AU9523398A - Sunshade for a chair and a chair incorporating same - Google Patents

Description

WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -1 Title SUNSHADE FOR A CHAIR AND A CHAIR INCORPORATING SAME Field of the Invention This invention relates to a sunshade for a chair and to a chair incorporating the 5 sunshade. Background of the Invention Chairs are a staple and almost essential piece of outdoor furniture used for seating people at a whole range of activities such as at parties, barbecues, at the beach, around a pool and when spectating at sporting events. Folding chairs are a 10 particularly popular type of chair used in such activities because of the ease in which they may be transported and stored. When one is seated in the chair outdoors but not under any shade, care must be taken to avoid excessive exposure to the sun which can cause sunburn and has been linked to the emergence of skin cancers. In addition, the sun can also cause sun stroke and generally make one uncomfortably 15 hot. Further, glare from the sun can be particularly annoying. An attempt to overcome the above problems by providing a sunshade on a chair is described in\ Australian patent No. 662878. This patent discloses a folding chair with an integrated sunshade. The shade is formed by extending the back of the chair in the upward direction and pivotally attaching, to the extended back, a forwardly 20 extending frame which is covered by a shaded material. A pair of braces which extend generally vertically when the chair is folded out are pivotally attached at an upper end to the frame and pivotally attached at their lower ends to a rearward extension of the arms of the chair. While the chair described in Patent No 662878 appears to adequately shield one from 25 the sun its design gives arise to several problems. Firstly, the shield is always erected when the chair is unfolded and cannot be collapsed to a non shielding WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -2 position should the occupant of the chair not wish to be shielded, for example when the seat is used indoors, or is under shade, or at night time. Further, even when folded, it would appear that this chair has significantly increased dimensions over standard folding chairs and therefore would be more difficult to transport particularly 5 in vehicles with limited or small boot size. Additionally, manufacture of the chair appears to involve significant design changes to standard known folding chairs. Summary of the Invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a sunshade which can be retrofitted to an existing chair or manufactured as part of a chair and can be deployed or 10 retracted without otherwise effecting the chair itself. According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a sunshade adapted for connection to a chair having a seat and a back extending upwardly from the seat, the sunshade connectable to the back of the chair and foldable between a storage position in which the sunshade is held in a collapsed state adjacent a rear 15 side of the back and a shading position in which the sunshade extends over the head of a person seated on the seat of the chair to provide shade to the occupant. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a chair comprising: a seat; 20 a back extending upwardly from the seat; and a sunshade coupled to the back and foldable between a storage position in which the sunshade is held in a collapsed state adjacent a rear side of the back and a shading position in which the sunshade extends over the head of a person seated on the seat of the chair to provide shade to the occupant. 25 Preferably the sunshade comprises a frame pivotally attachable to the back of the chair to facilitate the folding thereof between the storage position and the shading position; and, shade material supported on the frame for providing the shade to the WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -3 occupant when the sunshade is in the shading position. Preferably the shade material extends over the head of the occupant and down opposite sides of the head of the occupant when the sunshade is in the shading position. 5 Preferably the frame includes a first frame portion pivotally attachable to the rear side of the back of the chair and a second frame portion pivotally coupled near, and inboard of an opposite end of the first frame portion and which extends in a generally horizontal plane forward of the first frame portion when the sunshade is in the shading position. 10 Preferably the sunshade further includes biasing means acting between the first frame portion and second frame portion for urging the second frame portion to pivot in a direction to pull on the portions of the shade material extending on opposite sides of the head of an occupant. Preferably said sunshade further comprises at least one stay extending from near an 15 end of the second frame distant the first frame to a side of the back of the chair in order to limit the pivoting motion of the second frame in the direction induced by the biasing means. Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only 20 with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sunshade in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention attached to a folding chair and in the shading position; WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -4 Figure 2 is a view of the sunshade and chair shown in Figure 1 with the sunshade in a transitional position between the shading position and a storage position; I Figure 3 is a perspective view of the sunshade and chair of Figures 1 and 2 5 with the sunshade in the storage position; and, Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the sunshade for attachment to a chair. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment As shown in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings a sunshade 10 is provided 10 that can be attached to a chair 12 for selectively providing sunshade to an occupant (not shown) of the chair. In the present embodiment, the chair 12 is a conventional folding chair having a seat 14 and a back 16 extending upwardly from the seat 14. Sunshade 10 is adapted to be connected to the back 16 and is foldable between a storage position, shown in Figure 3, in which the sunshade 10 is held in a collapsed 15 state adjacent a rear side of the back 16, and a shading position, shown in Figure 1, in which the sunshade 10 extends over the head of an occupant of the chair 12 to provide shade to the occupant. The sunshade 10 comprises a frame 18 composed of a first frame portion 20 and a second frame portion 22. The first frame portion 20 is in the form of a metal tube 20 (for example aluminium) which is bent into the shape of a U having opposite legs 24 and 26 and a cross bar 28 extending therebetween. The free ends of legs 24 and 26 are provided with respective pivotal hinges 30 which are attached near an upper end at the rear of back 16. Each hinge 30 includes a lug 32 that is pivotally connected between respective lugs 24, 26 and the back 16. In the present embodiment, the 25 pivotal hinge 30 can be attached in any manner to the back 16 for example by riveting, welding, brazing, using clamps etc. Indeed it is also possible for the lugs 32 to be formed integrally with the back 16.

WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -5 The second frame portion 22 is also in the form of a metal tube bent into the shape of a U having opposite legs 34 and 36 and a cross bar 38 extending therebetween. Ends of legs 34 and 36 distant the cross bar 38 are collected by respective pivot hinges 40 and 42 to the legs 26 and 24 a short distance below the cross bar 28. 5 Biasing means in the form of springs 44 are attached from opposite sides of the cross bar 28 to the legs 34 and 36 so as to bias the frame 22 to pivot or rotate in an anticlockwise direction when the sunshade 10 is in the shading position as shown in Figure 1, and thus hold the frame 22 over the head of a person in the chair 12. Shade material, such as shade cloth 46 (shown in light cross hatch in Figure 1) 10 extends over the top of the second frame 22 down the rear of the first frame portion 20 and across opposite sides of the frame 18 to respective attachment points 48 on opposite sides of the back 16. The attachment points 48 are located below the pivot hinges 30. In one embodiment, the attachment points 48 can comprise hooks which are attached to the back 16 and engage or otherwise pass through eyelets or other 15 fasteners attached to the shade cloth 46. The forward diagonal edges 50 of the shade cloth 46 extending down the sides of the frame 18 when attached to the attachment points 48 in effect act as stays to counter the anticlockwise pivotal motion of the first frame 20 which would otherwise collapse the sunshade 10. The springs 44 also thus act to pull on or stretch the shade 20 material 46 when the sunshade 10 is in the shading position. For added wear and strength, the edges 50 can be sewn in the form of hems and provided with internal substantially nonelastic cords that extend for the length of the edges 50. In order to move the sunshade 10 to the collapsed position, the second frame 22 is 25 pivoted in the clockwise direction toward frame portion 20. Initially this pivotal motion is resisted by the springs 44 which increase in length. However, as the pivotal motion of the second frame 22 continues a point is arrived at which extension of the spring is at a maximum and further rotation results in a reduction in the WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 - 6 extension of the springs 44. At this point, the springs 44 act to snap or bias the second frame 22 toward the first frame 40. As the second frame 22 is being pivoted towards the first frame 20, the first frame 20 can also be pivoted downwardly in the anticlockwise direction so as to be disposed behind the back 16. A clip 52 is 5 provided on opposite sides of the back 16 for releasably engaging legs 24 and 26 respectively of the first frame portion 20. Therefore, as shown in Figure 3, the sunshade 18 in the stored position is held adjacent the rear of the back 16 and within the confines of the periphery of the back 16. The second frame portion 22 is held adjacent the first frame portion 20 by the action of the springs 44. It will be 10 appreciated that when the chair 12 is a standard folding chair as shown in the drawings, the chair can be folded and unfolded as desired without any interference by the collapsed sunshade 10. The sunshade 10 when in the stored position does not substantially effect the operation, size, bulk or weight of the chair 12. Figure 4 illustrates a second embodiment for the sunshade 10' for retrofitting to a 15 chair 12 in which like reference numbers denote like features. The sunshade 10' differs from the sunshade 10 shown in Figures 1-3 in the following particulars. The first frame portion 20' of the sunshade 10' is now in the form of a closed square or rectangular loop rather than being U shaped as in the first embodiment. Second frame portion 22' of the sunshade 10' is in essence identical to the second frame 20 portion 22 of the first embodiment. A pair of hinges 30' are attached at one end or one side to a lower horizontal member 54 of the frame portion 20'. An opposite end of side of the hinges 30' are then attached to the upper horizontal run 56 of the back 16 (shown in phantom) of the chair 12. Thus the frame 20' can pivot about an axis parallel to and located between the members 54 and 56. 25 Legs 34' and 36' of the frame portion 22' are connected in a different manner to the frame portion 20' compared with the first embodiment. In the second embodiment of the sunshade 10' the leg 34' is attached to the leg 26' via a short bar 58 that is pivotally connected at an upper end at pivot point 60 to the leg 26' and pivotally connected at a lower end at pivot point 62 to the leg 34'. An identical bar 58 with 30 pivot point connections 60 and 62 connects leg 36' to leg 24'. The free ends of the WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -7 legs 34', 36' sit slightly forward of or can abut front sides of legs 26' and 24' respectively when the sunshade 10' is in the sunshading position, shown in figure 4. For additional support, a pair of struts 64 are connected to the frame portions 20' and 22'. Each strut 64 is connected at its lower end via a pivot point 66 to a respective 5 one of the legs 24' and 26'. The pivot connection 66 is located below the pivot connection 60. An upper end of each strut 64 is pivotally connected at pivot point 68 to respective legs 34' and 36' of the frame portion 