Collapsible Stadium Seat Structure for Back Support and Portability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lightweight, portable seats lack sufficient back support and are difficult to set up and collapse for use on stadium bleachers or benches, often compromising comfort and portability.
Innovation Solution
A collapsible seat design featuring a seat bottom, back support, and armrests that pivot and fold into a compact bundle, with an attachment strap for securing to bleachers and a carrying strap for transport, ensuring easy setup and storage while providing adequate back support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a lightweight portable seat is designed to be collapsible for transport, then portability is improved, but back support and comfort are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The seat is divided into multiple collapsible sections including the seat bottom, back support, and armrests that can be folded independently. This segmentation allows the seat to collapse into a compact bundle for transport while maintaining the complete structure with back support when assembled for use.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat employs dynamic components with pivot points and folding mechanisms that allow transitions between the expanded usable state with full back support and the collapsed portable state. The back support and armrests are designed to be movable rather than fixed, enabling easy collapse while providing structural support during use.
2Ease of operation
If a folding chair is designed for portability, then transport ease is improved, but the ability to fit over preexisting bleachers or benches is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The seat is designed to collapse primarily in the vertical dimension, allowing it to fit over the tops of bleacher seats or bench backs. By reducing the vertical profile while maintaining horizontal stability when assembled, the seat can be positioned over preexisting seating structures without interfering with their function.
3Volume of moving object
If a portable seat is designed to collapse to small size, then storage space is reduced, but setup complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple components including the seat bottom, back support, and armrests are interconnected through a unified folding mechanism system. This merging of components with coordinated pivot points allows them to collapse and expand in a synchronized manner, reducing the number of separate assembly steps required.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat components are pre-configured with pivot points and connection mechanisms that guide the collapsing and expanding motion. This preliminary design of the mechanical connections allows users to simply pull or push components to initiate the collapse or expansion, with the pre-engineered joints guiding the motion rather than requiring complex manual assembly.
4Ease of operation
If armrests and back support are added to a portable seat, then comfort is improved, but the collapsing mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The back support and armrests are designed as dynamic components with pivot points that allow them to fold along with the seat bottom. Rather than being fixed attachments that would complicate the collapsing mechanism, these comfort features are made movable, enabling them to collapse in coordination with the main seat structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The back support and armrests are segmented into separate foldable sections that can be collapsed independently or in unison with the seat bottom. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for both comfort when assembled and compactness when collapsed, without requiring a single complex mechanism for all parts.
Data Source
AI summary
A collapsible seat includes a seat bottom, a back support, and armrests, all interconnected for movement between an operative, or set-up, condition and a collapsed, or bundled, condition. The seat bottom comprises first and second portions interconnected together and foldable into generally parallel relationship with one another associated with the collapsed condition of the seat. The back support is pivotally disposed relative to the seat bottom such that, in the seat's set-up condition, the back support extends generally upwardly from a rear portion of the seat bottom and is capable of pivotal movement relative to the seat bottom for collapsing the seat to its collapsed condition. The armrests are located on the outer edges of the seat bottom when the seat is in its set-up condition, and are pivotally connected with the first and second seat bottom portions, respectively, for movement relative thereto during set-up and collapsing of the seat.