Moveable Seat Assembly With Locking Mechanism
20230406454 ยท 2023-12-21
Assignee
Inventors
- Linwood Addison Fuller, IV (Vero Beach, FL, US)
- Christopher M. Gratz (Stuart, FL, US)
- Adrian William Abadie (Vero Beach, FL, US)
Cpc classification
B63B2017/0054
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
B63B2003/485
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
A moveable component assembly includes a seat assembly, a track system, and a locking mechanism that secures the seat assembly in position. The track system is coupled at least indirectly to the seat assembly and guides the seat assembly along a path between a first and second position. The seat assembly is secured in the second position when the seat assembly is disposed away from the deck's walking surface, thereby resulting in the components of the track system being frictionally coupled. A floor panel includes a locking mechanism and a series of alignment surfaces that guide the floor panel into position, which is secured by the locking mechanism.
Claims
1. A slide assembly mounted to a deck of a vessel, the slide assembly comprising: a seat assembly moveable between a first position and a second position, the seat assembly including a first engagement member extending outwardly from a bottom surface of the seat assembly; a second engagement member disposed on a walking surface of the deck, the walking surface of the deck facing the bottom surface of the seat assembly, the second engagement member having a tapered surface so as to increase in height, the second member configured to operably engage the first member; and a track system coupled to the seat assembly and the deck, the track system configured for guiding a movement of the seat assembly between the first position and the second position, wherein when in the first position, the first engagement member is spaced apart from the second engagement member, and when in the second position the first engagement member is engaged with the second engagement member and raised relative to the first position so as to secure the seat assembly in the second position.
2. The slide assembly of claim 1, wherein the track system further includes a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being coupled to one of the deck and the seat assembly, and the second portion being coupled to the other of the deck and the seat assembly.
3. The slide assembly of claim 2, wherein the first portion is one of a rail and a track system and the second portion being the other of the rail and the track system.
4. The slide assembly of claim 2, wherein when in the second position the second portion of the track system is frictionally coupled with the first portion of the track system, such that the seat assembly is secured in the second position.
5. The slide assembly of claim 1, wherein the second engagement member is detachably coupled to the walking surface of the deck.
6. The slide assembly of claim 5, wherein the first engagement member is a pair of first engagement members, each of the pair of first engagement members disposed on opposite sides of the seat assembly and spaced apart from each other by a first predetermined distance; and wherein the second engagement member is a pair of second engagement members spaced apart from each other at a second predetermined distance; wherein the first predefined distance is substantially equal to the second predefined distance.
7. The slide assembly of claim 1, further comprising a cavity disposed within a least a portion of the deck, the cavity inaccessible when the seat assembly is in the second position.
8. The slide assembly of claim 1, wherein the first engagement member is fixedly disposed on the bottom surface of the seat assembly.
9. The slide assembly of claim 1, wherein the first engagement member is an elongated member having a bottom surface, the bottom surface being generally planar.
10. The slide assembly of claim 1, wherein the second engagement member is a cuboidal member having a tapered surface increasing the height in a direction from the first position to the second position.
11. A compartment of a deck of a vessel, the compartment comprising: a cavity disposed beneath an opening of the deck; a compartment disposed within the cavity, the compartment including a top wall having a first beveled edge opposite of a second beveled edge, the first beveled edge and the second beveled edge disposed on a periphery of the top wall; a floor panel including a pair of first alignment members recessed from a peripheral edge of the floor panel, each of the pair of first alignment members configured to mate with a corresponding one of the first beveled edge and the second beveled edge so as to center the floor panel with respect to the opening of the cavity.
12. The compartment of claim 11, wherein each of the pair of first alignment members has an outer wall spaced apart from an inner wall, the inner wall corresponding in shape to a respective first beveled edge and second beveled edge.
13. The compartment of claim 11, wherein the inner wall is planar and angled.
14. The compartment of claim 11, wherein the inner walls are spaced apart from each other a first distance, the first distance substantially equal to a length of the top wall.
