Flush-Deck Marine Seating with Pivoting Backrest Ergonomics
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing convertible seating systems for marine vessels often have poor ergonomics due to recessed seating surfaces, which are uncomfortable for users.
Innovation Solution
A seating system where the seat base is flush with the deck surface in both stowed and deployed configurations, utilizing a gas spring or tether system to pivot the backrest upward, providing a more comfortable and ergonomic seating experience with minimal user effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If the seating surface is recessed below the deck surface to allow storage underneath, then storage capacity is improved, but ergonomics and user comfort deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The seating system is nested within a recessed compartment in the deck, with the seat base fitting into the compartment and the backrest folding upward from within the same recessed space. This nesting approach allows the seating system to be stored within the deck structure while maintaining a flush appearance, and provides storage space underneath when the seat is in its stowed position.
Solution Approach 2:
The backrest is designed to be dynamic, folding upward from a horizontal position to an upright position to provide seating. This dynamic transformation allows the system to transition between providing storage space and providing ergonomic seating, resolving the contradiction between storage capacity and user comfort.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the seating system is converted to a lounge configuration with extended leg support, then adaptability and versatility are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seating system is divided into distinct segments: a seat base, a backrest, and leg support portions. These segmented components can be independently positioned and configured, allowing the system to transform between seating and lounge configurations without requiring a completely different structure for each mode.
Solution Approach 2:
The same structural components serve multiple functions: the seat base provides both seating and leg support, the backrest provides both back support and can be positioned at different angles, and the overall structure serves both as a compact storage element and as an extended lounge configuration. This multi-functionality achieves versatility without proportionally increasing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system maintains favorable ergonomics and comfort by keeping the seating base level with the deck surface, allowing for easy conversion between configurations while enhancing user comfort and reducing the complexity of operations.
Implementation Method 1
The backrest is pivotably coupled to the rear wall of the compartment and includes a gas spring coupled between the backrest and the compartment
Implementation Method 2
The backrest is pivotably coupled to the rear wall of the compartment and includes a tether system coupled between the backrest and the compartment
Data Source
AI summary
A convertible seating system for a marine vessel that is movable between a stowed configuration and a deployed configuration is provided. The convertible seating system includes a backrest component that is pivotably coupled to a recessed compartment formed in a deck portion of the marine vessel, and a seat component that is pivotably coupled to the recessed compartment. The seat component is flush with the deck portion when the convertible seating system is in the stowed configuration and the deployed configuration. The seat component further pivots upwardly from the deck portion to permit the backrest component to pivot upwardly from inside the recessed compartment in the stowed configuration to outside the recessed component in the deployed configuration.