22' at a location forward of the pivot connection 62. The shade cloth 46' (shown in phantom) comprises a back panel 70 that extends 10 within and across the frame portion 20', a top panel 72 that extends across the top of the frame portion 22' and connects at its rearward edge with the panel 70', and two depending side panels 74 (only one of which is shown) that extend from opposite sides of the top panel 72 down the sides of the sunshade 10' for connection at attachment points 48' to the chair 12. Thus, the panels 70, 72 and 74 are all attached 15 together. A rearward longitudinal edge 76 of the shade cloth 46' where the top panel 72 meets with the back panel 70 is attached via springs 44' to the cross bar 28' of the frame portion 20'. To assist in this connection, a steel wire or rod can be sewn in a hem (not shown) along the edge 76 for coupling to the ends of springs 44'. The springs 44' provide tension in shade cloth 46' and together with side panels 72 20 hold the sunshade 10' in the shading position. This is because the tension in the shade cloth 46' is applied between the frame portions 20' and 22' and the chair 12 since the back panel 70 connects along its lower edge to the frame portion 20' and along its top edge with the top panel 72 along edge 76; and a forward edge of the top panel 72 is attached to the cross bar 38' of the frame portion 22'; and side 25 panels 74 are attached along the top edges with opposite sides of the top panel 72 and that their lower points to the chair 12 at the attachment points 48'. As in the first embodiment, in order to move the sunshade 10' to the collapsed position, the second frame 22' is pivoted in a clockwise direction toward frame portion 20'. As this occurs, the tension in springs 44' is increased (ie the springs 44' WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -8 are stretched) and the bars 58 pivot in an anticlockwise direction about their upper pivot points 60. During this process eventually the bars 58 align with their respective connected legs 34' and 36' which coincides with the maximum extension of the springs 44'. Further rotation of the frame portion 22' in the clockwise 5 direction leads to a compression in the springs 44' effectively snapping the second frame 22' further in the clockwise direction toward the frame 20'. This releases all tension in the springs 44' and the back and side panels 70 and 74 allowing the frame portion 22' to pivot backwardly by virtue of hinges 30' so as to be disposed behind the back of the chair 12. 10 The sunshade(s) 10, 10' can be formed as a separate item and then retrofitted to the chair 12 or formed integrally with the chair 12. It should also be understood that it is not necessary that the chair 12 be a folding chair. The chair 12 could be any type of chair. The attachment and fitting of the sunshade 10 does not necessitate any change in the basic design of the chair and can be easily retrofitted without the need 15 for extending the back 16 or the arms of the chair as shown in the prior art patent referred to above. Now that embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail it will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts that numerous modifications and variations may be made without departing from the basic inventive concepts. For 20 example, the shade material supported by the sunshade 10, 10' can be any form of material which can provide shade, such as canvas or woven synthetic fibres or even include a rigid portion which extends across frame portions 20 and 22 with a cloth type of shade material extending down the sides of the sunshade 10, 10'. In another variation the shade material may extend over the frame portions 20 and 22 only, and 25 not down the sides, (in this variation the stays would still be required). Also, the sunshade 10, 10' can be provided with separate stays attached between the second frame portion 22 and the attachment point 48. The stays could be in the form of two lengths of metal such as aluminium each of which is pivotally connected at one end to the side 16 and second frame 22 respectively and pivotally connected together at 30 their opposite ends. Further, when the stay is in the form of a cord say disposed WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 -9 either within or outside a hem formed along edge 50 a biasing strip or element can be disposed along the cord so as to cause the cord to flex inwardly between frame portions 22 and 20 as the sunshade 10 is being collapsed so that the shade material extending on opposite sides of the head of the occupant is also held between the 5 frame portions 20 and 22 of the sunshade 10 is held in the stored position. An optional sun visor may also be provided extending downwardly from cross bar 38. All such modifications and variations are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description and the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A sunshade adapted for connection to a chair having a seat and a back extending upwardly from the seat, the sunshade connectable to the back of the chair and foldable between a storage position in which the sunshade is held in 5 a collapsed state adjacent a rear side of the back and a shading position in which the sunshade extends over the head of a person seated on the seat of the chair to provide shade to the occupant.

