Patent ID: 6948777

Claim:
A seating system comprising: a chair having a support structure on which a seat is supported, said support structure including casters near a front end thereof and a back thereof adapted to be supported on a floor when said chair is in a use position, said back of said chair being liftable upwardly from said use position to a tilted position wherein said chair is supported on said casters and is repositionable by said casters rolling along said floor, said chair including a storage bay below said seat which is open on a bottom thereof toward said floor and is open on one side thereof to define an entrance to said storage bay; a mobile cart which fits within said storage bay and has casters wherein said cart is supported on said floor by said casters and is repositionable by said casters rolling along said floor, said cart having said casters at least on a front end thereof and said cart being insertable into said storage bay through said entrance; and a fastening device being provided within said storage bay which positively engages said cart with said chair when said cart is inserted within said storage bay in a docked position, said fastening device providing a connection between said chair and said cart such that said fastening device restrains forward movement of said cart within said storage bay and supports said back end of said cart vertically to tilt upwardly with said chair as said chair is lifted to said tilted position wherein said chair and said cart are supported on the respective front ends thereof by said respective casters disposed thereon, said cart being disengageable from said fastening device by manual pulling of said cart out of said storage bay, said fastening device comprising a resiliently deflectable bracket which projects into said storage bay, said bracket including an inclined front surface which is adapted to contact an edge of said cart and deflect said bracket downwardly upon movement of said cart into said storage bay toward said bracket.