US3024066A - Leg structure for seating - Google Patents

Description

March 6, 1962 1, ANDERSON ETAL 3,024,066

LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Filed Aug. 28, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS.

March 6, 1962 R. 1. ANDERSCN ETAL 3,024,066

LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Filed Aug. 28, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 6, 1962 R. 1. ANDERSON ET AL 3,024,065

LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Filed Aug. 28. 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 511. jg jg i5 42$ 15 \\\\\\\v p l ms 41 I i Q/JF/ 2 VIII/[III 3,024,066 LEG STRUCTURE FOR SEATING Robert I. Anderson and George E. Schaefer, Muskegon,

Mich, assignors to Brunswick Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 836,804 8 Claims. (Cl. 297248) This invention relates to seating comprised of a plurality of assembled individual seat units for use by spectators or participants in a bowling alley or the like, though its use is not limited to this, as will be obvious.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a new and improved multiple unit seating structure of the type described.

Another object is to provide a new and improved leg structure or support structure for the seat units of a multiple unit seating structure of the character mentioned.

A more specific object is to provide a new and improved support structure including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends ofthe' legs, a transverse'beam on the crosspiece, and an arm at each end of the beam attachable to one or more of the individual seat units. v

Another object is to provide anew and improved support structure of the type described in the preceding paragraph wherein the arm at each end of the transverse beam comprises a cantilever having a rearwardly disposed end portion attached to the beam and an opposite end portion extending forwardly from the beam.

A further object is to provide a new and improved multiple unit seating structure including two or more of the support structures referred to above.

An additional object is to provide a new and improved multiple unit seating structure of the type described in the preceding paragraph which utilizes in addition to the leg structures referred to one or more additional supporting leg units including a front leg, a rear leg, a crosspiece joining upper ends of the legs and a bracket on the crosspiece attachable to and supporting the joints between each pair of adjacent seat units which are unsupported by a leg structure of the type first described.

An improved leg structure of this invention contemplates a single leg unit under a seat, such unit including a front leg, 21 rear leg and a connecting crosspiece all located centrally beneath the seat unit to which the leg structure is attached, a beam extending transversely of the crosspiece and attached at opposite ends to opposite side edges of the seat unit. Obviously, at least two such support structures must be utilized in any seating arrangement in order to provide at least four legs, but an important advantage of the present construction is that it enables a substantial reduction in the number of legs required in multiple unit seating structures. For example, in the past it has been conventional to provide leg units at the seat edges at opposite ends of the row of seating and leg units at each of the joints between adjacent seats. In a seating structure utilizing two seat units, this required at least three leg units. In a structure utilizing three seat units, at least four leg units were required. According to the present invention, in a seating structure utilizing two seat units only two leg units are required, one centrally positioned under each seat unit, and in a seating structure utilizing three seat units only two leg units are required, one positioned centrally under each of the two outside seat units, with the middle seat unit being supported by the end seat units. Thus, it will be understood that, depending upon the number of seat units in a particular multiple unit arrangement, leg structures of the present invention may in some cases be placed under two adjacent .seat units and in other cases under every other seat unit, but in any event they provide the 3,024,066 Patented Mar. 6, 1962 ire advantage of substantially reducing the number of leg units required.

In a seating arrangement utilizing four seat units, leg structures of the present invention may be placed under each of the end seat units, with a simplified leg unit under the joint between the second and third seat units. It will be appreciated that such an arrangement provides support for the seating with the use of only three leg units where five would have been required according to prior constructions.

The transverse beam on the crosspiece of the leg structures according to the present invention is conveniently nested under the associated seat unit between downwardly extending side flanges on the seat unit. The present construction facilitates almost an endless number of seating arrangements, wherein the seating may be increased or decreased easily in increments of one or more thereby providing great flexibility and versatility. The leg structures are completely interchangeable, there being no righthand and left-hand formations.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a multiple unit seating arrangement including two seat units and supporting leg structure according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the seating illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a seating arrangement including three seat units and leg structures of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the seating illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the seating arrangement utilizing at least four seat units;

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the seating illustrated in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a left end elevational view of the seating illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a supporting leg structure constructed according to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken at about the line 99 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a simplified leg unit utilized in a seating arrangement as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary taken at about the line 1111 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about line 12-12 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary taken at about the line Iii-13 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line 14-14 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about line 15- 15 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about line 16-16 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line 1717 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 18 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line 18-18 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 19 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional taken at about the line 19-19 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9a is a fragmentary sectional view taken at about the line 9a-9a of FIG. 8.

