subject: Shock Absorbing Bus Seats [print this page] The frame of a crash resistant school bus seats are designed to undergo plastic flow when an impact is applied to the back rest portion of the seat. One or more stopping mechanisms are provided to retard movement of the back rest farther than a predetermined limit, thereby keeping a passenger in an upright position in the seat as a result of a crash. The frame is made from inexpensive, off-the-shelf metal tube and sheet stock and hence is inexpensive to design and build.
A shock absorbing frame for making a crash-resistant bus seats composed of a seat member and a back rest arranged at a first seating angle with respect to the seat member, the back rest being adapted to bend forward to a second seating angle upon application of an impact force exceeding a predetermined magnitude to the back rest, a first energy-absorbing part of the frame for absorbing at least a portion of the impact force as the back rest moves from the first to second seating angles, the frame further including at least one stopping mechanism designed to make the back rest essentially rigid with respect to the seat member when the back rest reaches the second seating angle thereby keeping a passenger sitting in the vehicle seat substantially upright during a crash.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a shock absorbing frame for making a crash-resistant bus seats, as well as a bus seat made from this frame, the frame being composed of a seat member and a back rest arranged at a first seating angle with respect to the seat member, the back rest being adapted to bend forward to a second seating angle upon application of an impact force of a predetermined magnitude to the back rest, an energy-absorbing part of the frame absorbing at least a portion of the impact force as the back rest moves from the first to second seating angles, the frame further including at least one stopping mechanism designed to make the back rest essentially rigid with respect to the seat member when the back rest reaches the second seating angle thereby keeping a passenger sitting in the vehicle seat substantially upright in his seat as a result of a crash.
