US2759528A - Collapsible stool - Google Patents

Description

Aug- 1. 956 l- B. RACHMAN ETAL COLLAPSIBLE STOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 9, 1954 fzwerizb'z's 1s adore-3.3a an S y- B063 Aug. 21, 1956 B. RACHMAN ETAL 2,759,523

. COLLAPSIBLE STOOL Filed Dec. 9, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 cormrsmrn s'rooL Isadore l5. Rachman and Sidney Babb, Philadelphia, Pa, assignors to l. B. R. Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, Pa, a partnership Application Hecember 9, 1954, Serial No. 474,062

10 Claims. (Cl. 155-137) The present invention relates to a collapsible stool, and more particularly to a light-weight, sturdy stool which does not occupy much space in storage.

Aboard naval vessels and in other locations where space is at a premium, it is desirable that articles of furniture occupy a minimal amount of space. Moreover, it is also desirable to have the articles of furniture light and portable, while at the same time being sturdy and durable.

An object of the present invention is to provide a sturdy collapsible stool.

Another object of this invention is to provide a collapsible stool which occupies a relatively small amount of space in collapsed position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible stool which may be readily and quickly expanded and collapsed by a small number of manipulations.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible stool which can be raised or lowered to adjust to the height of the user.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description, appended claims and accompanying drawings.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown, in the accompanying drawings, forms thereof which are presently preferred and have been found in practice to give satisfactory results; such showing, however, being merely by way of illustration, and not by way ofrestriction of the scope of the invention.

in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout:

Figure l is a perspective view of one embodiment of the collapsible stool of the present invention, said stool being in expanded position, a portion of one leg of said stool being cut away for clarity.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig. 1, with the seat portion in horizontal position, the disengaging trigger being shown in a plurality of positions to illustrate the release and locking positions thereof.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing the seat portion of the stool angularly tilted in respect to the horizontal.

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the embodiment of Fig. l at right angles to the sectional plane of Figs. 2 and 3.

Figure 5 is an elevational view showing the stool embodiment of Fig. 1 in collapsed position.

Figure 6 is a perspective View of another embodiment of the stool of the present invention with the seat portion in a horizontal position.

Figure 7 is a side e evation of the embodiment of Fig. 6 with the stool legs in expanded position and the seat angularly disposed to the horizontal.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of the upper portion of the stool of the embodiment of Fig. 6 with the seat angularly disposed to the horizontal.

Figure 9 is an elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 6 with the stool in collapsed position.

Referring to the drawings, and initially to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, 10 designates the embodiment of the stool of 2,759,528 Patented Aug. 21, 1956 the present invention shown in Figs. 1 through 5, said stool including a seat portion designated generally as 12 and a leg or supporting portion designated generally as 14.

Seat portion 12 comprises a circular disc seat 16 which may be made of plywood, wood, light-weight metal or the like. A pivot flange 18 having an inverted U-shaped cross-section is fixedly secured as by bolts or the like to the under-surface of seat 16.

The outer edges of the legs of pivot flange 18 are mirror images of each other, with each edge having an irregular surface including a pair of notches 20 and Z2 separated by an arcuate camming edge 24.

As noted particularly in Fig. 3, the end of notch 20 contiguous with arcuate camming edge 24 is appreciably shorter than the other end 26 of notch 20, the downwardly projecting end 26 of notch 20 serving as a stop, as will be more fully explained below.

Pivot flange 18 straddles a trigger or lever element 28 which is U-shaped in cross-section for a major portion of its length, but which has a free edge 29, without a U-base, of generally the same degree of curvature as arcuate camming edge 24. Trigger element 28 is carried on cross-bar 36 comprising a bolt which passes through a pair of aligned openings in the legs of pivot flange 18. The medial portion of arcuate edge 29 terminates in a reverse angularly directed camming surface 31, which in turn terminates in the U-shaped cross-section portion of trigger element 28, the base of the U being designated as 33.

