US3042447A

US3042447A - Folding chair

Info

Publication number: US3042447A
Application number: US33222A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael A Wilkinson
Original assignee: Stakmore Co Inc
Current assignee: Stakmore Co Inc
Priority date: 1960-06-01
Filing date: 1960-06-01
Publication date: 1962-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 1979-07-03

Description

July 3, 1962 M. A. WILKINSON 3,042,447

FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 1, 1960 INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS nite 3,042,447 Patented July 3, 19-62 lice 3,042,447 FOLDING CHAR Michael A. Wilkinson, Owego, N.Y., assignor to Stakmore Co., Inc, Owego, N.Y., a corporation of New ork Filed June 1, 1960, Ser. No. 33,222 8 Claims. (Cl. 29758) This invention relates to folding chairs.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved folding chair having front and rear leg assemblies pivotally connected together but with the legs of each assembly connected by a plurality of transversely-extending elements having substantial spacing vertically along the length of the legs so that the pivot is not a necessary part of the structure for maintaining the transverse rigidity of either of the leg assemblies.

Another object of the invention is to provide a folding chair construction in which the seat is joined to the front leg assembly by links extending forwardly from the seat to pivot connections with the front leg assembly, and to construct and correlate the parts so that the links extend forward of the pivot and in position to act as stops for limiting the folding movement of the chair.

Other features of the inventinn relate to a construction in which a more compact folding chair is obtained by having hinge connections with their pivots recessed into the bottom of the chair; and to connect the seat to a rearward leg assembly with a bracket that extends forwardly and then upwardly to a pivot, ahead of the rearward termination of the seat, so as to provide clearance for the portion of the seat behind the pivot when the chair is folded.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention Will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

FIGURE 1 is a front View of a chair made in accordance with this invention, the chair being shown in set-up condition;

FIGURE 2 is a greatly enlarged side view, partly in section, of the chair shown in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURES 3 and 4 are greatly enlarged sectional views, taken on the lines 33 and 44, of FIGURES 1 and 2, respectively.

The folding chair of this invention includes a front leg assembly 11 and a rear leg assembly 12. The leg assembly 11 includes front legs 14 joined together by an upper rail element 15 and a lower rail element 16. The rear leg assembly includes rear legs 13 joined together by an upper rail element 19 and a lower rail element 20.

It is a feature of the invention that the legs of each assembly are joined together by the transversely-extending rail elements spaced from one another by substantial distances along the vertical length of the legs so as to obtain a rigid and stable assembly before the assemblies are connected together. Many folding chairs of the prior art, with various combinations of elements, have relied upon the pivot connections of front and back leg assemblies to prevent transverse wracking of one of the leg assemblies.

The

upper rail elements

15 and 19 are preferably of bowed contour and in alignment with one another so as to serve as different parts of the back of the chair. In the construction shown, the transverse rail element 19 of the rearward leg assembly is of much greater vertical extent than the rail element 15, and serves as the principal area of the back of the chair.

The front and rear leg assemblies 11 and 12 are connected together by pivots 24 located near the upper end of the rearward leg assembly 12. FIGURE 2 shows the leg assemblies, in full lines, in the positions they occupy when the chair is set up; and this figure also shows, in dotand-dash lines, the positions of the parts when the chair is partially folded.

There is a seat 28 attached to the rearward. leg assembly 12 by hinge means 30 at transversely-spaced locations across the back of the seat. Each of these hinge means 30 includes a bracket 32 connected to the lower rail element by fastening means consisting of screws 34 which extend through a flange of the bracket 32 and into the lower rail element 20, which is preferably made of wood. The hinge means also includes a front portion 35 attached to the bottom of the seat 28 by fastening means which preferably consist of screws 36 extending into a wooden portion 38 of the seat. On top of the wooden portion 38, the seat 28 is shown with padding 40 and a cover 42 above the padding.

