JP2006288948A - Structure of foldable stool and dining table - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a structure of a foldable stool which has a design with no sense of incongruity even in a folded state, an excellent strength, and requires not so much a housing space. <P>SOLUTION: The stool is mainly made of wood. All of the stool comprises six parts including seat face support plates (1) and (1') for buttock rest, leg part side plates (2) and (2') for supporting the seat face support plates (1) and (1') and auxiliary leg part support plates (3) and (3') by two pieces each. The seat face support plates (1) and (1') are connected by a hinge (4a), dividable/movable to be foldable upward, divided into two pieces and horizontally unfolded to be installed in the use. The seat face support plates (1) and (1') and the leg part side plates (2) and (2') are movably connected by hinges (4b) and (4c) respectively. A cushion (5) is preferably provided on the seat face plates (1) and (1') to render sitting comfortable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of a folding chair and a dining table.

  Although the housing situation in Japan is improving, it is still narrow compared to Western countries. The lifestyle habits of using furniture such as Western chairs and dining tables are becoming established. Living with Western furniture tends to limit the use of the room by the furniture.

  That is, for example, the basics of a Japanese-style room are carried out by bringing necessary furniture (table table, table) and tools (futon, dining table, brazier) in daily life into a room without tatami-mat furniture. Life is basic. On the other hand, in the case of a Western-style room, furniture is installed according to the purpose of the room in advance. For example, a bedroom cannot be used in the living room if a bed is installed, and cannot be used in a bedroom if a table or chair is installed. . In this way, the application is fixed.

As a result, the use of narrow rooms is limited.
In dining and living dining kitchens that are used in many apartments, cooking and dining areas that function differently are mixed in the same space, making it a cluttered space. There is a risk.
In order to overcome this situation, it is effective to arrange, organize, and reduce the “things” that exist in rooms such as furniture, but it is not easy as a real problem.

For example, as examples of “decrease in furniture”, many examples have been proposed in which a table or a chair is used as a movable folding structure to occupy a small area, and a bed is used as a folding structure for wall storage. For example, as in Patent Documents 1 to 4.
JP 2002-78556 A JP-A-56-75106 JP 59-8913 Registration No. 3058036

In addition, a chair is attached to the table, but a chair usually comes with 2 to 6 legs, and the vertical and horizontal straight lines tend to be confused in design. Even if the design is excellent if only one leg is seen, it is difficult to hide the unsightly in a situation where multiple are placed randomly. In addition, unnecessary chairs cannot be easily removed according to the number of people. As a simple solution, it is preferable to conceal it. However, for example, when it is stored in a closet, a lot of storage space is required per leg. There is also an example in which a folding chair is integrated with furniture such as a table. For example, as in Patent Document 5.
JP 50-155357 A

A method of conserving storage space by devising the design so that it can be stacked vertically like tableware or ashtray is also common in chairs for various types of venues. This method is extremely convenient when storing a large number of chairs, such as tens or hundreds, in a warehouse, etc., but it is necessary to store at least one chair for storing 2 to 5 chairs in a general household. Therefore, it is considered unsuitable for small houses. For example, as in Patent Documents 6-9.
JP 2003-180480 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-52594 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-68544 JP-A-8-112155

If the volume of the chair itself is reduced by folding, a large number of chairs can be stored without taking up space, and a clean appearance is obtained when the chair is not in use. Therefore, it can be said that the room design is a reasonable method. In addition, the packaging volume is small and convenient for transportation and storage. For this reason, several proposals have been made as folding chairs. For example, as in Patent Documents 10-15.
JP 2002-45353 A JP 2002-165666 A JP-T-2003-527893 Registration No. 3030294 JP-A-9-108063 JP, 9-191969, A These chairs have been used as chairs for various ceremonies, but in recent years, they are also frequently used as chairs for outdoor activities such as camping.

