AU747004B2 - Lounging chairs - Google Patents

Description

LOUNGING CHAIRS This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for enhancing the utility of lounging chairs.

Lounging chairs such as arm chairs are frequently used by elderly and incapacitated persons for long periods because they provide comfortable support for the user. In institutions, where large numbers of elderly people or patients are settled in lounging chairs, it is often a considerable burden on the attending staff to move the people under their care from, and return them to, their lounging chairs.

This is often necessary for serving meals and snacks.

While this burden can be reduced to some extent by use of trolley type tables which can be shifted to a seated patient, in many cases trolley tables are not suitable for use with lounging chairs. Similar problems exist in homes where families look after elderly or incapacitated family members.

The present invention in one facet aims to alleviate the abovementioned disadvantages and to. provide improvements to lounging chairs which will be reliable and efficient in use.

In another facet, the present invention aims to provide a tray type table top for a chair which may be adjusted to suit various activities of a person in the associated chair, such as eating or performing manual crafts, and which may be S.moved relative to an associated chair from an in use and obstructing position to a non-obstruction position.

With the foregoing in view, this invention in one aspect resides broadly in lounging chair assembly including:a lounging chair; a table top; support means for supporting said table top in a stable substantially horizontal accessible- position in front of a person seated in the chair, and guide means for guiding movement of said table top between its accessible position and a non-obstructing position at which said table top is disposed at one side of the person seated in the chair.

Preferably the guide means is a pivot means and includes a pivot mounting between the support means and the lounging chair whereby the support means and the table top may pivot between the accessible position and the non- A obstructing position about a substantially vertical axis whereby the table top is maintained in an operative supporting attitude.

Alternatively the guide means may enable the table top assembly to slide or otherwise pivot between its accessible position and its non-obstructing position.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a lounging chair assembly includes guide means in the form of a substantially vertical socket in a front portion of each armrest and the table top assembly has opposed support legs which may engage within these sockets.

More preferably one support leg is relatively short compared to the other support leg whereby it may be disengaged from an upper portion of its complembntary socket while the other leg remains engaged in its complementary socket for subsequent pivoting of the table top to its non-obstructing position. It is also preferred that the shorter support leg be formed for limited penetration only into its complementary socket whereby a lower height limit is set for the table top assembly in its accessible position in front of a seated person. However the limiting means forming the lower height limit could be provided on the other leg if desired.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lounging chair assembly includes a lounging chair, a table top, support means for supporting said table top in a stable substantially horizontal accessible position in front of a person seated in the chair, and pivot means for moving said table top between its accessible position and a non-obstructing position at which said table top is disposed at one side of the person seated in the chair, wherein said support means includes two laterally opposed legs extending from the table top, one of said legs forms part of the pivot means and the other leg is adapted to locate and releasably engage the table top relative to the chair for fixing the table top in the accessible position.

In a further aspect, this invention resides broadly in a table top assembly having a table top and laterally opposed supports therefore and wherein the table top is slidable in a fore and aft direction relative to laterally opposed supports.

In a preferred form the table top is offset relative to the lateral supports such that the lateral supports may be disengaged from the lounging chair and engaged with the opposite upstanding sockets so that the offset portion of the table top assembly is oppositely disposed relative to the chair. This enables a table top 2a according to this aspect of the invention to be placed very close to a person seated in the chair or the table top assembly to be reversed for placing the table top in a more remote relationship with respect to the seated person. This, in combination with a table top which is slidable in a fore and aft direction relative to laterally opposed supports will provide a range of adjustment which is greater than can be provided by a simple slide adjustment of the table top relative to the lateral supports. Preferably reversible lateral supports are provided in combination with a slide adjustment having a relatively short travel.

In yet another aspect, this invention resides broadly in a lounging chair having support means in a front portion of each armrest for a supporting a table top Re o oo**o o*o o* o• oooo* 3 assembly. Preferably the support means is disposed in a front portion of each armrest below the arm supporting part. That is remote from any normal position of a seated user's hand. The support means could stand proud of the armrest front portions but preferably the support means includes a substantially vertical socket member having an upwardly facing entry opening through a lower Inclined front face portion of the armrest which has a lower portion which conceals the substantially vertical socket member. This provides a supporting arrangement which is unlikely to constitute a protrusion of the type that could cause injury to an Incapacitated user.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood and put Into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate typical embodiments of the invention and wherein:- FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical lounging chair according to the present invention; 'is's! FIG. 2 is a front view of the table top assembly illustrated in FIG. 1; 15 FIG. 3 is a plan view of the table top assembly; FIG. 4 collectively illustrates connection details of the table top assembly; FIG. 5 illustrates details of the lounging chair construction; FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of the table top assembly; FIG. 7 collectively illustrates details of a further embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 8 collectively illustrates yet another embodiment of the invention.

