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TITLE

Temporary Tiered Spectator Seating

DESCRIPTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to temporary tiered spectator seating, and provides a modular seating podium for such seating, which can be easily assembled and disassembled as the need arises.

Background Art

Public venues such as sporting venues, concerts and festivals around the country frequently have need for temporary tiered seating for spectators. The temporary nature of the seating can range from a requirement for it to be in place for only one or two days, or for one or two weeks, months, or even years. For example, if a soccer team gets promoted to a higher league, the league regulations may require that the pitch has spectator seating. That club must therefore install the spectator seating for the following season at which it competes at the higher level and must retain that seating in place at least until the team is relegated and the league regulations no longer apply. Another example is an event such as the Olympic Games, where sports pitches and sports stadia around the country have to be upgraded to provide good spectator facilities for the duration of the games, but following which the tiered seating might be required to be dismantled for use elsewhere.

The conventional method of constructing temporary tiered seating is to create a lattice framework for the decking using builders' scaffolding poles or similar, and then bolting or otherwise securing decking to that scaffolding lattice. The construction is slow and very highly labour intensive, and the overall cost is very substantial indeed.

It therefore is apparent that there is a great need for temporary spectator seating which can be easily and rapidly assembled and disassembled without the skilled assistance of a scaffolding team, and the invention aims to provide such temporary spectator seating as a series of modules that can rapidly be assembled into a complete tiered seating podium, and rapidly disassembled for re-use elsewhere.

The invention

The invention provides a modular tiered seating podium for temporary spectator seating for example around a sports ground or concert venue, as defined in claim 1 herein.

The podium of the invention can be rapidly and easily assembled into a rigid structure. The support framework of front and rear spacer elements separating adjacent decking support elements can be rapidly assembled using largely unskilled labour. The linking means for linking the front and rear spacer elements to the decking support elements preferably comprise headed studs on either the front and rear spacer elements or the decking support elements, which engage in keyhole slots on the other of the front and rear spacer elements and decking support elements. A simple push and slide motion is therefore all that is necessary to build the elements into a semi-rigid structure having a rectangular footprint, and the rigidity of the structure can be enhanced by passing bolts through aligned apertures in the front and rear spacer elements and in the decking support elements, and tightening them together. The rigidity of the module is further enhanced by the fact that the monocoque decking module is bolted to the top rails of the decking support elements. Depending on the depth of overlap of the edge frame, the rigidity of the module can be very substantially further enhanced by the fact that once the monocoque decking has been bolted to the top rails of the decking support elements, adjacent decking modules are bolted to one another through their depending edge skirts. Generally, it is sufficient for the depending edge skirts of the decking modules to have a depth of about 300 to 500 mm, which when bolted together gives very significant structural strength and rigidity once the bolts have been tightened.

Each module preferably comprises two, three or four rows of seating supports, and has a width of from two to three metres or even more. The seating supports can support rows of seating which extend across the full width of the module, or they may extend for only part of the width, leaving an aisle for spectators to pass up and down the assembled podium to reach the various different rows of seating. The seating can be fixed seating or fold-up seating.

A complete podium constructed from .the above modules would comprise a row of decking support elements of the same height, pairs of adjacent decking support elements in the row being connected together to create a rigid framework supporting a row of monocoque decking modules. The seating may be extended to rows of seating of even greater heights. For higher tiers of seating that first row of decking modules is secured to one or more rows of decking modules supported on support structures of similar construction but of a greater height, so that the tiered seating continues to rise preferably at a constant rake angle from one row of modules to the next. The height of the seating in a given row is determined by the height of each of the front and rear spacer elements and of the decking support elements of the support framework of that module.

The monocoque decking module may be made from sheet steel, which may for example have a fish-plate embossed pattern on its surface to render it non-slip, or alternatively may be painted with an anti-slip paint or may have one or more strips of high friction material adhered to its upper surface to create enhanced user safety.

Instead of sheet steel, sheet aluminium may be used. Aluminium is more expensive, but has the advantage of lighter unit weight and better resistance to corrosion in outdoor locations.

