US1815643A - Folding chair - Google Patents

Description

c. N. ALLERDING 1,815,643

FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 7, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (luau ug- July 21, 1931. c. N. ALLIERDING .FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 7. 1928 2 Shoots-Sheet 2 Patented July 21 1931 nice 1 cnnrosn. Annn'nnms, or MANSFIELD, onio ronnms CHAIR Application filed June 7,

This-invention relates generall to folding chairs, and more particularly to one in which the back frame" and front legs are formed from a' single piece of material, (preferably bentwoody and the baek, front legs, rear legsand the seat are pivotally connected on a common axis.

'The object of the present invention isto provide a=folding elrair,' having these features of construction; with a novel form of bracin mechanism which will materially add to the strength-ofthcchair as whole and render the folding operations positive, eas andsaf'e, said brace-s being s positioned that all ordt nary danger of catching-the hands or clothing during the folding operation will be avoided.

Another object is to provide a folding chair embodying these characteristic fea'tnres and in which the'parts shall be so united that the in openin and closing Operations of'the front and rear le s; and seat will be simultaneous, and furthermore that these simultaneous movements ean'be had by actuating either the seat or the rear legs.

range these braces that the weight of a person upon the seat will produce pull upon said braces-and keep them under tension at all times; and a'still further object is to provide a chair of such construction that when once openedit can be pushed around without clanger of collapsingor folding, as "the braces function to make a rigid chair whether occu- 1 pied or vacant. Another object is to so arrange these braces that metal will be in contact with wo'odinstead of metal with metal.

With these various objects in view, and certain others, which'will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, the invention consistsin'the'novel features of construction and in'the'manner of; arranging or combinin the va'rio-usparts, all of which will be fullydescribed hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification Fig. 1 is a side view of the chair in open position; Fig. =2 is a front view in open position; Fig. 3'is a front view in closed position; Fig, 4 is a side view in closed osition and 5 is a detail sectional plan.

Anotherobject of the invention is to so ar- Serial No. 283,4t68.

. In carrying out my invention I preferably make the top of the back A, the side posts B and front legs C all in one piece, preferably of wood, the strip of wood of the proper length'being bent or arched. at its central portion and then having its opposite sides brought into parallel relationto provide side posts and front legs of the chair. The opposite ortions of the, back and side members are grooved as shown at B, said grooves being inclined with reference to the front and rear faces of the said members, and fitting into these grooves are the side edges of a thin wood back rest B curved rearwardly as shown to accommodate the back of a pen son, and also being curved upwardly from the bottom of each side edge and downwardly from the top of each side edge.

This curvature of the back, together with the long'downward extensions of the side edges of the back, causes the back to serve as a truss when the side edges are secured and this can be done by means of small metal plates B forced into the grooves with the edges of the wooden back rest and nails B,

driven through the bent woodframe, edges of back rest and metal plates, the opposite ends of said metal plates being secured to the rear.

face of the back rest by small screws 13". Glue will of course be used and in some instances the metal plates may be omitted and glue alone used. The inclination of the grooves B sets the back at the proper angle with reference to the seat to secure comfort to the occupant and also makes is possible to lessen the curvature of the back, with corresponding reduction in the cost of manufacture. V

D, D indicate the rear legs, and E the seat, this seat being preferably constructed the The seat,

points, and working in these slots K is a connecting rod L to which are attached sustaining or brace members M, pivotally connected at their upper ends to the seat adjacent the a rear ends or corners. It will be noted that these braces M are upon the inner sides of the rear legs and the outer sides of the seat frame. Braces N are pivotally connected at their forward ends to the inner sides of the front legs and at their rear ends to the ends of the connecting rod L. The braces M and N are preferably of the same length and also equal each in length to the distance from its pivotal point to the seat or leg and to the pivotal point of the seat and legs.

in practice I prefer to place metal sleeves L upon the ends of the rod within the slots K for the purpose of reducing friction and also to space the ends of the braces apart.

By this arrangement of bracing members, it will be noted that when the chair is opened and the seat is moved to a receiving position the rod L is caused to slide upwardly in the slots in the rear legs, and at the same time the lower ends of said rear legs are spread rearwardly. At the same time the spreading position between the front and rear legs is being established, that is, all movements are simultaneous. The weight of a person upon the seat will place these braces under tension and the weight will be thrown upon' mainly the two pivot rods and the rearlegs, due to the fact that the connecting rod is slidable within the slots in the rear legs and contacts with the upper ends of these slots in the final locked position. By this arrangement of the braces, they are placed under tension lnstead of under compression, and furthermore they are arranged entirely to the rear of the side posts and front legs. This is an advantage inasn'iuch as all dangrr of of ng the hands or clothing during the folding operation is avoided. Furthermore, by having the sec ond pivot rod slide in the grooves in the wooden legs and also arranging the braces upon opposite sides of the rear legs the metal parts are contacting with wood instead of metal with the result that the folding operations are more easily accomplished and impairment from rust avoided.

In order to prevent the seat and rear legs moving beyond the pivotal point when folded and thus insure the easy opening operation. I provide stop plates 0 upon the inner sides of the rear legs near the upper ends, said plates being angular in form, one portion of each plate being secured to the inner face of the rear leg and the other portion projecting inwardly at right angles for contact with the appropriate side member of the seat frame when the chair is folded up, and if desired this portion of the angular plate can have its upper edge so positioned that the seat frame will contact therewith when the seat is turned down and the chair opened, thus forming an additional support for the seat.

I also prefer to have that portion of the stop plate which is secured to the rear leg extended and apertured for the passage of the pivot rod. This helps to secure the plate and renders only the necessity of small screws or nuts for securing the plate.

