EP0170669B1 - Folding chair or deck chair - Google Patents

Abstract

Folding chair or deck chair, wherein the backrest, respectively all the deck chair is transferred from a relatively flat position (relaxation position) to an almost vertical chair position, through different more and more straight positions, the folding chair or deck chair being foldable so as to occupy the smallest and flattest possible volume. To this effect there is provided sideways on each rear leg (4) a groove or guide (12) wherein is engaged a tenon (11) provided lateraly at the lower end of the upright (6) of the backrest (2). Each of the two guiding grooves (12) is preferably provided with a curvature (18). The lower bearing surfaces (21) of the front legs (3) are conveniently curved backwards/downwards or are configured as curved surfaces.

Description

The invention relates to a folding armchair or deck chair according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a folding armchair is already known from US-A 2 618 317.

The disadvantage is that such a folding armchair is not - or only very temporarily - suitable as a dining chair for taking a meal at a dining table. For this you need a chair or armchair with a steep backrest and horizontal seat, with sufficient seat height, in the required stability. Another disadvantage is that the armrests reach a too low height in the flat, inclined rest position. This is very inconvenient, especially for the elderly or disabled. They have difficulty moving to such a low lying or resting position because the armrests on which they want to rest when lying down and standing up are too low above the ground or floor.

The solution to this problem is specified in the characterizing part of claim 1.

According to the invention, the guide grooves each have an upward curvature or are connected to such a curvature. This curvature of the guide groove brings the seat part (connected to the backrest) to a higher position when the backrest (for the dining position) is set steeper.

Furthermore, since the lower support surfaces of the front legs are arched backwards / downwards, the armrests articulated at the upper end of the front legs reach a correspondingly greater height above the ground in the flat position of the armchair or deck chair (i.e. in the rest position). The user can rest on these raised armrests, which makes it easier for him to get in and out of the deck chair. The aforementioned curvature is expediently connected to the guide groove provided below it via a connecting groove. A relatively large height distance is achieved through this connecting groove.

Advantageously, the part of the guide groove located at the rear of the connecting groove, which is passed through by the pivot pins when folded, is offset in height relative to the front part of the guide groove, forming a stop. This stop makes it easier to insert the pins into the connecting groove.

The guide groove can indeed be formed in the material of the rear leg itself, but advantageously the guide groove, possibly together with the catches and the connecting groove, is provided on a fitting plate or on a plastic part which is attached to the rear legs.

The catches can be connected to a narrow neck.

This improves the fit of the pins in the notches, similar to a push button. To improve this push button effect, the pins can each have a notch at their base.

If instead of the step-wise adjustment provided with the notches, a continuous adjustment is desired, the notches can be omitted and a screw spindle can be arranged between the backrest and the rear legs. The inclination of the backrest is adjusted by means of the screw position and at the same time the backrest is locked in the respective position.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a swivel arm or coupling arm can finally be provided between the upper end of the front legs and the armrests, in addition to or instead of the curved design of the supporting surface of the front legs. Depending on whether this coupling arm extends backwards backwards or forwards upwards, the armrests are raised or lowered further. Here, the front legs are supported in the rear position of the swivel arm on an extension of the pivot pin, while in the front / upper position of the swivel arm, the front ends of the front legs are supported directly under the armrests.

• Fig.1 zeigt ein erfindungsgemässes Sitz-/Liegemöbel in Perspektive,
• Fig. 2 zeigt das Möbel in Seitenansicht in Liegestellung,
• Fig.3 zeigt das Möbel ebenfalls in Seitenansicht in einer Zwischenstellung,
• Fig. 4 zeigt das Möbel in Seitenansicht, in Ess-Stellung,
• Fig. 5 zeigt das Möbel zusammengeklappt,
• Fig.6 zeigt ein Beschlagblech mit einer abgewandelten Führungsnut,
• Fig. 7 zeigt eine Ansicht des Möbels von vorn (Pfeil VII, Fig. 4),
• Fig. 8 zeigt - anhand eines vertikalen Längsschnittes - eine Ausführung mit stufenloser Verstellung,
• Fig. 9 zeigt eine Einzelheit von Fig. 8 (Überbrükkung der Rasten an Führungsnut bei stufenloser Verstellung).

An exemplary embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the drawing.

