GB2241883A - Seating - Google Patents

Abstract

A seating arrangement comprises a bank of seats 2 disposed in rows. The seats 2 are arranged in seating units 4, supported on base members. Each base member has a socket portion 26, comprising two sockets 28 disposed side-by- side. The seating units 4 have spigots 18, which are received in the sockets 28. The spigots of adjacent seating units are received in the respective sockets 28 of a common socket portion 26. The base members may have more than one socket portion 26, and so may span more than one row of seats 2. At the end of a row the unused second socket may be used for securing accessories (figure 6). <IMAGE>

Description

SEATING This invention relates to seating, and is particularly, although not exclusively, concerned with seating for auditoriums, and specifically with auditorium or arena seating for deployment on flat, level floors.

In the past, buildings such as cinemas, theatres, concert halls, arenas and other areas of public entertainment have been provided with seating which is permanently fixed to the floor. However, more recently there has been a tendency for such buildings to serve more than one purpose. For example, a building for public entertainment may be required on one occasion to serve as a sports hall, and on another occasion to serve as a concert hall or theatre. Similarly, seating arrangements in concert halls, theatres or arenas may need to be adaptable to suit the reguirements of a particular production being staged.

Tiered seating systems have been devised which, when not in use, can be folded or otherwise collapsed against a wall of the building in which they are situated, thus freeing the floor area for other purposes. However, there has, so far, been no satisfactory solution to the problem of deploying removable or adjustable seating on a flat floor, i.e.

where the seats themselves are not tiered.

Seating for an audience in a public building or arena must comply with statutory regulations. These regulations are principally intended to ensure that the building or arena can be evacuated rapidly in the event of an emergency. Thus, there is a minimum spacing which must be observed between adjacent rows of seats, and provision must be made for preventing the rows of seats from moving relatively to one another in a way which would reduce the spacing between them below this minimum. Also, adjacent seats in a row must be secured together to ensure that they cannot move independently.

One way of meeting the statutory requirements is to secure the seats individually to the floor, but this is unsatisfactory. Firstly, deployment and clearance of the seats are very time consuming, and secondly it is not acceptable for the seats to be fastened to the floor if the condition of the floor is important, for example if it is to be used, on other occasions, as a dance floor or a playing surface for sports.

An alternative is for individual chairs to be linked together, in rows, with adjacent rows being interconnected by, for example, battens at floor level.

Again, however, it is very time consuming to deploy the chairs and to remove them.

According to the present invention there is provided a seating arrangement comprising a seating unit which is releasably fitted to a base member, the base member having a foot portion and an upstanding socket portion, the socket portion comprising two sockets disposed side-by-side, one of which receives a spigot provided on the seating unit.

The seating unit may comprise a plurality of separate seats, which may be arranged in a row; for example, each row may consist of three seats disposed side-by-side. The row of seats may have a spigot at each end. If, with this construction, the seats are tip-up seats, the space occupied by the support, released from the foot portion, can be very small with the seats tipped up.

The foot portion preferably extends laterally of the row of seats on the support so that the seating arrangement consisting of the seating unit and a base member at each end is self-supporting.

Preferably, the spigot is formed in a manner to simplify insertion of the spigot into the respective socket, and its subsequent removal.

In a preferred embodiment, the seating unit comprises a cross bar, on which the seats are mounted, and a spigot projecting downwardly at each end of the cross bar.

The provision of two sockets at each socket portion enables a single base member to accept two of the seating units adjacent one another. The base member may also be adapted to receive more than one seating unit at spaced apart positions. Thus, the foot portion of the base member may be elongate, and may be provided with a plurality of socket portions disposed along its length.

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a seating arrangement; Figure 2 shows the seating arrangement of Figure 1 in a disassembled condition; Figures 3A to 3D are fragmentary views of part of the seating arrangement during different stages of assembly 4 Figure 4 shows a seating arrangement comprising three rows of three seats each; Figure 5 is a detailed view of part of a seating arrangement; and Figure 6 is a fragmentary view showing the end of a row of seats.

Figures 1 and 2 show a seating arrangement comprising three seats 2 forming a seating unit 4. At each end, the unit 4 is provided with base members 6.

As shown in Figure 2, the base members 6 are detachable from the unit 4.