While an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawings and will be described in detail herein, the invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, and it should be understood that sectional view view sectional view view view

view

view

view

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'the present disclosure is to be considered as an exempliin the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings in more detail, each of the seating arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 7 includes a plurality of seat units 10 and a plurality of supporting leg structures 11. The seating arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes an additional simplified leg unit 12. The seating arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6 include at the right end of each figure a seat unit 10a which differs from the seat unit 10 only in that the unit 10a is somewhat curved in order to provide a curve in the row of seating while the remainder of the seat units 10 are formed with straight lines in order to provide a straight row of seating.

All of the seat units 10 and 10a are preferably of a one-piece molded plastic construction reinforced with Fiberglas and each includes a seat portion and an integral upright back rest portion 16. The seat unit in each case is formed with a finishing flange which extends around the entire perimeter of the seat unit and at some places extends downwardly and at some places rearwardly. More particularly, the seat portion 16 includes a front downwardly extending flange 17 and downwardly extending side flanges 18. The back rest portion 16 includes an upper rearwardly directed flange 19 and rearwardly directed side flanges 20. In each of the seating arrangements illustrated, the seat units are arranged side by side with the side flanges 18 and 20 of adjacent units abutting each other.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 9a, the leg structures or support structures 11 each include a leg unit comprised of a front leg 25, a rear leg 26, and a crosspiece 27 joining upper ends of the legs. Preferably, the leg units are formed of tubular metal which is bent to the desired shape as illustrated in the drawings, and desirably the legs and 26 taper downwardly to smaller lower end portions as is best illustrated in FIG. 7. If desired, the lower ends of the legs 25 and 26 may be provided with suitable feet or shoes as illustrated at 28, and these may be attached to the floor if desired. To the crosspiece 27, a bracket 30 is welded, and this bracket includes a central portion 31 which is U-shaped and fitted of the underside of the crosspiece 27 and welded thereto as at 32. The bracket includes at upper ends of the central portion 31 oppositely directed laterally extending flanges 34 which are on a plane with the upper surface of the crosspiece 27. A beam 36 in the form of an upwardly facing channel member extends transversely on the crosspiece 27 and the flanges 34 and is rigidly attacbed to the flanges preferably by means of bolts or screws as illustrated at 37. Preferably, the beam is strengthened by inwardly directed flanges 38 at the upper edges thereof.

In order to facilitate attachment of the leg structure to the seat units and in order to provide adequate support for the seat units, opposite ends of the beam 36 are each provided with an upright flange in the form of an arm attached as a cantilever 40 to the beam preferably by welding. As illustrated, the cantilever is in the form of an angle member having also a horizontally inwardly directed flange 41. As best seen in FIG. 9, at a plurality of positions along the flange 40, spaced in a front to rear direction, the flange is provided with a series of openings therethrough as at 42, 43 and 44 to facilitate the passage of bolts or screws which attach the flanges to the side flanges of the seat units.

tion of these parts conforms substantially to the formation of corresponding parts 25, 26 and 27, as described in connection with the leg structure illustrated in FIGS. 8, 9 and 911. On the crosspiece 27a, an upwardly directed flange 45 is provided and this preferably is formed with an integral horizontally directed flange 46 (FIG. 17 also) which is welded as at 47 or otherwise suitably secured to the crosspiece 27a. The flange 45 is formed with openings 43 and 49 therethrough spaced in a front to rear direction to facilitate the passage of bolts or screws for attaching the flange to the downwardly extending side flanges of the second and third seat units in the seating arrangement of FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the supporting leg structure under the curved seat units at the right end of the seating arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 6, the beam 36 on the crosspiece 27 is curved in plan view as seen on viewing FIGS. 4 and 6.

As will be understood, particularly on viewing FIG. 7, the crosspiece 27, the bracket 30 welded thereon, and the transverse beam 36 which is attached to the bracket, are all located in positions somewhat rearwardly disposed relative to the seat portion 15 and are therefore attached to somewhat rearwardly disposed portions of the side flanges 18 of the seat portions. The cantilevers 40 extend forwardly from the beam 36 to substantially the front edge of the seat portions 15 and at the front are attached to the side flanges 18 of the seat portions in a manner to support the seat portions rigidly. Viewing FIGS. 7 and 9, the opening 42 at the front end of the cantilever 40 is attached to the exposed outer edge of the seat unit at the left-hand of the rows illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 by means of a connection generally designated 42a, the connection through the opening 43 being designated by the reference number 43a and the connection through the opening 44 being designated by the reference character 44a. At the opposite, right end of the row of seating as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the connection corresponding to that at 43a is illsutrated in FIG. 11 and is generally designated 43b. It should be understood that the connections 43a and 44a are similar, and the connections 43b and 43a are similar so that only one need be described in detail.