Referring initially to Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawings, it will be seen that a lounging chair assembly 10 includes an armchair 11 supporting a table top assembly 12. The armchair 11 is provided with substantially vertically disposed sockets 13 in front lower 25 portions of each armrest side assembly 15 which slidably receive opposed long and short support legs 16 and 17 respectively of the table top assembly 12.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the table top assembly 12 includes a substantially rectangular perimeter frame 19 to which the table top 20 is 9*99** secured by slidable connections 21 whereby it may move along the longitudinal rails 30 22 and a vertical frame, the lower extensions of which provide the legs 16 and 17. It will be seen that the leg 17 is much shorter than the leg 16 and is terminated by a chamfered end cap 25 which is adapted to seat neatly within a correspondingly o 9 4 shaped ferrule 26 exposed at the upper end of the sockets 13 and secured therein by the internal tubular spigot mounting 32 through which the uncapped leg 16 may pass.

The ferrules 26 engage into the upper ends of tubular socket members 27 secured to an innermost front armrest support panel 28 by a mounting flange 29.

The panel 28 and its corresponding panel, illustrated in dotted outline at 30, support the part circular armrest termination panel 31.

Referring to FIG. 6, It will be seen that the table top assembly 12 is attached to the armchair 11 by engaging the longer of the legs 16 through the ferrule 26 into the tubular socket 27 whereby the table top assembly 12 is supported for pivotal movement about that leg. When the leg 16 is fully engaged In the socket and abuts the terminal block 35, the free end 36 of the shorter leg 17 can pivot with the table ,III', top assembly to a nested position within the opposed ferrule 26.

,0000 Suitably the free end 36 is slightly lower than the ferrule 26 whereby the tin! frame must be lifted resiliently by flexure of the frame to engage in the ferrule 26 •15 such that the resilience in the frame maintains that free end 36 operatively engaged in the shallow recess of the opposed ferrule 26. In this position, the table top may be 8635 slid relative to the perimeter frame 19 towards or away from a person seated in the i chair 10. Alternatively, to enable a person to either get out of or into the chair, the table top assembly 12 may be pivoted to its non-obstructing position as shown in FIG. 6 simply by disengaging the end 36 from the ferrule 26 and pivoting the table top assembly 12 about the leg 16 thereto.

It will be seen that the slidable adjustment of the table top 20 is offset from the legs 16 and 17. Accordingly if the adjustment of the table top 20 is not sufficient, the table top assembly 12 may be disengaged from the chair and reversed by 25 engaging the longer leg 16 in the opposite ferrule 25 so that the offset of a table top is disposed oppositely to its previous position. This enables the table top 20 to be placed further from a person in the chair It will be seen that at all times the table top remains in a substantially ooo.oi horizontal supporting position such that objects placed thereon may remain in a 30 normal supported position at all times. Furthermore it will be seen that the integral S- table supports in the lounging chair assembly 10 does not compromise the comfort of the lounging chair assembly 10 or provide an obstruction which is likely to cause Injury to a user.

o FIG. 7 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention wherein the legs engage non-rotatably in slots 41 in the armrest and movement between the operative supporting position and the stowed position at the underside of the table top 41 is about a pivotal connection on each leg. The pivotal connection may be as shown at 43 providing fore and aft adjustment of the table top 44.

FIG. 8 illustrates yet a further embodiment of the invention in which the table top assembly 50 is supported horizontally by bearing on horizontal support rails 51 fitted to the front portion of the armrest and rotational stability is achieved through engaging a leg part 53 in a horizontally extending socket in the front of one arm rest and about which the table top assembly may be pivoted for movement between the 1 stowed and operative positions as illustrated. The table top 54 is fitted to the frame by slide clamps 56 to allow fore and aft adjustment.

sa## It will of course be realised that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations •15 thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention.

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Claims (10)

1. A lounging chair assembly including: a lounging chair; a table top; support means for supporting said table top in a stable substantially horizontal accessible position in front of a person seated in the chair, and pivot means for moving said table top between its accessible position and a non-obstructing position at which said table top is disposed at one side of the person seated in the chair, wherein said support means includes two laterally opposed legs extending from the table top, one of said legs forms part of the pivot means and the other leg is adapted to locate and releasably engage the table top relative to the chair for fixing the table top 5 in the accessible position.

2. A lounging chair assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pivot means includes a pivot mounting between one of said legs and the lounging chair whereby said table top can pivot between said accessible 20 position and said non-obstructing position about a substantially vertical S. axis. S

3. A lounging chair assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein said pivot mounting is a substantially vertical socket in a front portion of one armrest of said lounging chair and said leg engages pivotally within said socket.

4. A lounging chair assembly-as claimed in claim 3, wherein said other leg is locatable and releasably engagable within a socket on the other armrest of said lounging chair.

A lounging chair assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein each armrest of said lounging chair is formed with a pivot mounting and said other leg is a short leg which nests within an upper end of one of said pivot mounting. _O i 7

6. A lounging chair assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the short leg has an end cap substantially complementary to the opening of said pivot mounting to locate and fix the position of the table top.

7. A lounging chair assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the end cap is chamfered to locate within a complementary shaped ferrule positioned at the upper end of said pivot mounting.

8. A lounging chair assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the table top is slidable in a fore and aft direction relative to said legs. l 0

9. A lounging chair assembly as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein 15 the table top is offset relative to the legs and the position of the table top can be reversed with the legs being engagable in the opposite sockets. 0* 0I

10. A lounging chair assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED THIS ELEVENTH DAY OF MARCH 2002 SACINE PTY LTD by its Patent Attorneys Pipers Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys