U.S. patent number 3,712,614 [Application Number 05/055,827] was granted by the patent office on 1973-01-23 for swing seat.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Cambridge Research and Development Group. Invention is credited to James E. Richardson, Lawrence M. Sherman.
United States Patent |
3,712,614 |
Sherman , et al. |
January 23, 1973 |
SWING SEAT
Abstract
A swing seat for suspension from an overhead support which
utilizes at least one arch member to transmit vertical loads to a
swing seat suspension element. The swing seat is formed as a
continuous walled, generally elongated shell having upper and lower
wall sections. The upper wall section has a generally horizontal
seating surface. The lower wall section defines at least one
longitudinally extending arch member that is positioned between the
ends of the lower wall section. A walled aperture located in each
end of the swing seat is used to transmit the vertical loads
imposed upon the arch member to the suspension element.
Inventors: |
Sherman; Lawrence M. (Westport,
CT), Richardson; James E. (Weston, CT) |
Assignee: |
Cambridge Research and Development
Group (Westport, CT)
|
Family
ID: |
22000405 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/055,827 |
Filed: |
July 17, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
472/118;
297/452.65 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63G
9/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63G
9/00 (20060101); A63g 009/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;272/85,86,87,88,89,90,91 ;297/452,445 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Oechsle; Anton O.
Assistant Examiner: Brown; Theatrice
Claims
Having described in detail our improved swing seat, it will be
apparent that a number of modifications can be made without
departing from the scope of the invention. What we claim and desire
to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:
1. A swing seat for suspension by a suspension element from an
overhead support comprising:
a continuous walled, generally elongated shell having upper and
lower wall sections each terminating in end portions,
said upper wall section defining a substantially horizontal seating
surface portion and said lower wall section defining at least one
longitudinally extending, concave downwardly, arch member
positioned between the end portions of said lower wall section,
said arch member being open downwardly in transverse vertical
cross-section; and,
means located in the end portions of said wall sections adapted to
transmit vertical loads imposed upon said arch member to said swing
suspension element.
2. The swing seat of claim 1 further characterized by a plurality
of longitudinally extending arch members.
3. The swing seat of claim 2 wherein said longitudinally extending
arch members are laterally spaced.
4. The swing seat of claim 1 further characterized by a first set
of longitudinally extending arch members;
a second set of longitudinally extending arch members spaced
laterally from and generally parallel to said first set of arch
members; and, means between each longitudinally extending arch
member in each set of arch members for transmitting vertical loads
imposed upon said arch members to the swing seat suspension
element.
5. The swing seat of claim 4 further characterized by a plurality
of lateral webs structurally connecting said sets of arch
members.
6. The swing seat of claim 1 further characterized by
said upper and lower wall sections each having a plurality of
apertures extending therethrough; and,
a corresponding plurality of vertical webs which define fluid
passageways between said upper and lower wall section
apertures.
7. The swing seat of claim 1 wherein said vertical load
transmitting means comprises a walled aperture extending through
the shell at each end thereof, said walled aperture having at least
a portion of the wall surface in contact with the swing suspension
element shaped to conform to the shape of said suspension
element.
8. The swing seat of claim 1 wherein said upper wall section end
portions extend above the plane of said seating surface
portion.
9. The swing seat of claim 8 further characterized by said upper
wall section end portions each having a portion which curves
upwardly from said seating surface portion.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to playground and recreational
equipment in general and, more particularly, to an improved swing
seat for suspension from an overhead support.
Various types of swing seats are well known in the art including
those employing some form of reinforcement, such as the swing seat
described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,975,262, issued Oct. 2, 1934.
Recently, attention in the swing seat art has been directed toward
various plastic swing seat constructions such as those shown in
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,260,522 and 3,261,607. An example of a current
plastic swing seat is the seat manufactured by the Irwin
Corporation of 85 Factory Street, Nashua, New Hampshire 03060 and
sold under the model nos. 3702,3712, and 3726.
These swing seats are generally rigid and in the case of the seat
described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,607, a beam construction is used
for longitudinal rigidity while lateral rigidity is obtained by
means of cross-bracing.
It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved
swing seat which employs a deformable arch construction to transmit
vertical loads to a swing seat suspension element.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide an
improved swing seat which can be fabricated from readily available
plastic materials utilizing conventional molding techniques.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved
swing seat which is relatively stable and less tippable.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will
best be understood from a detailed description of a preferred
embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration, and
shown in the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the improved swing seat of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the swing seat illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the swing seat shown in FIGS. 1 and
2;
FIG. 4 is an end view of the swing seat shown in FIGS. 1,2, and
3;
FIG. 5 is a view in cross-section taken along line 5--5 in FIG.
