WO1998049924A1

WO1998049924A1 - A seating system

Info

Publication number: WO1998049924A1
Application number: PCT/AU1998/000317
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sheldon King
Original assignee: Sebel Furniture Limited
Priority date: 1997-05-02
Filing date: 1998-05-01
Publication date: 1998-11-12
Also published as: AUPO658097A0

Abstract

A seating system (20) comprising at least one substantially horizontally extending support rail (22) each of which is curved in the row direction, a plurality of seats (24) adapted to be disposed side by side along the or each support rail (22) and attachment means to attach said seats to the or each support rail (22). A stadium seating arrangement comprised of a plurality of the seating structures is also disclosed.

Description

A SEATING SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a seating system and, in particular, to a seating system in which a plurality of individual seats are attached to, and supported by, a common support structure.

The invention has been developed primarily for use in installing seats in large stadia, auditoria and the like, and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A known form of stadium seating takes the form of a series of horizontally extending straight support rails or splines, normally of circular cross-section, to which are attached a plurality of seats, in side by side configuration. The support rails are generally about 50 to 70mm in diameter and are supported above ground level by a series of spaced apart floor-mounted pedestals or wall-mounted cantilever brackets.

A disadvantage of this known arrangement is that it is difficult to fit the straight support rails to suit the curve of a stadium, auditorium or amphitheatre. Accordingly, curved seating arrangements must be approximated by a series of straight sections of rail angled with respect to one another. This is equivalent to a number of chords attempting to fit a curve and does not utilise available space efficiently and is unsightly to the eye. In particular, at each place where adjacent support rails end abut at an angle, a possible seat position can be lost and the continuity of the row is interrupted.

It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or, at least, ameliorate the problems caused by the adjacent support rails end abutting at a small angle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention discloses a seating system comprising at least one substantially horizontally extending support rail each of which is curved in the row direction; a plurality of seats adapted to be disposed side by side along the or each support rail; and attachment means to attach said seats to the or each support rail.

Preferably, two substantially parallel support rails are used and each rail has an elongate cross-section with the longer axis thereof disposed substantially vertically to assist in the bending necessary to fabricate the curved support rails. The rails are desirably adapted to bend in an arcuate shape with a substantially constant radial spacing therebetween.

In one embodiment, the rails are supported above the floor (tread) by a series of spaced apart floor-mounted pedestals. In another embodiment, the rails are supported above the floor by a series of spaced apart wall (riser)-mounted cantilever bracket.

The seats each preferably include a pair concave recesses adapted to receive the upper edge of said rails.

Desirably, each adjacent recess in the recess pairs are substantially parallel and longitudinally curved.

The cross section of the support rail preferably takes the form of an upper and lower substantially hemispherical portion with a rectangular portion therebetween of equal width to the hemispherical portions.

Preferably, each of the seats includes a back rest and a seat portion pivotal between a raised, substantially vertical, storage position and a lowered, substantially horizontal, seating position. The lowermost portion of the seat back rest is preferably attached to the rails.

In a second aspect, the present invention discloses a stadium seating arrangement comprised of a plurality of the seating systems of the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of four rows of an embodiment of a seating system;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a single seat from the embodiment of Fig. 1 with the seat portion in the raised position;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the seat shown in Fig. 2 with the seat portion in the lowered position;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the seat of Fig. 2 with the seat portion in the raised position; Fig. 5 is a top view of the seat of Fig. 2 with the seat portion in the lowered position;

Fig. 6 is a top view of the seat of Fig. 2 with the seat portion in the raised position;

Fig. 7 is a rear view of the seat of Fig. 2 with the seat portion in the lowered position;

Fig. 8 is a rear view of the seat of Fig. 2 with the seat position in the raised position; Fig. 9 is a left hand side view of the seat of Fig. 1 supported by a floor mounted pedestal and with the seat portion in the lowered position, the right hand side view is a mirror image of the left hand side view; and

Fig. 10 is a left hand side view of the seat of Fig. 1 supported by a wall mounted cantilever bracket and with the seat portion in the raised position, the right hand side view is a mirror image of the left hand side view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1 is a top view of the four rows of an embodiment of a seating system 20. The seating system 20 takes the form of a pair of substantially horizontally extending support rails 22 each of which is curved in the row direction and a plurality of seats 24 disposed side by side along the support rails 22 which are each located by an attachment means, in the form of a clamping assembly.

Fig. 2 shows one of the seats 24 which is clamped to each of the rails 22. The seat 24 can be mounted on a variety of different types of curved rail or rails. For example, a single curved round support rail can be used. The pair of elongate rails 22, however, are particularly advantageous for this use as, for example, the elongate rails 22 have a relatively low moment of inertia about their longer (vertical) central axis LL making the elongate rails relatively easy to curve or bend in the row direction. Also, the elongate rails 22 have a relatively high moment of inertia about their shorter (horizontal) central axis SS which provides a very stiff and strong support in the vertical direction to withstand the load of the seats 24 themselves and the person they each support. Further, by using a pair of parallel spaced apart rails 22, the upper edges 26 of the rails 22 provide, in effect, a horizontal base upon which the seat 24 can be attached by a simple clamping assembly. By clamping the seat 24 to each of the upper edges 26 rotation of the seat 24 about the rails 22 is resisted. The seat 24 also effectively links the rails 22 together upon clamping to thereby increase the torsional rigidity of the seat and rail assembly.

