Modular Seating Assemblies for Sloped Floor Reconfiguration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reconfigurable seating systems fail to effectively address the need for adaptable seating on sloped floors in public venues, as they either require time-consuming installation and removal or compromise the floor's usability for other purposes, while also needing to meet safety regulations for emergency evacuations.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable seating system with adjustable seating units and floor plates that include mounting feet and receptacles, allowing for secure attachment to the floor in various orientations, including flat and sloped configurations, and enabling easy reconfiguration between straight and curved row layouts, while ensuring stability and compliance with safety standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If seating units are individually secured to the floor, then stability and safety compliance are improved, but installation time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple seating units are merged into a single assembly that is secured to the floor as one unit rather than individually. The seating assembly includes multiple seating units mounted on a common support structure with a single base plate that attaches to the floor through one mounting location, combining multiple securement functions into a single installation operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The seating system is segmented into modular assemblies that can be independently installed and removed. Each assembly is a self-contained unit with multiple seating units pre-assembled on a support structure, allowing the entire group to be installed as one piece while maintaining the ability to quickly remove and reconfigure other assemblies.
2Adaptability or versatility
If seating systems are made reconfigurable for different venue purposes, then adaptability is improved, but installation and removal become time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The seating system employs dynamic mounting mechanisms that allow assemblies to be quickly attached and detached from the floor. The support structures include removable mounting feet with receptacles that engage with floor anchors, enabling rapid deployment and removal of seating assemblies to reconfigure the venue for different events or purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple seating units are pre-assembled into complete seating assemblies with all necessary support structures and mounting components prepared in advance. This preliminary assembly means that during reconfiguration, entire groups of seats can be moved as single units rather than assembling individual seats on-site, significantly reducing reconfiguration time.
3Adaptability or versatility
If floor area is freed for other purposes by collapsing seating, then floor usability is improved, but seating stability during use may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The seating system is divided into separate modular assemblies that can be independently collapsed and stored. Each assembly maintains its structural integrity when collapsed, and the modular design allows complete removal from the floor area when not in use, providing full floor accessibility while ensuring seating stability when deployed.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structures incorporate dynamic elements that allow the seating assemblies to be easily collapsed and repositioned. The mounting mechanisms enable quick transitions between deployed and stored configurations, maintaining stability in the deployed state while allowing complete removal when floor space is needed for other purposes.
4Productivity
If multiple seating units are mounted on a single floor plate, then installation time is reduced, but the complexity of the mounting mechanism increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple mounting functions are merged into a single integrated base plate assembly. The base plate includes multiple mounting feet with receptacles that can simultaneously secure multiple support structures, combining what would otherwise require multiple separate mounting operations into a single installation step.
Solution Approach 2:
The base plate and mounting feet are designed as universal components that can accommodate multiple different support structure configurations. The receptacles on the mounting feet can receive various types of mounting pins or anchors, making the same mounting mechanism versatile enough to handle different seating arrangements without increasing complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A reconfigurable seating system may include a bank of seating units disposed in rows. Associated chairs may be arranged in the seating units, supported on support beams by chair brackets. The reconfigurable seating systems may be installed on flat floors or sloped floors and may be arranged in linear-rows and/or arched-row configurations.