The present invention relates to a support element for

securing a seat in a mounting system of a vehicle chassis.

Seats, in particular for public transport vehicles such as busses, vans, subways, trains, planes, ferries etc., need to be positioned side by side and one behind the other on the floor of the passenger cells. The seats are located on support elements, usually in the shape of legs or similar, with which the seats can be mounted on the floor of the vehicle chassis, preferably in rails being embedded in the floor.

Prior art support elements or legs for such kind of seats are made of metal providing a substantial strength. Vehicles for public transportation are mainly used for short distances and frequently used by different types of passengers, thus the weight load acting on those seats and thus on their legs changes constantly. To allow such seats to be as long lasting as possible and to compensate for these permanent changes in weight resulting from different types of passengers, it has therefore been common to construct such supporting elements and leg profiles for public transportation seats to be made of strong metal. In addition, public transport requires certain safety standards in an event of accident so as to keep such seats intact and firmly mounted inside the vehicle, in

particular during collision. By not getting loose or deformed in case of such an event, such seat legs made of strong metal actually provide additional safety and protection to

passengers .

It is obvious that such support elements or legs made of metal add substantially to the overall weight of the vehicle, which in the following results in higher fuel consumption and thus pollution to the environment, which is a quite critical factor as such public transport vehicles over their lifespan run a substantial mileage on the one hand and are mainly used in urban, highly populated areas on the other.

In these modern times it is the general aim to reduce weight of vehicles so as to further reduce the emission rates of such public transport vehicles.

Some constructions of support elements or legs are known, for example, from the prior art document TR 2010/05239. Further,

TR 2016/13398 discloses a locking mechanism in connection with seat legs to install seats on installation railings in

commercial and personal vehicles. The locking mechanism includes a winding arm that fixes the seat legs on rails in the floor, having an eccentric structure, in which an

eccentric pin is connected to the winding arm and a rondel prevents the winding arm to go into the rail space, while installation holes are provided to install locking legs. Quick changing legs for seats are e.g. known from TR 2016/08447 which legs can move inside the receiving rails when more space is required and can be folded to provide space for e.g.

wheelchairs in public transportation vehicles.

Based on the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a newly configured support element or leg for seats in particular to be used in public transportation vehicles, which support element provides a reduced weight but still allows for enough strength.

Such object is solved by a support element for securing a seat in a mounting system of a vehicle chassis comprising a frame structure having a seat connecting element and opposite thereto a fixation element, the frame structure encompassing a central structure, in which the support element is being made as a monobloc, most preferably casted from aluminium.

By such solution, a lightweight supporting structure for seats in particular for use with public transportation vehicles is provided .

Employing such lightweight structures in public transport vehicles allows for the reduction of the total weight of such vehicles, which at the same time can be operated more

efficiently, thus more environmentally friendly due to less consumption and reduced exhaust emissions going therewith.

Another advantage of this new inventive concept is that such support elements casted as an aluminium monobloc construction can be manufactured faster than metal types, which reduces the production costs substantially. Further, since no welding process is needed in particular during installation in the vehicle, such novel support elements can be installed more easily and quicker.

In one embodiment of the invention, the support element is configured so that the central structure is offset to the frame structure. In other words, the frame structure

completely encompassing the central structure comprises a greater width than the central structure. By such measure, further weight can be reduced.

In order to reduce weight even further, the central structure may comprise at least one recess or opening. If the central structure is made substantially thin, according to the

invention, such recess or opening shall be framed by

enforcement ribs in such a manner that these ribs form the edge of the recess and entirely run around such recess. In a preferred embodiment the central structure, which is preferably plate-like, may comprise a series of recesses or openings .

According to the invention, such series or arrangement of recesses may differ depending on the operation purpose of the seat, i.e. the range of total weight and/or maximum load to be carried by it. In particular, the size, the shape, the

distribution and/or the orientation of such recesses within the central structure may be configured and designed to allow for weight reduction with respect to the support element to the maximum possible extent without influencing the strength, which in fact depends on said maximum load to be carried by the support element, namely with of the seat and possible weight range of passengers.

In another embodiment the frame structure may comprise

recesses in its circumference, in particular at positions with high material collection, so as to further reduce the weight.

The fixation element may be adapted to be mounted in a floor rail and to be displaceable in said floor rail before

fixation. By that easy installation is enabled and the

position of the seats can be changed depending on the vehicle space requirements and needs.

The seat connecting element may comprise means for correctly aligning a seat during installation. By that, fixation holes for bolts do automatically match and the seat can be placed on top of the support element in one determined position only, at least with respect to one direction, which further eases the installation process.

In one embodiment according to the invention the central structure is inclined in relation to the seat connecting element and the fixation element, preferably such that the central structure basically forms the shape of a

parallelogram. For such embodiment, the angle of inclination may be orientated in a direction in line with the major orientation of the maximum load to be carried by the support element .

