US3402962A

US3402962A - Adjustable child's chair

Info

Publication number: US3402962A
Application number: US595879A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fred J Ellis; Skaff George
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: FRED J ELLIS
Priority date: 1966-11-21
Filing date: 1966-11-21
Publication date: 1968-09-24
Anticipated expiration: 1985-09-24

Description

Sept. 24, 1968 I F. J. ELLIS ET AL 3,402,962

I ADJUSTABLE CHILDS CHAIR Filed Nov. 21, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS 6. 50 d [LA/J 650265 N 5/645 @mzm Sept. 24, 1968 F. J. ELLIS ET AL ADJUSTABLE CHILD'S CHAIR I: Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed vNov. 21, 1966 INVENTORS FEED (f [IL/J I E65 m/(AFF f w? 3 Sheets-Sheet I) ATTOE/VZV F f S F 4 1 a V V uh 7; J m H U O 7 V M I 3 3 2 4 6 VJ; H A a 1 5 WU 2 1 7 w. fiw wu vwwwwwfiw 3 W5 4 ,3 M: .D @FimU I- MW 5 V a [5 2 1 I 4 a 2 2 4 x 2 5 m 2 9 O 9 3 2 F. J. ELLIS ET L ADJUSTABLE CHILD'S CHAIR Sept. 24, 1968 Filed Nov. 21, 1966 United States Patent 3,402,962 ADJUSTABLE CHILDS CHAIR Fred J. Ellis, 2650 Elmwood Drive SE. 49506, and George Skalf, 301 Grandville Ave. SW. 49503, both of Grand Rapids, Mich. 1

Filed Nov. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 595,879 10 Claims. (Cl. 297-130) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A child-supporting structure including a seat releasably mounted on a frame and having side members which serve as arms and a back for a high chair when the seat is mounted on the frame in an upright position. The seat can be inverted on the frame to form a high stool. The frame includes a depending pivotable unit on which the seat can be releasably mounted to provide a swing. The seat can be removed from the frame and the back member pivoted to the opposite side of the seat, thereby providing a low, self-supported stool with the side members serving as legs.

This invention relates to multiple position and use furniture of the seat type having a lightweight frame of tubular cross section and a seat which may be mounted in various positions on the frame to alternatively provide a high chair, a high, backless and armless stool or a swing. The seat may also be removed from the frame to provide a short stool.

The main objectives of this invention are:

First, to provide multiple position and use furniture of the seat type which is easily adjusted to several different use positions, for instance, as a high chair, a swing or a stool and parts of which may be used as a chair or seat with legs, or as a chair or seat with arms.

Second, to provide a structure having these advantages in which the frame and supported parts are mainly formed of tubular material of circular cross section.

Third, to provide a structure adaptable to these several uses which is quickly adjusted from one use position to another use position without requiring the use of tools.

Fourth, to provide a structure having these several uses which is relatively light in weight in proportion to its strength.

Further objectives and advantages will appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of an embodiment of my invention illustrated as adjusted to high chair position, the seat swing being included and its engagement and disengagement being indicated by dotted lines.

FIGURE 2 is a front perspective view of the structure of FIGURE 1 adjusted to high chair position.

FIGURE 3 is a front perspective of the embodiment of my invention illustrated as adjusted to swing position.

FIGURE 4 is a front perspective of the embodiment of my invention illustrated in FIGURES 1-3 inclusive, adjusted to stool position.

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation view of the seat removed from the supporting frame, the adjustable back being shown in one position by full lines and in another position by dotted lines.

FIGURE 6 is a front perspective view of the seat unit with the arm portions thereof, shown in FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 5, positioned to serve as legs for the seat.

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating structural details of the means for supporting the seat unit in its high chair position.

FIGURE 8 is a broken enlargement of FIGURE 7 and corresponds in section to line 88 of FIGURE 13 for illustrating structural details.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating details of the seat support of swing unit.

FIGURE 10 is a horizontal section on a line corresponding to line 10-10 of FIGURE 9 showing further details of the swing unit.

