EP3772298A1

EP3772298A1 - Seat for sports stadium terraces and the like

Info

Publication number: EP3772298A1
Application number: EP19425061.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Davide DE ROSSI
Original assignee: Area Stampi Sas Di De Rossi Davide & C
Current assignee: Area Stampi Sas Di De Rossi Davide & C
Priority date: 2019-08-07
Filing date: 2019-08-07
Publication date: 2021-02-10

Abstract

A seat (1) is described for a facility designated for accommodating a great number of people, in particular a stadium, the seat (1) comprising a base (2) intended for being fixed on a bearing structure (24) and a sitting section (3) that is on top of said base (2) and is connected to the latter in a removable manner by means of blocking/unblocking means, characterized in that said blocking/unblocking means comprise at least one flap (10) arranged in an upper and substantially central part a of said base (2) and kept elastically in a raised position with respect to said base (2), and at least one wing (22) arranged in a lower part of said sitting section (3) and equipped with a recess (26), said sitting section (3) being sliding on said base (2) until a back end-stroke position in which said at least one flap (10) engages in the recess (26) of said at least one wing (22) in order to hook said sitting section (3) on said base (2) in a removable manner.

Description

Technical field

Broadly speaking, the present invention refers to a seat for terraces of facilities designated for accommodating a considerable number of people, particularly but not exclusively sports facilities and the like.
In particular, the present invention refers to a seat for a facility of said type, especially a sports facility such as a stadium, the seat comprising a base for being fixed on a bearing structure (for example, a masonry terrace) and a sitting section associated to the base in a removable manner and having a sitting-section base and a sitting-section backrest.

Background art

Seats for public meeting points or facilities for accommodating a great number of people are well known in the art and used, for example, in stadiums, cinemas, theatres, auditoriums and the like.
Such seats generally have a sitting-section component in form of a shell made of plastic material, having a sitting-section base and a backrest, and optionally they further have a padding of a foamy plastic material applied to the front part of the sitting-section base and/or of the backrest.
The seat can be structured in such a way as to fix the sitting-section base directly on the site of the destination structure, for example, a terrace, through fixing screws or bolts.
Alternatively, the structure of the seat can provide for a support base to be directly fixed on the site of the destination structure, for example, through screws or bolts, and a sitting-section component as above associated to the support base through appropriate means for removable connection.
For example, patent US 7,887,137 describes a removable seat to be installed mainly in theatres in which the sitting-section component is associated through its own base to a support frame by means of a clip attachment and can be released acting on a hook mechanism by inserting a screwdriver in a specific hole.
Although removable seats of said type are particularly useful for various reasons, among which that of the greater speed and/or simplicity for removal and substitution, for example in case of damage or for modernization needs, they not exempt from inconveniences.
In fact, with the removable connection mechanisms currently adopted in said seats, the removal and/or the disassembly of the seats is also possible rather easily in an accidental manner or due to acts of vandalism.
Such an inconvenience is particularly felt for seats that are assembled on terraces of sports facilities, for example stadiums, where acts of vandalism are very frequent and generally imply that the removed seats can be stolen, damaged or sometimes even used as projectiles.
The main aim of the present invention is therefore to provide for a seat provided with a removable sitting section for facilities designated for accommodating a great number of people that has structural characteristics so as to render nearly impossible or almost impossible any unauthorized attempt of removal or disassembly of the seats, so that these can be stolen, damaged, used as projectiles or be the object of other acts of vandalism.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide for a seat as above that can be produced on an industrial scale at relatively low costs despite the particularly binding requirements against the acts of vandalism indicated above, and which can assume a nice aspect.