Bolt 30 is screwed in position by lock nut 32 and is generally on the diametral line of seat 16. Yoke 34 is intermediate pivot flange 18 and trigger element 28 with bolt 36 passing through aligned openings in the arms of yoke 34 and in the legs of trigger element 28. As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, both trigger element 23 and pivot flange 18 are independently pivotable about bolt 30.

The arms of yoke 34 are perforated to include aligned elliptical slots 36. T-head 38 comprising a bolt passing through and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of bar 46 rides in elliptical slot 36, the bolt 38 being anchored by lock nut 42, as shown particularly in Fig. 4. The head M. of bolt 33 and the lock nut 42 are spaced from the outer surface of the arms of yoke 34 a distance somewhat Wider than the thickness of the legs of pivot flange 18, so that the arms of pivot flange 18 may ride through the aforesaid spaces with arcuate camming edges 24 riding on the upper surface of bolt 38 when the seat is angularly positioned with respect to the horizontal, such as is shown in Fig. 3. Moreover, arcuate camrning edge 29 of trigger element 28 likewise rides on the upper surface of bolt 38 when the trigger element 28 is pivoted about bolt 30.

T-head 38 is rectilinearly movable in elliptical slots 36 and is urged upwardly by means of compression spring 46. Compression spring 4-6 is positioned within chamber 4% within the bore at the base of yoke 34. Compression spring 46 is seated on the top of threaded shaft 50, which is bolted by bolt 51 to the base of yoke 34. The height of the stool 19 is adjustable by screw turning threaded shaft 56 in female threaded collar 52 at the top of tube .64. As shown particularly in Fig. 2, the height of seat 16 is adjustable by rotating threaded shaft 50 to various heights in respect to collar 52.

The leg portion 14 of stool llll com- prises stool legs 56, 58, 60 and 62. Legs 56 and 62 are joined together through. When legs 56, 58, 6t and 62 are spread apart, collar 52 is resting on the upper edge of cradle 68.

The lower end of tube 54 terminates in a cross bar 74. Anchor bolts 76 and 78 extend through the ends of cross bar 74, and serve to anchor the medial ends of links 80, 82, 84 and 86, with bolt 76 anchoring the medial ends of links 80 and 82 and bolt 78 anchoring the medial ends of links 84 and 86. The outer ends of links 80 and 82 are secured to respective legs 56 and 58 by respective bolts 90 and 92, While the outer ends of links 84 and 86 are secured to respective legs 60 and 62 by bolts 94 and 96.

The operation of the stool 10 is as follows:

When the stool is in use, the legs 56, 58, 60 and 62 are spread apart, as shown in Fig. 1, in which case the collar 52 is resting on the top of cradle 68. The height of the stool can be adjusted by rotating threaded shaft 50 within collar 52.

When it is desired to collapse the stool, the projecting end of trigger element 28 having U-base 33 which serves as a finger contacting surface, is urged upwardly towards the underside of seat 16. T-head 36 is forced downwardly, due to the exertion of pressure by camming surface 31 of trigger element 28 and out of the portion of notch 20 adjacent arcuate camming edge 24-. Seat 16 may then be pivoted about bolt 30 with arcuate camming edges 24 and 29 riding on the upper surface of bolt 38. The seat 16 may be tilted to the position shown in Fig. where it is perpendicular to the horizontal. In this position T-head 38 is received in notch 22 of pivot flange 18.

To collapse the legs of the stool it is only necessary to raise the seat, as tube 54 will slide upwardly within the bore of cradle 68 raising the medial end of links 80, 82, 84 and 86 and bringing legs 56, 58, 60 and 62 together. When the seat 16 is tilted perpendicular to the horizontal and the legs are collapsed, as shown in Fig. 5, the stool occupies a relatively small space and may be stored within the confines of a small cabinet or closet. The total space occupied by stool 10 may be diminished further by rotating threaded shaft 50 and collar 52 so that the bottom of yoke 34 is seated on the upper surface of collar 52.

In the embodiment of the stool of the present invention shown in Figs. 6 through 9, the stool 100 includes a seat portion 102 and a leg or supporting portion 104.