The seating unit 4 comprises a cross bar 8 which is provided at each end with an upwardly directed pillar 10. Two intermediate pillars 12 are provided at regular intervals along the cross bar 8. The pillars 10, 12 are formed from steel tube of rectangular crosssetion, and their upper ends are closed by caps 13.

Back rests 14 are secured between adjacent ones of the pillars 10 and 12, and pivotable seat bases 16 are mounted in front of the back rests 14. The seat bases 16 are spring-loaded into the upper position as shown in Figure 2, but can be lowered for use, as is the left-hand seat as viewed in Figure 1.

A spigot 18 projects downwardly from the lower end of each end pillar 10.

Each base member 6 comprises an elongate foot portion 20 made up of two flat bars 22 with cambered upper surfaces. Each bar 22 has an upwardly directed attachment portion which is welded to a socket portion 24 of the base member 6. The socket portion 26 comprises two sockets 28, each consisting of a length of rectangular cross-section steel tube. The sockets 28 are disposed side-by-side, and either of them will accept one of the spigots 18 on the seating unit 4. In Figure 1, the spigots 18 are fitted into the outermost sockets 28 of the two base members 6, the innermost socket 28 abutting the lower face of the cross bar 8.

It will be appreciated that the arrangement shown in Figure 1 is self-supporting and provides a rigid, but readily dismantled, seating assembly.

Figures 3A to 3D show how each spigot 18 cooperates with its socket 28. It will be appreciated from Figures 3A to 3D that the spigot 18 includes an attachment portion 30 which is permanently fixed within the respective end pillar 10. Between the attachment portion 30 and the operative part of the spigot 18, there is a flange 32, which defines the depth of insertion of the attachment portion 30 into the end pillar 10.

The operative portion of the spigot 18 has parallel side faces 34 which are interconnected by front and rear faces 36 and 38. The front face 36 has upper and lower surfaces 40 and 42 which are parallel to the lengthwise axis of the end pillar 10. The surfaces 40 and 42 are interconnected by a recess 44 of shallow V configuration. The rear face 38 has an upper surface 46 which is parallel to the lengthwise axis of the end pillar 10, and an oblique surface 48 which is inclined downwardly and towards the front face 36. The spigot 18 terminates at a flat end face 50.

The configuration of the spigot 18 enables it to be inserted into and withdrawn from its socket 28 with a significantly reduced risk of jamming in the intermediate positions shown in Figures 3B and 3C. As shown in Figure 3B, the spigot is introduced into the socket 28 with the pillar 10 (and therefore the entire seating unit 4) tilted forwardly. As the spigot 18 is inserted further, cooperation between the top edge of the socket 28 and the recess 44 causes the pillar 10 to be brought closer to the vertical until, as shown in Figure 3D, the pillar 10 becomes coaxial with the socket 28 In this condition, the surfaces 40, 42 and 46 tightly contact the inner surfaces of the socket 28, holding the end pillar 10 tightly with respect to the base member 6.To separate the seating unit 4 from the base member 6, it is necessary only to move the two apart, perhaps by tapping the base member 6 lightly with a hammer, until the upper surface 40 clears the top edge of the socket 28, whereafter the two components will move easily apart.

Figure 4 shows three seating units 4, identical to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, fitted to two modified base members 52 which are common to each of the units 4. In this embodiment, the base members 52 each have three socket portions 26, of which the outer socket 28 in each case receives the spigot 18 of the respective support 4. As with the embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 2, the base members 52 comprise foot portions formed from sections 54 of flat metal bar, welded to the socket portions 26. It will be appreciated that base members of the same form as the base members 52 can be provided of any suitable length, and with any desired number of socket portions 26.

The seating units 4 shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4 comprise three seats disposed side-by-side. If rows longer than three seats are required, then the required number of units 4 can be fitted together end-to-end, using the base members 52, in the manner shown in Figure 5. Thus, the spigots 18 at the lower ends of the end pillars 10 of each unit 4 are fitted into the respective sockets 28 of the same socket portion 26 of the base member 52.

It will be appreciated that, if seating units are interconnected in this way, there will be base members 52 not only at the ends of the rows of seats, but also within the body of the seating block thus assembled.