Summary of invention

Such aims are reached by a seat for a facility designated for accommodating a great number of people, in particular a stadium, the seat comprising a base intended for being fixed on a bearing structure and a sitting section that is on top of said base and is connected to the latter in a removable manner by means of blocking/unblocking means, characterized in that said blocking/unblocking means comprise at least one flap arranged in an upper and substantially central part of said base and kept elastically in a raised position with respect to said base, and at least one wing arranged in a lower part of said sitting section and equipped with a recess, said sitting section being sliding on said base until a back end-stroke position in which said at least one flap is engaged in the recess of said at least one wing so as to hook said sitting section on said base in a removable manner.
In one embodiment, the sitting section comprises a sitting-section base and a sitting-section backrest, the sitting-section base having at least one lower wing equipped with a recess, each recess constituting a hooking/unhooking place of a respective elastic flap of said base.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of one preferred embodiment that follows, said description being given as a way of non-limiting example with reference to the annexed figures.

Brief description of the figures

In the figures:

Figure 1 shows a prospective view of a seat according to the invention adapted to the use on a bearing structure such as the terrace of a sports facility, for example of a stadium,
Figure 2 shows a bottom view of the base of the seat of Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a top view of a base of the seat of Figure 1;
Figures 4 and 5 show respective lateral views of the base of Figure 3;
Figure 6 shows a section view of the base of Figure 3 along a trace line A-A of Figure 5;
Figure 7 shows a prospective view of the sitting section of the seat of Figure 1;
Figure 8 shows a bottom view of the sitting section of the seat of Figure 1;
Figure 9 shows a bottom view of a detail of the sitting section of the seat of Figure 1;
Figure 10 shows a front view of the sitting section of the seat of Figure 1;
Figure 11 shows a section view of the sitting section of Figure 7 along the trace line A-A of Figure 10;
Figures 12-15 show respective operative phases of installation of a seat of Figure 1 on a bearing structure such as a terrace of a sports facility;
Figures 16-17 show top and bottom prospective views, respectively, of a tool for unblocking the sitting section from the base in a seat according to the invention as shown in Figure 1;
Figure 18 shows an unblocking operative phase of the sitting section from the base by means of the tool of Figure 16.

