US3171685A - Booth seat - Google Patents

Description

March 2, 1965 c. L. HERSHBERGER EI'AL 1 3,171,635

BOOTH SEAT Filed Oct. 4, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet l rays.

INVENTORS. Char/es A. flershberger' BY Edmund M A/ess March 1965 c. L. HERSHBERGER EFAL 3,171,635

BOOTH SEAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4, 1963 rger INVENTORS. Char/e3 L. fier'shbe BY Edmund V. Ness United States Patent 3,171,685 BOOTH SEAT Charles L. Hershherger, Joplin, Mo., and Edmund V.

Ness, Baxter Springs, Kans., assignors to H & H Manufacturing Company, Inc., Joplin, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Filed Oct. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 313,950 7 Claims. (Cl. 297-92) This invention relates to improvements in chair or booth construction and, more specifically, to apparatus for providing convenient interchangeability of the seat and back of a chair, booth, or the like.

Particularly in the bar and restaurant business, the chairs and booths used to seat customers are subject to a great deal of abuse. Manifestly, the seats of such furniture wear out faster than the backs thereof. It is evident, therefore, that a considerable increase in the usable life of bar and restaurant furniture could be realized if the seats and backs thereof were conveniently and rapidly interchangeable.

It is, therefore, the primary object of this invention to provide chair or booth structure wherein the seats and backs thereof are interchangeable.

Another important object of this invention is to provide chair or booth structure wherein the seats and backs thereof are releasably locked or coupled with the frame of the structure by apparatus operable in response to the mere placing of the seat or back on its appropriate portion of the frame.

Still another object of this invention is to provide releasable locking apparatus as aforesaid that will render the seat and back of the chair or booth structure interchangeable.

Yet another important object of this invention is to provide apparatus for releasably securing an occupant support, such as a seat or back, to the seat portion or back portion of a chair or booth frame, which apparatus is operable in response to engagement therewith of a coupling component on the occupant support to thereby provide a means of rapidly securing the support to the frame without the use of tools or the necessity of timeconsuming adjustments.

Other objects will become apparent as the detailed description proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a bar or restaurant booth constructed in accordance with the teachings of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the single-back booth seat or chair shown in FIG. 1, parts being broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the single-back booth seat;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the single-back booth seat showing the occupant-supporting seat portion thereof in elevation during installation thereof on the booth frame;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, detailed view looking into the hook-receiving channel of the locking device;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, detailed view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the hook and latch element disengaged;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing the hook and latch element in their engaged, interlocked positions; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary, detailed, elevational view showing a pair of juxtaposed locking devices for use with the double-back booth shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 broadly designates booth structure incorporating the instant invention. Booth 10 includes a table 12, a single back booth 3,171,685 Patented Mar. 2, 1965 seat or chair 14, and a double-back seat or chair 16. Booth seat 14 is employed at the end of a series of booths, while booth seat 16 is used between adjacent booths.

In FIGS. 24 the construction of the single booth seat 14 is shown in detail. It should be understood at this juncture that conversion from a single booth seat to a double booth seat is achieved essentially by arranging single seats in back-to-back relationship; therefore, only the constructional details of the single booth seat will be set forth hereinafter.

Booth seat 14 comprises a rectangular back frame 18 rigid with a generally rectangular seat frame 20. Seat frame 20 is provided with four legs 22. Frame 20 includes a pair of side skirts 24 which define the side margins of the seat portion of the structure. Decorative side moldings 26 are mounted on each side of the back frame 18.

The back frame 18 and the seat frame 20 are interconnected by a transversely L-sh-aped cross member 28. A seat 36 is mounted on frame 20 in abutting relationship to a ledge 32 presented by cross member 28. A back 34 is mounted on frame 18 in abutting relationship to the upper edge 36 of cross member 28. Seat 30 and back 34 are of identical construction.

Seat 30 comp-rises a framework 38 which mounts thereon a cushion 40 of any suitable construction. The cushion illustrated in the drawings is composed of foam rubber backed by a plurality of leaf spring strips 42. Manifestly, cushion 46 may be covered or upholstered to provide the desired aesthetic effect.

Back 34 is similarly constructed and includes a foam rubber cushion 44 and a plurality of leaf spring strips 46 mounted on a framework 48. Both the seat 30 and the back 34 are provided with a pair of coupling components or books 50 rigid with respective frames 38 or 43 and a pair of frame extensions 52. Also, both the seat and back are provided with a pair of wedge-shaped guides 54 which normally extend downwardly from the side margins of seat 30 and laterally outwardly from the side margins of back 34.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 58, it may be seen that hook 50 comprises a metal plate 56 having a slot 58 therein and provided with a lip 60 at the mouth of the slot. A locking device 62 for use in conjunction with hook 50 is shown comprising a transversely U-shaped channel 64 which receives an elongated latch element 66. Element 66 is formed by a pair of parallel legs 67 interconnected intermediate the ends thereof by a web 68. A roller 70 is journaled and spans the distance between the legs 67 at one end thereof. A pair of pins 72 pivotally mount element 66 within channel 64.

A spring 74 has one end thereof secured to channel 64, the other end of the spring being interconnected with web 68. It may be seen by comparing FIGS. 6 and 7 that element 66 and spring 74 form an over-center toggle mechanism, element 66 being normally biased by spring 74 into the inoperative position shown in FIG. 6. However, as evidenced by FIG. 7, engagement of hook 50 with element 66 moves the latter into its operative position wherein the hook and element are releasably interlocked under the action of spring 74.

FIGS. 2-4 reveal the locations of devices 62 on back frame 18 and seat frame 29. It may be seen that the devices 62 are rigidly secured to the seat and back frames in disposition to receive respective hooks 50 to thereby releasably lock either the seat 30 or back 34 to frame 18 or frame 20. In other words, seat 30 and back 34 may be interchanged, the seat becoming the back and the back then becoming the seat, to thus achieve the primary object of the invention.

In the utilization of the structure, it should be understood that the mere positioning of the seat or back on the desired portion of the frame along with manual pressure, causes the seat or back to be secured in place. Frame extensions 52 along with guides 54 assist in positioning the seat or back on either the back frame 18 or the seat frame 20. Once hooks 50 are aligned With corresponding devices 62, the action of lip 60 of the hook, as the same engages roller 70 of the device, etfects swinging movement of element 66 with application of manual pressure. Roller 70 is thereby forced into slot 58 and, upon continued swinging of element 66, spring 74 moves over center and biases the element and hook toward the interlocked disposition shown in FIG. 7. In this manner the seat or back is releasably but securely maintained in place until subsequent interchanging thereof is desired, whereupon movement of hook 50 away from device 62 under sufficient force to overcome the action of spring 74 disengages the hook from the element.

It should be noted that, since FIG. 2 shows the single seat booth, a spacer block 76 is disposed between the left-hand device 62 and back frame 18. The necessity of utilizing spacer block 76 will be appreciated by reference to FIG. 8 wherein juxtaposed, oppositely facing devices 62 are shown for use with the double seat booth 16. The FIG. 8 arrangement is provided so that backs 34 of the various booths may also be interchanged. Thus, it is evident that spacer block 76 is employed in the single seat version since only one. back 34 is employed. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a chair or the like: an occupant support member provided with a coupling component; a frame having a seat portion and a back portion; and a mechanical locking device on each of said portions respectively, each of said devices having a shiftable element movable from an inoperative position to a disposition in interlocking relationship with said coupling component in response to engagement by the latter, whereby the member may be secured to the seat portion or the back portion of the frame, alternatively. 2. In a chair or the like: a frame having a seat portion and a back portion; a pair of occupant support members; and a pair of couplers each having first and second engageable components, each of said couplers being operable to releasably interlock its first component with any one of said second components upon engagement therewith the first component of each of the couplers being attached to a different one of said portions of the frame, the second component of each coupler being attached to a corresponding member, each of said couple-rs including means mounting one of the components thereof for movement from an un- 4 coupled position to a disposition in interlocking relationship with any one of the other components of the devices in response to said engagement, whereby the members may be interchangeably secured to the seat and back portions of the frame.

3. The invention of claim 3, wherein each of said couplers includes yieldable means operably coupled with said one component thereof for biasing the latter toward said interlocking disposition during said movement of the one component.

4. Apparatus for releasably securing an occupant support to the seat portion or back portion of a chair frame or the like comprising:

a hook adapted to be mounted on said occupant support;

a latch element for engagement by said hook;

means for shiftably attaching the latch element to one of said portionsof the frame, said element being movable by the hook from an inoperative position to a disposition in interlocking relationship therewith upon engagement of the element by the hook; and yieldable means operably coupled with said element for biasing the latter toward said interlocking disposition during said movement of the element by the hook, whereby to releasably secure the occupant support to the seat or back portion of the frame.

5. The invention of claim 4, wherein said yieldable means normally biases the element toward said inoperative position, said movement of the element by the hook being initially against the action of the yieldable means, the latter shifting in response to said movement to a position biasing the element toward said interlocking dis position.

6. The invention of claim 4, wherein said attaching means is adapted to pivotally mount the element on said one portion of the frame, said element swinging from said inoperative position to said interlocking disposition in response to pressure contact by the hook.

7. The invention of claim '6, wherein said element is elongated and provided with a laterally extending part at one end thereof, said attaching means being adapted to pivotally mount the element at a point thereon spaced from said one end, the hook receiving said part when the element is in said interlocking disposition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims (1)

1. IN A CHAIR OR THE LIKE: AN OCCUPANT SUPPORT MEMBER PROVIDED WITH A COUPLING COMPONENT; A FRAME HAVING A SEAT PORTION AND A BACK PORTION; AND A MECHANICAL LOCKING DEVICE ON EACH OF SAID PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY, EACH OF SAID DEVICES HAVING A SHIFTABLE ELEMENT MOVABLE FROM AN INOPERATIVE POSITION TO A DISPOSITION IN INTERLOCKING RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID COUPLING COMPONENT IN RESPONSE TO ENGAGEMENT BY THE LATTER, WHEREBY THE MEMBER MAY BE SECURED TO THE SEAT PORTION OR THE BACK PORTION OF THE FRAME, ALTERNATIVELY.

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