Each monocoque decking module preferably comprises a riser panel at the front end and a downwardly extending metal flange at the rear end, the front riser panel and the rear metal flange forming part of the depending edge skirt. The riser panels and the floor panels of each monocoque decking module, together with the rear downwardly extending metal flange, may be formed from a single metal plate by bending, or may be formed from initially separate panels connected together by welding. If the overall width of the monocoque decldng module is in excess of 2 to 2.5 m, then the rigidity of the decking can be considerably enhanced by provision of a central reinforcing rib secured to the underside of the decking approximately half way across its width. Such a rib preferably provides horizontal reinforcement for all of the riser panels and vertical support for all of the floor panels of the decking module.

Because of the modular construction of the seating podium of the invention, modular tiered seating can be provided on a temporary basis around sports pitches of different sizes, or at concert venues at which any of a wide range of seating patterns can. be called for. Generally speaking, all that is required is reasonably level land on which the modular seating podium is to be erected, although ground undulations can be accommodated by providing the front and rear spacer elements or the decking support elements of the support framework with telescopically extendable ground engaging feet, so that the extension of the feet can be adjusted to accommodate those ground undulations. Generally speaking each support framework requires only a perimeter foundation around the footprint of that support framework. That perimeter foundation can be as substantial or insubstantial as the ground conditions demand, but in many cases a foundation of a continuous row of, or even discrete, surface-laid paving slabs is quite sufficient.

In sheltered or indoor situations, the weight of the seating podium is sufficient to provide the necessary stability, but for outdoor locations it may be required to anchor the seating podium to the ground. Such anchorage can be provided by placing ground anchors at intervals around the footprint of each support framework of the podium, and connecting the support frameworks to those ground anchors. Suitable ground anchors would be metal anchors of corkscrew shape, each of which is twist-driven into the ground to provide the necessary degree of anchorage. On disassembly of the podium, it is relatively easy to remove such ground anchors from the ground, simply by unscrewing.

The novel seating podium of the invention opens up a totally new industry in the provision of temporary spectator speaking. A football team promoted to a higher division can enter into a hire contract to lease the spectator seating for one or more seasons, and can therefore pay for the seating out of increased gate receipts, without having to find the massive sums involved for stadium enhancement before the first game of the season following promotion. It is even viable for a leasing company to provide such seating for occasional use (day or weekend events) or for one or more

sporting seasons, because the modular nature of the seating podium renders assembly and dismantling very easy, and storage takes minimal space.

Drawings Figure 1 is a side view of a decking support element of a support framework of a podium of the invention;

Figure 2 is a side view of a rear element for linking to the decking support element of

Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the stud encircled as III in Figure 2, providing part of the linking means for linking the front and rear spaced elements to the decking support elements;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the keyhole slots which would be provided in the upright support members of Figure 1 to accept the studs of Figure 3, to complete the linking means; Figure 5 is a perspective view of two decking support elements, one front spacer element and one rear spacer element of the seating podium of the invention, with further spacer elements for linking to further decking support elements being shown in broken line;

Figure 6 is a section though a top rail and a supporting top bar of the decking support elements of Figures 1 to 5, with parts of two associated monocoque decking modules being shown in dotted line;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the top end only of the top rail of a decking support module of Figures 1 and 6, the remainder being cut away in section;

Figure 8 is a side elevation of an assembled seating podium according to the invention, showing a total of nine levels of seating (no seats being shown in Figure 8);

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the lowermost monocoque decking module of Figure

8;

Figure 10 is a perspective view, similar to that of Figure 9, of a higher level monocoque decking module than that of Figure 9; Figure 11 is a perspective view of another lowermost monocoque decking module that is wider than that in Figure 9, with an internal reinforcing rib;

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Figure 12A is a detail of one possible crenellated edge joint between a stepped edge of an edge panel and horizontal floor or vertical riser panels of the monocoque decking module, to create the metal edge frame;

Figure 12B is a perspective view of the elements of Figure 12A, presenting together the crenellations prior to being welded together along the internal angle formed at the underside of the joint;

Figure 13A is a perspective view of portions of a horizontal floor panel and the central reinforcing rib of Figure 10;

Figure 13B is a perspective view of the elements of Figure 13A during assembly, when the crenellations of the central reinforcing rib have been inserted through the slots in the floor panel, and twisted or deformed to provide a temporary retention prior to creating a weld along the underside; and

Figure 14 is a side elevation of an assembled seating ' podium according to the invention having three rows of monocoque decking modules, with spectator seating being secured to the spectator seating mountings.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 7, there are illustrated the elements of the support framework of a ground level row of a seating podium according to the invention. Figure 1 shows a decking support element 1 which comprises front and rear support members 2 and an intermediate upright support member 3, all of which are provided with ground engaging feet 4 which are preferably telescopically extensible from the upright support members 2 and 3, to accommodate undulations in the ground on which the podium is to be located. The upright support members 2 and 3 together support a top bar 5 at an angle of inclination, front to rear, which corresponds to the rake of the seating tiers in the assembled podium as will be described later. A top rail 9 (Figures 6 and 7) is bolted or welded to the top bar 5 to support the decking modules in the final assembled podium. The top rail 9 and top bar are at the same angle, so the top rail 9 is also at an angle of inclination, front to rear, which corresponds to the rake of the seating tiers in the assembled podium.

