US2072074A - Folding chair - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 23, 1937. 1 c. TRAVERS Er AL FOLDING CHAIR Filed Feb. 7, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FOLDING CHAIR L. C. TRAVERS ET Al.

Filed Feb. 7, 19:5l1

Feb. 23, 1937. v

.Pasantes ret.- 23, i531 UNITED .STATES- PATENT .orrlcs sommo. cnam Lewis C. Travers and George L. Morris, Gardner,

`Mains., assignors to Calvin srGreenwood, ,Gardner, Mass.

,application Februar-y1, 1934, seriaiNo. '110,094V

'com (ci. 155-117) v provide in combination with a seat and back piv-l ,otally connected and movable together topositionsin which the baci: assumes different angles to the horizontal and which backcan be moved fully to horizontal position; a supporting means vin theform of front and back legs which do not cross each .other but which are provided' with connections by which they can be held in their upstanding positions without danger of collapsing; and with 4no probability of pinching the' finger; to provide arearwardly folding support- 'ing structure, foldable into a small compass, and to provide a structure .having .all the 'above mentioned features which can be folded, without the `trouble ofdisconnecting any parts, in a length which/is muchlessthan has been the case heretofore' and in fact so short that it can be placed crossways in an ordinary automobile behind the front seat for transportation. l

' Other objects and advantages of theinven.- tion will appear hereinafter. Reference is to; be had to the accompanying drawingain which Fig. -1 is a front View of a chair constructed' in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is'a side view of the same;`l

Fig. 3 is a plan asindicated by thev arrow 3 in Fig. 4 is a side view Ashowing the back moved forward for folding: Fig. 5 is a side viewshowing the parts folded intoasmallconipasspl Fig. 6 is asectional view on the line 6`'6 of Fig. 2 Ashowing the frictional arrangement for holdingthe chair in its adjusted position, and Fig. 'l is a sectional view on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2, showing -howthe other pivots are made.

' Chairs of the above mentioned character are generally made of a rather light construction and thevback Yand seat are connected together 45. while the supporting parts are usually made of cross legs `which restrict the fdlding of the whole chair and necessitate its-ocupation of a considerable length when the chair is folded.

" As people carry these chairs back and forth. from 5o beaches in automobiles, it*is desirable to have a chair of this kind which can fold up into such compass that the length of the chair, when `folded, is less than the width f an automobile so that it can be transported standing vup on 55 .it'sedge behind the front seat of the car.

cidently.

J also pass I the pivots 23 .as well as above them and has a seat 25-pivoted to it by pivots 26. -Alsosimilar f pivots 26' are used to pivot this seat to a pair links 21 yand leg frame lll from the arm pieces 4nuts 3| are tightened up right against a washer This is accomplished in this case by means of a particular type of frame structurecomprising connected leg frames, one at each side of the chair. These leg frames include a pair of front legs lll, a pair of rear prop members Il, a 5 pair of rear legs l2 and brace barsor members I3. The rear legs |2vare pivoted to the from'.

'legs I0 atA the upper extremities of the latter and extend diagonally rearwardly and downwardly and are connected to the bottoms ofthe prop members Il. by pivot links l5. The brace bars i3 -are nearly horizontal-and are pivoted at their opposite ends respectively to the front legs I0 and prop members -I l. The prop members Il are provided with outwardly projected l5 wooden pins I6 which rest on the rear legs l2 when the chair is'set up and securelyA hold the latter in position and prevent its folding ac- The leg frames are pivoted at their upper ends to substantially horizontalarm piecesA Il. On top o f the arm pieces I4' are located the arms 2| of the chair. The front legs IQ. are pivoted to the arm pieces I4 by pivots 22 and the-prop members Il are pivoted thereto by pivots 23. These' pivots 23 are made of long bolts which through and pivot the sides of. the back 2l of the cliair.A This back extends below of .links 21 which in turn are pivoted to the arm piece-` Il by the pivots 22. The pivots 26 are of .a general character shown in'Fig. 7, this figure showing the pivot 26. The pivot stud 22, it will be understood, isfsimilar only longer because it has to go through the leg frame l0. These are ordinary free working pivot studs or rivets preferably having metal washers 29 to space the and allow free motion. f The pivot bolts 26 are intended for a purpose additional to the free pivoting' of the parts.

