Modular Chair Mounting for Reconfigurable Seating and Storage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing recreational watercraft seating arrangements require significant work for reconfiguration and leave unsightly holes when changed, while re-arrangeable accessories lack large storage spaces.
Innovation Solution
A modular seating system with chairs and a mounting surface featuring arcuate slots for selective connection, allowing chairs to be positioned flexibly and forming storage spaces when aligned, with seat portions pivoting for access and closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chairs are permanently attached to the deck using bolts or screws, then the seating arrangement is stable and secure, but the deck surface is damaged with unsightly holes and reconfiguration requires significant work
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces floor tiles as an intermediary component between the deck and the chairs. The floor tiles are permanently attached to the deck using fasteners, while the chairs are selectively connected to the floor tiles via attachment features (arcuate slots). This intermediary layer protects the deck surface from direct damage by bolts or screws, as the fasteners are concealed within the floor tile structure, eliminating unsightly holes in the visible deck surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the mounting structure into separate modular components: the deck, floor tiles, and chairs with attachment features. The floor tiles are segmented into individual units that can be independently installed and replaced. The chairs are segmented with separate base portions containing attachment features that interface with the floor tiles, allowing selective connection without permanently modifying the deck itself.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional chairs are added to increase seating capacity, then more seating arrangements are available, but storage space is reduced or eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into the chair base structure. The base portions of adjacent chairs are positioned side-by-side with their interior volumes forming a continuous storage space when the chairs are connected to adjacent floor tiles. The lateral openings in the base bodies allow access to this shared storage volume, merging the storage capacity of multiple chairs into a unified space that serves the entire seating arrangement.
Solution Approach 2:
The chair bases serve multiple functions simultaneously: they provide structural support for the seats, contain attachment features for selective connection to floor tiles, and create shared storage spaces when positioned adjacent to one another. The interior volumes of the bases are designed to function as storage compartments while maintaining the structural integrity needed for seating support.
3Adaptability or versatility
If chairs are made re-arrangeable on the deck, then flexibility of seating arrangements is increased, but large storage spaces are not provided
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic reconfigurability through the attachment features consisting of arcuate slots in the floor tiles and corresponding connectors in the chair bases. The arcuate slots allow the chairs to be selectively connected at multiple positions and orientations, enabling flexible seating arrangements that can be easily reconfigured by removing and relocating individual chairs without permanent modifications to the deck or floor tiles.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular seating system including a mounting surface having a plurality of attachment features formed therein and a plurality of chairs. Each chair of the plurality of chairs includes a base including a base body, an interior volume, two lateral openings formed in opposite lateral sides of the base body, the two lateral openings communicating with the interior volume, and a top opening communicating with the interior volume; a connector connected at least in part to a bottom side of the base body; and a seat portion connected to the base body and arranged: to provide a seating surface and to prevent access to the top opening when in the closed position, and to allow access to the top opening when in the open position, each attachment feature configured for receiving the connector of each chair of the plurality of chairs for selectively connecting each chair to the mounting surface.