Reversible Boat Seat Pivot Structure for Dual-Facing Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Passengers in sport boats often have to contort themselves or change seats to face forward while cruising and backward while watching water sports performers, as traditional seats are fixed in one direction.
Innovation Solution
A reversible seat design that allows passengers to comfortably face either direction, featuring a base, seat bottom, and seat back that can pivot approximately 180 degrees, with adjustable angles between 90 to 135 degrees, and optional lounge positions, using cammed surfaces and a slide-and-pivot connection to maintain the seat's orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional fixed seats are used in sport boats, then the seat structure is simple and stable, but passengers must contort themselves or change seats to face different directions
Solution Approach 1:
The seat bottom is made dynamically adjustable through a pivot connection to the base, allowing it to rotate between forward-facing and backward-facing positions. This dynamic capability enables passengers to comfortably face different directions without changing seats, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity by introducing controlled movement to a traditionally fixed structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat is segmented into distinct components: a base, a pivot connection, a seat bottom, and a seat back. This segmentation allows the seat bottom to be independently rotated relative to the base while the seat back remains attached to the seat bottom. The segmentation enables the specific function of directional adjustment without requiring complete redesign of the entire seat structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the seat bottom is made rotatable to face different directions, then passengers can comfortably view forward or backward, but the mechanism requires cammed surfaces and slide-and-pivot connections
Solution Approach 1:
The slide-and-pivot connection creates a dynamic mechanism that allows the seat bottom to rotate approximately 180 degrees while maintaining structural support. The cammed surfaces work together to guide and constrain this rotational movement, ensuring the seat bottom can assume forward-facing, backward-facing, and intermediate positions. This dynamic mechanism provides adaptability while keeping the complexity manageable through well-defined geometric constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The cammed surfaces utilize curved geometries to enable smooth rotational movement of the seat bottom. The cammed surface on the seat bottom and its corresponding cammed surface on the seat back work together through arc-shaped paths, allowing controlled rotation without sharp corners or complex joints. This curved approach simplifies the mechanism compared to rigid angular connections.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the seat back angle is fixed, then the manufacturing is simpler, but the seat cannot assume multiple positions including lounge positions
Solution Approach 1:
The seat back is connected to the seat bottom through a pivot connection, making it dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. This allows the seat back to assume multiple angles including upright positions (90-135 degrees) and lounge positions (45-90 degrees). The dynamic connection requires simple pivot joints and cammed surface interactions, maintaining ease of manufacture while significantly increasing adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The seat back angle is changed as a variable parameter rather than being fixed during manufacturing. The cammed surfaces and pivot connection enable the seat back angle to vary between different ranges (45-135 degrees), allowing the same manufactured components to produce multiple seat configurations. This parameter approach maintains manufacturing simplicity while achieving position variety.
Data Source
AI summary
A reversible seat for a boat or other vehicle includes a base, a seat bottom, and a seat back. The seat bottom, which has a first surface and a second, opposite surface, is pivotally connected to the base such that the seat bottom is capable of rotating at least approximately 180 degrees about the base. The seat back is pivotally connected to the seat bottom on a side of the seat bottom opposite from where the seat bottom is pivotally connected to the base. In a first seat position, the first surface of the seat bottom faces substantially upward and the second surface of the seat bottom faces substantially downward. In a second seat position, the second surface of the seat bottom faces substantially upward and the first surface of the seat bottom faces substantially downward. In each of the first and second seat positions, the seat back extends upward at a predetermined angle relative to the seat bottom.