These bolts are uted, as shown at 30, and the so that they'aire tightly `held together and the fluting'prevents the turning of this pivot -bolt in the seat 25. Therefore, the bolt can be tightened up sufficiently so as to supplya desired degree of friction to the lparts' and cannot turn, so as to loosen in the nut, through continual movement of the back. Consequently, when in use, the de.- sired'amount of friction can be maintained and the back can be placed at any 4desired angle and it will not be forced out of that position unless 55 considerable pressure is applied to it. In other Words, on account of this construction, the user can set the chair in a desired position and he will not be likely to work it into a different position by any ordinary motion which he may make while sitting. Nevertheless it is perfectly easy to change it to any vother angular 'position merely by the application of a suiiicient amount of force.

It will be noted that when the back is adjusted to the desired inclination, the seat is maintained in a plane parallel to itself, or the seat will not tilt or become misaligned with respect to the arm rests. In order to best obtain this advantage as to seating comfort and still provide for a compact fold, it is preferred that the links 2l between their respective pivot points be of substantially the same length as the lower suspension portions of the back rest side rails 24 between the pivot points of the latter, and also' that the distances between thepivotal connections of the seat frame and arm rest members respectively 4be equal, so that the parts dene asubstantially parallelogram-shaped l structure pivoted at its corners.

When it is desired to fold the chair, the back is turned forwardly all the way around through an arc of from its vertical position and, as shown in Fig. 5, the whole chair when folded will occupy a position of only a few inches longer than the back itself. It is made preferably so that the upper end of the back will fold beyond the space normally located above the cross bar I2. This folding operation is fully shown in Fig.l 5. It need notbe described in full. The folded chair occupies a very small space and its thickness is not excessive. It can be stood upon edge in the space behind the front seat of an automobile. By this method of construction and foldingthere is no danger of the chair folding up accidentally and allowing the occupant to drop to theoor.

It will be seen also that the back can be turned over to substantially a horizontal position and there is no danger of its folding up by any shifting of the weight of its occupant.

The chair is provided with a strong canvas seat `34 extendingtransversely across it and vbound around the side members of the seat. Also there is a strip of canvas 35 extending 4along the seat and secured to the canvas 34 by cross stitching 36. It extends to the extreme rear thereof and up the back to the top thereof around which it passes and to which it is fastened'. A heavy canvas piece 31 is secured across the back near the bottom thereof to furnish a more rigid support for the small of the back. At the bottom of the back is a bent strip 40 to complete the back frame and to permit the canvas in the seat to Asag considerably before it interferes with the comfort of the occupant when the chair is in horizontal position. It will be seen, therefore, that the whole chair can be folded into v ery small compass lengthwise and that the back and seat are frictionally held in any adjusted position unless moved therefrom by some force greater than that usually provided by the motions of the body of the occupant.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we claim is:-

1. A folding chair comprising connected leg frames, one at each side of the chair, each leg frame having foldable front and rear legs pivotally connected at the front of the chair, arm rest membersv pivotally connected to the leg frames, a back pivotally connected to the arm rest members at the rear ends of the latter, a. seat pivoted at the rear thereof to the lower extremity Vof the back, movable prop means between the back and leg frames when the chair is set up, bracing means f between the front and rear legs, and vmeans movably supporting the front of the seat in a manner to provide for adjustment of the seat and back of the chair to different positions of use, said means including suspension links connecting the forward portions of the seat and the arm rest members, said links together with the lower extremity of the back, the arm rest members, and seat frame defining a substantially parallelogramshaped structure pivoted at its corners.

2. A folding chair comprising front and rear legs, the rear leg being pivoted at the front leg adjacent the upper extremity of the latter, arm rest members pivotally connected to the upper ends of the front legs, a seat, a back rest frame having-side rails pivotally connected to the rear ends of the arm rest members and extending` downwardly and pivotally connected at their loWer ends to the seat, prop members at the sides of the chair pivotally connecting the arm rest members and the back rest side rails and extending downwardly and adapted to be supported by the rear legs when the chair is set up, bracing means between the front and rear legs, and means

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