Detailed description

In the present invention and in the annexed claims, the terms "front", "back", "upper", "lower", "lateral" and similar terms refer to the orientation of the embodiment of the seat according to the invention as shown in Figure 1.
With reference to said figures, a seat for terraces of sports facilities, for example stadiums, is generally indicated with reference number 1.
The seat 1 comprises a base 2 for being assembled on a bearing structure of a sport facility, for example a terrace 24, and a sitting section 3.
The base 2 comprises a box-like body having a substantially rectangular shape in transversal section equipped with holed built-in places 4 arranged in opposed pairs intended for holding screws or bolts passing through the holes for the stable fixing of the base 2 to the bearing structure of the destination site. In the present embodiment, the holed places 4 are located substantially in proximity of the front edge 5 and of the back edge 6 of the base 2.
The base 2 further comprises passing openings or loops 7 arranged in opposed pairs in proximity of the lateral edges 8 of the base 2. In particular, in the present embodiment, the loops 7 have each one a front portion 7a of greater width (i.e. oriented towards the front edge 5 of the base 2) followed by a back portion 7b of minor width. Such loops 7 substantially constitute guides for the sliding of the sitting section 3 on the base 2 as will be better illustrated below.
In accordance to the present invention, the seat 2 further comprises a passing opening or loop 9 in substantially central position and a plurality of parallel flaps 10 formed as one piece with the base 2 and each one in correspondence of the respective free end ending with a tooth 11. The flaps 10 are elastic, protrude superiorly from the base 2 and face each other on the central loop 9 thereof.
More in detail, in the present embodiment, the flaps 10 are obtained directly in the material of the base 2 during the realization of the central loop 10 by means of procedures that are conventional per se.
The base 2 can be conveniently made in a box-like manner in a highly resistant plastic material such as, preferably, a polymer PC-ABS (polycarbonate-acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) alloy or polypropylene (PP), preferably reinforced with fibers fillers such as glass fiber and/or rendered fireproof with fireproof inorganic fillers.
The base 2 further has a plurality of ribs 12, parallel and substantially at the same distance between them, which protrude superiorly from the base 2. Such ribs 12 substantially extend in the front-back direction from an area next to the central loop 9 until substantially finishing in proximity of the back edge 6 of the base 2.
The sitting section 3 is constituted by a shell of an appropriate material, in particular of a plastic material, and has a curve concave sitting-section base 13 from which a sitting-section backrest 14 extends backwards that is raised to a pre-defined height.
More in particular, the sitting section 3 has an upper wall 15 and lateral walls 16,17 that delimit the sitting-section base 13 and the sitting-section backrest 14.
The sitting-section base 13 has in the front part thereof a convex edge 18 that, once the installation of the sitting-section base 13 on the base 2 has been executed, lowers under the upper surface 19 of the base 2 for resting against the front surface 20, substantially vertical, of such base 2.
Behind the convex edge 18, the lateral walls 16, 17 of the sitting-section base 13 extend inferiorly from the upper wall 15 and have protuberances 21 that depart inferiorly from the lower edge of the lateral walls 16,17 and that jut out towards the inside. Such protuberances 21 are practiced in the same number to that of the loops 7 of the base 2 and are arranged and dimensioned in such a way as to be inserted in such loops 7 during the installation of the sitting-section base 3 on the base 2.
More in particular, during the installation, the sitting section 3 is initially arranged on the base 2 in such a way as to insert the lower protuberances 21 in the front portions 7a of greater size of the loops 7 and is made to slide in the back direction until an end-stroke position in which the protuberances 21 abut on a back wall of the respective back portions 7b of minor length of the loops 7.
The sitting-section base 13 further has inferiorly, in a substantially central position, a plurality of first wings 22 parallel and substantially at the same distance between them that extend in the front-back direction for a reduced length and depth.
Such first wings 22 are staggered in the front-back direction with respect to the ribs 12 of the base 2 so as to be inserted between the last ones, i.e. the first wings 22 of the sitting-section base 13 are alternated with the ribs 12 of the base 2, until the reaching of said end-stroke position by sliding in the back direction of the sitting section 3 on the base 2.
More in particular, the first wings 22 comprise each a back portion 22a of greater vertical extension (depth) joined to a front portion 22b of minor vertical extension (depth) by means of a joint area that defines a recess 26. Further, the back portion 22a of each first wing 22 is tapered towards the sitting-section base 13 in correspondence of the back end.
As it will be better illustrated below, each recess 26 between the front portion 22b and the back portion 22a of a first wing 22 constitutes a removable engagement place (hooking/unhooking) for a respective flap 10 of the base 2 until the reaching of said end-stroke position, thus avoiding any movement of the sitting section 3 on the base 2 in the front-back direction and therefore blocking the sitting section 3 in said end-stroke position in a removable manner.
Externally to the central area having the first ribs 22, the sitting section 3, i.e. both the sitting-section base 13 and the sitting-section backrest 14, instead has a plurality of second wings 23 parallel and substantially at the same distance that extend in the front-back direction in a direction parallel to the lateral walls 16,17. Such second wings 23 have, in correspondence of the sitting-section base 13, a depth that is greater than that of the first wings 22 and is minor than that of the protuberances 21 and the aim thereof is mainly to form an interspace 35 between the sitting-section base 13 and the base 2 for the access of a specific unblocking tool that will be illustrated below and to give at the same time a certain deformation elasticity to the sitting-section base 13 and to the sitting-section backrest 14, when a person sits.
