PASSENGER TRAVEL NEWS.
Page 13
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The Latest Doings and Developments in the Bus and Coach World.
A NEW IDEA IN COACH SEATING.
A Method by which the Seating Arrangement can be Varied to Suit the Needs of the Moment.
DIFFICULTY not infrequently arises in connection with the arrangement, of a motor coach run or tour for a party owing to the inflexibility of the arrangement of the seats. We are not now referring to the question of mere numbers, although the trouble sometimes crops up there in a mild sort of way, as when a party of 22 demurs at paying for a 28-seater, while obviously incapable of being accommodated in a coach which is only equipped to carry 20 passengers.
Any party of somewhere about the number mentioned invariably wants to split itself up into little groups, and the best plan for them to adopt. in a coach with orthodox seating, is to occupy adjacent rows of seats, sitting one behind the other, a procedure which involves the occupants of the leading seat in stiff necks the next day..
A novel method of fixing the seats to the coach floor, which has been designed
by Mr. C. E. Esse, in conjunction with the Associated Equipment Co., Ltd., ,should go far towards 'avoiding such difficulties. Each seat is separate, and none is permanently fixed to the floor. Instead, all of them, excepting, of course, that of the driver, are attached to the body of the vehicle by means of T-headed bolts, which engage suitable grooves in the floor.
The bolts are telescopic, the T-head being held up to its place by a swing. Extending the bolt, which is effected by the depression of a handle which is fixed to one part of it, frees the T-head so that the seat may be moved, the bolt being slid along it groove. In order that there may be no likelihood of the seats moving at inconvenient times, the
feet of the chairs are equipped with resilient pads or cushions, which grip the floor of the coach.
A most important feature of the invention is the Provision for various arrangements of the grooves, which may be disposed longitudinally, transversely, or diagonally; they may be arranged herring-bone fashion, or any other way which may prove to facilitate the full advantag, being taken of the adjustability of the positions of the seats themselves.
It should be pointed out that the invention is not confined to chairs, but such things as card tables, luncheon tables, or other articles of furniture even beds, may be used, or substituted for the chairs as occasion demands. Nor is at only useful in connection with motor coaches, although that represents our Interest in it. It may be applied to railway coaches, ships, and so on.