Figure 2 shows a rear spacer element 6a of the support framework, which comprises a rectangular frame with a diagonal brace. The front spacer element 6b (Figure 5) can

be of similar construction but of lesser height, or for the lowermost height of seating (as illustrated in Figure 5) could be simply a horizontal rail provided with linking means for linking it to the two side elements.

The linking means are as shown encircled as III in Figure 2, and shown in greater detail in Figures 3 and 4. Each linking means comprises a headed stud on a vertical upright of the rear spacer element 6, which in use locates in a keyhole slot 8 in the vertical upright support member 2 of the associated decking support element 1. Equally, the studs 7 could be provided on the decking support elements and the keyhole slots 8 on the front and rear spacer elements. To assemble the framework, the studs 7 are pushed into the round hole portion of the keyhole slots 8 and then slid downwardly to provide a very rapid and secure anchorage of the elements one to another during assembly. That anchorage can be made more permanent, and the assembly more rigid, by passing bolts through aligned apertures (not shown) hi the connected upright members, and tightening the bolts to enhance rigidity.

Figure 5 illustrates the assembly of the two decking support elements 1 and one front and one rear spacer element 6b, 6a into a rectangular framework. Two further spacer elements 6a, 6b are shown in broken line on each side of the solid-line framework, and connect in turn to further decking support elements 1 (not shown) so as to build up a row of podium seating of any desired length, hi a similar manner the height of the assembled seating podium can be increased by erecting similar structures of greater height behind the single level podium shown in Figure 5. Preferably the front spacer elements of the next higher module are higher than the rear spacer elements of the front module by an amount equal to the total height of the front module as shown in Figure 8, so that top rails 9B similar to the top rail 9 of Figures 6 and 7 can span a space separating the two modules, to support an intermediate row of decking modules. The top rails 9B spanning the gap between first and second modules are shown chain- dotted in Figure 5. They are bolted to the top bars 5 and 5a of the two spaced rows of support frameworks through bolt holes as visible in Figure 7, each top rail 9 being cut shorter than the top bars 5 and 5a of the respective support frameworks to create a zone for mounting the connecting top rails 9B between the two support frameworks,

in line with the top rails 9. The length and depth (and therefore the ultimate height) of the assembled seating podium can clearly be increased to any desired dimensions depending on the number of rows of decking support elements and the number and height of decking support elements in each row. All bolts of the support framework are tightened before the monocoque decking modules are placed in position.

The rigidity of the structure is in any case significantly enhanced by the addition of the monocoque decking modules over the top of the assembled rigid framework. A monocoque decking module 1OA for the lowermost tiers of seating is shown in perspective in Figure 9, and in Figure 10 is shown in perspective a decking module 1OB for the higher tiers of seating. The only difference is that the module 1OA has a portion cut away at the front to engage the ground.

From Figures 9 and 10 it will be seen that each decking module 10a or 10b comprises a number of vertical riser panels 11a connected to a similar number of metal floor panels l ib. A depending skirt is formed around the decking module and comprises the front riser panel 1 Ia, a pair of side skirt panels 12 and a rear skirt panel 13. The riser panels 11a, floor panels 1 Ib and optionally the rear skirt panel 13 may be formed by bending from a single piece of sheet metal, or may be formed separately and joined to one another by welding. The side skirt panels 12 are connected to the riser panels 11a, the floor panels lib and the rear skirt panel 13 by welding in a manner to be described later. It can be seen in Figures 9 and 10 that the bottom edge of each side skirt panel 12 terminates in. an inturned flange 12a which provides the support surface on which the monocoque decking module 1OA or 1OB sits. Figure 6 shows in dotted line the inturned flanges 12a of two adjacent decking modules which sit side by side on the same top rail 9 of a support framework. They are held in position by bolts (not shown) passing through both the inturned flanges 12a and the top rail 9. Considerably enhanced rigidity can be obtained by bolting together where they abut in face-to-face contact the depending skirts of adjacent decking modules.