• 1 shows a seating / reclining furniture according to the invention in perspective,
• 2 shows the furniture in a side view in a lying position,
• 3 shows the furniture also in a side view in an intermediate position,
• 4 shows the furniture in side view, in the eating position,
• 5 shows the furniture folded,
• 6 shows a fitting plate with a modified guide groove,
• 7 shows a view of the furniture from the front (arrow VII, FIG. 4),
• 8 shows - using a vertical longitudinal section - an embodiment with stepless adjustment,
• Fig. 9 shows a detail of Fig. 8 (bridging the notches on the guide groove with stepless adjustment).

As can be easily seen, the furniture has a seat part 1 and a backrest 2, which are supported by two front legs 3 and two rear legs 4. The seat part 1 is articulated with its front area by means of articulated bolts 5 on the central area of the front legs 3; the front ends of the rear legs 4, which extend obliquely downwards / backwards to the ground, are also hinged to the same hinge pin 5. The lower ends of the side rails 6 are supported on the rear legs 4 (to be carried out). Above this support, the rear end of the seat part 1 is articulated on the stone spars 6. Above this joint 7 is the rear end the armrests 8 each articulated on the side rail 6 of the backrest 2. The upper ends of the front legs 3 are articulated on the front area of the armrests 8. The armrests consist of a (in plan view) wider horizontal part 8a (for comfortably supporting the arms), on the inside of which a vertical part 8b with the joints 9 is provided.

In a view from the front (seen from the center on both sides to the left or right, FIG. 7), one side spar 10 of the seat part 1 and one spar 6 of the backrest 2 appear in one plane, both connected to one another by means of joint fitting 7. The armrests 8 (or their vertical part 8a) and the rear legs 4 appear in the same vertical plane. A front leg 3 is connected to the side in the next vertical plane.

As is readily apparent, the seating / reclining furniture according to the invention (in the example) is adjustable in four different inclined positions (by snapping in at 1, 11, 111, IV see FIG. 6) and also in a dining position, notch V), a further intermediate position (catch VI) is provided here on the upper guide groove. This guide according to the invention is cut in each case on the inside of the rear legs. A pin 11, which protrudes from the lower end of the side member 6, engages in this guide.

The (lower) guide groove 12 for the various rest positions is connected to the upper guide groove 13 for the eating position via a connecting groove 14. When collapsed, the pins 11 slide in the rear part of the guide groove 12b.

Note the small height and length of the furniture when folded (Fig. 5); in fact, the whole piece of furniture is only approx. 15 cm high when folded, so that it fits into a box for normal mailing.

The rear part 12b of the guide groove is offset slightly upwards in relation to the front part 12a; In this way, a stop 15 is formed which indicates to the user the position of the guide pins 11 below the connecting groove 14, so that the user can now raise the backrest 6 in order to get into the upper groove 13 via the connecting groove 14.

The guide groove 12, 12a, 12b, 13, 14, with the notches I-VI, can be cut directly into the wood of the rear legs 4. This guide groove can also be seen in a special fitting plate 16 (FIG. 6), which in turn is attached to the rear legs 4, in which case only the “raw” groove profile needs to be incorporated into the material of the rear legs 4.

FIG. 6 also shows a variation in that only a single guide groove 12a, 12b passing through a substantially vertical region 17 into a curvature 18 is provided. The notches of the groove are provided with a narrowed neck 19. In this way a push button action is achieved, i.e. the guide pin 11 can only be lifted out of the corresponding detent against increased resistance. To increase the elasticity or the push button effect, a notch 20 is provided in the bottom of each of these notches.

When steepening the backrest 2, the rear area of the seat part 1 being raised, the front legs 3 also move into a steeper position, so that the front area of the seat part 1 is also raised, in particular to the normal seat height of a dining chair, without that the seat inclines forward / down, which would result in a very uncomfortable seat.

The previous deckchairs - as mentioned at the beginning - have the disadvantage that they are too low above the ground in the flat lying position, so that lying down and getting up is uncomfortable. The seat / reclining furniture according to the invention, on the other hand, which can be adjusted from the dining position (high seat, steep backrest) to an approximately horizontal rest position, has - in the embodiment according to the drawing - the particular advantage that the seat part 1 and backrest 2 - and in particular the armrests 8 - in the resting or lying position assume a higher altitude, so that lying down and getting up is easier.

For this purpose, the front legs 3 are arched backwards and downwards at the back, so that a support surface 21 results as in the case of a crank disk. When tilting the armchair - and thus also the front legs - into a rest position, the support point does not remain unchanged, but the support surface 21 rolls on the ground, which raises the seat part and armrests - or the height loss due to the inclination is in the desired position Extent balanced.

