US398419A - Shifting seat for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

.(NicuModeL) J ..L. MASON;

SHIFTING SEAT FOR VEHICLES.

PTO-1398.419. Patented Feb. 26, 1889.

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JOHN L. MASON, OF DAVENPORT, IOlVA.

SHIFTING SEAT FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,419, dated February 26, 1889.

Application filed October 1, 1888.

To a whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN L. MASON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shifting Seats for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of vehicles having two or more seats, and my object is to arrange the seat so it may be temporarily moved forward while occupied to allow additional space between it and the next rear seat to accommodate persons getting into such seat, and thereafter moved back to its normal position. I'attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side perspective view of atwoseated surrey carriage-body, its panel broken awayunder the front seat. Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the seat-carriers and its sill-sockets. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the seatframe and seat-carriers. Fig. 1 is a detail view of one method of attaching the seat-carrier to the under side of the seat. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the seat-frame and seat-carrier attached to the under side of the seat by the method illustrated in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is a detail. view of one method of attaching a stop to the'longitudinal bars connecting the posts of the seat-frame as supports for the seat-carriers to rest against.

Similar letters and figures refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A represents the side panels of a surrey carriage-body; B, its longitudinal sills; 0, its seats, and c the backs of such seats. 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent seat-posts framed to the sills. 5 and 6 are longitudinal bars framed to the top of said posts, and 7 and 8 are cross-bars attached to said posts. Seat (1 has its sup port upon said frame.

The seat-carrier is preferably made of steel, although other material may be used; and it consists of two vertical rods, 9 and 10, the bottom of each bent in the form of an elbow extending in a direction crosswise of the vehicle-body, such parts screw-threaded, as at 12 and 13, and the tops of such rods connected by the horizontal cross-rod 14. Iprefer to make the seat-carrier of one piece of Serial No. 286,936. (No model.)

taching the same to sills I or the body of the carriage. Such screw-threads may be omitted in said sill-sockets and on said seat-can rier, and the parts 12 and 13 seated in said perforations and secured therein by being headed or by other well-known means understood by any skilled mechanic.

Two seat-carriers are attached crosswise to the vehicle-body by hinging their parts 12 and 13 in sill-sockets 15 and attaching the latter to said sills B, and cross-rods 11 of each carrier are secured or hinged to two longitudinal parallel bars, each consisting of two parts, the upper, 16, and lower, 17, each having halfround grooves to accommodate and hinge cross-rod 14. Bars 16 and 17 are preferably constructed of wood, secured together by screws or bolts. The under side of seat 0 is rigidly attached on the upper surface of bar 16 by means of screws or bolts. Openings or slots 18 are cut through cross-bars 7 and 8 to accommodate the ends of bars 16 when moved forward or backward, and such slots also form supports for said bars and thereby said. sea-t.

If desired, I can dispense with bars 1 3 and 17 and use staples 19 to hinge horizontal crossrod 14 to the under side of seat 0, securing said staple thereto by screws or bolts. ll prefer, however, the first-described mode of hinging, as it avoids the noise and rattle which usually take place when one piece of iron is hinged in another piece of iron. I prefer to attach a cross-beam, 20, preferably of wood, crosswise and near the center of the seatframe, to the under side of bars 5 and 6. Such cross-beam adds strength to the seat-frame, and its upper surface furnishes support to bar 17 thus supporting seat C, while its sides act as stops for vertical rods 9 and lO of the seat-carrier when swung forward or backward, I can, however, dispense with such cross-beam and attach to the under side of bars 5 and 6 a double elbow, 21.,which likewise will form a stop for said rods 9 and 10 of the seat-carrier. So, too, I can dispense with said cross-beam 20 and said stop 21. \Vhen the seat-carriers are moved forward or backward, it will be observed that by reason of the horizontal crossrod of each being hinged to the under side of the seat, and the lower vertical rods of each also being hinged crosswise to the longitudinal sills, both of said seat-carriers move together and parallel, and when the under side of the seat rests upon the top of the seatframe such frame supports the seat and acts as a stop, preventing the seatcarriers swinging fart-her in that direction. This is illustrated in Fig. 5. The under side of the seat C rests upon the seat-frame and is in its normal position; but by swinging the seat-carrier forward it and seat C will occupy the position indicated by the dotted lines in said Fig. 5, and said seat will in that position be supported by said seat-frame, and which also act-s as a stop by preventing the seat-carrier from swinging farther forward.

