Jump seat assembly and seat with improved safety belt array

• US 4,740,030 A
• Filed: 07/12/1984
• Issued: 04/26/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/1984
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert A. Nordskog
• Original Assignee: Robert A. Nordskog
• Inventors: Nordskog, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Aschenbrenner, Peter A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brown, Peter R.
• Application Number:
  US06/630,270
• Time in Patent Office: 1,384 Days
• Field of Search: 297/13, 297/14, 297/43, 297/315, 297/331, 297/332, 297/333, 297/335, 297/484, 16/289, 16/303, 16/306
• US Class Current: 297/13
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 9/06 Wall stools ; Stools hingedly mounted against the wall
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/062 Belts or other passenger restraint means for passenger seats
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/064 Adjustable inclination or position of seats
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0691 specially adapted for cabin crew
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0698 Seats suspended from aircraft walls

Abstract

The improved assembly includes a jump seat with a raised back portion and a seat portion hinged thereto and spring raised automatic movement from a horizontal operative position to a raised stored position. The seat back portion holds such spring and is hinged to the vertical arm of an L-shaped wall bracket, which may contain a second spring so that when the seat portion is in the stored position, the seat can be controllably swung into a flat stored position against the wall bracket, which bracket is adapted to be secured to an airplane galley wall or the like. The horizontal portion of the bracket includes a raised post and recess with sloped walls easily releasably seating with and disengaging from the underside of the seat portion. The seat includes a fully adjustable safety belt array, having a pair of parallel vertical shoulder belts releasably separately hooked to a pair of transverse belts. The latter are each adjustable in length. The shoulder belts pass through openings in the seat back and spaced guideways, over a roller and down into a recessed take-up reel which winds them in side-by-side non-overlapping relation for minimal belt bulge. The assembly and array are inexpensive, durable and effective.

Claims

1. An improved vehicle jump seat assembly, said assembly comprising, in combination:

(a) a jump seat, including a raised back portion and a seat portion hinged to said back portion for movement between a horizontal operative position wherein the back portion and seat portion are disposed perpendicular to the wall and a vertical stored position wherein the back portion and seat portion overlie one another and both lie flat against the wall;

(b) a wall bracket comprising a generally upstanding arm and a generally horizontal arm interconnected thereto, said arms being adapted for mounting on a vehicle wall, said upstanding arm including hinge means connected to the side of said back portion of said jump seat for movement of said jump seat between a stored position in such bracket against a vehicle wall and an operative position extending laterally of said bracket and vehicle wall,

(c) back portion spring return means interconnecting said upstanding arm and said back portion which moves said back portion to a stored position,

(d) said horizontal arm including a sloped side surface for reception and support of the side margin of said seat portion, and further including a raised seat anchoring post adapted to fit into a cavity in the underside of side seat portion when said seat portion is in the operative position, said post defining with said sloped side surface a recess with sloped sidewalls, said recess being adapted to receive a frame component on the underside of said seat portion, said sloped sidewalls facilitating immediate, automatic easy release of said seat portion from said horizontal arm when a predetermined weight is removed from said seat to thereby store said jump seat against said vehicle wall, with both the jump seat and jump seat back both overlying one another and both lying flat against said wall,

(e) seat portion spring return means interconnecting said seat portion and said back portion which raises said seat portion to a position where it overlies said back portion,

(f) whereby said jump seat assembly includes sufficient support means to enable said jump seat, when in its operative position, to extend outwardly from and be supported entirely by said vehicle wall.

2. The improved assembly of claim 1 wherein said recess is lined with a smooth, fast release component and wherein said seat frame component receivable in said recess includes a smooth wear-resistant component.

3. The improved assembly of claim 2 wherein said fast release component comprises a strip of nylon tape and wherein said wear-resistant component includes a polished hardened steel collar.

4. The improved assembly of claim 1 wherein said upstanding arm includes limit means connected to said hinge means to control the rate and extent of movement of said seat between said stored and operative position.

5. The improved assembly of claim 4 wherein the rear end of said seat portion is pivotably connected by a bracket to the bottom of said back rest portion and wherein said seat spring means includes a compression spring connected to said back rest portion behind said seat portion, a drive arm connected to said spring and a cam member pivoted to said drive arm and extending down and forward into connection with at least one of said seat portion and seat portion bracket for rotating said seat portion bracket and seat portion.

6. The improved assembly of claim 1 wherein said assembly includes a fully adjustable seat belt sub-assembly connected to said seat back portion, said sub-assembly including a transversely extending waist-girdling belt portion, and a spaced pair of generally vertically depending shoulder belts separately releasably connected thereto and a spring loaded belt take-up reel recessed in the back of said seat back portion, said reel reeling said vertically depending shoulder belts in side-by-side non-overlapping relationship for minimal belt bulge to facilitate storage of said assembly.

7. The improved assembly of claim 6 wherein seat back portion includes a head rest and wherein said seat belt sub-assembly includes a belt strap guide having a bracket secured to said seat back portion at about said headrest, said bracket having a spaced parallel pair of belt guideways aligned with openings extending forwardly through said seat back portion and a free spinning transverse roller secured to the back of said seat back over said guideways, over which roller said vertical shoulder belts are trained to pass forward through said guideways and seat back openings and down in front of said seat back into releasable connection with said waist girdling belt portion.

8. The improved assembly of claim 7 wherein said waist girdling belt portion includes a pair of transverse belts fixedly secured to said seat back portion and releasably secured to each other, each said transverse belt including means for separately adjusting its length and being releasably connected to a separate one of said shoulder belts.

9. The improved assembly of claim 8 wherein said jump seat is an airplane jump seat adopted to be connected to an airplane galley sidewall, wherein said upright arm is vertical and said wall bracket is metal, and wherein said jump seat has a tubular metal frame.