As all of the parts open and close in unison, a very strong chair is provided in its open position, and it may be pushed around over the floor without danger of either set of legs folding up. This is a very important featm-e, as in many of the folding chairs now in common use such advantages are not present.

l uri'hermore, by the arrangement herein shown and described it will not be necessary to recess either the seat frame or the front legs in order to accommodate these bracing members.

I am aware that it is old to unite the rear end of the seat frame and the front and back legs by means of a single pivot rod and also provide these parts with suitable bracing links, and I therefore malie no claim for such combination.

Having thus described my invention, what I I claim is 1. In a folding chair, the combination with combined front legs and sides of rear legs and a seat all pivotally connected on a common axis, a connecting rod connecting the rear logs adjacent their upper ends, brace members connecting the front legs and said connecting rod, brace members connecting the rear end of the seat and said connecting rod, said connecting rod having a sliding conncction with the rear legs.

2. In a folding chair, the combination with combined front legs and sides of rear legs and a seat all pivotally connected on a common axis, the seat being pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, a rod connecting the rear legs, brace members connecting said rod and the rear end of the seat, brace members connecting the front legs and said rod, said rod being slidable with reference to the rear legs, and means carried by said rear legs for guiding said rod in its sliding movement and sleeves surrounding said rod in said guiding meansv 7 e L 3. In a folding chair, the combination witl the combined front legs and sides, rear legs and seat, said seat being pivoted at a pointmasses 1 in advance of its rear end to said front and rear legs, of a connecting rod slidably con nected with the rear legs, front brace members connecting the front legs and connecting rod, rear brace members connect-ing the rear end of the seat with the connecting rod, and sleeves surrounding said rod between the ends of the front and rear brace members.

A. A folding chair comprising a back, combined front legs and sides, rear legs and seat, said seat being pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end to said front and rear legs, said rear legs having longitudinally arrange guide slots, a connecting rod movable in said guide slots, sleeves upon said rod, and within the guide slots, front brace members connecting the front legs to the ends of the connecting rod, and rear brace members connecting the rear ends of the seat with said connecting rod.

5. A folding chair comprising combined side and front legs, rear legs and seat, the rear legs and seat having a common pivotal connection with the front legs, said seat being pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, brace members connecting the front and rear legs and brace members connectingthe rear end of the seat with the rear legs, said brace members being connected to the rear legs at a common point and having a slidable and foldable connection with said legs.

6. A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs and sides, back legs a seat and a pivot rodcommon to said parts, the rear legs being slotted longitudinally, a connecting rod slidable in said slots, braces connecting the rear ends of the seat with said rod, and braces connecting the front legs with said rod.

7. A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs and sides, back legs, seat, and a single pivot rod for said parts, the seatbeing pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, a connecting rod slidably carried by the rear legs, braces connecting said rod with the rear ends of the seat, and braces connecting said rod with the front legs below the pivot point of the front and rear legs and seat.

8. A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs and sides, back legs, seat and a single pivot rod for said parts, the seat being pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, a connecting rod slidably carried by the rear legs, braces connecting the rear end of the seat with said rod upon the inner sides of the rear legs, and braces connecting the front legs with said rods upon the outer sides of said rear f). A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs and sides, back legs, a seat and a pivot rod common to said parts, the seat being pivoted at a point in advance. of its? rear: "d, Tthe 'reanilegs. being longitudinally 1 slotted,-a a cannecting; rod slid-able. in lslots, 'bracess connecting libe rear ends'of the seat with said :connectingrod upon manner: sideslef thenrear legs 'and braces. connecting the front 1 legs. with. said connecting rod upon the outer sides of said reanlgsf. l 1 i i 1 0.::AT folding chair. comprising: in coin bination, a .main frame having; spaced side members whose lower." portions L constitute legs andwhose upper portions constituteiback posts, a seat pivoted to said main frame and movable toward and-away from said main frame, rear leg structure pivoted to said main frame, and movable toward and away from said main frame, means comprising a link connected to said main frame and rear leg structure for limiting rearward movement of the latter, and means comprising a link connected to said rear leg structure and seat for limiting downward movement of the latter, said links having a common pivot slidably mounted in the rear leg structure.

11. A folding chair comprising in combination, a main frame having spaced side members whose lower portions constitute legs, and whose upper portions constitute. back posts, a seat pivoted to said main frame and movable toward and away from said main frame, rear legs pivoted to said main frame and movable toward and away from said main frame, a pair of links each con-' nected to a corresponding one of said side members and to a corresponding one of said rear legs, for limiting rearward movement of the latter, and a pair of links each connected to a'corresp'onding one of said rear legs and to a corresponding side of said seat for limiting downward movement of said seat, each of said first mentioned pair of links having a pivot in common with a corresponding one of the second mentioned pair of links, the said common pivots being slidably mounted in the rear leg structure.

12. A folding chair comprising in combination, a main frame having spaced side members whose lower portions constitute legs; a seat pivoted on said main frame; rear legs pivoted to said main frame; tension members connecting said rear legs and main frame for limiting rearward movement of said rear legs with respect to said main frame, and tension members connecting said seat and rear legs for limiting downward movement of said seat,'and members slidably mounted on the rear legs and to which said tension members are pivotally connected.

13. A folding chair comprising in combination, a main frame whose lower ends constitute front legs of the chair, a seat pivoted intermediate its ends on said main frame, a pair of rear legs pivoted to said main frame, a sliding pivot in each rear leg, a pair 4 connected pivot, and

second me of links each to a corres Wardly of pivotallyconnected at one end ponding side of said seat rearthe pivot of the latter and each at its opposite end to said sliding a second pair of links each conne end to a corresponding one of pivots to which the adjacent one mentioned links is connected, said ntioned links being each pivotally connected at its other end to a corresponding front leg of the chair.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

OLETUS N. ALLERDIN G.

nected at o the sliding of the first

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