I can dispense with sill-sockets l5 and with the screw-threaded parts of the seat-carrier. In such case the elbowed parts at 12 and 13 are plain rounded surfaces, and may be inserted in suitable crosswise perforations in longitudinal sills B; but such perforations tend to weaken the sills, and when such sills are constructed of wood the perforations will become enlarged by use, tending to make the seat-carrier unsteady; hence I prefer the use of sill-sockets. A device for accomplishing the same object, substantially, could be 0011- structed by dispensing with the horizontal cr0ss-rod 14; and the tops of rods 9 and 10,. hinged to the under side of seat 0; but such construction would be objectionable, because such a seat-carrier would be unsteady. One of the chief functions of said horizontal crossrod is to keep the vertical rods steady and firm; hence such horizontal cross-rod is a material part of the structure.

I am aware that what are commonly known as jump-seats or removable seats -that is, seats which are folded or laid down upon the floor of the carriage-body when not in useare constructed by hinging the under side of the seat to the top of four posts, the bottom of each of which posts is hinged to the longitudinal sills or the floor of the carriagebody, and which posts, carrying the seat, may be freely swung'in one direction to remove or displace the seat, while suitable stops are provided to arrest their swinging too far in the opposite direction and to retain such posts and seat in position for occupancy. The objects attained in such seats are entirely different from the objects I obtain by my device. andstops constitute the seat frame and support for the seat. In my device the stationary frame constitutes the fixed support for the In such construction the hinged posts seat, while the hinged vertical rods, connected at their upper ends by the horizontal crossrod, constitute the means for sliding or shiftin g the seat from one position of support on the stationary seat-frame to another position -of support thereon, and only furnish support to the seat when it elevates it above the frame in moving it from one position to the other. In my device such shifting movement of the seat can be obtained through mo-' tion of the body of the person occupying it without arising therefrom.

In the construction of carriage-bodies intended for two or more seats, both for strength and symmetry, the body is shortened as much as can be and accommodates the seats with room for occupancy. In such construction the hind wheel is necessarily so far forward that a person, especially a lady, in gettin into the rear seat is apt to soil her dress from dirt upon the wheel. So, too, for ease and comfort, the backs of the seat are usually high and incline rearward, as shown in Fig. 1, and this renders it difficult for a person to enter the carriage-body to occupy the rear seat. I seek to obviate these objectionable features by my improvements, and when my device is used the carriage-step for mounting to the rear seat may be set well forward of the rear wheel upon the carriage-body.

In my construction lamp-irons for holding lamps may be rigidly attached to each side of the shifting seat; but I prefer to attach these irons to the sides of the vehicle-body and have same also act as supports for the top standards where a top or cover is used.

I am aware that some vehicle-bodies are constructed with a cut-under or wheel-house, and in such case my device may be used by modifying the parts, all of which can be accomplished bya skilled mechanic without do parting from the scope of my invention.

Many modifications and changes in the form of my device'can be made without departing from the scope of my inventionas, for instance, the side panels underneath the sliding seat may be split longitudinally and the upper portion rigidly attached to such sliding seat, so as to move with it, while the lower portion remains stationary.

lVhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a vehicle-body provided with two or more seats for constant use, the combination of the permanent seat-frame with the hinged seat-carriers and seat hinged thereto, for the purpose of temporarily increasing the distance between adj accnt seats by shifting such seat from one posit-ion of support upon said frame to another position of support thereon, substantially as described.

2. In avehicle-body, a seat hinged upon its under side to two parallel cross bars, the ends of said cross-bars bent downward, each terminating in elbows crosswise to said vehicle-body and hinged thereto, in connection with a permanent seat-frame attached to saidbody and arranged to support said seat when such horizontal bars are swung forward or backward, so the point of hinging with said seat is not in the same vertical line with the point of hinging said elbows to the body of said vehicle, substantially as described.

3. In a vehicle-body, the combination, with a permanent seatframe attached thereto, of a seat hinged to seat-carriers, such carriers hinged in si1l-sockets having threaded apertures to receive the threaded ends of the carriers for the purpose of swinging the seat from one position of support upon the frame to another position of support thereon, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described seat-carrier, consisting of two horizontal and parallel crossbars, their ends bent downward, each end terminating in elbows of similar direction of extension as said horizontal cross-bars, hinged to the body of a Vehicle, with a seat hinged upon the two horizontal and parallel crossbars, substantially as described.

5. The herein-described seat-carrier, con sisting of two horizontal and parallel crossbars, their ends bent downward, each end terminating in screw-threaded elbows of similar direction of extension as said horizontal cross-bars, each hinged in the threaded aperture of a sill-socket, with a seat hinged upon the two horizontal and parallel cross-bars, substantially as described.

6. In a vehicle shifting seat, two L'shaped rods, their tops connected by a horizontal cross-rod, their bottoms hinged to opposite sides of the Vehicle-body to permit the crossrod to swing over forward and backward, arranged in pairs at suitable distances apart, and a seat hinged at a similar distance to each of said horizontal cross-rods, substantially as described.

JOHN L. MASON. Witnesses:

W. C. WARRINER, F. A. CROUCH.

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