Movable Ambulance Seat Assembly for Attendant Access
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional seating systems in emergency response vehicles are fixed, limiting attendants' ability to access different areas of the vehicle while maintaining balance during transit, as they need to leave their seat to attend to patients, which can be challenging during vehicle maneuvers.
Innovation Solution
A movable seating system with a track and seat assembly that allows attendants to reposition themselves within the vehicle while remaining seated, using a guide structure and attendant support structures that can move along tracks to access various areas, ensuring safety and flexibility during patient care.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional fixed seating is used, then the attendant is secured in a stable position, but the attendant cannot access different areas of the vehicle while remaining seated
Solution Approach 1:
The seat assembly is made movable along the track structure, transitioning from a fixed position to a dynamically adjustable position. The attendant support structure can be repositioned along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle while remaining secured, allowing access to different areas without compromising safety during transit.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the attendant leaves the seat to move around the vehicle, then access to different areas is improved, but the attendant loses balance during vehicle maneuvers
Solution Approach 1:
The seat assembly is made movable along the track structure, transitioning from a fixed position to a dynamically adjustable position. The attendant support structure can be repositioned along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle while remaining secured, allowing access to different areas without compromising safety during transit.
3Ease of operation
If the seat is made movable along the track, then the attendant can access different areas while seated, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seating system is segmented into modular components: a track structure attached to the vehicle body, a movable seat assembly, and a platform. This segmentation allows the seat to move independently along the track while maintaining structural integrity, simplifying the overall design compared to a completely reconfigurable system.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat assembly is made movable along the track structure, transitioning from a fixed position to a dynamically adjustable position. The attendant support structure can be repositioned along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle while remaining secured, allowing access to different areas without compromising safety during transit.
Data Source
AI summary
An emergency response type vehicle is provided. The vehicle comprises an operator compartment, a body supported rearward of the operator compartment and having at least one side wall, a guide structure supported at the side wall and extending substantially parallel with the side wall, and a seat assembly movably coupled to the guide structure. The seat assembly has a backrest that is substantially parallel with the side wall. The seat assembly is selectively positionable about the guide structure to provide a movable (e.g., repositionable, reconfigurable, adjustable, adaptable, etc.) seating system within the vehicle so that an attendant can access different areas of the vehicle while remaining seated and restrained in a seat assembly.