Abstract:
A stowable fold away seat for mounting to a support member of a vehicle wherein a space may be selectively provided for positioning a wheelchair or article adjacent to the stowed seat which includes a frame attached to the support member, two separate seatbacks and seatbases, which have been fixedly integrated with a centered support.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to an improved stowable fold away seat in a vehicle in order to provide a space for a wheelchair or for storage of various articles. The invention employs cantilevered fixedly integrated seatbases which pivot on one end from a horizontally deployed position to a vertically stowed position and from a vertically stowed position to a horizontally deployed position. Further, the seatbases are provided with two integrated seatbacks that have a lockable unfolded position, substantially perpendicular to the range of motion for the seatbases, as well as a lockable folded position substantially flat against the seatbases.  
           [0002]    The fold away seat is stowed by folding the seatbacks substantially flat against the seatbases. After folding the seatback substantially flat against the seatbases, the seatbases are unlocked from the horizontally deployed position, raised to the vertically stowed position, and locked in place. The wheelchair or other article may be placed in the space vacated by the stowed seat.  
           [0003]    At present, the Straughsbaugh Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,141 owned by the C. E. White Co., is known to enable a seatbase which has a support leg extending from the aisle end of the seatbase, and the McClintock Patent, U.S. Pat. No, 5,492,389, which is owned by the applicant, enables a cantilevered, integrated, upholstered seatbase with a one-piece, single seatback. In the Straughsbaugh seatbase, typically the aisle leg is fastened to the floor when the seat is down, or tucked away when the seat is stowed away. While the known fold away seats as shown by Straughsbaugh have a support leg that can be folded up to provide space for a user or for storage, this did not disclose, teach, or suggest any cantilevered seatbases which avoids the attendant difficulties arising from the use of the aisle leg on the seatbases which at times interferes with an operator and requires additional steps for stowing. Nor did the Straughsbaugh patent disclose, teach, or suggest any cantilevered seatbases with separate seating surfaces and integrated seatbacks utilizing a centered support and bearing to allow the seat to utilize individual seat shells, reduce the bulk, weight, and amount of material required which avoids the attendant difficulties such as increased vibration arising when deployed and used for vehicles, including mass-transit vehicles.  
           [0004]    While the McClintock Patent, U.S. Pat. No, 5,492,389, which is owned by the Applicant, the fold away seat has a cantilevered, uniformly upholstered seatbase with a one-piece, single seatback that can be folded away to provide space for storage, these seats did not disclose, teach, or suggest any cantilevered seatbases with separate seating surfaces and seatbacks utilizing a centered support and bearing to allow the seat to incorporate individual seat shells, reduce the bulk, weight, and amount of material required which avoids the attendant difficulties such as increased vibration arising when used for vehicles, including mass-transit vehicles. Previous fold away seats, whether cantilevered or utilizing an aisle leg, featured materials and designs which were inappropriate for the purposes of reducing bulk, weight, and amount of material required thereby preventing the seats from vibrating when deployed in vehicles.  
           [0005]    Currently, especially when used in mass transit vehicles, it is necessary for fold away seats to be lighter yet more stable and provide adequately firm seats with reduced vibration. Without the center support and bearing the seatbacks would be forced to have additional depth and material added to it. The center support and bearing enables the bridging of a smaller span. This reduction in span width enables the seatback to have increased rigidity reduced vibrations without the penalty of additional material of back depth thickness.  
         SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stowable seat for mounting to a support member of a vehicle wherein a space may be selectively provided for positioning a wheelchair or articles adjacent to the stowed seat which includes a frame, wall mount, or floor mount, seatbases, and seatbacks. The seatbacks and seatbases are separated and fixedly integrated with a centered support bearing or other device to increase rigidity and reduce bulk, weight, materials used, and vibrations inherent in lightweight stowable seats. Furthermore, the invention includes improved separate locking mechanisms, comprised of a “down lock” and an “up lock”, which hold the seat in either its horizontally deployed or vertically stowed positions and are releasable to enable movement to either the vertically stowed or horizontally deployed positions.  