Advantageously, the sitting-section 3 can be made in an appropriate plastic material, in particular by means of injection molding.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the sitting section 3 can be made in a single plastic material or with a plurality of plastic materials that differ from each other by at least a feature such as, in particular, the colour (pigment) and/or type of plastic material present in the polymeric composition, so as to make the sitting section 3 as a one piece with parts having different features, for example in terms of different colours or plastic materials.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the sitting section is made in a specific injection mold with a plurality of polymeric compositions, for example three polymeric compositions, having different colours from each other so as to obtain a sitting section 3 as a one piece with parts having different colours, for example three parts having different colours from each other.
This can be made by the skilled in the art on the basis of its own technical knowledge, appropriately projecting the injection mold so as to provide for different cavities for each portion forming the sitting section 3 in which corresponding polymeric compositions are injected, each one having a pre-established different colour and/or material.
Making now reference to Figures 12-15, in particular, the installation (or setup) of the seat 1 according to the invention can be carried out, first of all, by fixing the support base 2 to the bearing structure of the destination site, such as a terrace 24, in particular, of a sports facility, for example a stadium.
This can be made appropriately by means of fixing screws 25 inserted in the respective holed places 4 of the base 2 (Figure 12).
Subsequently, the sitting section 3 is arranged from the top on the base 2 in such a way as to insert the lower protuberances 21 of the sitting-section base 13 in the corresponding front portions 7a of greater length of the loops 7 of the base 2 (Figure 13).
At this point, the operator/installer can provide for the sliding of the sitting-section component 3 on the base 2 in the back direction until the reaching of a determined back end-stroke position established by the abutting of the lower protuberances 21 of the sitting-section base 2 on a back wall of the respective back portions 7b of the loops 7.
During such sliding, the first wings 22 of the sitting-section base 13 initially intercept and stand above the flaps 10 with the back portion thereof 22a determining the lowering of the flaps 10 so as to take them in a lowered position in which they at least partially enter in the central loop 9 of the base 2 (Figure 14). In this regard, thanks to the fact that the back portions 22a of the first wings 22 are tapered towards the sitting-section base 13, the lowering of the flaps 10 is facilitated and progressive until the reaching of said lowered position.
Subsequently, at the end of the sliding with the reaching of said back end-stroke position, the back portions 22a of the first wings 22 exceed the flaps 10, which therefore elastically return to the raised position thereof with the teeth 11 that engage in the joint recesses 26 between the front portions 22b and the back portions 22a of the first wings 22, thus obtaining the hooking and the blocking of the sitting section 3 in the front-back direction (Figure 15).
At the same time, advantageously, the first wings 22 are inserted between the ribs 12 of the base 2, thus cooperating with the lower protuberances 21 of the sitting-section base 13 to prevent any movement of the sitting section 3 with respect to the base 2 in the lateral direction.
Making now reference to Figures 16-17, a tool is shown suitable for unblocking the sitting section 3 from the base 2, which is in general indicated with reference number 30.
The tool 30 is substantially fork-shaped, having a grasping portion 31 and a hooking portion 32 ending with a plurality of prongs 33 that are substantially parallel to each other. The prongs 33 have each one a cavity 34 that is open inferiorly of a width that is substantially corresponding or slightly superior to that of the teeth 11 of the flaps 10.
In use, as illustrated in Figure 18, the tool 30 can be inserted in the interspace 35 between the sitting-section base 13 and the base 2 in such a way as to hook the teeth 11 of the flaps 10 in the cavities 34 of the prongs 33 and cause the lowering of the flaps 10 in the lowered position thereof, thus obtaining the unhooking of the teeth 11 of the flaps 10 from the hooking seats constituted by the recesses 26 of the first wings 22.
This implies the unblocking of the sitting section 3 that, with the flaps 10 kept lowered by the tool 30, can therefore be made to slide to the front part in such a way as to take the lower protuberances 21 of the sitting-section base 13 in the front portions 7a of the loops 7 and then lifted so as to be removed from the base 2, for example for being repaired, modernized or substituted.
In light of the above, the seat according to the invention completely reaches the pre-fixed aims and has several advantages with respect to the known seats of the same type.
An important advantage lies in the fact that the unauthorized removal and/or the disassembling of the seat according to the invention is almost impossible since the blocking/unblocking mechanism of the sitting section is located in an interspace that is not easily accessible between the sitting section and the base and in a substantially central position. In fact, this implies that the unblocking of the sitting section can be easily executed only with specific tools of the fork-like type illustrated above, which can be provided to authorized personnel, while it is almost impossible or at least very difficult using common tools, for example screwdrivers, which are normally available also to unauthorized people.
Another advantage of the seat that is not less important according to the invention is that the installation (setup) thereof is quite quick and simple and therefore it does not require particularly specialized personnel.
Another advantage lies in the fact that the seat according to the invention does not have structural complications and therefore lends itself well to be produced at a large scale and at reduced costs. In this regard, it should be noted that the seat according to the invention can also be advantageously produced using a plurality of different plastic materials that differ, for example, by material and/or colour so as to obtain parts with different features, for example of material and/or colour, in particular with respect to the sitting section.
To the seat according to the invention a skilled in the art will be able to devise several modifications and variants, all however comprised in the scope of protection of the annexed claims.

