1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to flexible substrate assemblies and, more particularly, to articles of furniture utilizing such flexible substrates, including, but not limited to, office, residential, theater, and cinema furniture (e.g., chairs, benches, loungers, couches, roll-top desks, tambour type enclosures, etcetera), as well as, automotive, aerospace, and mass transit seating that are configured to provide a patron or occupant with a flexible and adjustable experience not seen heretofore. The present invention further relates to methods of manufacturing flexible substrate assemblies for the above-identified applications.
2. Background Art
Adjustable articles of furniture have been known in the art for years and are the subject of a plurality of patents and/or publications, including: U.S. Pat. No. 8,403,415 entitled “Aircraft Passenger Seat Recline Mechanism,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,920 entitled “Adjustable Chair,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,135 entitled “Child's Adjustable Chair,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,030 entitled “Chair Seat,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,020 entitled “Theater Seat Assembly,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,292 entitled “Adjustable Rocker Seat,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,556 entitled “Seat Structure for Vehicle,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,889 entitled “Moveable Theater Seats,” U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,348 entitled “Adjustable Wheel Chair,” U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,430 entitled “Theater Chair Automatically Movable By Remote Control,” U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,359 entitled “Theatre Seat With Folding Arm Tablet,” U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,803 entitled “Theater Chair With Self-Folding Seat,” U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,119 entitled “Retracting Type Theater Chair,” and U.S. Pat. No. 2,257,496 entitled “Chair For Motion Picture Theaters,”—all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety including all references cited therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,403,415 appears to disclose an adjustable passenger seat having a seat recline mechanism which includes a seat base having first and second non-intersecting seat path guide slots for guiding the travel of a translation guide assembly interconnected to a linear translating seat pan drive rail through the seat pan such that translational movement of the drive rail with respect to the seat base causes movement of the seat pan and the seat back between upright and flat seating positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,920 appears to disclose a chair that includes back and seat portions that include a padded member. Back support rails have opposed ends and include braces connected thereto. One end of the back support rails has notches that define flange portions. The braces traverse a rear surface of the back portion so that opposed ends thereof are conjoined to corresponding ones of the rail ends. A seat support member has a bottom surface and sidewalls extending upward therefrom that have notches formed along a top surface thereof. The seat support member includes inner lip portions. The flange portions are engageable with the inner lip portions, maintaining the back portion at a stable position. A shaft is conjoined to the seat support portion, legs are conjoined to the shaft, and casters are connected to the legs. A mechanism is included for adjusting the back portion forwardly above the seat support member.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,921,135 appears to disclose a child's chair that may be readily adjusted with regard to the height of the seat bottom, and the position of the seat back relative to the seat bottom. The use of telescoping legs and a slidable support for the seat back allow the chair to be adjusted for positioning according to the needs of a particular child.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,030 appears to disclose a chair seat that is movable between an upright and a forward position that includes a spring mechanism which biases the seat toward the upright position. The spring mechanism includes cam structures that utilize both compressional and torsional forces from the spring to bias the seat toward the upright position. The compression of the spring exerts a positive force that must be overcome before the seat can be moved out of its upright position. The chair seat is constructed from a number of discrete components that are secured together without the use of welding or separate fasteners, such as via snap-fits. The discrete components include positioning tabs, special shapes, and other features that prevent them from being improperly assembled. The components of the chair seat may all be constructed out of suitable durable plastics, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polycarbonate, and glass filled thermoplastics.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,020 appears to disclose a theater seat assembly that includes a pair of opposed stanchions for attachment to a support surface, a generally horizontal seat portion disposed between and operatively connected to the stanchions, and a generally upright back portion disposed between and operatively connected to the stanchions. The theater seat assembly includes a counter-balanced pivot mechanism operatively connected to the seat portion and the stanchions to allow the seat portion to pivot freely relative to the stanchions when unoccupied relative to the stanchion. The theater seat assembly also includes a molded cover attached to at least one of the seat frame and the back frame and is injection molded from a fiberglass-reinforced co-polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,292 appears to disclose an adjustable children's rocking chair that can be readily converted without the use of tools between a configuration where it is used to support an infant in a more reclined position, and a configuration where it is suitable for use as a rocking chair by a toddler. The rocking chair includes a seat portion, a support portion connected to the seat portion, and the support portion being pivotably connected to a rocker base and being adjustable in length. The support portion includes a front frame assembly, such as a pair of front legs, and a rear frame assembly, such as a pair of rear legs, with each of the front legs being pivotably connected to a respective rear leg through a detachable joint. The seat portion includes a back support portion that is formed by a U-shaped seat back tube slipped inside a pocket in soft goods. Both ends of the U-shaped seat back tube are connected to the detachable joints pivotably connecting the rear legs to the front legs. The seat portion also includes a bottom formed by a rigid board permanently attached to a transverse member extending between the front legs and slipped into a second pocket in the soft goods. As the rear legs are telescopically changed in length, the legs pivot relative to each other and to the rocker base, with a resulting change in inclination of the seat back tube and back support portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,556 appears to disclose a seat cushion that pivots to be in a horizontal reversed state and it has a backside. A seat back is to pivot to be in a horizontal reversed state and has a reverse side. The reverse side in the horizontal reversed state has a height substantially equal to one of the backside of the seat cushion in the horizontal reversed state. An arm is attached to a lower end of the seat back and supports the lower end of the seat back to be rotated. A roller is