The bracket 32 is connected with the front portion 35 by a pivot 44. In order to obtain a more compact construction, and one in which the folding mechanism is inconspicuous, when the chair is in set-up condition; the pivot 44 is located in a recess in the wooden portion 38 of the seat. This recess terminates at some distance ahead of the back of the seat 28; and in order to provide clearance for the back portion of the seat, as the chair is folded, the bracket 32 is made so as to extend forwardly, upwardly and then rearwardly, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

The seat 28 is connected with the front leg assembly 11 by linkages associated with the hinge means. Each linkage includes a front bracket 48 secured to the front rail element 16, and a link 50 connected to the front bracket 48 by a pivot 52, and connected to the seat by a pivot 54. In the preferred construction, the pivot 54 connects directly with the front portion 35 of the hinge means; and the pivot 54 is located in a recess in the bottom of the seat 28, and preferably in the same recess as the pivot 44.

The forward end of the link 50 extends beyond the pivot 52, and when the seat 28 is lifted into its fully folded position, as shown in FIGURE 3, the forward end of the link 50 swings downward into position to contact with a flange 58 of the bracket 48 so as to serve as a positive stop for preventing further folding movement of the seat.

FIGURE 4 shows the pivot 44 by which the front portion 35 of the hinge means is connected with the bracket 39. A resilient washer 62 is clamped between the confronting faces of the bracket 30 and the front portion 35 to maintain a stiff pivot connection with sufficient friction to keep the chair from unfolding so easily that the seat will drop forward during normal handling of folded chairs.

Another feature of the construction, which assists in keeping the chair folded when in upright position, or slightly tilted out of its upright position, is the location of the center of gravity of the seat 28 behind a vertical plane through the pivots 44, as will be evident from FIG- URE 3.

When the chair is unfolded and in set-up condition, the link 50 extends downwardly out of the recess in the bottom of the chair and then extends forwardly with a slight offset so that the bottom of the chair at one side of the recess rests on the link 50. The portion of the bracket 48, above the link 50, extends into a recess in the bottom of the chair in the preferred construction. In the drawing, the recess in which the

pivots

44 and 54 are located, extends far enough forward also to receive the upper end of the bracket-48, andthis recess is indicated by the reference character 65.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, but changes and modifications can be made, and some features can be used in different combinations without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A folding chair including front and rear leg assemblies, each of which has legs at opposite sides thereof rigidly connected to opposite ends of upper and lower rail elements, a pivot connecting each of the front legs with the corresponding rear leg near the upper end of one of the leg assemblies, a seat constantly hinged to the lower rail element of the rear leg assembly, links connecting the seat to a rail of the other leg assembly, the links being connected at their rearward ends to the seat at a location intermediate the front and rear of the seat, brackets connected on the front of a rail element of the front leg assembly, pivot connections on the bracket offset ahead of the connected rail element and connecting the links to said bracket on the front leg assembly, said links extending some distance beyond the pivot connections and in a direction away from the rearward ends of the links, and an abutment surface on each of the brackets below the pivot connection and in position to stop further movement of the extending front end of its associated link as the link swings on the pivot connection to the folded position of said link, the seat having a flat bottom extending over substantially the full area and to all of the edges thereof and having an intermediate area recessed above the level of said bottom surface and with said intermediate area beginning at substantial distances inward from both of the side edges of th seat, the connection between the seat and the rail of the rear leg assembly comprising rearward brackets connected to the front of the rail intermediate its ends and extending forwardly and then upwardly into the recess, other brackets in the recessed area secured to the seat and pivotally connected to the rearward brackets, the links to said other leg assembly being connected to the seat by pivot connections to said other brackets within the recessed area, and said links extending downwardly from the recessed area and forwardly adjacent to the flat bottom of the seat and being inward from the side edges of the seat when the chair is in setup condition to make said links inconspicuous.

