US1210569A - Fan attachment for rocking-chairs. - Google Patents

Description

M. WAGNER.

PAN ATTACHMENT FOR ROCKING CHAIRS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 19:5.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

5 "A Inventor m 'I If 0 Attorneys.

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MATHIAS WAGNER, OF KOKOMO, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF THIRTY ONE-I-IUNDREDTHS T0 FINIS F. HUNT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed. February 2, 1915. 7 Serial No. 5,752.

ing chair fans, and aims to provide a novel and improved fan attachment for rocking chairs, whereby the oscillation of the chair may be taken advantage of for rotating a cooling fan.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a fan attachment for rocking v chairs embodying a unique assemblage of component parts, whereby the attachment may be readily applied to a rocking chair,

. and will be. adjustable to accommodate vari- 7 (ms sizes and styles of chairs, the present attachmentbeing adapted to be disposed at the rear of the chair so that it will not inconvenience the use of the chair in the .usual manner.

will impart a rotary movement to the fan for cooling the occupant of the chair.

l Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention- The invention has been illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of the attachment as applied to a rocking chair. Fig. 2. is a rear view thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 4-t of Fig. 1.

In carrying out the present invention, there is provided a yoke 1 constituting the end strips or bars 2 which are attached at their remote ends to the rear ends of the rockers 3 of the rocking chair, by means of U-clips or bolts 4 straddling the rear ends of the rockers 3 from below and terminally engaged through the strips or bars 2. The yoke or cross member 1 also includes an intermediate strip or bar 5 overlapping the inner ends of the strips or bars 2, the overlapped portions or" the strips or bars 2' and 5 being slotted, as at 6, and clamping bolts 7 being engaged through the cooperating slots 6 to clamp the strips or bars 2 and 5 at any position to which they are set. It will also be obvious that the yoke 1 is extensible and contractible by loosening the clamping bolts 7, whereby the yoke 1 will accommodate various rockers 3 which are spaced apart more or less, the U-bolts or clips i being readily applied to the ends of the rockers 3 as Will be obvious.

The intermediate strip or bar 5 of the yoke 1 is provided intermediate its ends with an opening 8 and with upstanding ears 9 at the sides of the opening 8, and a sleeve 10 is fulcrumed between the ears 9 within the opening 8 by means of trunnion o-r pivot screws or elements 11 threaded or otherwise engaged through the ears 9 and pivotally engaging the opposite sides of the sleeve 10. In this manner, the sleeve 10 may oscillate about a transverse axis parallel with the transversely disposed yoke 1.

A standard '12 is slidable through the sleeve 10 to oscillate therewith, and carries a caster 13 at its lower end which is adapted to rest upon the floor or surface upon which the rocking chair sets. The standard 12 and opening of the sleeve 10 are preferably noncircular or angular in cross section to per mit the standard 12 and sleeve 10 to slide relative to one another, and to prevent the standard 12 from rotating within the sleeve 10.

A bracket or plate 1% is adapted to be secured in any suitable manner to the back 1 13 of the rocking chair adjacent the upper end of the said back and is provided with an upper rearwardly projecting fork 15' which has engaged through its arms, a pair of opposite trunnion or pivot screws 16, and a sleeve 17 is ,trunnioned or pivotally mounted between the inner ends of the screws or pivot elements 16. A rotary fan shaft 18 is journaled to the sleeve 17, and a pair of collars 19 are secured by means of set screwsor in any other suitable manner upon the shaft 18 immediately above and below the sleeve 17,

tate freely within the sleeve or bearing 17, the rollers 19 and sleeve 17 being provided with suitable ball races for receiving the ball bearings as will be obvious. Theflsleeve or bearmg17 being trunnioned within the V fork 15, will enable the fan shaft 18 to oscillate backwardly and forwardly about a transverse axis, when necessary. 7

The yoke 1 and bracket '14 are connected by a tie or connecting'rod 21 which is terminally engaged at its upper end through a web 22 connecting the arms 22 of the fork 15, and which has its lower end engaged through a forwardly projecting ear 23 provided upon the intermediate strip or member of the yoke 1. Nuts 24% are threaded upon the upper andlower end portions of the tie rod 21 to seat against the web 22 and ear 23, respectively, for tightening the tie rod 21 and to brace the corresponding parts offthe present device, as well as the chair structure.

