GB2313541A

GB2313541A - A stool

Info

Publication number: GB2313541A
Application number: GB9711138A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Schild
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-05-30
Filing date: 1997-05-30
Publication date: 1997-12-03
Anticipated expiration: 2017-05-30
Also published as: GB9711138D0; GB9611226D0; GB2313541B

Abstract

A stool which can be worn around the waist comprises a seat 2 supported by a leg 3 having a first end 4 attachable to the seat and a second end 5 attachable to a base 6. Attached to the seat are two straps 8 & 9. The height of the stool is adjustable and the seat may be tilted relative to the base by means of a universal ball joint. When worn, the stool does not have to be picked up the wearer should he wish to change location which leaves his hands free to carry other objects.

Description

A STOOL This invention relates to a stool.

A stool comprises a seat portion mounted on and supported by one or more legs. Stools are used by for example fisherman, gardeners, bird watchers and other people who require small lightweight seats which they can transport with them to use where desired.

A disadvantage of known stools is that if the person using the stool wishes to move from one location to another then to sit on the stool at the other location, he must pick up the stool and walk with it.

This is not always convenient as the user may have other things to carry in his hands.

For example, if the person using the stool is a fisherman, he may have fishing rods, fishing tackle etc to carry. If the person using the stool is a bird watcher, he is likely to have binoculars, reference books and so on.

A further known stool comprises one or more legs which are attached to the seat portion in such a way that the angle formed between the one or more legs and the seat portion is substantially fixed. This means that when a person is sitting on the stool with the leg or legs in contact with the ground, it is not easy to tilt the seat relative to the ground.

This may be useful if the sitter wishes to lean forward to reach an object or carry out a task.

In such a situation the sitter is liable to tilt the seat portion of the stool by leaning forward resulting in some of the legs losing contact with the ground. This results in the stool being unstable and is therefore potentially dangerous, as the weight of the person sitting on the stool could force the legs to move relative to the ground away from the person sitting on the stool which person may then fall to the ground.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a stool comprising: a seat portion; at least one leg attachable to the seat portion to support the seat portion, and restraining means attachable to the seat portion, whereby in use, the seat is adapted to support a person sitting on the seat portion; the at least one leg supporting the person sitting on the seat portion; the restraining means are adapted to extend substantially around the waist of the person sitting on the stool thereby retaining the stool against or near to the body of the person such that the stool is retained against or near to body of the person when the person stands or walks.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a stool comprising a seat portion; at least one leg attachable to the seat portion to support the seat portion, the stool further comprising restraining means attachable to the seat portion for retaining the stool against a person, whereby, in use, the restraining means extends around the body of the person.

Thus if a user of the stool wishes to move some distance and then sit on the stool again he merely has to stand up and walk to the new location, the stool being retained about his person by the retaining means.

Advantageously, the retaining means comprises one or more strap portions attachable to the seat portion.

Preferably, the stool comprises a single leg, which leg has a first end and a second end, the leg being attachable at its first end to the seat portion to support the seat portion when in use, and the second end being engageable with the base portion such that the angle of the leg relative to the base portion may be varied.

Advantageously, the second end of the leg portion comprises a ball receivable within an aperture within the base portion, the second end of the leg portion when engageable with the base portion forming a universal ball joint.

By means of the universal ball joint, the leg may rotate within the aperture of the base portion in two dimensions.

Preferably, the leg comprises adjustment means for adjusting the length of the leg.

Preferably, the leg comprises a first leg portion and a second leg portion and the adjustment means comprises a threaded elongate member to which first leg portion and the second leg portions are threadably attachable. The height of the stool may thus be varied by screwing or unscrewing the leg portions relative to one another. This action allows the distance between the leg portions to be varied to lengthen or shorten the leg.

Alternatively, the leg comprises a first leg portion, and a second leg portion slideably engageable in the first leg portion, one of the leg portions having a plurality of apertures spaced apart from one another, and the other leg porion having at least one aperture. The height of the leg may be altered by adjusting the second leg portion relative to the first leg portion by aligning a different one of the plurality of apertures on the one leg portion with the aperture on the other leg portion, and inserting a pin into both apertures to hold the leg at a fixed height.

Advantageously the base portion comprises a non slip plate on a lower surface thereof. This provides stability of the stool even when a user is tilting the stool by a large amount.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a stool comprising a seat portion and a leg having a first end and a second end, the leg being attachable to the first end to the seat portion to support the seat portion when in use, and a base portion for which the second end of the leg is engageable such that the angle of the leg relative to the base portion may be varied.

The invention will now be further described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the stool according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic representation of the stool of Figure 1 with the leg portions of the leg in an extended position; Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the second embodiment of the stool according to the present invention having an alternative retaining means; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a detail of the base portion of the stool of Figure 1 showing the engagement of the leg portion with the base portion; Figure 5 is a schematic representation of the third embodiment of a stool according to the present invention in which the leg portion is enclosed; Figure 6 is a schematic representation of a third embodiment of a stool according to the present invention; and Figure 7 is a schematic representation of a leg forming part of the stool of Figure 6.

Referring to Figure 1, a stool according to the present invention is designated generally by the reference numeral (1) The stool comprises a seat portion (2) supported by a leg (3).

The leg (3) has a first end (4) attachable to the seat portion (2) and a second end (5) attachable to the base portion (6).