2. A folding chair including front and rear leg assemblies, each of which has legs at opposite sides thereof and upper and lower rail elements to which the legs are rigidly connected, a pivot connecting each of the front legs with the corresponding rear leg near the upper end of both of the leg assemblies, a seat constantly hinged to the lower rail element of the rear leg assembly, links by which the seat is connected to the lower rail element of the front leg assembly, the upper rail elements of both leg assemblies being at a substantial distance above the seat and being spaced from one another, both of the upper rail elements being curved to present similar concave surfaces on the front sides thereof, and being free of any direct hinge connection between them and being movable into positions to bring the concave surfaces into substantial alignment with one another to form upper and lower portions of a back rest of the chair when the chair is in set-up condition.

3. The folding chair described in claim 2 and in which at least one of the upper rail elements is of substantially greater vertical extent than the other at its mid portion.

4. The folding chair described in claim 3, and in which the rear leg assembly is the lower one, and the pivot connections between the front and rear leg assemblies include a separate pin on each side of the chair in line with the pin on the other side of the chair along a pivot axis which extends across the chair at a substantial distance ahead of the transverse center portions of the upper rails of both of the leg assemblies.

5. In a folding chair having front and rear leg assemblies connected pivotally together near the upper end of one of said assemblies, rail elements in both assemblies, a seat hinged to the rail element of the rear leg assembly, links connected at their rearward ends to the seat at a location intermediate the front and rear of the seat, brackets connected on the front of a rail element of the front leg assembly, pivot connections on the bracket offset ahead of the connected rail element and connecting the links to said brackets on the front leg assembly, said links extending some distance beyond the pivot connections and in a direction away from the rearward ends of the links, and an abutment surface on each of the brackets below the pivot connection and in position to step further movement of the extending front end of its associated link as the link swings on the pivot connection to the folded position of said link.

6. A folding chair including front and rear leg assemblies, each of which has legs connected together by rails extending transversely of the chair, said assemblies being connected together at their upper ends, a seat hinged to the rail of the rear leg assembly, links connecting the seat to a rail of the other leg assembly, the seat having a flat bottom extending over substantially the full area and to all of the edges thereof and having an intermediate area recessed above the level of said bottom surface and with said intermediate area beginning at substantial distances inward from both of the side edges of the seat, the connection between the seat and the rail of the rear leg assembly comprising rearward brackets connected to the front of the rail intermediate its ends and extending forwardly and then upwardly into the recess, other brackets in the recessed area secured to the seat and pivotally connected to the rearward brackets, the links to said other leg assembly being connected to the seat by pivot connections to said other brackets within the recessed area, and said links extending downwardly from the recessed area and forwardly adjacent to the fiat bottom of the seat and being inward from the side edges of the seat when the chair is in set-up condition to make said links inconspicuous.

7. The folding chair described in claim 6 and in which the recessed area is also spaced from the rearward edge of the seat and the rearward brackets extend forwardly under a portion of the flat bottom of the seat and then upwardly and then rearwardly in the recessed area for a distance greater than the height of the rearward bracket pivots above the level of the fiat bottom of the seat to produce clearance for swinging movement of the seat into an upright position when the chair is folded.

8. The folding chair described in claim 6 and in which there are two brackets connecting the seat to the back leg assembly and each bracket has a pivotal connection to the seat located in the same recessed area with the link on that side of the seat, and in which the bottom of the seat is made of wood and it has separate recessed areas therein and there are metal elements attached to the bottom of the seat, and each metal element has a flange extending upwardly into a different one of the recessed areas, and both of the pivotal connections in each recessed area connect with the flange whichjextends into that recessed area.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,609,689 Bugenhagen Dec. 7, 1926 1,614,763 Rastetter Jan. 18, 1927 1,698,698 Hageman Ian. 8, 192.9 1,721,294 Dean July 16, 1929 2,243,811 Bales May 27, 1941 2,360,400 Clarin Oct. 17, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,504 Great Britain 1872 1,071 Great Britain 1882 975,940 France Oct. 17, 1950