According to a preferred embodiment, the monobloc support element with its frame structure, central structure and recesses in its entirety is configured and designed to not comprise any notches or edges, which would otherwise result in force surges and progressive force collection when the seat and thus the support element is under load. Since according to the invention such geometric structures do not appear, notch effects, which could lead to material failure and fatigue, are avoided completely.

In further aspects, the present invention also relates to a passenger seat comprising a support element having at least one of the above-described features, and also to a vehicle, in particular a public transportation vehicle, having at least one seat with a support element according to the invention.

Further aspects and features of the invention do become apparent from the description of the different embodiments as shown in the accompanying drawings :

Fig. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of a

support element according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the support element of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side view of a second embodiment of a

support element according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the support element of Fig. 3; Fig . 5 is a side view of a third embodiment of a

support element according to the invention;

Fig . 6 is a perspective view of the third embodiment of the support element of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a side view of a fourth embodiment of a

support element according to the invention;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the fourth embodiment of the support element of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a side view of a fifth embodiment of a

support element according to the invention;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the fifth embodiment of the support element of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a side view of a sixth embodiment of a

support element according to the invention;

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the sixth embodiment of the support element of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a side view of a seventh embodiment of a

support element according to the invention; and

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the seventh embodiment of the support element of Fig. 13.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 a first embodiment of a support element 1 or leg for a seat (not shown) according to the invention is shown .

The support element 1 is casted as a monobloc from aluminium and comprises a frame structure 2 encompassing or surrounding a central structure 5. The frame structure 2 comprises a portion as a seat connecting element 3 for mounting a seat onto it and opposite thereto a portion as a fixation element 4 for mounting the support element 1 onto a vehicle floor, e.g. onto rails.

The frame structure 2 is basically designed as a parallelogram between the seat and the floor having a predetermined angle of inclination depending on the force load to be carried and the direction of it.

The central structure 5 comprises a distribution of recesses, i.e. circular through holes 6 of two sizes, which are arranged in series on linear extensions crossing each other

rectangularly. The openings or holes 6 are circumferentially enforced by enforcement ribs 7, as can best be seen in Fig. 2.

Further, the central structure 5 is offset to the frame structure 2 by a distance D to both sides symmetrically.

Both the seat connecting element 3 and the fixation element 4 at their edges comprise recesses 8.

The fact that according to the invention the support element 1 is comprising a central structure 5 with openings 6, having a substantial lower width due to the offsets and the frame structure 2 comprising recesses 8 at its end side edges, respectively, the overall weight of such support element 1 can be reduced to the utmost extent without influencing or

reducing the stability of such leg.

The support element 1 will be connected to the seat by bolts or similar which pass through holes 9 in the area of the recesses 8, while the fixation element 4 may cooperate with sliding blocks (not shown) for floor rails, which are

connected by bolts passing the through holes 9 at the bottom.

In the following further embodiments are described with reference to corresponding figures, while same parts shall be denoted by the same reference numerals.

In Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 a second embodiment is shown. The central structure 5 comprises a series of recesses 10, which are separated by struts 11.

The seat connecting element 3 comprises means in the form of guiding edges 12 to easily align the seat during assembly.

In Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 a third embodiment is shown.

The central structure 5 comprises in parallel orientation a series of oval shaped recesses 13 being encased by

corresponding enforcement ribs 14.

In Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 a fourth embodiment is shown.

The central structure 5 comprises a distribution of

differently shaped and sized recesses, basically rhombus-like recesses 15, triangle-like recesses 16, 17, 18 and 19 and recesses 20 being curved in their edges, which however are arranged in relation to each other so as to form struts 21 and 22 intersecting each other by parallelogram-formed

orientations. All recesses 15 to 19 comprise corresponding enforcement ribs 23.

In Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 a fifth embodiment is shown.

The central structure 5 comprises a distribution of

differently shaped and sized recesses, basically triangle shaped recesses 24, 25 and 26, the arrangement, orientation and size of which is selected to form a middle portion 27 of greater strength. All recesses 24 to 26 comprise corresponding enforcement ribs 28.

In Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 a sixth embodiment is shown. The central structure 5 comprises a distribution of differently shaped and sized recesses, basically triangle shaped recesses 29, 30, 31 and 32, the arrangement,

orientation and size of which is selected to form portions 33 and struts 34 of greater strength. All recesses 29 to 32 comprise corresponding enforcement ribs 35.

In Fig. 13 and Fig. 14 a seventh embodiment is shown. The central structure 5 does not comprise any recesses but is made as a continuous plate-like surface, being offset by the distance D to the frame structure 2.

As can be particularly seen with respect to the first, second, third and sixth embodiments, the entire construction of the support element 1 does not comprise notches or edges which would lead to an accumulation of force load in their areas, but the entire geometry is realized by curvatures to direct the stress, accordingly.