           [0007]    Consequently, the frame attaches to the support member of a vehicle and the cantilevered seatbases have a free end and a pivotable end rotatably associated with the frame which provides the seatbases with a range of motion extending from a horizontally deployed position to a vertically stowed position. The integrated seatbases also have separate lock mechanisms, one near the free end to maintain the seatbases in the deployed position, and one near the center of the seatbases to maintain the seatbase in the stowed position. These mechanisms use unique opposite acting screws to capture and secure the movement of the cross bar which moves when the seatbases are raised from the deployed position to the stowed position and vice versa. The lock mechanisms, which secure the seatbases in the stowed or deployed positions, work in a manner similar to one another in that the locks enable the adjusting screw in the receiving chamber of the lock to compensate for any production tolerances or wear that may occur. The ability to remove unwanted space from the receiving chamber of the lock enables the user to cancel out the propensity of the lock and bar to rattle against each other while the vehicle is in motion. The rattle/vibration-induced noise is a major complaint against many fold away seats.  
           [0008]    The integrated seatbacks, which are rotatably associated with the seatbases, have a range of motion extending from an unfolded position to a folded position. In the unfolded position, the range of motion of the seatbacks is substantially perpendicular to the range of motion of the seatbases. In the folded position, the seatbacks are adapted to fold substantially adjacent to the integrated seatbases for stowing to provide the space for a wheelchair or other object.  
           [0009]    The seatbacks are able to fold forward because of support and bearings at each end and in the center of the seatbacks. The center support and bearing enables the use of individual seat shells, and without the center support bearing, the seatbacks would be forced to have additional depth and material added to them by way of a single, larger seat shell. The center support and bearing enable bridging a smaller span. This reduction in span width enables the seatbacks to have increased rigidity and reduced vibration without the penalty of additional material of back depth thickness. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    In order to satisfy the objects of the invention discussed herein, a stowable seat for mounting in a vehicle is provided as illustrated by the accompanying drawings wherein:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a isometric view of the stowable seat illustrating the seatbase in a horizontally deployed position and the seatback in an unfolded vertical position in phantom outline where the illustration shows the frame, the tracks upon which the T-bar moves, and the “up” and “down” locking mechanisms;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the stowable seat illustrating the seatback in a folded position and the seatbase in a vertically stowed position where a wheel chair is illustrated in phantom outline in the space vacated by the stowable seat;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2A is a rear view of the stowable seat illustrating the center strut and center bearing in phantom lines when the seatbacks and seatbases are adjacent to each other prior to moving to either the stowed or deployed position;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the seat in its deployed position illustrating an enlarged side elevation view of the dump mechanism that locks the seatbacks in the vertical and horizontal positions for the purposes of the stowable seat being stowed or deployed, where the cover of the dump mechanism has been removed;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a view showing how both the deployed locking mechanism  54  and stowed locking mechanism  52 , including the spring  48 , which holds the movable T-bar  18  in place when the seat is locked in either the deployed position or stowed position in the receiving chamber  44  or  45 , where the movable T-bar  18  and the screw  46  are illustrated;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4A is a side view of the deployed locking mechanism which shows the T-bar locked into place within the receiving chamber and securely held by the screw, where the motion of the movable T-bar and the locking mechanism are shown in phantom outline;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4B is a side view of the stowed locking mechanism, which shows the T-bar locked into place within the receiving chamber and securely held by the screw, where the motion of the movable T-bar and the locking mechanism are shown in phantom outline;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the seatbacks with hard plastic cover which acts as a spacer between the seatbacks where the center strut through which the center bearing is run;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5A is a top section taken on a plane pressing through the line A-A and looking in the direction of the arrows, specifically illustrating the lower interior portions of the seatbacks joined by the lower welded band, specifically illustrating the center strut, the center bearing, and the sleeves through which the center bearing runs, showing the sleeves adjacent to both sides of the center strut to eliminate vibration. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]    Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the stowable seat of the invention is generally designated by the reference numeral  10 . The stowable seat generally includes a frame  12 , seatbases  14  and  14   a , seatbacks  16  and  16   a , and a moving T-bar  18 .  
