Telescopic Seating Riser Guidance for Binding-Free Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing portable seating systems face challenges in efficiently deploying and retracting seating risers between storage and use positions, particularly on uneven or slick surfaces, and require manual intervention to prevent binding and misalignment during movement.
Innovation Solution
A seating system with a powered telescopic design featuring a belt drive system and a controller with a laser/sensor feedback loop to guide and lock the risers, ensuring smooth deployment and retraction while preventing binding and misalignment, and a lock assembly for secure positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual intervention is used to deploy and retract seating risers, then binding and misalignment can be prevented through operator attention, but labor intensity and operational time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses self-aligning rollers with channels that automatically guide and align adjacent risers during deployment and retraction. The rollers prevent binding through their design, eliminating the need for manual intervention to prevent misalignment while maintaining reliable operation throughout the movement process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical intervention with an automated roller guide system. The rollers incorporate channels that mechanically guide the risers into proper alignment automatically, substituting human operators with a self-regulating mechanical guidance system that prevents binding and misalignment without requiring manual attention.
2Volume of moving object
If seating risers are designed to telescope for portability, then storage efficiency improves, but structural stability during movement deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The roller guide assembly acts as an intermediary mechanism between telescoping risers during movement. The rollers with channels provide a mediating guidance system that maintains proper alignment and stability during the telescoping and deployment processes, enabling both compact storage and stable operation without compromising structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic alignment through rollers that can accommodate movement while maintaining proper riser alignment. The roller design allows for controlled movement during telescoping and deployment while preventing binding and misalignment, adapting to the changing structural configuration as risers transition between stored and deployed states.
3Speed
If automated belt drive systems are implemented, then deployment speed increases, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the belt drive system with the roller guide assembly into an integrated mechanism. The rollers are incorporated as part of the belt drive structure, merging the driving function with the alignment and guidance functions. This integration reduces overall system complexity while maintaining automated deployment capability, as the same structural elements perform multiple functions simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
An example of the disclosed seating system includes a plurality of seating risers configured to telescope relative to one another. A roller guide assembly guides movement of the risers, and a lock assembly locks a lower level riser relative to a higher level riser when in a deployed position.