Claims

Seat (1) for a structure designated for accommodating a great number of people, in particular a stadium, the seat (1) comprising a base (2) intended for being fixed on a bearing structure (24) and a sitting section (3) that is on top of said base (2) and is connected to the latter in a removable manner by means of blocking/unblocking means, characterized in that said blocking/unblocking means comprise at least one flap (10) arranged in an upper and substantially central part of said base (2) and kept elastically in a raised position with respect to said base (2), and at least one wing (22) arranged in a lower part of said sitting section (3) and equipped with a recess (26), said sitting section (3) being sliding on said base (2) until a back end-stroke position in which said at least one flap (10) engages in the recess (26) of said at least one wing (22) in order to hook said sitting section (3) on said base (2) in a removable manner.
Seat (1) according to claim 1, wherein said sitting section (3) comprises a sitting-section base (13) and a sitting-section backrest (14), the sitting-section base (13) having said at least one lower wing (22) equipped with said recess (26).
Seat (1) according to claim 2, wherein said base (2) has a plurality of opposed loops (7) in proximity of the lateral edges (8) thereof, each loop (7) having a front portion (7a) of greater length followed by a back portion (7b) of minor length, and said of the sitting-section base (13has a plurality of lower protuberances (21) in a number equal to that of said loops (7), said lower protuberances (21) being engaged and sliding in said loops (7) and abutting on a wall of said portions (7b) of minor length in said back end-stroke position.
Seat (1) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said base (2) has a plurality of flaps (10) formed as one piece, each one ending with a tooth (11).
Seat (1) according to claim 4, wherein said at least one lower wing (22) of the sitting section (3) is constituted by a plurality of first wings (22) formed on the lower side of said sitting-section base (13) and equipped with recesses (26), the teeth (11) of said flaps (10) being engaged in said recesses (26) of the first wings (22) in said back end-stroke position.
Seat (1) according to claim 5, wherein each first wing (22) comprises a back portion (22a) of greater vertical extension jointed to a front portion (22b) of minor vertical extension by means of a joint area that defines said recess (26), the back portion (22a) of each first wing (22) preferably being tapered towards said sitting-section base (13) in correspondence of the back end thereof.
Seat (1) according to claim 5 or 6, wherein said base (2) superiorly has a plurality of ribs (12) inserted between said first wings (22) of the sitting-section base (13) in said back end-stroke position.
Seat (1) according to any of claims from 5 to 7, wherein said sitting section (3) inferiorly has a plurality of second wings (23) arranged externally to the first wings (22) and having a depth that is greater than the one of the latter, said second wings (23) defining an interspace (35) between said sitting section (3) and said base (2).
Seat (1) according to any of the previous claims, wherein said sitting section (3) is made by means of injection molding as a one piece with a single plastic material or with a plurality of plastic materials that differ from each other by colour (pigment) and/or type of plastic material present in the polymeric composition so as to make said sitting section (3) with parts that differ by colour and/or type of plastic material.
Seat (1) according to claim 9, wherein said plastic material is selected from a polymeric PC-ABS (polycarbonate-acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) alloy and polypropylene (PP), preferably said plastic material comprising fiber fillers such as glass fiber and/or fireproof inorganic fillers.