         [0021]    Briefly, in operation, the stowable seat  10  is typically utilized with the seatbases  14  in a horizontal deployed position  20  and the seatbacks  16  in a vertical stowed position. The seatbacks  16  and  16   a  have a range of motion as indicated by the arrow A perpendicular to a range of motion of seatbases  14  and  14   a  as shown in FIG. 2. The seatbases  14  and  14   a  are supported by the movable T-bar  18 . To provide space for a wheelchair  24  or other such article, the seatbacks  16  and  16   a  are folded over to their folded position closely adjacent to the seatbases  14  and  14   a  and the seatbases  14  and  14   a  as shown in FIG. 2A. Thereafter the seatbases  14  and  14   a  are raised to the vertically stowed position  28  as FIG. 2 illustrates.  
         [0022]    When the seat  10  is in its deployed position and one desires to put it in its stowed position, the deployed locking mechanism  54  is pressed and the seat  10  can be raised to the stowed position. When the deployed locking mechanism  54  is pressed the movable T-bar  18  begins to slide along the channels  62  and  62   a  into the stowed locking mechanism  52 . Once the movable T-bar  18  has made contact with the stowed locking mechanism  52 , the stowed locking mechanism  52  is opened so that the movable T-bar  18  slides into place in the stowed receiving chamber  44  and held firmly into place by the adjustable screw  46 . The adjustable screw  46  allows for adjustments to be made so as to hold the seat  10  firmly into place with minimal vibration. Once in the stowed position, the seat  10  can be further secured by a safety lock  63  rotated to a perpendicular position across the movable T-bar  18 .  
         [0023]    To move the seat  10  from its stowed position to its deployed position, the safety lock  63  must be rotably removed from across the movable T-bar  18 . The stowed locking mechanism  52  must be pulled downward so as to release the movable T-bar  18  to allow it to move along the channels  62  and  62   a . The movable T-bar  18  will slide along the channels  62  and  62   a  until it is brought into contact with the deployed locking mechanism  54 . Once the movable T-bar  18  has made contact with the deployed locking mechanism  54 , the deployed locking mechanism  54  is opened so that the movable T-bar  18  slides into place in the deployed receiving chamber  45  and held firmly into place by the adjustable screw  46 . The adjustable screw  46  allows for adjustments to be made so as to hold the seat  10  firmly into place with minimal vibration.  
         [0024]    The frame  12  is provided as illustrated in FIG. 1 to mount the stowable seat  10  to a support member  20  that can rest on the floor (not shown) of a vehicle as shown in FIG. 1. To mount the stowable seat  10  to a support member (not illustrated) such as the floor of a vehicle, the frame  12  is provided as illustrated in FIG. 1.  
         [0025]    As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the frame  12  includes a plate  30  preferably constructed of steel. Plate  30  is provided with bolt holes  32  for bolting to the floor of another support member (not illustrated). The plate  30  is offset from the center of the seatbases  14  and  14   a  as illustrated in FIG. 1 to provide space for the passengers&#39; feet. The seatbases  14  and  14   a  are shown as generally rectangular, and having inner support frames  36  and  36   a  as seen in as FIGS. 1 and 2.  
         [0026]    To provide the seatbases  14  with a range of motion from a horizontal deployed position  20  to the vertically stowed position  28  as FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate, the inner seat frame  36  is rotatively associated with the frame  12  by an axis  42  as FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate.  
         [0027]    The center strut  38  as illustrated in FIG. 5A supports the seatbacks  16  and  16   a  in the folded and unfolded positions. A center bearing  40  runs through the center strut  38  allowing the seat to rotate between the folded and unfolded positions. Encasing the center bearing  40  are sleeves  50  and  50   a  as illustrated in FIG. 5 and  5 A. Each sleeve  50  and  50   a  attaches to the seatback frames  60  and  60   a  on one end with the opposite end coming into close proximity with either side of the center strut  38 . The seatback frames  60  and  60   a  are connected by welded metal bands  58  and  58   a  as illustrated in FIG. 5.  
         [0028]    The above has been offered for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention of this application, which is defined in the claims below.