IMPROVED FOLD-UP SEAT/CHAIR FOR PEOPLE IN TRANSPORT VEHICLES The present invention relates to a device constructed as a fold-in, swing aside and detachable chair, also folding chair, further called fold-up seat/chair, for placement onto a special applied floor in transport vehicles, such as mini busses, city busses, touring cars, ambulances, trains, trams, airplanes and such, in which in its length the back support of the fold-up chair is supplied with a swivelling head support, in which the back support whether or not can be folded down hingeably over the seat element to a practically horizontal position, in which in the normal sitting position the chair shape is maintained with a pin construction.

A somewhat similar fold-up seat/chair is known from the German patent document number DE 10038035 Al with priority NL 1012772.

In the mentioned patent document a seat with back support is described, in which the back support can be folded down and then. the back support and seat can be swung aside against the side wall of a transport vehicle for persons, in which then the whole falls into a kind of vertical partial framework, in which the chair with accessories are partly positioned in front of the side windows of the transport vehicle. The concerned fold-up chair at one side is hingeably mounted at the side of the seat around the horizontal part of the mentioned framework with which it is connected and at the other side has two interconnected hingeably mounted pair of legs. Furthermore, the fold-up chair parts are spring loaded or locked, in

which for locking a ball-, pin-or lip construction is applied.

This known fold-up seat/chair has a number of disadvantages regarding the fact that the whole in folded up position gives a voluminous impression and with that a large part is situated in front of the side window. The different folded parts of the chair, such as the back support and the legs make a rattling and flapping noise in the swung aside position, through which the interior of the transport vehicle acquires a much less desired look.

Operating the chair is rather complicated. Further the whole has a very old-fashioned or classic look and the chair has no head support, which for modern mini busses and such for persons is actually a requirement. The chair does not have an arm support on the aisle side, which modern chairs should have. The weight of the existing chair is rather large and so the strain on the wall (on thin sheeting) is relatively large. In short, the comfort of the known fold-up chair cannot reach the current criteria, looking at the above mentioned disadvantages.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide such a modified and strongly improved fold-up chair for persons in transport vehicles, in which the aforementioned disadvantages are solved and in which the device has a modern look and comfort and can be put onto the market in an economical way.

For this, a device constructed as a modern and luxurious fold-up and swing aside passengers'seat for transport vehicles is further developed in such a way, characterized in that the concerned fold-up seat/chair is foldable over two mutual perpendicular not in the same horizontal plane situated axis'of rotation into a suitable vertical position of the whole of the folded-up chair and

with that stays low near the vehicles'bottom, in which the first axis of rotation is situated between the back support and the seat or sitting element and the second axis of rotation is situated eccentrically longitudinal beneath the sitting element, in which blocking is done around the mentioned first axis of rotation by means of a specific first locking mechanism and around the mentioned second axis of rotation with a specific second locking mechanism, in which in the mentioned extended vertical position the fold-up chair is spring loaded, in which the foot construction of the fold-up chair is constructed as rigid vertical beams to which the seat and is hingeably mounted and the footconstruction is coupled moment fixed and also detachable with the horizontal plane of the attached floor on the bottom plate of the transport vehicle, in which the material of the supporting framework of the dismountable fold-up seat/chair is a strong rigid material.

The advantages of the device, the fold-up chair, in relation to the known art, of the known devices are many and can be indicated as follows: - Comfort like a"normal"passengers seat.

-Modern elegant look, like a fixed chair.

-Folded-up underneath the window, and not visible from the outside when folded-up.

-Folded-out provided with a head support.

- Integrated seat belt in the back support instead of a loose post or on the vehicle's wall.

-Operation with one handle, simple and unequivocal.

-Handle is an arm support with several functions.

- Folding-in the back support is secured against abuse.

-Chair has only floor fastening -Chair can be mounted with a quick-connection system and is then easily removable from the transport vehicle.

- Quick-connection system is operable by foot.

- Chair is lighter than the existing fold-up chairs.

- Useable in different kinds of transport vehicles.

- No wall attachment or other coupling part for the benefit of strength, only robust floor connection.

Further the device according to the invention is further developed in such a way, that the mentioned specific first locking mechanism can be put into action by turning the head support in the back support, whereupon after unlocking a further safety lock the back support is rotatable over the first axis of rotation into a horizontal position.

The advantage is an easy to operate locking of the back support of the fold-up chair.

Furthermore the device according to the invention is further developed in such a way, that the mentioned specific second locking mechanism consists of a hingeable spacial rod system, cooperating with spring loaded ratchets and draw springs in the seat and operable via the back support.

The advantage is again an effective and fast useable locking for a fixed and sturdy position of the seat or seat cushion of the fold-up chair.

Then the device according to the invention is further developed in such a way, that for the mentioned second locking device the foot construction consists of two as rigid constructed legs with a buckled form which can rotate the sitting element of the fold-up seat/chair around two supporting points, in which a third supporting point is constructed by a U-profile section, acting as a shore, that is slideable lockable in a section of the sitting element

and in operation can be held under tension by a damper and is locked, being the second locking mechanism.

The advantage is an easy operable locking of the chair seat, for everyone.

Further the device according to the invention is further developed in such a way, that the mentioned base plate of the two collapsed legs of the fold-up chair is fastened to the mentioned applied floor on the bottom plate of the transport vehicle by means of T-head bolts with nuts or quick-connectors.

The advantage is, that in less than no time the whole chair can be removed from the floor of the transport vehicle.

