Seat for urban mass transit vehicles

Claim 2

A passenger chair for a mass transit vehicle comprising: a frame; a one-piece rigid plastic shell mounted on said frame and including a bucket-contoured passenger section defining at least one recess in the seat area of generally uniform depth, said shell being raised laterally of said recess to continue the contour thereof and form a passenger-supporting peripheral border on each side of said recess to support a passenger during sideways abrupt motion; an insert mounted to said shell in said recess and having a thickness approximately equal the depth of said recess to provide a passenger support surface at a substantially constant distance away from its associated recess and conforming to the bucket contour of said shell; and fastener means for releasably securing said insert to said shell.

Claim 3

The chair of claim 1 wherein said chair is adapted for a plurality of passengers located side-by-side and wherein said shell defines two separate recesses for each passenger location including a seat recess and a back recess, and wherein said insert includes a seat insert member received in each seat recess of said shell and a back insert member received in the back recess of said shell; said fastener means including means for releasably securing said members to said shells independently.

Claim 4

The chair of claim 1 wherein said shell is formed to provide two of said passenger sections for two passengers side by side, the peripheral rigid support areas of said shell being joined together on the adjacent sides of said passenger sections to form a raised ridge separating said passengers.

Claim 5

A chair for a mass transit vehicle adapted to seat a plurality of passengers side-by-side, comprising: frame means; a one-piece plastic shell mounted on said frame means and forming side-by-side bucket contours, one for each passenger location, each passenger contour further providing recess means in the seat and back areas thereof for receiving inserts, said shell continuing the bucket contour laterally beyond said recesses to provide rigid peripheral passenger support regions securing a passenger during abrupt sidewise motion; insert means received in said recess means on each passenger side, each insert means comprising a member which when occupied by a passenger provides a passenger support surface which is raised above the bottom of said recess and forms a continuation of the bucket contour of said shell, whereby said insert cooperates with said rigid peripheral passenger support regions of said shell to provide comfort and support for said passenger; and fastener means for releasably securing said insert means in said recess means of said plastic shell.

Claim 6

A chair for a mass transit vehicle adapted to seat a plurality of passengers side-by-side, comprising: frame means; a one-piece plastic shell mounted on said frame means and forming side-by-side bucket contours, one for each passenger location, each passenger contour further providing recess means in the seat and back areas thereof for receiving inserts, said shell continuing the bucket contour laterally beyond said recesses to provide rigid peripheral passenger support regions securing a passenger during abrupt sidewise motion; insert means received in said recess means on each passenger side, each insert means comprising a member which when occupied by a passenger provides a passenger support surface which is raised above the bottom of said recess and forms a continuation of the bucket contour of said shell, whereby said insert cooperates with said rigid peripheral passenger support regions of said shell to provide comfort and support for said passenger; and fastener means for releasably securing said insert means in said recess means of said plastic shell.

Claim 7

The chair of claim 4 wherein each passenger section includes a deepening bucket contour from the knee area to the back of the seat area, and wherein each of said inserts comprises a flexible pad to provide passenger comfort.

Claim 8

The seat of claim 4 wherein each passenger contour provides a lower seat recess and an upper back recess adapted to receive respectively a seat insert and a back insert, said recesses in each passenger contour being separated from the recesses in the adjacent passenger contour by a transverse raised ridge formed in said shell.

Claim 9

The seat of claim 6 characterized in that the peripheral rigid support areas in said shell adjacent each other form a raised separating ridge between two passengers.