Operator seat for an industrial vehicle

Abstract

An operator seat on an industrial vehicle provides a recess in the seat back for receiving a safety harness or buckle. This allows an operator to comfortably sit in the operator seat while at that same time being attached to the safety harness. In one embodiment, the seat back may include piping that extends from or around the recess to further improve operator ergonomics.

1 . A seat for an industrial vehicle, comprising: 
 a bottom seat; and    a seat back including a recess that contains a safety apparatus when the operator leans back against the seat back, the safety apparatus attaching an operator of the industrial vehicle to the industrial vehicle.    
   
   
       2 . The seat according to  claim 1  wherein the recess extends vertically along the seat back and is sized to receive a harness coupler that extends from the back of the operator, a clamp that attaches to the harness coupler, and a tether that extends up from the clamp.  
   
   
       3 . The chair according to  claim 1  including piping that extends laterally out from the sides of the recess.  
   
   
       4 . The chair according to  claim 3  including additional piping that extends around a bottom end of the recess.  
   
   
       5 . The chair according to  claim 1  wherein the recess is approximately around 1.5 to 2 feet long, six inches wide, and has a depth of approximately six inches at a bottom end that get shallower toward a top end.  
   
   
       6 . The chair according to  claim 1  wherein the seat back has a substantially flat surface area in a center location that contains the recess and rounded sides that extend partially forward from the sides of the center location.  
   
   
       7 . A safety system for a lift truck, comprising: 
 a harness that attaches to an operator that operates the lift truck and includes a connector;    a tether that attaches at a first end to the lift truck and attaches at a second end to the harness connector; and    an operator cushion located on the lift truck that includes a recess sized and shaped to receive the harness connector and the tether when the operator sits back or leans against the cushion.    
   
   
       8 . The safety system according to clam  7  wherein the harness connector extends from the harness at a back location of the operator and the tether extends upward from the harness connector to a location above the cushion.  
   
   
       9 . The safety system according to  claim 8  wherein the recess is vertically elongated along a central axis of the cushion and is sized to contain both the harness connector, the tether and a clamp that connects the tether to the harness connector.  
   
   
       10 . The harness system according to  claim 9  including piping that extends laterally from sides of the recess toward opposite sides of the cushion.  
   
   
       11 . The harness system according to  claim 10  including other piping that extends from one side of the cushion, around a bottom end of the recess, and toward an opposite side of the cushion.  
   
   
       12 . The harness system according to  claim 7  including a bottom seat attached to the cushion.  
   
   
       13 . The harness system according to  claim 12  including a second recess located on an underside of the bottom seat sized and shaped to receive the harness connector and the tether when the bottom seat is in an upright folded position.  
   
   
       14 . The harness system according to  claim 7  wherein a height of the cushion is adjustable in a vertical direction.  
   
   
       15 . A vehicle seat, comprising: 
 a bottom seat; and    a seat back including a cushioning material contained within a seat covering material, the seat back including a vertically elongated channel formed in the covering material and extending partially into the cushioning material along a central length of the seat back.    
   
   
       16 . The vehicle seat according to  claim 15  including smaller channels that extend laterally from the vertically elongated channel toward sides of the seat back.  
   
   
       17 . The vehicle seat according to  claim 15  including another smaller channel that extends from one side of the seat back, around a bottom end of the vertically elongated channel and toward an opposite side of the seat back.  
   
   
       18 . The vehicle seat according to  claim 15  wherein the vertically elongated channel is sized to extend partially around opposite sides of safety apparatus that extend from a back side of a vehicle operator and connect the vehicle operator to a vehicle.  
   
   
       19 . The vehicle seat according to  claim 18  wherein the vertically elongated channel is sized to receive a harness connector that extends from a back side of the vehicle operator, a clamp that connects to the harness connector, and a tether that is connected at one end to the clamp and extends vertically upward and is connected at a second end to the vehicle.  
   
   
       20 . The vehicle seat according to  claim 15  wherein the seat back has a substantially flat surface along a vertically elongated central area that contains the vertically elongated channel and has rounded sides that curve forward from opposite sides of the substantially flat central area.