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary sectional view on a line generally corresponding to line 11--11 of FIGURE 3 and with the swing supporting means pivoted forwardly some- What.

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating further details of the coupling means.

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view on a line 1313 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view on a line 14-14 of FIGURE 7.

As has been pointed out, the embodiment of my invention may be readily adapted or adjusted for several uses and this adjustment may be quickly done without the use of tools. The frame and some of the other parts are desirably formed of tubular stock as is conventionally illustrated. Various parts are secured together by welding, which is not illustrated in detail. It will be understood that some of these parts could be connected by rivets, but the welding is desirable both from a production economy and appearance standpoint.

The frame, as illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2, 3 and 4 comprises the laterally spaced rear legs or frame members 1 having forwardly projecting horizontal arms 2 at their upper ends. The upper ends of the legs are connected by the cross piece 3 which has downward projecting arms 4 having flattened portions at their lower ends disposed against the rear sides of the legs and secured thereto preferably by screws and wing nuts generally as illustrated by FIGURES 3 and 4 at the reference numeral 5. This cross piece 3 also serves as a handle. The rear legs 1 are connected at theeir lower ends by cross piece 6 which has upwardly projecting end portions 7 secured to the legs preferably by means of screws and wing nuts conventionally illustrated at 8.

The front legs 9 are rearwardly curved, their lower ends 10 providing feet which are in alignment with lower ends of rear legs 1. The upper ends of these legs 9 constitute braces or struts which are disposed under and secured to the forwardly projecting arms 2 on the rear legs. The rearwardly displaced intermediate portions of the front legs 9 are welded to the rear legs 1 as indicated at 11 (see FIG- URE 2). This provides a strong and rigid frame and one which is of relatively light weight in proportion to its strength and rigidity.

The seat 12 has two oppositely facing, alternatively usable seating faces which are desirably cushioned and includes the side plates 13 which are fixedly secured to the sides thereof. The back 15 is provided with supporting and coupling members 16 of strip-like material which are fixedly secured to the side edges of the back by means of the screws 17. The coupling members 16 have downwardly projecting and outwardly offset projections 18 which are provided with notches 19 in their lower ends alternatively engageable with several studs 19a (see FIGURE 5). The projections 18 are slotted longitudinally as indicated at 18a for longitudinally sliding and for pivoting connection to corresponding pivot pins 18b projecting fixedly from the side plates 13. The studs 1911 are evenly spaced from the corresponding pivot pin 18b. The slots 18a are long enough to allow the notched end 19 to firmly engage the opposed stud 19a when the back 15 is pushed toward the pivot pin 18b and alternatively, to allow the notched end to completely disengage the studs 19a and be freely pivotable within the circle of such studs, for adjusting the angular position of the back 15, when the back 15 is pulled away from the pivot pins 18b. In the preferred embodiment shown, three studs 19a are provided in each plate 13. The first stud is positioned to hold the back in its nearly upright position between arms indicated in solid lines in FIGURES 2 and 5. The second stud is positioned to hold the back in its semireclining position indicated in FIGURE 3 and in broken lines in FIGURE 5. The third stud is located to hold the back 15 in a nearly upright position also, but adjacent the face of the seat opposite the arms 20 as shown in FIGURE 6 rather than between. the arms as in FIGURES 2 and 5. The back 15 need not engage any of the studs 19a but may be left to depend from the seat 12 when the latter is supported on the frame with the arms 20 also depending to form the backless, armless stool of FIGURE 4 or, alternatively, when the seat is oriented with the arms 20 up, as in FIG- URE 2, to form a backless stool with arms, which arrangement is not shown here. The swing of the back 15 is limited only by the engagement of the offset portions 18 with the studs 19a in the zone thereof on the opposite end of the slot 18a from the notch 19 and, in the particular embodiment shown, such swing is approximately 180.

The looped members 20 which serve as arms when positioned as in FIGURES 1, i2, 3 and 5 and as legs in FIGURE 6 are also formed of tubular stock and in the embodiment illustrated have substantially parallel end portions 20a and these end portions are connected to the sides of the seat by the plates 14 which are fixedly secured to the side .plates 13 by the fasteners 21. When used as a high chair as in FIGURE 2, the upwardly extending arms may be used to support a conventional high chair tray, not shown.