For wider decking modules than those illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, some internal reinforcement may be needed for increased strength and to avoid a sensation of

'bounce' at the centre of the decking. Figure 11 shows one such reinforced module 10. The total width of the decking module is 4 metres, and a reinforcing rib 15 is welded to the underside half-way across the module width. The rib 15 provides horizontal reinforcement for the riser panels of the module 10 and vertical support for the floor panels at their mid-point. The rib 15 is secured by welding to the undersides of both the riser panels and floor panels of the decking module, and has essentially the same shape and dimensions as the side panels 12 of Figure 9 and 10.

Figures 12A and 12B show how the side skirt panels 12 of the decking module 10 are located relative to the riser panels lla and flooring panels l ib prior to welding. Each edge is formed as a crenellated formation, with tongues of each crenellation in the side skirt panels 12 locating in recesses between tongues of each crenellation of the riser and floor panels lla and l ib and vice versa. The crenellations are interlaced as shown in Figure 12B and then secured by a weld or welds running along the underside internal edge. Accurate cutting of the crenellations in the edges is possible using computer-controlled laser cutters.

Figures 13A and 13B show the method of assembly of the internal rib 15 of Figure 11 prior to welding. The method is as described and claimed in our British Patent Application no. GB0511311.3 and our PCT Application no. PCT/GB2006/002040. A linear row of slots 14 is cut into each floor panel HB of the monocoque decking module 10. A similar row of slots (not shown) may if desired be cut into each riser panel HA. Crenellations cut into the edge of the stepped central rib 15 pass through those cut slots, but unlike the crenellations of Figure 12A ₅ some or all of the crenellations of Figure 13 A are cut with longer tongues or lugs 16, so that the lugs 16 so formed pass completely through the slots 14 and stand proud on the top surface of the decking module. Some or all of those protruding lugs 16 are twisted or bent as shown in Figure 9B to create a temporary retention of the central rib 15 beneath the decking module, and the entire module can then be turned over and the rib 15 can be welded to the underside of the remainder of the decking module before finally smoothing away by grinding all portions of those tongues or lugs 16 which project beyond the top faces of the floor panels 1 Ib and the front faces of the riser panels 1 Ia.

A single row of monocoque decking modules as described above provides a tiered seating podium which can mount three levels of tiered stadium seating. Figure 14 shows how the next higher three rows of stadium seating can be positioned. Figure 14 shows a first ground level row of decking modules 20, a second, higher row of decking modules 21 and, partly only and in broken outline, a third row of decking modules 22. The monocoque decking modules 20 differ from the modules 21 and 22 only in the height of the support framework and in the fact that the front of the depending skirt around the modules 20 is cut away at ground level. A full support framework is provided for alternate rows of decking modules, in this illustration being the rows 20 and 22; and the distance between those alternate rows is spanned by top rails 9B as described above in relation to Figure 8. It will be apparent that further rows of even higher modules can be added, to build up the stadium seating to any desired height. The modules are preferably erected on a perimeter foundation which follows the outer edge footprint of each module in the assembly. Alternatively instead of a continuous perimeter foundation, a row of surface-laid paving slabs, or even discrete paving slabs beneath the individual upright support members of the support framework may be sufficient, depending on the stability of the supporting ground. Preferably the erected seating podium is anchored by ground anchors (not shown) at intervals around the footprint of each module.

Figure 14 shows eight rows of seating 24 mounted on the decking modules. Clearly a variety of seating types may be used. The seats 24 shown in Figure 10 are rigid seats which extend forwardly in cantilever from each seating mounting point. Such a cantilevered mounting would alternatively be suitable for folding or tip-up seating. Alternatively the seating could be mounted with each seat overlying the horizontal metal floor panel on which it is mounted, to avoid any weaknesses inherent in cantilevered structure. Yet another alternative would be for the seating to be backless seating, formed as a padded seating bench fast to the front edge of each horizontal metal floor panel. The modular tiered seating podium can be designed so that the same podium, after assembly, can be fitted out with seating rows to any of a range of specifications, provided that either a universal seating mounting is provided on each

monocoque decking module, or a range of alternative seating mountings is so provided.