GB2352622A - Vehicle seat - Google Patents

Abstract

A seat for use in multi occupancy land vehicles comprises a seat portion and a back portion and having a spine member extending centrally with regard to the seat portion and the back portion and a support member, defining substantially the overall dimensions of the seat, supported by the spine portion on which is located a seating surface.

Description

2352622

Title: Seat Description of Invention

The invention relates to a seat for use in a multi occupancy land vehicle, and in particular, although not exclusively, to a seat for the kind of vehicles generally known as minibuses and coaches.

The seat herein described is not appropriate for use in ordinary motor cars, and the term multi occupancy land vehicle used in this specification is not intended to encompass such motor cars. It is intended to encompass minibuses, coaches and other larger multi occupancy land vehicles such as trains and trams.

Many forms of seat for such multi occupancy land vehicles are known in the prior art. Sometimes such seats are readily removable from the vehicle in order that the vehicle can have it's seating configuration changed for different uses, and/or to enable wheel chairs to be clamped in place instead of seats when necessary.

Commonly prior art seats are formed with a peripheral frame which extends around the periphery of the seat portion and back portion, and to which a number of cross members are attached for strengthening purposes, or to enable the legs and other additional components to be attached. The seating surfaces, such as seat squabs, are then attached to the peripheral frame to complete the seat. This approach suffers from a significant disadvantage when seats of different widths are desired as virtually all the components have to be manufactured specifically for each seat width. Clearly this has undesirable cost implications for the production of seats of different widths.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new form of vehicle seat for use in multi occupancy land vehicles which mitigates the above described problem.

2 According to the invention there is provided a seat for use in multi occupancy land vehicles comprising a seat portion and a back portion and having a spine member extending centrally with regard to the seat portion and the back portion and a support member, defining substantially the overall dimensions of the seat, supported by the spine portion on which is located a seating surface.

The invention provides the advantage that seats of different width may be manufactured with the minimum of different components.

The spine member may comprise a seat element extending at least part way towards the front of the support member, and a back element extending at least part way up the height of the support member.

Conveniently the seat further comprises at least one cross member secured to the spine member, oriented substantially perpendicular thereto and extending substantially across the width of the shell member, at least one leg being attached to the cross member in use. In some embodiments two cross members may be attached to the spine member.

Typically the seating surface comprises a trimmed seat cushion and squab.

Conveniently the spine member is formed of metal. It may comprise one or more metal pressings, or one or more metal castings, or one or more metal forgings, or one or more metal extrusions. The spine element may be made from steel or aluminium or magnesium alloy.

Alternatively the spine element may be formed from composites material. The composites material may conveniently include glass fibres and/or carbon fibres and/or kevlar and/or foam.

Preferably the seat comprises mounting means for a seat belt.

An embodiment of a seat according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE I is a schematic rear view of the seat, and 3 FIGURE 2 is a schematic side view of the seat of Figure 1.

Referring to the Figures a seat 10, in common with most seats, has a seat portion being the part on which a person sits, and a back portion being the part against which they lean their back. The seat 10 comprises a spine member 11 which in this embodiment conveniently has an upper element 12, which extends centrally at least partially up the back portion of the seat, and a lower element 13 which extends centrally at least part of the way towards the front of the seat portion of the seat. The upper and lower spine elements 12, 13 may be made up of steel pressings.

The seat 10 fiu-ther comprises forward and rearward cross members 14 and 15 which are located beneath the lower spine element 13 and which extend substantially perpendicular to the spine member 11 and have a length substantially equal to the width of the seat 10. The cross members 14, 15 are conveniently made from lengths of steel box section, and therefore can readily be produced at the length required for a particular seat width.

A support member 16, conveniently in the form of a shell made of rigid plastics material such as HDPE (high density polyethylene), is secured to the spine member I I by any appropriate means. The support member 16 defines the overall size of the seat and provides a platform for a seating surface (not shown) to be located on. The seating surface may generally take the form of a conventional trimmed seat cushion and squab, such as is well known in the prior art for such seats, and is typically made of foam with a cover of durable but attractive material.