Attached to the seat portion (2) is a retaining means (7) in the form of two strap portions (8, 9).

The retaining means (7) in the form of two strap portions (8, 9) is designed to fit substantially around the waist of a person sitting on the stool (1). This means that if a person sitting on a stool chooses to stand up and walk to a different location with the intention of sitting on the stool at the different location, the stool will be retained against or near to the body of the person whilst the person walks to the different location. This means that the person does not have to carry the stool to the different location. This is likely to be advantageous if, for example, the person using the stool has other things to carry to the different location.

The leg (3) is formed from two leg portions (10, 11).

Referring to Figure 2, adjustment means (20) for adjusting the height of the stool are shown. The adjustment means (20) comprises a threaded elongate member on to which both of the leg portions (10, 11) are threadably engageable.

The minimum height of the stool is achieved by threading the leg portions (10, 11) so that the two portions (10, 11) abut with one another as shown in Figure 1.

To increase the height of the stool, the leg portions (10, 11) are unscrewed from the threaded portion (20) so that portions (10, 11) are spaced apart from one another thus extending the length of the leg (3).

Referring to Figure 4, the engagement of the leg (3) with the base portion (6) is shown in more detail. The leg (3) is formed into a ball (40) at the second end (5) of the leg (3).

The ball (40) is engageable with an aperture (41) in the base portion (6) so that together the ball (40) and the aperture (41) in base portion (6) form a universal ball joint. The ball (40) is able to rotate within the aperture thus allowing the seat portion (2) to be tilted relative to the base portion as desired.

Referring to Figure 3, a second embodiment of the stool (1) is shown, the retaining means comprises two strap portions (31, 32) one of which strap portions comprises a portion (33) having a greater width than the remainder of the strap portion (8). This can be more comfortable for a user of the stool.

Referring to Figure 5 a third embodiment (50) of the stool is shown. The leg (3) is enclosed within a cone shaped enclosure (51).

Referring to Figure 6 a leg suitable for use in a third embodiment of the stool is shown. The leg is designated generally by the reference numeral (60). The leg comprises an outer leg portion (62) which can be made of any convenient material, for example, metal within which its slidable an inner leg portion (64). The inner leg portion (64) is formed with holes (66) positioned at spaced apart internals and the outer leg portion (62) is formed with at least one hole (68). The height of the leg may therefore be adjusted by aligning an appropriate hole (66) with the at least one hole (68) and then maintaining the leg at the desired height by inserting a pin (70) through the holes (66, 68). If it is desired to adjust the height of the stool, the height of the leg might be appropriately adjusted by aligning a different one of the holes (66) with the at least one hole (68).

Referring to Figure 7 a stool (80) comprising the leg (60) shown in Figure 6 is shown. Corresponding reference numerals have been used. The leg (60) is attached at one end to the seat portion (82) of the stool (80) and at the opposite end to a foot plate (84) having a ball joint fixture (86) into which the ball (72) is fittable. The stool further comprises restraining means in the form of straps (88) which are adapted to fit around the waist of a person sitting on the stool.

The invention described hereinabove has been described in terms of a stool. However, the term stool as used hereinabove includes other forms of chairs and seats.

Claims

1. A stool comprising: a seat portion; at least one leg attachable to the seat portion to support the seat portion, and restraining means attachable to the seat portion, whereby in use, the seat is adapted to support a person sitting on the seat portion; the at least one leg supporting the person sitting on the seat portion; the restraining means being adapted to extend substantially around the waist of the person sitting on the stool thereby retaining the stool against or near to the body of the person such that the stool is retained against or near to body of the person when the person stands or walks.

2. A stool comprising a seat portion; at least one leg attachable to the seat portion to support the seat portion, the stool further comprising restraining means attachable to the seat portion for retaining the stool against a person, whereby, in use, the restraining means extends around the body of the person.

3. A stool according to any one of claims 1 or 2 wherein the retaining means comprises one or more strap portions attachable to the seat portion.

4. A stool according to any one of claims 1 to 3 comprising a single leg which leg has a first end and a second end, the leg being attachable at its first end to the seat portion to support the seat portion when in use, and the second end being engageable with the base portion, such that the angle of the leg relative to the base portion may be varied.

5. A stool according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the second end of the leg portion comprises a ball receivable within an aperture within the base portion, the second end of the leg portion when engageable with the base portion forming a universal ball joint.

6. A stool according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the leg comprises adjustment means for adjusting the length of the leg.

7. A stool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the leg comprises a first leg portion and a second leg portion, and the adjustment means comprises a threaded elongate member to which the first leg portion and the second leg portions are threadably attachable.

8. A stool according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the leg comprises a first leg portion, and a second leg portion slideably engageable in the first leg portion, one of the leg portions having a plurality of apertures spaced apart from one another, and the other leg portion having at least one aperture.

9. A stool according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the base portion comprises a non-sliplate on another surface thereof.

10. A stool comprising a seat portion and a leg having a first end and a second end, the leg being attachable at its first end to the seat portion to support the seat portion when in use, and a base portion to which the second end of the leg is engageable such that the angle of the leg relative to the base portion may be varied.

11. A stool according to claim 10 wherein the seat portion comprises retaining means for retaining a user of the stool in contact with the stool.

12. A stool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.