the upwardly extending sides of a seat portion that help define the concave (or “bucket”) shape of conventional seat portions. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, the top surface  23  of the seat portion  12  is generally flat, as opposed to being generally concave if the seat bolsters were still provided. Similarly, the bolsters that extend along the sides  25  of the back portion  14  along the outer surface  26  to the corners  31  can also be reduced or eliminated, as desired. Reducing or eliminating the bolsters along the seat portion  12  and the back portion  14  may assist an officer who is wearing body armor by reducing the extra cushioning on the sides of the seat  10  that might exert undesirable pressure onto the gun belt.  
         [0022]    The seat frame (not shown) can be the same type of frame that is typically used for patrol vehicles. This will allow the seat  10  to have the same structural and safety features as conventional patrol vehicle seats. In addition, using the same seat frame as for conventional patrol vehicle seats will allow the seat  10  to bolt into the same location as any conventional patrol vehicle seat without the need for any modifications, adapters or brackets.  
         [0023]    The material of the seat cover and the internal foam material can be the same as, or different from, those of conventional vehicle seats. The seat cover as used herein is defined as the layer of material that covers the back portion  14  and the seat portion  12 , and which is exposed for contact by the person sitting on the seat  10 . For example, the material of the seat cover will be a durable material such as a heavy-weight cotton duck canvas material. A durable material is important because of the excessive wear and tear experienced by the seat  10 . For example, the fact that police officers get into and out of a patrol vehicle many times every day, and the gun belts and other items (e.g., guns, knives, saps, etc.) that are often worn by police officers, will create more wear and tear than normal consumer vehicle seats. In addition, since most police officers wear body armor under an already heavy uniform, the fact that a seat does not feel plush will not be noticed by the police officer.  
         [0024]    The seat portion  12  and the back portion  14  can be constructed out of a foam material that is typically used for conventional vehicle seats. One possible way to make the seat  10  is to add additional foam to the upper part of the back portion  14  along the region of the outer surface  26 , so that the original thickness of the back portion  14  at the cut-out section  24  does not need to be changed. For example, the bolsters for the upper part of the back portion  14  would not need to be reduced, and instead foam can be added to bring the outer surface  26  to the same thickness as the bolsters for the upper part of the back portion  14 .  
         [0025]    Thus, the cut-out section  24  provides a space for the gun belt to be accomodated so that the police officer can sit comfortably in the seat  10  without experiencing any pressure from the gun belt on any part of his or her back. This will reduce the strain on the back of a police officer, thereby minimizing back-related injuries.  
         [0026]    Since most patrol vehicles are driven almost 24 hours a day, most seats on patrol vehicles begin to lose their cushioning feature after a short period of time so that the seat quickly becomes uncomfortable to sit in. One possible solution is to provide the back portion  14  and seat portion  12  with more foam, as described above. Another possible solution is to improve the support and cushioning in the seat portion  12  by providing stiffening support rods. In particular, referring to FIG. 3, the bottom of the seat portion  12  has a metal plate  66  to which the rails  16  and the foam of the seat portion  12  attach. The slide release bar  18  is attached to the metal plate  66  via brackets  58 . A molded housing  65  is provided adjacent the front of the metal plate  66  (near the slide release bar  18 ) and is adapted to receive a motor (not shown) that drives the forward and rearward adjustment of the seat portion  12 . An opening  63  is provided at about the center of the metal plate  66 , and a wire mesh  68  is attached to the opening  68  via a plurality of seat springs  60 . The wire mesh  68  can be any conventional wire mesh used by conventional vehicle seats, and functions to hold up the foam of the seat portion  12  and provides resiliency to the seat portion  12 . In addition to these elements, the seat portion  12  of the present invention further provides a plurality of stiffening rods  70  (see also FIG. 4) that are provided to extend across a portion of the wire mesh  68 . A plurality of C-shaped clips  74  are provided to clip each rod  70  to a separate wire in the wire mesh  68 . These clips  74  can be any conventional C-shaped clip that can be attached by pliers designed for crimping C-shaped clips. In addition, each stiffening rod  70  has a curved or hooked end  72  that functions to secure or hook one end of the rod  70  into corresponding holes  73  provided in the housing  65  to further prevent the rod  70  from being disengaged from the wire mesh  68 . The stiffening rods  70  function to provide support and cushioning to the foam in the seat portion  12 .  
         [0027]    The seat  10  can also be provided with a few additional optional features. For example, a flashlight holder  50  can be mounted to the front of the seat portion  12 , so as to be positioned under the knees of the occupant. The holder  50  can be made of a plastic material so that the holder  50  will hold its intended shape, and can resemble a tube with an opened end  52  so that a flashlight can be slid into the tube and retained therein. To make it easier for the officer to remove the flashlight from the holder  50 , the opened end  52  should face the door side, and the holder  50  should be positioned closer to the door side of the seat portion  12 . A covering, which can be the same material as the seat cover (e.g., canvas), can be wrapped around the holder  50  to allow the holder  50  to blend in aesthetically with the seat  10 . The inherent inward tension of the tube-like holder  50 , coupled with the pressure of an occupant sitting on the seat portion  12 , will provide sufficient tension to retain a flashlight inside the holder  50 . As an alternative, a flap (not shown) can also be provided on the opened end  52  of the holder  50  to keep the flashlight from slipping out of the holder  50  when the vehicle experiences extreme driving conditions and speeds. The holder  50  will make it easy for the police officer to secure a flashlight to the seat  10 . Although FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the holder  50  as being positioned on the front of the seat portion  12 , it is also possible to position the holder  50  along the door side of the seat portion  12 . Both these positions for the holder  50  provide a safe and reliable location for storing the flashlight so that a police officer can quickly access the flashlight by swinging an arm down and lifting the flashlight up. The holder  50  can be permanently attached to its desired position by stitching, glue, welding or similar techniques.  
         [0028]    Another option that can be utilized by the seat  10  of the present invention is the provision of a shotgun holder adjacent the seat  10 . In particular, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the door-facing side of the back portion  14  and the seat portion  12  can have cut-out areas  78  and  80 , respectively, along their sides that are adapted to fit a shotgun  82  positioned in an upright orientation. A shotgun holder  84  is positioned in the space defined by the cut-out areas  78  and  80 , and in one of many possible embodiments, is made up of an enclosing wall  86  and a base plate  88  attached to the enclosing wall  86 . The enclosing wall  88  can be attached (e.g., using screws  92 ) to the divider  90  that separates the front part of the patrol vehicle from the rear passenger seating area. This divider  90  is typically made of a wire screen or plexiglass. Thus, the shotgun  82  can be placed in an upright orientation into the holder  84 , for example, by placing the handle of the shotgun  82  directly into the holder  84  and having the handle of the shotgun  82  act as a base to support the rest of the shotgun  82 . By positioning the shotgun  84  in a location adjacent the door and on the side of the seat  10 , the officer can easily and quickly access the shotgun  84  in emergency situations, while at the same not interfering with the comfort of the officer who is seated in the seat  10 .  
         [0029]    While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.