A hole 22 is provided on the front legs 3 and four holes 22 are provided obliquely one above the other on the rear legs 4. The axis of a wheel 23 can optionally be inserted into each of these holes. The furniture can thus be moved in this way, but in particular the height or inclination can be varied further, depending on which of the holes the wheel axles are inserted into; finally, wheels of different sizes can also be used.

Another possibility of adjusting the height, in particular of the armrests 8, is that the front legs 3 are not articulated directly to the armrests 8, but rather via a swivel arm 25 or crank arm. Depending on the angular position of the swivel arm 25, the armrest 8 is raised or lowered.

In FIG. 2, the swivel arm 25 is swiveled forward once (solid line) and swiveled backwards once - dash-dotted - drawn.

In the front swivel position, the front legs 3 are steeper, the armrests 8 and the seat 1 are raised accordingly. So you can rest in a resting position when resting or more comfortably on the higher armrests.

If, on the other hand, the swivel arms 25 are swiveled backwards (FIG. 2, dash-dotted lines), the front legs become less inclined, armrests 8 and seat part 1 thus come into a lower position.

In this example, an extension of the pivot pin 9 comes into contact with the end face of the front legs 3 in the example case. In the front pivot position of the arms 25, on the other hand, the front legs 3 are directly under the armrest 8 or 8a, in particular in a recess or recess 26 Armrest supported.

So far, the user has to get out of the seat / reclining furniture in order to adjust from one catch to another. 8, on the other hand, shows an embodiment with stepless adjustment, and without the user having to stand up for this. For this purpose, a traction means is provided between the lower cross member 40 of the backrest 2 and a rear strut 41 between the rear legs 4. In particular, a screw spindle 42 can be provided for this purpose, which is connected via a bendable shaft 43 to a rotary handle 44 at the front under the seat part 1. The guide groove 12 has no notches. The catches can be covered by a pivotable sheet (Fig. 9).

Claims (9)

1. A folding chair or deck chair, wherein the inclination of the side bars of the back rests is adjustable in that said bars are guided on the rear legs and are preferably supported each in one of a plurality of indentations, the forward ends of the rear legs are pivoted to the front legs below the arm rests, the arm rests are pivoted at their forward end to the top ends of the forward legs and at their rear end to the intermediate portions of the side bars of the back rest, each rear leg (4) is provided with a laterally disposed groove or track (12), which receives or is engaged by a laterally disposed pin (11), which provided at the lower end of the associated side bar (6) of the back rest (2), and a relatively rigid seat member (1) has a forward end which is pivoted to the front legs (3), preferably to the same pivot pins (5) as the forward ends of the rear legs (4), and has rear ends which are pivoted to the side bars (6) of the back rest (2) below the arm rest (8), characterized in that each of the two track grooves (12) has or is connected to an upwardly curved part (18) and the lower supporting surface (21) of the front legs (3) is rearwardly and downwardly curved or constitutes a cam face for compensating the decrease of the elevation of the seat member (1) and the arm rests (8) when the back rest (2) is in an inclined position.

2. A folding chair according to claim 1, characterized in that the curved portion (18) is connected by a connecting groove (14) to the track groove (12), which is disposed below the curved portion (18).

3. A folding chair according to claim 1, characterized in that that portion (12b) of the guide track groove which is disposed rearwardly of the connecting groove and through which the pins (11) move as the chair is collapsed is offset in height from the forward portion (12a) of the track groove so as to form a stop (15), which indicates the connecting groove (14).

4. A folding chair according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the track groove (12, 18) is provided with a sheet metal fixture (16) or with a plastic part, which is attached to the rear legs (4), and the indentations (I-VI) and the connecting groove (14) are optionally provided on said fixture or plastic part.

5. A folding chair according to claim 4, characterized in that at least the uppermost indentation (V, VI) of each set thereof has a constricted neck (snap fastener action).

6. A folding chair according to claim 5, characterized in that an indentation (20) for increasing the elasticity is provided at the bottom of the indentation that has a constricted neck (19).

7. A folding chair according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized by an adjusting screw (42), which is provided between the lower end of the back rest (2) and the rear end of the rear legs (4) and serves for a continuous adjustment of the inclination.

8. A folding chair according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a privoted arm (25) or link is provided on each side between the top end of the front leg (3) and the arm rest (8).

9. A folding chair according to claim 8, characterized in that each front leg (3) is supported on an extension of the pivot pin (9) when the pivoted arm (25) is in its rear position and the top ends of the front legs (3) are supported closely under the arm rests (8a) when the pivoted arm (25) is in its forward position.

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