Conventional folding chairs have the following problems.
a. Low strength and poor durability.
In general, there are many chairs that are supposed to be used for non-daily life such as camping, and as a result of making portability the top priority, thin plates, aluminum pipes, cloth, etc. are used as load-bearing members for weight reduction and durability Often inferior. Therefore, when considering use in a dining room in a house where daily use is a prerequisite, there is a significant problem with durability.

b. It does not match the design of the dining table.
The table is basically composed of a tabletop that extends in the horizontal direction and legs that extend in the vertical direction, but folding chairs often use muscular diagonal materials with a sense of incongruity to reduce weight and improve rigidity. There is a problem in terms of unifying the design with the dining table. When the dining table is made of wood, the aluminum pipe often feels the coldness of the inorganic material, and the cloth feels weak and often gives a sense of incongruity.

c. Take a lot of storage space.
Even when folded, it often protrudes partly and is bulky, and often does not fit neatly in the storage location. Even if it is about 1 leg, it will be bulky and unsightly when folded up to 4-5 legs, so a storage space such as a storage room will be required.

d. Poor stability.
As a result of making portability the top priority, the bottom area is too small, the center of gravity is high, and it is easy to tip over and often has poor stability.

e. It is a danger.
In many cases, the movable parts are exposed, and there is a risk that hands may be caught between these movable parts during folding or installation. In addition to sitting on a chair, it may be possible to use a stepladder instead of a stepladder when exchanging light bulbs or taking things on a shelf. Some of them may close and fall or crash.

f. It takes time to assemble.
When the seat surface and the back surface operate independently, a plurality of operations such as installing the back surface after the seat surface is installed may be required. Further, a fixing operation is required for a device provided with a lock mechanism for stability. The reverse operation is also necessary for folding. Installation with one hand was difficult, and it was even dangerous, such as the locking mechanism not working.

g. Inconvenient for transporting Folding chairs may require preparations such as raising the seat surface in advance or releasing the lock. In some cases, these operations require both hands. If there is a mistake in the procedure, for example, the seating surface could be pinched and damaged.

h. Inconvenience at the time of installation Folding chairs required both hands to level the seating surface, and sometimes locked with both hands for safety. Therefore, transportation and installation are troublesome, for example, once one chair is rolled and placed on the floor after being transported with both hands, one chair is installed with both hands, and the remaining chairs are assembled again.

  The folding structure is designed so that it does not feel uncomfortable even when it is lined up with a table, it has excellent strength, and does not take up space when stored.

The folding chair according to the present invention has the following features.
a. High strength and excellent durability.
Using the same woody material as the table, each moving part is most stable in the unfolded state, so it has excellent strength.

b. It matches the design of the dining table.
If the same material as the dining table is used, there is no sense of incongruity when viewed from either the front or the side. In particular, when viewed from the front, the constituent members are all vertical and horizontal members, and since the oblique constituent members are not used, there is no possibility of impairing the design of the table.

c. Less storage space.
When folded, it fits within the thickness of two flat plates with almost no protrusions, and can be stacked without any gaps. Therefore, the storage space is minimized. For example, if a slit-like or shelf-like storage place is provided in a part of the dining table, the chair can be easily stored when it is not necessary, and only the necessary portion can be taken out and used later.

d. Excellent stability.
Even with the vertical and horizontal members alone, the leg portion is firmly fixed by the effect of “penetration” and there is no wobble.

e. It is safe.
Since the movable parts are concealed, there is no fear that the hands are caught by these movable parts during folding or installation. Since it is stable on any part of the seating surface, it is possible to use a stepladder instead when replacing bulbs or taking things on a shelf. Even if one part of the metal fitting is damaged, all members are supported by a plurality of metal fittings, so that there is no risk of sudden collapse even if they are slightly wobbled.

f. It takes less time to assemble.
When installing, the seating surface is flattened by its own weight by taking out and placing it, and each part is naturally fixed, and an operation such as locking is unnecessary. At the time of storage, it can be folded naturally by simply lifting the seating surface, so there is no member to be removed again.

g. Convenient during transportation If a handle is attached in the vicinity of the center of the seating surface as in the second embodiment, the chair is automatically folded just by grasping and holding this handle, which is convenient for transportation. This folding operation does not require any troublesome procedures such as unlocking or raising the seat surface in advance, and can be achieved by simply grasping and lifting the handle with one hand. The procedure is not accidentally damaged or requires both hands.

h. Convenient at the time of installation If the automatic deployment is performed at the time of installation as in the third and fourth embodiments, the installation work is completed simply by placing. Even if you bring a chair in both hands, you can install two legs at once. When combined with the second embodiment, all operations can be performed with only one hand.