Seat portion 102 comprises a circular disc seat 106 which may be of plywood, wood, light-weight metal or the like. An inverted U-sectioned flange 108 is secured to the bottom of seat 106. A pivot bar 110 extends through aligned apertures in flange 108 and U-sectioned support flange 112. An aperture 114 is located in one of the legs of flange 108, spaced from the end of flange 108 a distance about equal to the distance between the other end of flange 108 and pivot bar 110.

Support flange 112 includes a locking bolt housing 116 at one end thereof, in which is positioned locking bolt 118 comprising a cylindrical rod 120 having a finger grip 122 projecting through an elliptically shaped aperture 124 in locking bolt housing 116. Locking bolt 118 is spring-urged outwardly by spring 126 through an opening in locking bolt housing 116, which opening is juxtaposed and mating with aperture 114. Elliptical aperture 124 has a sufficient width so that by urging locking bolt 118 backwardly away from aperture 114, locking bolt 118 may clear flange 108 permitting disengagement therefrom. However, when locking bolt 108 is disposed Within aperture 114, permanent engagement therewith is effected.

Support flange 112 is fixedly secured on a hexagonally shaped nut 128 which in turn is secured to a tube threaded within tube 130. Seat 106 may be raised or lowered by rotating the tube within tube 130.

The leg portion 104 of stool 100 includes legs 134, 136, 138 and 140, made of channel iron or the like, with 134 and 136 being secured together by welded parallel cross-supports 142 and 144, and legs 138 and 140 being secured together by welded cross-supports 146 and 148. Cross-supports 142, 144, 146 and 148 may be of channel iron similar to that used for legs 134, 136, 138 and 140. The upper portion of each of legs 134, 136, 138 and 140 is flattened to provide respective ears 150, 152, 154 and 156. Ears 150 and 152 are provided with aligned apertures through which a pivot bar 158 is carried. Ears 154 and 156 are likewise apertured and carry a pivot bar 160. Pivot bar 158 passes through aligned apertured cars at the corners of one end of leg joinder plate 162 and pivot bar 160 passes through mating apertured ears at the corners of the other end of leg joinder plate 162. Leg joinder plate 162 includes a centrally positioned collar bearing 164 on which nut 128 rests when the chair is in operative position, and through which tube 130 is received.

The lower end of tube 130 is provided with a splitlink anchoring member 168. Link is pivotally secured at one end to link anchoring member 168, and at its other end to a lug 172 projecting from cross-support 142. Similarly, link 174 is pivotally secured at one end to link anchoring member 168 and at its other end to lug 176 projecting from cross-support 146.

The operation of the stool 100 is as follows:

When the stool is in use the legs 134, 136, 138 and 140 are spread apart, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, in which case nut 128 is resting on collar bearing 164 and links 170 and 174 are horizontally disposed.

Seat 106 is in seating position when support flange 112 is straddled by flange 108, and locking bolt 118 is received Within aperture 114 in flange 108.

To collapse stool 100, locking bolt 118 is urged away from aperture 114 by pushing finger grip 122 in opposition to spring 126. Seat 106 may then be pivoted on pivot bar 110 to the position shown in Fig. 7.

The further collapse of stool 100 is accomplished by raising seat 102, causing shaft 130 to travel through collar 164 and urging links 170 and 174 from their horizontal position shown in Fig. 6 to their vertical position shown in Fig. 9. Legs 136 and 138 are thus urged together and the stool 100 is collapsed as shown in Fig. 9. In its collapsed posture, stool 100 may be stored in a confined space.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms and, therefore, the foregoing embodiments are to be considered merely as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than the preceding description, as indicative of the scope of this invention.

Having thus described our invention, We claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent the following:

1. In a collapsible stool having a plurality of support legs and a central support column mounted on said gs; a seat carried by said support column, said seat being pivotally carried by said support column and pivotable between a position wherein it is disposed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said support column and a position angularly disposed in respect thereto, locking means for retaining said seat in its horizontally disposed position, and manually operable means for disengaging said locking means.