2. A sunshade according to claim 1 including: a frame pivotally attachable to the back of the chair to facilitate the folding thereof between the storage 10 position and the shading position; and, shade material supported on the frame for providing the shade to the occupant when the sunshade is in the shading position.

3. A sunshade according to claim 2 wherein the shade material extends over the head of the occupant and down opposite sides of the head of the occupant 15 when the sunshade is in the shading position.

4. A sunshade according to claim 3 wherein the frame includes a first frame portion pivotally attachable to the rear side of the back of the chair and a second frame portion pivotally coupled near, and inboard of an opposite end of the first frame portion and which extends in a generally horizontal plane 20 forward of the first frame portion when the sunshade is in the shading position.

5. A sunshade according to claim 4 further including biasing means acting between the first frame portion and second frame portion for urging the second frame portion to pivot in a direction to pull on the portions of the 25 shade material extending on opposite sides of the head of an occupant. WO 99/18825 PCT/AU98/00841 - 11

6. A sunshade according to claim 5 further including at least one stay extending from near an end of the second frame distant the first frame to a side of the back of the chair in order to limit the pivoting motion of the second frame in the direction induced by the biasing means. 5

7. A chair comprising: a seat; a back extending upwardly from the seat; and a sunshade coupled to the back and foldable between a storage position in which the sunshade is held in a collapsed state adjacent a rear side of the 10 back and a shading position in which the sunshade extends over the head of a person seated on the seat of the chair to provide shade to the occupant.

8. A chair according to claim 7 wherein a frame pivotally attachable to the back of the chair to facilitate the folding thereof between the storage position and the shading position; and, shade material supported on the frame for providing 15 the shade to the occupant when the sunshade is in the shading position.

9. A chair according to claim 8 wherein the frame includes a first frame portion pivotally attachable to the rear side of the back of the chair and a second frame portion pivotally coupled near, and inboard of an opposite end of the first frame portion and which extends in a generally horizontal plane forward 20 of the first frame portion when the sunshade is in the shading position.

10. A chair according to claim 9 wherein biasing means acting between the first frame portion and second frame portion for urging the second frame portion to pivot in a direction to pull on the portions of the shade material extending on opposite sides of the head of an occupant.