fixed to a lower end of the arm and projects outward in a transverse direction of a vehicle body. A slide rail is fixed to a floor and engages with the roller to be slid forward and rearward. A lock mechanism detachably engages with the roller. A back link is connected to an intermediate fulcrum of the seat back above the roller and is connected to one of an intermediate portion of the slide rail and a peripheral member around the portion. A stopper is provided at the lower end of the seat back. The stopper engages with the arm for preventing the arm from rotating. An operating means is for releasing engagement with the stopper and the arm and is provided at an upper part of the seat back. The seat back pivots forward to be in a horizontal reversed state when releasing the lock mechanism and sliding the roller of the seatback rearward. The seat back pivots on the lower end thereof to fall down rearward for a reclining state when releasing engagement with the stopper and the arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,889 appears to disclose a modular assembly of theater seats aligned in a row. Each of the seats in the row moves with an identical motion in response to a coordinated sequence to create seat motions which can complement a scene being portrayed on a movie screen. Three or more rotatable shafts run along the row under the seats. The shafts are caused to rotate by hydraulic cylinders coupled to the shafts through bell cranks. Each seat is supported by three legs which are also coupled to the shafts by bell cranks. Rotation of the shafts causes vertical motion of the legs, and by coordinating the motions of the individual legs, in one embodiment of the invention, the seats can be made to move with linear vertical motion, or to rotate either side to side or fore and aft in the vertical plane. Linear fore and aft motion of the seats may be provided by a fourth rotatable shaft running along the row under the seats.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,348 appears to disclose an adjustable wheel chair which facilitates independent seat height and width adjustments to accommodate varying wheel chair size needs. The wheel chair includes a pair of side frame assemblies transversely movable relative to each other between a first closed position with the side frame assembly closely spaced to each other and a second opened position with the side frame assembly spaced apart from each other. The side frame assemblies each include upper and lower frame members and means for selectively adjusting the distance between these members to vary the height of a seat disposed adjacent the upper frame members. First and second cross brace assemblies are pivotally connected to each other generally at their midpoints and mounted transversely between the side frame assemblies in a manner so as to form a collapsible X-like configuration. Each cross brace assembly includes means for selectively adjusting the length thereof to thereby permit adjustment of the distance between the side frame assemblies when they are in the second position to thereby vary the width of the seat and seat back areas. Each cross brace assembly includes a seat bar member at the uppermost end thereof and to which a flexible seat is mounted. The seat bar members are disposed immediately adjacent an associated one of the upper frame members when the side frame assemblies are in the second position and are spaced vertically above the associated upper frame member when the side frame assemblies are moved to the first position. Guide means are employed to guide the seat bar members as the side frame assemblies are moved between the first and second positions. The seat and a flexible seat back include means for releasably accommodating flexible spacer members when the seat and seat back areas are widened by adjusting the lengths of the cross brace assemblies. An adjustable headrest structure may also be included for the comfort of the wheel chair user.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,430 appears to disclose a theater chair movable by remote control that comprises a support structure, a chassis having a back and arms installed on same, and a seat rotatably engaged to the chassis. The support structure comprises at each side of the chassis, a vertical sliding mechanism and a horizontal sliding mechanism. The sliding mechanisms comprise rotatable threaded spindles and sleeves threadedly engaged thereon. The horizontal sliding mechanisms are attached by universal joints to the chassis of the chair and both vertical and horizontal sliding mechanisms are driven by independent drive motors, operated by remote control by sending a signal in synchronism with a scene of the show. The seat contains a vibrator for producing vibrational and rhythmic movements in the seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,359 appears to disclose in combination with a seat supported between at least one pair of vertical members, a collapsible tablet assembly associated with an arm rest secured to one of said vertical members, said tablet assembly comprising a member pivotally secured to said arm rest so as to form in one position an extension of said arm rest, a shaft extending longitudinally of said pivotal member and configured for axial rotation thereon, a tablet secured to said shaft, and means on the inner end of said shaft cooperating with said arm rest for locking said pivotal member in said one position to prevent downward movement thereof when said tablet is in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,803 appears to disclose a seat mounting hinge whereby chair seats of the plywood type mounted on exposed hinges may be made self-folding to raised non-use positions, thus to provide maximum space between rows of seats for the ingress and egress of patrons. The seat mounting hinge in which the self-folding mechanism is enclosed so that it cannot injure the chair occupants or damage their wearing apparel. This patent further appears to disclose a self-folding mechanism which is adjustable so that the force with which the seat is automatically raised to non-use position can be adjusted, and in general to provide such a mechanism which is quiet in operation, efficient in use, and reasonably economical to manufacture.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,119 appears to disclose a theater chair of the retracting type wherein the chair occupant may move rearwardly in a sitting position in order to permit other theater patrons to pass in front of him/her.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,257,496 appears to disclose a chair for motion picture theaters and more particularly to a seat having an illuminated signal which is lit when the seat is unoccupied so as to facilitate the seating of patrons in the dark theater.
While the above-identified patents and/or publications do appear to disclose various configurations of adjustable furniture, their configurations remain non-desirous and/or problematic inasmuch as, among other things, none of the above-identified articles of furniture appear to be configured to provide a patron or occupant with a flexible and adjustable experience as provided herein. Furthermore, none of the above-identified articles of furniture appear to utilize flexible substrate assemblies that are adapted to cost effectively provide both adjustability and durability necessary in today's high volume residential, commercial, and industrial applications.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide cost-effective, durable, and flexible substrate assemblies for use in association with office, residential, theater, and cinema furniture, as well as, automotive, aerospace, and mass transit seating.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent in light of the present specification, claims, and appended drawings.