15. The compartment of claim 11, wherein each of the pair of first alignment members includes a first portion and a second portion, the first portion spaced apart from the second portion.
16. The compartment of claim 15, wherein the first portion is coaxial with the second portion.
17. A slide assembly comprising: a seat assembly translatable between a first position and a second position; a deck defining a cavity therein, the deck having a first alignment surface configured to engage a second alignment surface of a floor panel, the floor panel residing at least partially within the cavity of the deck and inaccessible when in the first position; the floor panel translatable between an open configuration and a closed configuration, wherein the cavity is assessable in the open configuration and inaccessible in the closed configuration; a locking mechanism having a first engagement portion coupled to the deck and the second engagement portion coupled to the floor panel, wherein the first engagement portion is configured to mechanically couple the second engagement portion, thereby securing the floor panel in the closed position.
18. The slide assembly of claim 17, wherein the locking mechanism is operated by a control switch mounted on a control console.
19. The slide assembly of claim 17, wherein the floor panel further comprises: a top surface, a bottom surface, and a body extending between the top surface and the bottom surface, wherein the first engagement portion is coupled to the bottom surface of the floor panel, such that the first engagement portion resides below a walking surface of the deck when the floor panel is in the closed position.
20. The slide assembly of claim 17, wherein the first alignment surface resides within a first plane and the second alignment surface resides within a second parallel plane.
Description
DRAWINGS
[0029] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected configurations and not all possible implementations and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
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[0046] Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0047] Example configurations will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example configurations are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those of ordinary skill in the art. Specific details are set forth, such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of the configurations of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example configurations may be embodied in many different forms, and that the specific details and the example configurations should not be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure.
[0048] Referring to
[0049] The slide system 10 includes component assembly 12 and an associated drive mechanism 14. As will be explained in more detail below, the component assembly 12 can be manipulated along a reverse travel direction 16 and a forward travel direction 18, collectively defining a path 20. For example, as illustrated in
[0050] The component assembly 12 can be comprised of any number of components, including a first seat 34 and a second seat 36 (not shown). In this arrangement, the second seat may optionally be attached back-to-back with the first seat 34, such that the second seat is completely supported (e.g., cantilevered) from a backrest portion 38 of the first seat 34. By arranging the first seat 34 and the second seat in this way, the second seat 36 may be free-floating and not contact an outer walking surface 40 of a deck 42 of the vehicle 5.
[0051] With reference to
[0052] The component assembly 12 is manipulatable along the path 20. For example, as illustrated in
[0053] Now referring to
[0054] As illustrated in
[0055] The floor panel 54 covers the below deck cavity 50 and closes a second opening 51b of the below deck cavity 50. As shown in
[0056] The floor panel 54 includes a pair of alignment members 76 (e.g., first alignment member 76a and second alignment member 76b) disposed inwardly from the peripheral edge 54a of the floor panel 54. The first alignment member 76a is spaced apart from the second alignment member 76b and may extend along an axis defining a width of the vehicle 5. Each of the pair of alignment members 76 include a second beveled edge 72b that is configured to mate with a corresponding first beveled edge 72a of the compartment 68. The mating of the first beveled edge 72a and second beveled edge 72b centers the floor panel 54 with respect to the second opening 51b of the below deck cavity 50. Moreover, the first alignment members 76 has an outer wall 76a spaced apart from and facing the peripheral edge 54a of the floor panel 54. The outer wall 76a is opposite of an inner wall 76b that faces the interior of the floor panel 54 so as to face each other. The outer wall 76a and the inner wall 76b are angled so as to form a generally bowl-shaped cross-section. The inner wall 76b corresponds in shape to the corresponding first and second beveled edges 72, 74. In one aspect, the first beveled edge 72 and the second beveled edge 74 are angled so as to be complementary with the angle of the corresponding inner wall 76b of the floor panel 54. As such, the inner walls 76b slide onto the corresponding first beveled edge 72 and second beveled edge 74 so as to automatically seat and position the floor panel 54 onto the compartment in a manner where the floor panel 54 is generally centered with respect to the compartment 70, that is the top wall 70b is disposed between the respective inner wall 76b of alignment members 76 of the floor panel 54.
