Pivot bracket and convertible seat

Details Pivot bracket and convertible seat Pivot bracket and convertible seat

1999-06-30

2001-07-10

Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3624)

Chairs and seats

Movable back

C248S291100, C297S374000, C297S376000, C297S357000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06257667

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a unique pivot bracket for a convertible boat lounge seat and for a combination of that seat with the bracket.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In small runabout boats and even larger cruisers, it is desirable to have a boat seat with a movable back. The movable back can be placed in a forward facing seating position over the horizontal seat or swung forward to place the back in a rearward facing seating position. It is often desirable to have the back move to one end of the horizontal seat and lay horizontal and aligned with the upper surface of the horizontal seat to convert the seat into a lounge suitable for laying on the lounge for sunbathing or simply resting.
Various techniques have been developed for making a seat convertible into a reclining or lounge seat position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,479 shows a convertible seat arrangement where the back of the seat can be placed into the horizontal or lounge position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,350 shows a pivot support mechanism for a folding bench, again in which the back of the seat can be placed into the horizontal or lounge position.
However, for convertible lounge seats in boats it is desirable first, that the back of the seat be easily adjusted and not too heavy or difficult to move for the average boater and, in particular, women. This requires that the mechanism for supporting the seat and allowing it to move not be so restrictive as to require excessive force to move the seat into its various positions. Second, it is desirable that the mechanism for supporting and allowing the back of the seat to move not be exposed with sharp edges, large nuts and bolts, or other sharp objects that may come into contact with the user of the seat. This is particularly important in convertible boat lounge seats since passengers on a boat are sometime in unstable positions when the boat is rolling or in waves causing them to brush against or fall against the ends of the seats. Thirdly, it is a desirable feature that the mechanism for supporting and allowing the back of the seat to move not be too costly so as to make it an undesirable feature to have to build into a boat.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, a unique pivot bracket is provided of the type suitable for supporting the back of a seat such that it can be movable into a forward facing position, a rearward facing position, and an upward facing lounge position with the bracket being relatively inexpensive and providing good ease of movement of the back of the seat and good support structure without being costly to assemble or attach to the seat structure.
It is another feature of this invention to use this unique pivotal bracket in combination with the horizontal seat and the movable back such that the movable back is moved into its three operating positions but without the bracket being exposed at the outer surfaces of the seat where it would come in contact with passengers or operators of a boat.
The bracket preferably includes a back plate having fastening members for attaching it to the support structure for the seat, an elongated vertical slot in the back plate, members spaced fore and aft on the back plate to support and limit the motion of a metallic bow on which the back of the seat is mounted. The slot enables the bow to pivotally attach to the bracket so that the bow with the back of the seat attached can swing forward and rearward relative to the horizontal seat to be in respective, rearward and forward facing positions. The slot also allows the bow to be raised up to the top of the slot allowing the bow to then be pivoted into a horizontal position so that the back of the seat can be moved downwardly facing up and in the same horizontal plane as the horizontal upper surface of the seat.
The second feature of the invention is to provide this bracket in combination with a convertible boat seat, the boat seat having a horizontal seat with a forward end and a rearward end and having an upper surface with left and right side edges, with the horizontal seat mounted on a frame or supports attached to the boat. A back having a forward surface and a rear surface is pivotally attached to a pivot bracket which allows the bow of the back to be pivoted forward for a rear facing seating position, pivoted rearward for a forward facing seating position and movable upwardly and rearwardly and then swung down to an upward facing position with the surface of the back of the seat horizontal with and aligned with the upper surface of the horizontal seat. The pivot bracket includes an elongated vertical slot which allows the ends of the bow to not only pivot in the bracket but to be slid vertically upward when the rear seat is swung into the lounge seat position. Two brackets are mounted transversely inward under the horizontal seat cushions so that the bow ends ride in bow receiving slots in the horizontal seat. In this manner the bracket is not exposed to the exterior of the seat so that none of its metallic, sharp or protruding surfaces can be engaged by an operator or passenger in the boat.


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