  Therefore, in the folding chair, the seat surface is divided into two through a hinge, and the other end of each of the two divided seat surfaces is connected to the leg side plate in a movable state with the hinge, respectively. Further, the leg side plate is connected to the auxiliary leg support plate in a movable state with a hinge, and each member is connected to two adjacent members via a hinge. The folding chair has a dining table structure characterized by providing a place for storing one or more legs.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment of the present invention, wood is the main material, and the entire chair is largely composed of six parts. That is, the seat support plate (1) (1 ') for placing the waist, the leg side plates (2) (2') for supporting the seat support plate, and the auxiliary leg support plates (3) (3 '), respectively. It is provided one by one.
The seating surface support plate (1) (1 ') is connected by a hinge (4a) and is divided and movable so as to be bent toward the upper part. The seating surface support plate (1) and the seating surface support plate (1 ′). When installed and used, it expands horizontally. The seat support plate (1) (1 ') is connected to the leg side plate (2), and the seat support plate (1') is connected to the side plate (2 ') via the hinge (4b) and the hinge (4c). It is movably connected. The seating surface support plate (1) and the seating surface support plate (1 ') may be provided with a cushion (5) in order to improve the sitting comfort. It is. Although details will be described in detail in the second embodiment, a handle (6) may be attached to the seating surface support plates (1) (1 ').

  The leg side plates (2) and (2 ') are on the left and right, respectively, and are responsible for the load applied to the chair. As described above, the seat support plates (1) and (1 ') are movably connected to each other, and the auxiliary leg support plates (3) and (3') are also movably connected. The leg side plate (2) is connected to the auxiliary leg support plate (3) and the hinge (4d), and the leg side plate (2 ') is connected to the auxiliary leg support plate (3') and the hinge (4e). The auxiliary leg support plate (3) and the auxiliary leg support plate (3 ') are connected by a hinge (4f). The auxiliary leg support plate (3) and the auxiliary leg support plate (3' ) Is moved while maintaining the parallel state for these hinges (4d), (4e) and (4f).

The auxiliary leg support plate (3) and the auxiliary leg support plate (3 ′) prevent deformation of the leg side plate (2) and the leg side plate (2 ′), and at the same time, the seat support plate (1). (1 ') is supported as an auxiliary. It is divided into a seating surface support plate (1) and a seating surface support plate (1 ') and is movably connected by a hinge (4a).
Auxiliary leg support plate (3) Leg side plate (2), Auxiliary leg support plate (3 ') and Leg side plate (2') are chairs under the seat support plate (1) (1 ') In the state set as, when viewed from above, it is positioned in the “M” state. Further, when the chair is folded, it becomes a single plate.

  Further, in order to form a single plate in the folded state, as shown in the folded state diagram, the auxiliary leg support plate (3) the leg side plate (2), the auxiliary leg support plate ( 3 ') and the leg side plate (2'), the total thickness of the two cushions, the seat support plate (1) and the seat support plate (1 ') is approximately the same. For example, when the chair is folded, it is in a flat state and there is no protruding portion, and it is convenient because a large number of sheets can be stably stacked. Moreover, it can be stored in a small place alone.

Furthermore, at the time of folding, by bending the seat surface support plate (1) and the seat surface support plate (1 ′) upward, the leg portion side plate (2), the auxiliary leg portion support plate (3), the auxiliary leg portion support plate ( 3 '), leg side plate (2') is bent at hinge (4d), hinge (4f) and hinge (4e), and leg side plate (2) and leg side plate (2 ') are parallel. While maintaining the state, it is gradually folded and finally folded into a single plate.
When installing, place the chair upright on the floor, and push down the seat support plate (1) and the seat support plate (1 ') downward. , Leg side plate (2), seat surface support plate (1), seat surface support plate (1 '), leg side plate (2') are hinge (4d), hinge (4f), hinge (4e) parts The installation is completed in a stable state as a chair.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In order to complete the folding operation with one hand without fail, the seating surface support plates (1) (1 ') have two central portions (attachment positions of the hinges 4a). ) Is provided with a handle (6). When the handle (6) is pulled up at the time of folding, the seat support plate (1) and the seat support plate (1 ') are bent upward. Thereafter, the final process is performed through the process shown in the first embodiment. Will be folded into a single plate. That is, each part is automatically folded only by pulling up the handle (6) with one hand.

Note that the shape and material of the handle (6) is a seated portion, and leather or a strong cloth is preferable so as not to impair the softness of the design and cushion. Further, when using metal fittings, it tends to cause a sense of incongruity from the viewpoint of hardness, so it is preferable to use a concealment type that drops to the same height as the seating surface support plate when not in use.
Although this method can be automated at the time of folding, the handle (6) is convenient for transportation. Without changing hands, folding and transport can be performed continuously with only one hand and can be done with simple operations.

    Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The casters (7) are attached to the lower surfaces of the leg side plate (2) and the leg side plate (2 '). By providing such a configuration, the force that makes the seating surface support plate (1) and the seating surface support plate (1 ′) smooth under its own weight is the leg side plate (2) and the leg portion side plate (2 ′). It acts as a force that tries to spread. Since this caster (7) is installed and it is easy to move, the leg side plate (2) and the leg side plate (2 ') move in the lateral direction, and the auxiliary leg support plate (3 ), The auxiliary leg support plate (3 ') is also unfolded and the installation is automatically completed. If you do not want the chair to move while sitting, the chair will not move if the caster (7) sinks when a certain load or more is applied.

  Further, regarding the present invention, a fourth embodiment will be described. A slip stopper (8) such as rubber is attached to the lower surface of the leg side plate (2), and casters (7) are attached only to the lower surface of the leg side plate (2 '). ). With this configuration, the force that makes the seat support plate (1) and the seat support plate (1 ') smooth due to its own weight pushes the leg side plate (2) and the leg side plate (2'). Acts as a force to spread. However, since the leg side plate (2) does not move from the placed position, this force acts on the leg side plate (2 ') which is easy to move because the caster (7) is installed. ′) Moves in the horizontal direction, and the associated auxiliary leg support plate (3) and auxiliary leg support plate (3 ′) are also deployed to complete the installation automatically. The installation positions of the anti-slip (8) and casters (7) on the leg side plate (2) and the leg side plate (2 ') may be reversed.

  When a normal caster (7) is mounted on both leg side plates (2) and (2 '), if the installation location is inclined or a force is applied in one direction, the chair itself is selfish when the chair is deployed. If you try to sit down, you may not have a chair. Therefore, it is advantageous that one of the leg side plates (2) and (2 ') does not move, and only one of them moves, because it is possible to prevent "escape" of the entire chair.

  Further, regarding the present invention, a fifth embodiment will be described. A dining table (9) is provided, and a storage portion (10) is provided on the side surface or the lower portion of the table, which is shown in the first to fourth embodiments. The chair is stored. The chairs shown in the first to fourth embodiments are all flat when folded, and are stable even when stacked, and the storage portion is, for example, the space of the leg portion of the dining table (9). Convenient to use and provide dedicated shelves, when not needed, they can be stored there so that they do not occupy space and can be taken out and set immediately when necessary.

  By establishing the manufacturing technology of this folding chair and dining table, it has industrial applicability by manufacturing and selling based on this technology.

It is a front view which shows one Example of the folding chair of this invention. It is a front view which shows the closed state of the folding chair of this invention. It is a front view which shows the state which closed the folding chair of this invention completely. It is XX sectional drawing in FIG. It is YY sectional drawing in FIG. It is ZZ sectional drawing in FIG. It is a front view which shows the other Example of the folding chair of this invention. It is a front view which shows the closed state of the folding chair of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the other Example of the folding chair of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the closed state of the folding chair of this invention. It is a front view which shows the state which closed the folding chair of this invention completely. It is a perspective view which shows multiple folding chairs of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the accommodation state of the folding chair of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Seat surface support plate 1 'Seat surface support plate 2 Leg part side plate 2' Leg part side plate 3 Auxiliary leg part support plate 3 'Auxiliary leg part support plate 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, 4e, 4f Hinge 5 Cushion 6 Handle 7 Caster 8 Non-slip 9 Dining table 10 Storage

Claims (4)

  In the folding chair, the seat support plate is divided into two via hinges, and the other end of each of the two divided seat support plates is connected to the leg side plates in a movable state with hinges, respectively. The folding chair is characterized in that the leg side plate is hingedly connected to the auxiliary leg support plate in a movable state, and each member is connected to two adjacent members via hinges. Structure.   2. The folding chair structure according to claim 1, wherein a handle is provided near the center of the two-part seating surface support plate, and the entire chair can be folded when the handle is lifted up.   Casters are provided on one or both of the leg side plates, and if the chair is placed on a smooth surface such as the floor, the chair will unfold with its own weight, and the seat support plate will be smooth and installed. The folding chair structure according to claim 1, wherein the folding chair structure is completed.   The structure of the dining table characterized by providing the storage part which accommodates the folding chair shown by Claims 1-3 in one or more legs.

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