[0057] As illustrated in
[0058] A second engagement portion 86 is coupled to the deck 42 and may be positioned adjacent to an exterior wall 70 of the compartment 68. Upon the floor panel 54 being positioned over compartment 68, the first engagement portion 82 and the second engagement portion 86 are configured to engage one another mechanically, thereby securing (i.e., locking) floor panel 54 over cavity 50. In an embodiment, the locking mechanism 80 may be remotely controlled via a second control switch (not shown) mounted in any convenient location in the vehicle 5. The second control switch is in electrical communication with the locking mechanism 80 and controls the coupling and decoupling (e.g., locking and unlocking) of the first engagement portion 82 and the second engagement portion 86. Methods and systems for using an electronic switch to control the locking and unlocking of a locking mechanism are well known to those skilled in the art, the details of which are not discussed any further herein.
[0059] Optionally, the material thicknesses and geometries of the floor panel 54 are designed and/or sized such that the walking surface 40 is generally positioned at the same horizontal level as (e.g., coplanar with) an upper surface 54c of the floor panel 54. By arranging the floor panel 54, the walking surface 40, and the drive mechanism 14 in this manner, the floor panel 54, the walking surface 40, and the components (e.g., the drive motor 24, the drive linkage 26, and/or any other components of the below deck drive mechanism 14) do not present any trip hazards for the user.
[0060] With reference to
[0061] As shown in
[0062] The first and/or second engagement members 92, 94 facilitate or encourage the raising or lowering of the support structure 52 when the support structure 52 is translated between the first position 13 and the second position 15. In particular, as support structure 52 moves toward the second position 15, the tapered surfaces 96a and 96b contact one another and urge the support structure 52 upwards and away from the walking surface 40. The displacement of the support structure 52 upwards and away from the walking surface 40 causes the guide member 57 to frictionally couple with the interior surface 66a, thereby securing the support structure 52 in the second position.
[0063] In an embodiment, including a pair of first engagement members 92, the pair of first engagement members 92 are spaced apart from each other along a width of the vehicle 5 so as to be on opposite ends of the component assembly 12. The second engagement members 94 are a pair of second engagement members 94 and spaced apart from each other along a width of the vehicle 5 at a distance the same as the distance between the pair of first engagement members 92 so as to be positioned in the same or substantially the same configuration and spacing as the first engagement members 92. Optionally, when the first engagement member 92 is a pair of first engagement members 92a, 92b, each of the pair of first engagement members 92a, 92b may be disposed on opposite sides of the support structure 52 and spaced apart from one another by a first predetermined distance. In such embodiments, when the second engagement member 94 is a pair of second engagement members 94a, 94b, each pair of the second engagement members 94a, 94b is spaced apart from one another by a second predetermined. The first and second predetermined distances are substantially equal to ensure the proper alignment of the first and second pairs of engagement members 92, 94.
[0064] As shown in
[0065] As depicted in
[0066] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary configurations only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular articles a, an, and the may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms comprises, comprising, including, and having are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated unless specifically identified as an order of performance. Additional or alternative steps may be employed.
[0067] When an element or layer is referred to as being on, engaged to, connected to, attached to, or coupled to another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected, attached, or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly on, directly engaged to, directly connected to, directly attached to, or directly coupled to another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., between versus directly between, adjacent versus directly adjacent, etc.). As used herein, the term and/or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
[0068] The terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections. These elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer, or section from another region, layer, or section. Terms such as first, second, and other numerical terms do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer, or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer, or section without departing from the teachings of the example configurations.
[0069] The foregoing description has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular configuration are generally not limited to that particular configuration but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected configuration, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.