The seat 10 further comprises a mounting means 17 located on one side of the upper spine element 12, for an inertia reel element 18 of a vehicle passenger restraining belt, commonly known as a "seat belt", and a mounting means 19, located on the same side of the rearward cross member 15,, for the other end of the webbing of the seat belt. Further a mounting means (not 4 shown) is provided on the other side of the cross member 15 for attachment of the socket element 20 of the seat belt.

The mounting means 17 may be provided on either side of the spine member I I as required for the particular use of the seat 10. Further, if required such mounting means may be provided on both sides of the spine member 11, either for attachment of a full harness seat belt, or in order to facilitate transfer of the seat belt from one side to the other.

A cover plate (not shown) is also provided, which in use is secured to the spine member 11, to cover the rear of the seat 10 and conceal the spine member 11, the mounting means 17 and the inertia reel 18. The cover plate may be made of any appropriate material(s) and is essentially included in the seat for cosmetic purposes to make the back of the seat 10 as attractive as possible.

A slit is provided in the seat trim for the webbing of the seat belt to pass through and be available for use.

The seat 10 is designed to comply with the relevant safety criteria currently required by law, such as defmed in Community Directives 76/115/EEC (as amended) and 96/37/EC. This includes all three of the mounting means for the seat belt, in combination with the rest of the seat 10, providing sufficiently strong support for the seat belt.

The seat 10 provides the advantage that it can be produced in different widths as required with the minimum of different components. It also provides a seat with clean and attractive lines and a generally smooth outer surface which is more acceptable in use than many prior art seats as there are fewer protuberances on which clothing etc. may catch or snag, and it provides better leg room for those sitting in the row behind.

The seat 10 may also be used to provide double or triple seats as are sometimes required. In such cases the cross members 14 and 15 simply extend across between the two or three seats 10 to link them together.

Although the description of the embodiment above refers to some specific materials any appropriate materials may be used for all components of the seat 10. For example, the spine member I I may be formed from pressings, of other metals such as aluminium. or it's alloys, or magnesium alloy, or it may be formed from steel tube or steel forgings, or from aluminium extrusions or honeycomb sandwich, or from castings of aluminium or magnesium alloy. Further alternatives are provided by modem composite materials such as those including glass or carbon fibres, kevlar or foam filled shells. As appropriate for the material(s) used the spine member I I may be made in one or more pieces.

In the present specification "comprise" means "includes or consists of' and "comprising" means "including or consisting of'.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (15)

6 CLAIMS

1. A seat for use in multi occupancy land vehicles comprising a seat portion and a back portion and having a spine member extending centrally with regard to the seat portion and the back portion and a support member, defining substantially the overall dimensions of the seat, supported by the spine portion on which is located a seating surface.

2. A seat according to claim I wherein the spine member comprises a seat element extending at least part way towards the front of the support member, and a back element extending at least part way up the height of the support member.

3. A seat according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the seat further comprises at least one cross member secured to the spine member, oriented substantially perpendicular thereto and extending substantially across the width of the support member, at least one leg being attached to the cross member in use.

4. A seat according to claim 3 wherein two cross members are attached to the spine member.

5. A seat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the support member comprises a shell formed of plastics material.

6. A seat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the seating surface comprises a trimmed seat cushion and squab.

7. A seat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the spine member is formed of metal.

7

8. A seat according to claim 7 wherein it comprises one or more metal pressings, or one or more metal castings, or one or more metal forgings, or one or more metal extrusions.

9. A seat according to claim 7 or 8 wherein the spine element is made from steel or aluminium or magnesium alloy.

10. A seat according to any one of claims I to 6 wherein the spine element is formed from composites material.

11. A seat according to claim 10 wherein the composites material includes glass fibres and/or carbon fibres and/or kevlar and/or foarn.

12. A seat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein it comprises mounting means for a seat belt.

13. A seat substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. A seat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

15. Any novel feature or novel combination of features described herein and/or in the accompanying drawings.