The seat 24 takes the form of a back rest 30 having left and right side support arms 32 and a seat portion 34 pivotal between a raised, substantially vertical, storage position, as shown in Fig. 2, and a substantially horizontal, lowered, use position, as shown in Fig. 3. The inner edge 35 of the sides 32 each include a recessed bore (not shown) which receives a stub shaft (not shown) extending outwardly from outer edge 36 of the rear end 37 of the seat portion 34 to provide for the pivotal movement described above. The sides 32 each extend into two side portions 33. The bottom edge 38 of each of the side portions 33 include a pair of substantially parallel longitudinally curved concave recesses 40 adapted to receive the upper edge 26 of the rails 22. Beneath each of the side portions 33 there is also provided a similarly recessed lower clamping member 42.

A bolt (not shown), or other fastener, passes between the bottom 38 of the side portions 33 and the lower clamping member 42 to thereby clamp the seats 24 to the rails 22.

Figs. 3 to 9 show an embodiment in which the rails 22 are supported above the floor (tread), indicated by line 44, by a series of spaced apart floor mounted pedestals 46. The top of the pedestals include a recessed clamping formation 47 similar to that described with respect to the bottom 38 of the seat 24, but with an upper pedestal clamping member 49 above the recessed formation 47. A bolt, or other fastener, is similarly used to clamp the pedestal 46 to the rails 22.

As best shown in Fig. 3, the end of the rail 22 can be provided with an end cap 48 providing an indication of row number or the like. The end cap 48 can be illuminated. Fig. 10 shows a variation of the seating system 20 in which wall (riser) mounted cantilever brackets 60 support the seats 24 above the floor (tread). The cantilever brackets 60 are regularly spaced along the rails in a similar manner as that previously described for the floor mounted pedestals 46.

The seating system 20 is generally installed using six meter lengths of rails 22 which are attached end to end using a joining tongue (not shown) sized to fit snugly within the interior recess 50 of adjacent rails 22. The seats 24 are generally provided in blocks of 26 seats between isles. The seats 24 are generally spaced at 500mm centers.

The main advantage of the seating system 20 is the efficient use of space provided by the curved rows of seats. The curved rows are also more pleasing to the eye than a series of angled straight sections. In the embodiment shown, the rails 22 can be curved down to a minimum radius of approximately 8m.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the invention may be embodied in many other forms

Claims

^Γûá > 1. A seating system comprising at least one substantially horizontally extending support rail each of which is curved in the row direction; a plurality of seats adapted to be disposed side by side along the or each support rail; and attachment means to attach said seats to the or each support rail.

2. A seating system as claimed in claim 1, wherein two substantially parallel support rails are used and each rail has an elongate cross-section with the longer axis thereof disposed substantially vertically.

3. A seating system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the rails are adapted to bend in an arcuate shape with a substantially constant radial spacing therebetween.

4. A seating system as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the rails are supported above the floor (tread) by a series of spaced apart floor-mounted pedestals.

5. A seating system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the pedestals each include a pair of concave recesses adapted to receive a lower edge of the rails.

6. A seating system as claimed in claim 5, including an upper clamping member for each of the pedestals, the upper clamping members each having a pair of concave recesses adapted to receive an upper edge of the rails and fixable to the pedestals to clamp the rails between the pedestals and the upper clamping members.

7. A seating system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the upper clamping members are fixable to the pedestals by bolting.

8. A seating system as claimed in claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the rails are supported above the floor by a series of spaced apart wall (riser)-mounted cantilever brackets.

9. A seating system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the brackets each include a pair of concave recesses adapted to receive a lower edge of the rails.

10. A seating system as claimed in claim 9, including an upper clamping member for each of the brackets, the upper clamping members each having a pair of concave recesses adapted to receive an upper edge of the rails and fixable to the brackets to clamp the rails between the brackets and the upper clamping members.

11. A seating system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the upper clamping members are fixable to the brackets by bolting.

12. A seating system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the seats each include at least one pair of concave recesses adapted to receive an/the upper edge of the rails.

13. A seating system as claimed in claim 12, including at least one lower clamping member for each of the seats, the lower clamping member(s) having a pair of concave recesses adapted to receive the lower edge of the rails and fixable to the seats to clamp the rails between the seats and the lower clamping member(s).

14. A seating system as claimed in claim 13, wherein each of the seats includes a pair of side portions each having the pairs of the recesses and each fixable to a respective lower clamping member.

15. A seating system as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the clamping members are fixable to the seats by bolting.

16. A seating system as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein each adjacent recess in each of the pairs of recesses are substantially parallel and longitudinally curved.

17. A seating system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cross section of the support rail takes the form of an upper and lower substantially hemispherical portions with a rectangular portion therebetween of equal width to the hemispherical portions.

18. A seating system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the seats includes a back rest and a seat portion pivotal between a raised, substantially vertical, storage position and a lowered, substantially horizontal, seating position.

19. A seating system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the lowermost portion of the seat back rest is attached to the rails.

20. A seating system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rails are attached end to end by a joining tongue snugly received in the rail end interiors.

21. A seating system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the rails are manufactured in approximately 6 meter lengths.

22. A stadium seating arrangement comprised of a plurality of the seating systems according to any one of the preceding claims.