In order to ensure that all of the seating units in the block are linked together, the base members 52 may be staggered with respect to one another. In other words, the base members 52 at the ends of the block may interconnect rows 1 to 3, 4 to 6, 7 to 9 and so on. If the base members 52 within the block of seats also interconnected the same rows of seats, then there would be no interconnection between rows 3 and 4, rows 6 and 7, rows 9 and 10, and so on. However, the base members 52 within the block of seats may interconnect, for example, rows 2 to 4, 5 to 7 and so on, and 3 to 5, 6 to 8 and so on.

Figure 6 shows the end of a row of seats. In the configuration shown in Figure 6, the spigot at the lower end of the pillar 10 is fitted into the inner socket 28 of the base member 52, rather than the outer socket as shown in Figures 1 and 4. The outer socket 28 is then used to receive an indicating element 54 for identifying the row of seats.

It will be appreciated that the seating arrangement shown in the Figures is highly adaptable, and can be used to provide a variety of seating plans, ranging from a single unit of three seats, as shown in Figure 1, to a block of several hundred interlinked seats. The use of base members having relatively flat foot portions 22 means that, with the seat bases 16 tipped up as shown in Figure 2, the seating units themselves offer very little obstruction to people walking past them, or between adjacent rows.

Furthermore, when the seating units 4 are separated from the base members, they can be packed closely, for example in stillages, in a manner requiring very little storage space. Because each seating unit 4 comprises more than one seat 2, deployment and clearance of the seating can be performed quickly, with one person able to deal with three seats at a time, rather than with only one chair as in the case of known systems.

The structure of the spigot 18 provides a secure and rigid fixing with the base member 6 when the spigot 18 is driven fully home into its socket 28. Thus, there is little danger of the two components becoming accidentally separated. Also, it is not immediately apparent to the casual onlooker that the seating units are separable from the base members 6, as a result of the flush connection between the end pillars 10 and their sockets 28. Consequently, any temptation for the seats to be vandalised is minimised.

A further advantage is that a seating arrangement built up from the seating units 4 will have fewer legs than one built up from individual chairs. For example, a row of eighteen seats 2, i.e. six seating units 4, will have only seven legs (constituted by the socket portions 26), whereas a row of eighteen chairs will have seventy two legs. Thus, an arrangement in accordance with the present invention leaves easily accessible open areas underneath the seats, which makes cleaning and security inspections much simpler.

FUrthermore, the reduced number of legs, and the fact that they extend vertically beneath the seat back rests 14, leaves an unobstructed pathway between rows of seats. This is of great benefit when evacuating the premises, especially in an emergency.

As mentioned with reference to Figure 6, the use of two sockets 28 on each socket portion of the base members 6 and 52 provides the opportunity of securing accessories, such as the indicator element 54 at the ends of rows of seats. For example, lighting systems or signage systems can be fitted to an unoccupied socket 28.

Claims (15)

1. A seating arrangement comprising a seating unit which is releasably fitted to a base member, the base member having a foot portion and an upstanding socket portion, the socket portion comprising two sockets disposed side-by-side, one of which receives a spigot provided on the seating unit.

2. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 1, in which the seating unit comprises a plurality of separate seats.

3. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 2, in which the seats are tip-up seats.

4. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which the seats of the seating unit are arranged in a row.

5. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 4, in which each row consists of three seats disposed side-by-side.

6. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 4 to 5, in which the row of seats has a spigot at each end.

7. A seating arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6, in which the foot portion extends laterally of the row of seats on the support.

8. A seating arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 7, in which the seating unit comprises a cross bar, on which the seats are mounted, and a spigot projecting downwardly at each end of the cross bar.

9. A seating arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the sockets at the socket portion of the base member receive spigots of two seating units disposed adjacent one another.

10. A seating arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the base member is adapted to receive more than one seating unit at spaced apart positions.

11. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 10, in which the foot portion of the base member is elongate, and is provided with a plurality of socket portions disposed along its length.

12. A seating arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, which comprises a bank of seats disposed in rows, each row comprising a plurality of seating units disposed side-by-side with the adjacent spigots of adjacent seating units received in the sockets of a common socket portion of a base member, each base member having at least three socket portions, the sockets of which receive spigots of seating units in different rows.

13. A seating arrangement as claimed in claim 12, in which there is at least four rows of seats, the base members being staggered relatively to each other so that adjacent base members along one row of seating units are at different fore-and-aft positions with respect to that row.

14. A seating arrangement substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

15. A kit of parts, comprising base members and seating units, for assembly into a seating arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.