Furthermore the device according to the invention is further developed in such a way, that the mentioned first locking mechanism is constructed by folding-in the head support and after that by moving the arm support backwards out of the vertical position, after which the back support with head support is foldeable over the first axis of rotation on the seat, in which in almost horizontal position of the back support, the ratchet protection of the sitting element becomes unlocked, and that the mentioned second locking mechanism is constructed in such a way that after folding-in the back support over the seat the composition of the back support and the seat can be swung aside over the second axis of rotation, after which the whole packet of the back support and the seat ends up in a vertical position against the side of the transport vehicle and is kept against the wall of the transport vehicle by torsion springs, in which a ratchet construction is used for safety.

The advantages a-Le a strong secured swinging aside of the fold-up chair, in which a simple specific procedure is followed, which requires little muscle power.

The preferred construction of the invention will be described by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawing.

In which: Fig. 1 shows a front view in oblique projection of the fold-up chair according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which only the frame construction is indicated and the upholstery is left out; Fig. 2 shows a side view over the line II of figure 1; Fig. 3 shows a front view over the line III of figure 1; Fig. 4 shows a view in oblique projection of the fold-up chair of figure 1, in which the back support is folded-in over the first axis of rotation; Fig. 5 shows a view in oblique projection of the fold-up chair of figure 1, in which the back support as well as the sitting element are folded in over respectively the first and second axis of rotation; Fig. 6 shows a front view of the folded-in fold-up chair over the line VI of figure 5, in which a flat right side of the open space of the transport vehicle is obtained.

Fig. 7 shows a view over the line VII of figure 5; Fig. 8 shows a detail of the rotation point over the axis of rotation x-x, in which the first locking mechanism is converted; and Fig. 9 shows the support frame of the fold-up chair with axis of rotation y-y and second locking mechanism.

Figure 1 shows a view in oblique projection of the fold-up chair 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The chair consists of a back support 2 supplied with a swivelling head support 3, in which by turning it the back support is unlocked around the first axis of rotation x-x. By turning away the head support 3 in the frame of the back support 2, a rod 4 with damper 5 is moved and as a consequence unlocks the turning point of the back support on the seat indicated in figure 8. Now, by moving the handle 6, the arm support, backwards over an angle a the back support 2, due to the special construction of the turning point of figure 8, in this case only a frame of the fold-up chair is drawn, can be folded-in around the first axis of rotation x-x. In operation, the frame of the chair seat or seat 7 is in horizontal position firmly supported by the spacial rod system 8,9, 10. When the angle between the back support 2 and the seat 7 is approximately 15 degrees, the seat 7 is unlocked over the axis y-y and the seat 7 with back support 2 can be tilted with a force of approximately 3 kg in the vertical position. The as rigid constructed legs 8,9 with a buckled form are moment fixed on the base plate 11 by means of circumferential welds. It being rotateable of the seat 7 is thus around the second axis of rotation y-y.

Figure 2 shows a side view over the line II of figure 1, in which the same parts are indicated with the same numbers. The base plate 11 can be fastened with special T- head bolts (not indicated) in a rail section part (not indicated) to the floor. It is also possible to execute this with bolts (also not indicated).

Figure 3 shows a front view over the line III of figure 1. In this figure it can clearly be seen that the special rods 8,9 have a collapsed curve. Rod 10 is unlocked by a

second unlockingemechanism 20, which is described in figure 9.

Figure 4 shows a view in oblique projection of the fold-up chair 1 of figure 1, in which the back support 2 is folded-in over the first axis of rotation x-x by unlocking the first unlocking mechanism 5 of figure 8.

Figure 5 also shows the sitting element or the seat 7 at least the frame folded-in over the second axis of rotation y-y by unlocking the second unlocking mechanism of figure 9. A flat against the wall of the transport vehicle fold-up chair 1 is created, which in vertical sense is still beneath the window, so that from the outside no folded-in or swung away chair or seat 1 is visible.

Figure 6 shows a front view over the line VI of figure 5. It is shown that a minimum of space is taken, meaning that the thickness D of the package back support 2 with the seat 7 is approximately 200 mm. The folded-up position is maintained by the applied springs around the first and second axes of rotation (x-x and y-y).

Figure 7 shows a view over the line VII of figure 5, in which this fold-up chair 1 also in swung away position gives a professional look, at an optimal use of space in the transport vehicle.

Figure 8 shows partly a detail of the special plate 14 of the turning point 13, forming the first locking mechanism 15, in which 16 is a stiffening bracket and 17 and 6 the handle of the arm support. The handle 6 with the arm support can be moved backwards over an angle a (approximately 90°) if the passenger does not require an arm support. The arm support with handle 6 is then parallel to the back support.

The head-or neck support 3 can be turned in as described and pulls a not indicated cable through which the

spring loaded ratchet 17 is pulled upwards and the handle 6 (' can be pulled further backwards over an angle.

By pulling the handle 6, the special plate 14 pushes away a ratchet and the back support 2 can be rotated flat onto the seat 7 and at an angle of 15 degrees the seat 7 also unlocks in order to be able to rotate over the horizontal axis y-y. If the back support 2 rests flat on the seat 7 the last mentioned ratchet locks the back support 2 onto the seat 7.

Figure 9 shows the support frame 18 of the fold-up chair 1. The spacial rod system 8,9, 10 is already shown in the afore described figures.

The second locking mechanism 20 works as follows : By moving the back support 2, towards the seat 7 and the angle between them is still only approximately 15 degrees, the spring loaded plate is moved horizontally, through which again a ratchet shoots out and torsion springs 19 keep the folded-in or swung away chair spring loaded in vertical position around the axis of rotation y-y, as indicated in figures 5 up to 7.

Finally it has to be emphasized, that the above description constitutes preferred embodiments of the fold- up chair of the invention, but that further variations and modifications are still possible without departing the scope of this patent document.