Chairs and seats – With holder or receptacle for disparate article – Directly under occupant seating portion
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-17
2002-11-12
Nelson, Jr., Milton (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
With holder or receptacle for disparate article
Directly under occupant seating portion
C297S188120, C297S188200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06478371
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of concessions holder affixed to permanently attached seating commonly found in large capacity entertainment facilities such as stadiums, amphitheaters, sports arenas, ball parks and theaters to provide a platform for holding a patron's food and drink that can be stowed under the seating when not in use.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to seating such as chairs or benches that are commonly found in stadiums and theaters. This seating is generally found to be permanently mounted in the entertainment facility in descending rows to facilitate the organized seating of large crowds that patronize such establishments.
The stadium chair-type seating typically comprises of an individual seat with or without a back rest and a seat support which affixes the stadium chair-type seating to the structure of the facility. The stadium chair-type seating may be of a folding type in which the seat is pivotally attached to either the back rest or the seat support. This arrangement permits the seat to be lifted manually or automatically when not in use into an upright position thereby permitting ease of movement among the patronage and cleaning crews.
The bench type seating, as its names applies, is usually a fixed bench, with or without back support and can accommodate several individuals at once.
In accordance with the recent emphasis on accommodations for concessions in these facilities, the stadium seating now feature a cupholder or other type of concessions or accessory holder. These holders come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and may be affixed to the seating by a number of different means.
Frequently, and especially in older facilities that were designed before concessions were so emphasized, concessions holders, if any, were many times located in an awkward positions. This poor positioning can produce a multitude of negative effects.
Problems resulted because the placement of these holders obstructed the already narrow lanes of passage in the aisles between the seat rows. These holders have been known to cause and can cause patron injury when patrons move among the row of seating. Tripping accidents occurred when patrons walking past the seats would hit the area of their legs between the ankle and mid-calf on holders that were located lower down on the seating near the support stanchion of the seating.
In more modern stadiums, an alternative mounting of concessions holders integrates the holder into the arm rests of the chairs. However such designs often interfere with patronage movement among the seats and can prove to be very restrictive to patrons' movements when patrons are seated. In addition, this style concessions holder may be particularly intrusive and very uncomfortable for larger or heavier patrons. Finally, this style of fixed concessions holders tends to limits the size and shape of the cups that can be held.
Beyond risk of potential injury to patrons posed by these types of immovable concession holders, the holders' exposed position subjects the holders themselves to damage whether intentional or accidental. This damage results in additional costs for having a maintenance crew to remove and then replace the damaged holder.
At present, commonly used concessions holders are non-moveable and permanently affixed to the stadium seating. Consequently, these permanently affixed concessions holders can not be moved to stowed position out of the way of the patrons using the seating or walking through the seating rows. In addition, while some of these concessions holders may have advertising printed on them, their permanency generally precludes frequent changing of displayed advertising information to match present or upcoming venues on changes in sponsorship.
The prior art has have attempted to solve some of the aforementioned problems but none have successfully addressed all of these problems.
One prior art invention addresses use of portable concessions holders for use with stadium seating, U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,652, Ward. Ward discloses a portable seat with attached cupholder for use in stadiums with bench type seating. Ward permits stadium patrons to carry into the facility their own seat and backrest which is then placed onto the top of benches thereby allowing the patron to rest their backs during a performance. The Ward patent further teaches a cup holder consisting of a tray and a circular opening is be slid out from underneath the seat. The device can not be used in stadiums featuring chair style seating and is restrictive in the types of cups and concessions that it can accommodate.
Two patents U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,683, Bennett, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,210,347, Story, address removable storage devices that can be slidingly stowed underneath the seat. Bennett ‘638’, discloses a shallow box-like compartment that is non-permanently mounted underneath a airliner passenger seat and slides forward to clear the seat. This sliding compartment is used for the holding of life saving equipment and is not used as a tray or concessions holder. Further, the invention does not display any advertisement.
Similarly, Story, ‘347’, discloses a tool box that is slidingly and non-permanently mounted underneath the operator's seat of farm machinery. This invention addresses under seat storage rather than a holder for concessions or a replaceable medium for advertising.
The above described art does not fully address the need for a stowable concessions holder for stadium seating that can be used as a replaceable medium for advertisement.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention relates to a stowable and removabley affixed concessions holder for stadium seating that comprises of a concessions container, a mounting bracket that holds the concessions container, and a seat attachment portion which allows the concessions container to be movably stowed underneath the seat. The concessions container is reversibly attached to the mounting bracket so as to allow easy replacement of the concessions container. The mounting bracket is movably affixed to the seat attachment portion which itself is permanently attached to the underside of the seating. This allows the presentation of the concessions container in an operating position in front of the seat between the legs of the patron. When not is use, the patron can then move the concessions container and mounting bracket along the length of the seat attachment portion to the stowage position underneath the seating.
The concessions container is constructed so that its interior can accommodate a wide variety of concessions, entertainment programs, product samples, brochures or the alike. The container portion's exterior could contain advertising information and sponsor information as well as be made in various novelty shapes and forms limited only by the requirements for holding capacity, attachment and stowage capability. In this manner, a concessions container could be readily exchanged with a new concessions container presenting new information about an advertising sponsor or about up coming events or it could be taken by the patron as an souvenir from the event watched by the patron.
The primary object of this invention is to provide a stowable and removable concession holder for stadium seating that can be a platform for advertising as well as being easily manufactured at low cost and easily installed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a stowable and removable concessions holder for stadium seating that can be inexpensively, and quickly mass produced.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a stowable and removable concessions holder for stadium seating that can be quickly and easily be affixed to stadium seating.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a concessions holder that can be stowed out of the way of the patron that is using the seat or that is walking past the front of the seat.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a concessions holder that can
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