Referring now to FIG. 11, it will be noted that the beam 36 and the attached cantilever 40 and flange 41 are positioned beneath the seat portion 15 with the cantilever flange 40 abutting the side flange 18 of the seat portion with the latter outwardly disposed. Outwardly of flange 18, a filler 50 is provided and outwardly of the filler a spacer or washer 51, both of which are substantially covered and enclosed by an attractive finishing cap or cover 52. The entire assembly is tightly clamped together as by means of a screw or bolt 53 threaded in a special nut or cap 54. It should be understood that the filler 50 and the washer 51 extend in a front to rear direction a suflicient distance such that the connections through both of the openings 43 and 44 encompass these parts.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, at the right end of the seating arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6, the connection 42b corresponding to that seen at 42a in FIG. 7 includes a bolt or screw 56 passing through the inwardly disposed cantilever flange 40, the outwardly disposed seat flange 18, and a suitable washer 19 and is held in place by a special nut or cap 57 which clamps the parts tightly together.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, at the joint between abutting seat units, both of which are supported by leg structures 11 constructed according to the present invention (FIGS. 1 and 2), the connection at opening 43 is designated 43c and includes inwardly disposed abutting seat flanges 18, and outwardly of these, abutting the seat flanges, cantilever flanges 40, the four flanges being tightly clamped in position by a screw or bolt as at 59 and a special nut 60.

As illustrated at FIG. 14, at the joints between abutting seat units, both of which are supported by leg structures 11 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the front connection through openings 42 is designated 42c and includes the inwardly disposed abutting seat flanges '18, and outwardly of these on each side the cantilever flanges 40 which respectively abut the seat flanges, the four flanges being tightly clamped together by means of a bolt or screw 65 and a nut 66. i

As illustrated in FIG. 15, at the joint between adjacent seat units where one seat unit is supported by a leg structure 1 1 and the adjacent seat unit is unsupported by such a structure, the connection through opening 43 is designated 43a and includes the inwardly disposed abutting seat flanges 18, and on one side, the abutting cantilever flange 40, and on the opposite side a washer or spacer plate 68, the four parts thus described being clamped tightly by a bolt or screw 69 and a nut 70. It should be understood that the plate 60 extends in a front to rear direction so that a similar connection through the opening 44 would encompass the plate 68.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, at the joint between adjacent seat units, one of which is supported by a leg structure 11 and the other of which is not supported by such a structure, the forwardly disposed connection through opening 42 is designated 42d and includes abutting seat flanges 18, and on one side of these the abutting cantilever flange 40, the three of which are tightly clamped together as by means of a bolt or screw 75 and a nut 76 thereon.

At the joint between abutting seat units, neither of which are supported by leg structures 11, but the joint of which is supported by one of the leg units 12 (FIGS. and 6) the connection through opening 48 in flange 45 is illustrated in FIG. 17. It should be understood that the connection through opening 49 is similar. Each con nection includes the abutting seat flanges 18, at one side of these the upright flange 45 on the leg unit crosspiece 27a, and on the opposite side a washer or plate 78 which would extend forwardly and rearwardly beyond both openings 48 and 39, the four of which are tightly clamped in position as by means of a bolt or screw 80 and a special nut or cap 81.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, the joint at the front of the abutting seat units, such as the second and third seat units in FIGS. 5 and 6, includes the abutting seat unit side flanges which are secured to each other as by means of a bolt or screw 85, a nut 86 and suitable washers as at 87 if desired.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, the abutting rearwardly directed side flanges 2% on adjacent back rest portions 16 are secured together as by means of a bolt or screw 88 and a special nut or cap 39. As best seen in FIG. 7, connections such as these may be provided at vertically spaced positions as indicated by the openings 90 and 91.

It will be appreciated that the supporting leg structures 11 with the transverse beams 36 and the cantilevers 46, 4-1 substantially fit the underside of the seat portions 15 with their depending side flanges 18 so as to be substantially obscured when the multiple unit seating is completed. These supporting leg structures provide a rigid mounting for the molded plastic seat units and at the same time, with or without leg units such as that at 1 .2, provide for a substantial reduction in the number of legs required in multiple unit seating structures. An almost endless number of seating arrangements may be produced. In addition to those illustrated specifically in FIGS. 1 to 6, it will be appreciated that various combinations of the illustrated arrangements may be provided, as well as other arrangements. For example, to the seating illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4-, two additional seat units may be provided at either end, with the end seat unit added being also supported by a leg structure 11. Such a seating arrangement may be further multiplied by similar additions of two units. The seating arrangement in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the seating arrangement in FIGS. 5 and 6 may also be modified in a similar manner to include the addition of two seat units at one or both ends, the end unit of which may be supported by a leg structure such as that at 11.