2. In a collapsible stool having support legs and a vertically disposed support column intermediate said support legs; a seat, pivotation means at the upper end of said support column joining said support column to a member dependent from and fixedly secured to the underside of said seat, said pivotation means including a horizontal pivot bar about which said seat may be pivoted between a position in which it is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support column and a position wherein it is angularly disposed thereto, and means whereby said seat may be locked in the first-mentioned position, said means including a spring-urged locking member which is received Within a cavity within the dependent member fixedly secured to the underside of the seat, and means for disengaging the seat from its aforesaid locked position comprising an element constructed and arranged for urging said locking member in opposition to said spring. I

3. In a collapsible stool having support legs and a vertically disposed support column carried intermediate said support legs; a seat, a yoke at the top of said support column, a dependent flange fixedly secured to the underside of the seat, a pivot bar joining said yoke and dependent flange, said seat being pivotable about said pivot bar between a position wherein said seat is disposed perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal axis of the support column and a position wherein said seat is angularly disposed in respect to said plane, means for locking said seat in the first-mentioned position including a spring-urged locking bar guided by said yoke, and a mating cavity in the dependent flange on the underside of the seat, said locking bar and mating cavity being constructed and arranged so that when said seat is in the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support column, the locking bar is received within said cavity, and means for disengaging said locking bar from said cavity comprising a lever pivotally disposed above said locking bar and con tructed and arranged to urge said locking bar out of said cavity.

4. In a collapsible stool having support legs and a support column vertically disposed intermediate said support legs; a seat pivotally carried above said support column, a dependent flange secured to the underside of said seat, a support flange carried on the upper end of said support column, a pivot bar joining said dependent flange and support flange, whereby said seat may be pivoted about said pivot between a position in which it is perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal axis of the support bar and a position in which it is angular-1y disposed to said plane, a recess in said dependent flange on the underside of the seat, a locking bolt in the support flange matingly aligned with said recess in the dependent flange and spring-urged into said recess, and means for disengaging said bolt from said recess whereby said seat may be unlocked from its posture in which it is perpendicular to the plane of the longitudinal axis of the support column.

5. A construction according to claim 3 wherein the dependent flange has an arcuate convex camming edge with a notch at one end thereof, and wherein the locking bar is constructed and arranged retractably to engage within said notch and to ride over said camming edge.

6. A construction according to claim 5 wherein the dependent flange has a second notch at the other end of the camming edge, the locking bar being constructed and arranged also retractably to engage within the second notch.

7. A construction according to claim 6 wherein the camming edge extends through about degrees of arc, the two notches being disposed generally at right angles to each other.

8. A construction according to claim 5 wherein the lever has an arcuate convex camming edge corresponding to that on the flange and also has a reverse angularly directed camming surface constructed and arranged to re tract the locking bar when the lever is operated.

9. A construction according to claim 2 wherein the dependent member has a bolt-receiving hole formed therein, and wherein the locking means is a generally horizontal bolt reciprocably mounted at the top of the support column, the bolt being spring-urged to extended position in which one end engages with the hole to lock the seat in operative position, the bolt having a finger grip whereby it can be manually retracted so as to free the seat for pivotation to inoperative position.

10. A construction according to claim 2 wherein the dependent member comprises an inverted U-sectioned flange having a hole in one of its vertical portions, and wherein a generally enclosed housing is mounted at the top of the supporting column, and wherein the locking member is a locking bolt which is reciprocably mounted within said housing, the housing having an opening through which one end of the bolt can protrude into locking engagement with the hole under the action of its spring, and wherein the disengaging means comprises a finger grip formed on the bolt and extending through an elongated slot in the housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 21,262 Leach Aug. 24, 1858 168,110 Seavey Sept. 28, 1875 755,043 Pike et a1. Mar. 22, 1904 803,831 Krauth Nov. 7, 1905 850,453 Winans Apr. 16, 1907 1,660,169 Knell Feb. 21, 1928 1,863,442 Goodman June 14, 1932 2,297,980 Perkins Oct. 6, 1942 2,359,821 Black Oct. 10, 1944 2,642,247 Bode June 16, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 167,901 Great Britain June 3, 1920

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