The fan 25 is carried by the upper protruding end portion of the shaft 18, and embodies ahub 26 adjustably secured upon the shaft 18 in any suitable manner, and having the inner ends of the shanks 27 of the blades 28 secured thereto in any suitable manner, whereby the blades 28 may be swung to various angular positions about aXes intersecting the shaft 18. The fan 25 overhangs the rocking chair, whereby when the fan is rotated it will create a current of air to the comfort of the occupant of the chair. 7

In order to rotate the fan shaft 18, the lower end of the fan shaft 18 is operatively connected to the upper end of the standard 12 through the medium of a power trans- 'mitting device 30 for converting a reciprocatory motlon lnto rotary motion.

The power transmitting device 30 in the present finstance, utilizes what is termed in the market and trades, a Yankee screw driver embodying a screw 31 received by a socket 32 which contains means cooperating with the screw 31 whereby when the screw 31 and socket '32 are reciprocated relative to one another, the screw 31 is rotated. The details of the power transmitting device or mechanism 30 are old and well known, and since they form no part of the present invention, they need not be described or illustrated in detail. In the present case, the upper end of the screw 31 is attached to the lower end of the fan shaft 18, and the lower end of the socket 32 is secured to the upper end of the standard 12, whereby when the standard 12 and the shaft 18 move to and from each other, due to the rocking motion of the chair, the fan shaft 18 will be rotated with the screw 31, the device or mechanism 30 being the occupant.

preferably so arranged that when the shaft 18 is depressed so as to depress the screw 31, it will cause the shaft 18Vto be rotated.

In operation, after the attachment has been properly applied to a rocking chair, and When'the occupant of the chair'rocks the same back and forth, as usual, the rearward movement of the chair will cause theback of the chair to swing rearwardly and downwardly, thereby carrying the sleeve or bearing 17 in a similar direction, and which will depress the shaft 18 for rotating it. The oscillation of the chair will thus impart a rotary movement of the fan 25 for creating a current or draft. of air to the-comfort of shaft 18, which are in alinement, may oscillate slightly. relative to the chair if necessary to prevent a binding action,as the chair is rocked, since the sleeve 10 of the standard 12 The standard 12 and the is trunnioned to the yoke 1 and the sleeve or bearing 17 of the shaft 18 is trunnioned to the bracket 14. The sleeve 10 will also slide up and down upon the standard 12, as the rockers 3 move back and forth. The caster 13' enables the lower end of the standard 12 to rest upon the floor in a convenient mam ner, whereby the standard 12 may be moved about with the chair, without marring the floor, or tearing the carpet or rug upon which the standard may be seated. 'The present device therefore offers no hindrance 'to the convenient use of the rocking chair,

but upon the other hand, the fanwill increase the comfort of the occupant without material exertion upon his or her part; The rocking motion of the chair imparts a reciprocatory motion to the fan shaft 18, and

the devlce or mechanism 30 in turn transforms the reciprocatory motion of the fan shaft 18' into a rotary motion thereof for actuating the fan in a. convenient and desirable manner.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that the device can be at-,

tached with equal facility and success to various styles of rocking chairs. This is due to the trunnioning of the bearing 17 and I sleeve 10 to the bracket 14: andthe yoke 1 respectively, the trunnions being so arranged as to permit the bearing and sleeve to swing in a common verticalplane when the yoke is adjusted to the rockers of the chair. Thus, in applying the device to any rocking chair, the bracket is first'attached to the back of the chair without regard to the particular position of the bracket in and the yoke 1 can then vbe applied to the rockers at I any suitable point thereof and at any suitable angle transversely with the standard 1 2, since the bearing 17 and sleeve 10 wlll swlng in sald plane and adjust theme a vertical plane, 1

selves relative to the bracket andyoke to remain in alinement, Referring to Fig.1, it will be noted that the yoke 1 can be adjusted along the rockers 3 without in any way impairing the operation of the device and without causing any of the working parts to bend or bind.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is A fan attachment for rocking chairs, embodying a bracket attachable to the back of a rocking chair and having a fork, a bearing trunnioned within said fork, a shaft journaled through said bearing to move vertically therewith, a fan carried by said shaft, a yoke having means for attaching it to the rear ends of the rockers of the chair, said yoke having an opening between its ends, a sleeve disposed within said opening and trunnioned to the yoke, a standard slidable through the sleeve to rest upon the floor, the

standard and sleeve being of non-circular cross section to prevent the rotatlon of the standard, and a power transmitting device connecting the shaft and standard for transforming the reciprocatory movement of the shaft into a rotatory motion thereof, the trunnions of the bearing and sleeve being so arranged as to permit the bearing and sleeve to swing in a common vertical plane when the yoke is adjusted to the rockers.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MAT. WAGNER.

J. H. IRENMERGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

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