US2158225A

US2158225A - Chair

Info

Publication number: US2158225A
Application number: US197182A
Authority: US
Inventors: Austin E Elmore
Original assignee: JULIAN A VIRTUE
Current assignee: JULIAN A VIRTUE
Priority date: 1938-03-21
Filing date: 1938-03-21
Publication date: 1939-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 1956-05-16

Description

y 16, 1939- 2 A. ELMORE 2,158,225

CHAIR Filed March 21, 1938 INVENTOR.

Z3 Y V I 15 j Z ZinZiZZmQreQ ATTORNEY.

Patented May 16, 1939 Austin E. Elmore, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Philip M. Virtue and Julian A. Virtue, both of ,LosJAngeles, Calif, doing business as copart- I ners under firm name and style of Virtue Bros,

" Application March 21. 1938, Serial No. mass This invention relates to improvements in chairs for general use. Among the objects are to provide in a chair,- a skeleton framemade out of spring or rigid metal upon which are stretched a,

series of parallel and comparatively heavy elastic bands extending transversely and forming a resilient seat and back with no interfering members and without theuse of any cushions; to permit the ready adjustment of the elastic bands whereby replacement of worn or mutilated bands can be easily made; to include arm rests coacting with the seat; and back which permit ready 're-;

placement of the elastic-bands forming the seat and back; to provideacurved seat and backv 1 which will readily fit and conform with the shape of the body of the'user and which will readily regain normal condition when not in use, and to provide a seat or back or-both made out of elastic bands which will not strain and become deformed after long-continued use and which are sanitary, comfortable and cool. e

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, Fig. l, is a perspectiveview of a my improvedchairyFig. 2 is a cross section of a detail taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1', showing a fragment of the seat and arm rest; Fig. 3 is a cross section taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is across section in per-,

spective of one of the elastic bands.

While I haveillustrated my invention applied to a chair it will be understood that the novel features thereof are. equally applicable to a stool, bed

frame or any other article 'of furniture for household, porch, lawn, vehicle or any other use.

' In the drawing, A represents the skeleton frame of a chair made out of spring or rigid metal tubing or structual metal of any suitable cross sectional shape. This frame as shown consists of a single piece of tubing bent semi-circularly mid- 0 way between its ends into a stability base B. The

forwardly extending parallel side members l0 and II of the base are bent upwardly to provide parallel upright supporting legs l2 and i3, which in turn are bent backwardly at the desired height to form parallel seat forming side bars I4 and I5,

which slant slightly downwardly toward the rear..

At the desired rearward end of the seat the ends of the tubing are bent upwardly in substantially parallel relation to produce back forming side 60 bars i6 and II, which terminate at the desired height and are held spaced apart by the rearwardly curved transverse stay I8 at their upper ends. The ends of this stay are joined to the upper ends of the back forming side bars by brazing or other suitable means, This structure is resilient to provide a spring skeleton chair frame or it can be made substantially rigid when desired. The frame is reinforced by the transverse concave seat brace 20, the concavity thereof relieving said brace from interfering with the functioning of the seat. Suitable arm rests are provided at the sides above the seat by members 2| and 22, eachmember such as 22 being rigidly secured by brazing or other suitable means to the companion back side bar l1 and after extending forwardly being bent downwardly a suiiicient distance above the companion side bar ii of the seat (see Fig. 2) for purposes hereinafter described.

To form what I have chosen to term a flller" for the seat 0 and back D of the chair, a series of endless resilient bands E, preferably made out of rubber or other resilient material are provided.

As shown wide strips of rubber of sufllcient bodily thickness are used. These bands are sprung around and thereafter grip the side bars after being threaded upwardly over the base 3 and seat C or downwardly over the back D. They are assembled transversely in parallel slightly spaced relation apart and normally grip the side bars. The elastic band is of proper length and thickness to be held taut on the side members of the chair, whereby all of the bands cooperate in permanently forming a uniform filler of the seat and back. The arm rests 22 and 23 terminate above and out of contact with members It and I5 so that the elastic bands can be readily adjusted below the arm rests and over the side members of the seat. A smooth tip 23 is placed in the lower end of each arm-rest to prevent abrasion of the elastic bands. The surface of one side of substantially all of the bands of the back and seat lies in substantially a plane to produce a supporting surface between the sides of the seat and back. When subjected to suiilcient weight of a body the front'side of each band stretches and sags inwardly until the back side supplements its supporting strength. In this manner both sides function, the front side I. imparting firsta soft cushioning effect and when supplemented by the back side increasing the- -support to prevent sagging.

Worn or damaged resilient bands can be easily replaced 'by removing old and adjusting new bands over the frame. In use the metal skeleton the use of cushions. They are sanitary, cool and attractive in appearance and are easily replaced when worn or damaged. The entire structure is also sturdy, durable and inexpensive and there is no tendency of the bands straining and sagging excessively after long continued use. The resilient bands of the seat and back also conform readily to the curvature of the body of the user and provide maximum resiliency. v

In accordance with the patent statutes, 1 have described the principles of operation ofmy in-t vention together with the construction thereof which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the structure illustrated is only illus trative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A chair, comprising, a skeleton frame having side bars forming a seat and back, means for holding said side bars in spaced relation, and a. filler for said seat and back composed of a series of transverse endless elastic bands adapted to grip the side bars, said bands having broad sides in a plane forming a resilient supporting surface, and arm rests rigidly secured to the portion of said side bars forming said back and having their free ends terminating away from the portions'of the side bars forming said seat to permit adjusting the bands over the side bars. I

2. A chair, comprising, a skeleton frame having side bars forming a seat and back, means for holding said side bars in spaced relation, a filler for said seat and back composed of a series of transverse endless elastic bands adapted to grip the side bars, said bands having broad sides in a plane forming a resilient supporting surface,

and an arm rest rigidly secured at one end to a portion of a side bar forming part of said back and having a free end terminating away from the remaining portion of said side bar forming part of said seat, to permit adjusting the bands over the side bars.

3. A chair, comprising, a skeleton frame having side bars forming a seat and back, means for holding said side bars in spaced relation, a filler for said seat and back composed of a series of transverse endless elastic bands adapted to grip the side bars and form a resilient supporting surface, and an arm rest rigidly secured at one end to and having a free end spaced from one of said side bars, to permit adjusting the bands over the side bars.

4. An article of furniture having longitudinal side bars held spaced apart and forming part of a seat and back, a filler between said bars comprising a plurality of adjacently arranged transverse endless elastic bands adapted for being sprung-over,the portions of said side bars forming the seat and back and thereafter to grip said bars, each band being relatively wide as related to its thickness and one side of all of the bands' providing a substantially flat elastic supporting surface between said bars and the front side being superimposed and spaced from the companion back side of 'each band whereby-the front side may stretch and sag into contact with the back side and the supporting strength of the front side be resiliently reinforced, and arm rests between the seat and back portions of each side bar, each rest being secured by one end to one of the seat or back portions of a bar with its free end spaced from the companion portion of said bar to'permit adjusting said hands over the bars.

AUSTIN E. ELMORE.