Chairs and seats – Movable back – Tiltable
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-12
2002-11-05
Brown, Peter R. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Movable back
Tiltable
C297S094000, C297S335000, C297S354130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06474741
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a seat designed to pivot between a forward-facing position and a rear-facing position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known seats for vehicles such as vans, buses, trains are pivoted between forward-facing positions and rear-facing positions. Such seats are known from Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. HEI 11-5474 entitled “SEAT APPARATUS PIVOTABLE TO CHANGE DIRECTION IN WHICH PERSON SITTING THEREON FACES”.
FIG.
13
A and
FIG. 13B
hereof are side elevational views of a seat apparatus
100
disclosed in the publication.
As shown in
FIG. 13A
, the seat apparatus
100
is held in a forward-facing position where a person sits thereon facing forwardly. The seat apparatus
100
includes a base
101
, a seat cushion portion
105
, and a seat back portion
106
. The seat cushion portion
105
is laid while the seat back portion
106
is erected. The base
101
has a link arm
103
pivotally attached thereto. The link arm
103
is pivotable on a pivotal shaft
102
between a laid position and an erected position. The link arm
103
has its end portion mounted to the seat cushion portion
105
. The seat cushion portion
105
is pivotable on a pivot shaft
104
between a laid position and an erected position. The seat back portion
106
is attached to the base
101
in such a manner as to pivot on the pivotal shaft
102
between a laid position and an erected position. The seat back portion
106
has a headrest
107
detachably mounted thereto.
When the seat back portion
106
is backwardly pivoted to the laid position and the headrest
107
is detached from the seat back portion
106
, the seat apparatus
100
can be brought to a lying position. In this position, both the seat cushion portion
105
and the seat back portion
106
are substantially horizontally disposed.
Then, the link arm
103
is upwardly pivoted to thereby bring the seat cushion
105
to the erected position with the seat back portion
106
held in the laid position. The seat apparatus
100
can thus be in a rear-facing position, so that a person sits thereon facing rearwardly.
The seat apparatus
100
as shown in
FIG. 13A
can also be brought to an upright position in which the seat cushion portion
105
and the seat back portion
106
are in the erected positions. This can be done by turning the seat cushion portion
105
to the erected position with the seat back portion
106
held in the erected position. As can be seen from the foregoing, the seat apparatus
100
can be brought to any one of the aforementioned four positions: (1) the forward-facing position, (2) the lying position, (3) the rear-facing position, and (4) the upright position.
For known vehicle including such a seat apparatus, a back seat is typically provided. The back seat is positioned behind the seat apparatus. If the seat back portion
106
is designed to pivot forwardly to a horizontal position, a person sitting on the back seat will be able to use the thus horizontally disposed seat back portion
106
as a table.
For the seat apparatus
100
, however, a front lower part of the seat back portion
106
inevitably abuts on a rear upper part of the seat cushion portion
105
, as shown in
FIG. 13B
, when the seat back portion
106
is forwardly turned or pivoted on the shaft
102
. With the front lower part abutted on the rear upper part, the seat back portion
106
can not pivot further forwardly. Consequently, the seat back portion
106
thus arranged can not serve as a table.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a seat including a seat cushion pivotable between a laid position and an erected position, and a seat back pivotable between a laid position and an erected position, such that the seat not only can be in any one of a forward-facing position, a lying position, a rear-facing position, and an upright position, but it can also be held in a folded position where the seat back lies on the seat cushion for use as a table.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seat comprising: a seat supporting carrier; a seat cushion mounted on the seat supporting carrier in such a manner as to pivot on a first pivot axis between an erected position and a laid position; a swing arm mounted on the seat supporting carrier in such a manner as to pivot on a second pivot axis between an erected position and a laid position; and a seat back mounted on the swing arm in such a manner as to pivot on a third pivot axis between an erected position and a laid position.
In a preferred form of the present invention, the second pivot axis is positioned higher than the first pivot axis.
Preferably, the third pivot axis is positioned higher than the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis when the seat back is in the erected position and the seat cushion is in the laid position.
In a further preferred form of the present invention, the seat back, by pivoting from the erected position to the laid position, lies on the seat cushion.
The third pivot axis is positioned higher than the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis when the seat back is in the erected position and the seat cushion is in the laid position. This arrangement allows the seat back to pivot forwardly to the laid position. In this position, the seat back lies on the seat cushion. This arrangement has the advantage that a back surface portion of the lain seat back serves as a table on which cups, books, luggage and the like can be placed. If another seat (back seat) is provided behind the seat of the present invention, a person to sit on the former will use the back surface portion as a table. It will be appreciated that the seat of the present invention can be in any one of a forward-facing position, a lying position, a rear-facing position, and an upright position, as is conventional.
In a still further preferred form of the present invention, the first pivot axis and the second pivot axis are disposed in substantially vertical alignment when viewed in side elevation.
The seat extends in a front-and-rear direction thereof to a smaller extent than it would do if the first pivot axis were not vertically aligned with the second pivot axis.
In a yet further preferred form of the present invention, the seat back has a back surface portion on which a substantially flat sheet member is provided.
Because the seat back is in the laid position, the sheet member is horizontally disposed. The sheet member thus horizontally disposed serves as a table. The back surface portion provided with the sheet member has an increased rigidity. The sheet member supports cushion material of the seat back. The seat back thus arranged functions as a backrest. The sheet member for use as a table is sufficiently rigid to be loaded with luggage.
In a still further preferred form of the present invention, each of the seat back and the seat cushion has mounting portions formed therein, the mounting portions having headrests detachably mounted thereto.
An user can attach the headrests to either one or both of the seat cushion and the seat back in correspondence to the position of the seat.
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Kamida Koji
Kaneko Masayuki
Brown Peter R.
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Merchant & Gould P.C.
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