We claim:

1. A support structure for seating, comprising: a onepiece leg'unit including a front leg, a'rear leg and a frontto-rear piece joining upper ends of the legs, means providing laterally oppositely extending flanges on said piece, a beam extending transversely on said piece equal lengths in opposite directions therefrom and attached to the flanges, and a cantilever at each end of the beam each having its rear end portion secured to the beam and its opposite end extending forwardly from the beam, and an upright flange on the cantilever having spaced openings therethrough facilitating attachment thereof to a seat.

2. A support structure for seating, comprising: a tubular one-piece leg unit including a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends of the legs, a bracket attached to the crosspiece providing laterally oppositely extending flanges, a channel shaped beam extending transversely on the crosspiece and secured to the flanges, a cantilever at each end of the beam having a rear end portion secured to the beam and an opposite end extending forwardly from the beam, and an upright flange on the cantiliver having spaced openings therethrough facilitating attachment of the support structure to a seat.

3. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units each including a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges, the seat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under each seat unit including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the associated seat portion; and means securing the cantilevers to the adjacent side flanges and securing the abutting side flanges of adjacent seat portions together.

4. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units each including a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges and an upright back rest with rearwardly extending side flanges, the seat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under each seat unit including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and including an upright side flange; means securing the side flanges of the cantilevers to the adjacent side flanges of the seat units at a plurality of positions spaced in a front to rear direction, means securing the abutting downwardly extending side flanges of adjacent seat portions together at a plurality of positions spaced in a front to rear direction, and means securing the abutting rearwardly extending side flanges of adjacent back rests together.

5. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units, each including a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges, the seat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under every other seat unit including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the associated seat portion; means securing the cantilevers to the adjacent side flanges associated therewith, and means attaching the side flanges of the unsupported seat units to the adjacent side flanges of supported seat units adjacent thereto.

6. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of seat units, each including a seat portion with downwardly extending side flanges and an upright back rest with rearwardly directed side flanges, the seat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under every other seat unit including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece joining upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam secured on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and including an upright side flange abutting the adjacent side flange of the associated seat portion; means securing the cantilever side flanges to the seat portion side flanges abutting therewith at a plurality of positions spaced in a front to rear direction, means securing the side flanges of unsupported seat units to the abutting side flanges of adjacent supported seat units at a plurality of positions spaced in a front to rear direction, and means securing together the abutting rearwardly directed side flanges of adjacent back rests.

7. A seating structure, comprising, a plurality of at least four seat units each including downwardly extending side flanges, the units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under each of the first and fourth of said seat units including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece connecting upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the adjacent seat unit; means securing the cantilevers to the adjacent side flanges associated therewith, means connecting adjacent seat units together; and a leg unit supporting the joint between the second and third of said seat units including a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece connecting upper ends thereof and secured to the second and third seat portions.

8. A seating structure, comprising a plurality of at least four seat units each including a seat portion having downwardly extending side flanges, the seat units being arranged side by side with adjacent side flanges of adjacent units abutting; a support structure under each of the first and fourth of said seat units including a leg unit having a front leg, a rear leg and a crosspiece connecting upper ends of the legs, a transverse beam on the crosspiece, a cantilever at each end of the beam extending forwardly therefrom and abutting the adjacent side flange of the associated seat portion; a leg unit at the joint between the second and third of the seat units including a front leg, a rear leg, a crosspiece connecting upper ends thereof and an upright flange on the crosspiece abutting with one of the abutting flanges of the second and third seat portions; means securing the cantilevers to the seat portion side flanges abutting therewith and securing such side flanges to the seat portion side flanges abutting therewith, and'means securing the upright flange on said last recited leg unit to the abutting seat portion side flanges adjacent thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent,

UNITED STATES PATENTS 190,169 Taylor May 1, 1877 1,351,995 Cornish Sept. 7, 1920 2,410,871 Fields et a1 Nov. 12, 1946 2,588,417 Schladermaundt et al. Mar. 11, 1952 2,621,708 Luce Dec. 16, 1952 2,747,654 Chapman et al May 29, 1956 2,812,800 Eames Nov. 12, 1957 2,845,111 Barecki et al. July 29, 1958 2,851,090 Hamilton Sept. 9, 1958 2,886,098 Hoven et a1 May 12, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 329,677 Switzerland June 30, 1958 553,750 Great Britain June 3, 1943 575,965 Great Britain Mar. 13, 1946 1,142,580 France Apr. 1, 1957

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