2;
FIG. 6 is a view in cross-section taken along line 6--6 in FIG.
2;
FIG. 7 is a view in cross-section of a portion of one end of the
swing seat showing the position of a chain link swing seat
suspension element;
FIG. 8 is a view in cross-section showing an alternative embodiment
of the invention; and,
FIG. 9 is a view in cross-section taken along line 9--9 in FIG.
8.
Turning now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 through 4
thereof, there is shown an improved swing seat constructed in
accordance with the present invention and indicated generally by
the reference numeral 10. The swing seat 10 comprises a continuous
walled shell 12 having an upper wall section 14 and a lower wall
section 16. The upper and lower section are formed preferably from
a polyethylene of either low or high density to provide a
semi-rigid construction. The plastic swing seat 10 can be
manufactured by a variety of techniques including injection
molding, blow molding, and rotational molding. Currently available
twin sheet or twin shell forming methods can also be employed.
It will be appreciated from an inspection of the drawings that the
improved swing seat 10 is a unitary structure in its finished form.
The swing seat 10 can be molded as a single unit or in separate
sections which are subsequently fastened together to form the
unitary shell structure. For example, the upper wall section 14 and
the lower wall section 16 can be fabricated individually and then
assembled by heat sealing, adhesive means, mechanically
interlocking elements, etc., to form the finished unitary swing
seat shell. The term "continuous walled" as used herein is intended
to cover the characteristic of the finished shell and includes
constructions in which the shell is formed as a single unit or as
separate units which are subsequently fastened together by any one
or a combination of the methods previously mentioned.
Looking at FIGS. 1 and 2, and the sectional views shown in FIGS. 5,
6, and 7, it can be seen that the upper wall section has a seating
surface portion 18. Preferably, the seating surface portion 18 has
a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 20 which provide foot
or seating grips. A plurality of drain and cooling apertures 22 are
also provided in the upper wall section of the preferred embodiment
of the present invention. The upper wall section apertures 22 are
fluidly connected to corresponding apertures 24 in the lower wall
section by a corresponding plurality of hollow vertical webs 26
each of which defines a fluid passageway 28 as shown in the
sectional views depicted in FIGS. 5 through 9.
In order to provide a relatively flexible, yet stable, swing seat,
the arch principle is used in the improved swing seat 10 to
transmit vertical loads to a swing seat suspension element shown in
generalized form in FIG. 1 and identified by the reference numeral
30. Referring to FIGS. 3,5,6,8 and 9, the lower wall section 16
defines at least one longitudinally extending arch member 32 which
is positioned between the end portions 34 of the lower wall
section. Preferably, the improved swing seat 10 has a plurality of
longitudinally aligned, longitudinally extending arch members 32a
and 32b as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Collectively, the two arch
members 32a and 32b comprises one set of arch members. Laterally
spaced from the first set of arch members, as shown in FIG. 3, are
two other sets of arch members 32c-32d and 32e-32f. Lateral bracing
is provided by lateral webs 33. It will be noted by examining FIGS.
3,5,6, and 9 that in both embodiments of the present invention, it
is desirable to have a plurality of longitudinally extending arch
members 32 which are laterally spaced from each other.
Looking now at FIGS. 5,6,8, and 9, it can be seen that the
previously mentioned vertical webs 26 structurally tie together the
seating surface portion 18 of the upper wall section and the arch
members 32 of the lower wall section. Since the upper and lower
wall sections are formed from a relatively flexible plastic
material, any vertical loads imposed upon the seating surface
portion 18 will tend to flatten the arch members 32. The vertical
loads are transmitted by the arch members 32 to the suspension
element 30 by means of the inner wall surfaces 36 of the suspension
element receiving apertures 38 located in each end portion of the
swing seat 10. Preferably, at least a portion of the inner wall
surface 36 is shaped to conform to the shape of the suspension
element 30. This can best be seen in the cross-sectional view shown
in FIG. 8 which depicts the use of a flexible link chain 30 as the
suspension element. A portion 36a of the inner wall surface 36 is
indented to provide a cavity for a portion of one link of the chain
suspension element 30.
Referring back to FIGS. 1,2, and 4 through 9, it can be seen that
the end portions 40 of the swing seat extend upwardly beyond the
plane of the seating surface portion 18. This structural
configuration is desirable in order to increase the stability of
the swing seat against rotation about its horizontal axis. Such an
arrangement prevents the tippiness normally encountered with
relatively flat swing seats. It is also desirable to have at least
a portion 40a of the end portions curve upwardly from the seating
surface 18 to provide a foot grip for the user in the standing
position.
* * * * *