These

seat side members

13 and 14 have a pair of outwardly projecting seat supporting lugs 22 (see FIGURE 6) extending therethrough and fixed thereby to the adjacent sides of the seat 12. The lugs 22 are supportably and releasably engageable in the upwardly opening slots 23 in the inwardly projecting plate-like brackets 24 which are fixedly connected to the forwardly projecting arms 2 of the rear leg members 1. The brackets 24 are hollow and are of essentially rectangular cross section as seen in FIGURE 13. Each slot 23 has a portion 23a which extends into the top wall 24a of the bracket 24 a distance somewhat exceeding the exposed length of the corresponding lugs 22. Each slot 23 further comprises a vertical portion 23b in the inner wall 24b of the bracket 24 which extends from the portion 23a to an intermediate point on said wall 24b, the slot 23 being completed by a rearwardly extending portion 230. Thus, to install the seat 12 on the frame, the lugs 22 pass downwardly through the slot portions 23a and 2312 as the seat is lowered and then move rearwardly along the slot portions 230 to an installed position at the rear thereof, as shown in FIGURE 14, as the seat is moved to its rearward limit on said frame.

A latch 41 (FIGURE 12) is manually actuable for holding the seat 12 at its rearward position on the frame and here comprises a book 42 pivotally supported on the cross piece 3 and releasably engageable with a loop 43 fixed to the opposed rear wall 44 of the seat 12. The seat unit is in what is commonly called high chair position in FIGURES 1 and 2.

The illustrated embodiment of my invention further includes a swing unit including the side or hanger members 26 which are fixedly connected at their lower ends by the cross piece 27. In the embodiment illustrated, the cross piece 27 is of flat cross section and its ends are disposed on the ends of the swing rods 26. The seat holders 28 are fixedly secured to the upper side of the cross piece 27 and to the inner sides of the arms 26. These parts are in practice welded together and constitute a unit. The welds are not illustrated.

The seat supporting members 28 (see FIGURE 9) are provided with elongated, upstanding and rib-like lugs 29 on their inner edges with which vertical downwardly opening notches 30 (FIGURE 5) of the plates 13 on the seat 12 may be snugly but slideably engaged upon downward movement of the seat 12 between the hanger members 26. The plates 14 are provided with wider notches 46 centered on the notches 30 for similarly receiving the seat holders 28 snugly but slideably therein or dropping the seat 12 between the hangers 26. The upper end of the lug 29 is preferably rounded and the lower corners of the notch 30 are preferably outwardly flared to pilot the lugs 29 and holders 28 into their corresponding notches as the seat 12 moves downwardly to rest on the cross piece 27 for use as a swing as shown in FIGURE 3. The arms 20, it will be noted, must ,face upwardly with the seat 12 installed in the .swing unit and so prevent a'small child being swung from rolling sideways off the seat while the latter is in motion, These lugs 29 and holders 28 and

notches

30 and 46 are of substantial length so that when the seat 12 is positioned as a swing, tilting of the seat 12 on the hanger unit is prevented.

The hanger members 26 are provided at their upper ends with fixed, outwardly extended pivot pins 51 (FIG- URE 11). Short, preferably tubular, elements 52 are rigidly fixed, as by welding, to the front legs 9 adjacent the upper ends thereof and extend inwardly therefrom toward the hanger members 26.

Coaxial openings

53 and 54 in the end walls of the elements 52 and sides of the legs 9 slideably receive and pivotally support the opposed pins 51 for pivotally carrying the swing unit. The hanger members 26 can be urged resiliently inwardly toward each other, if desired, to release the pins 51 thereof from the legs 9 to allow removal of the swing unit from the frame, the inward position of one of the hanger mecbers being indicated on broken lines at 26a in FIGURE 1.

The seat unit 12 may be removed from the frame and used as a low stool having a back and arms as is illustrated in FIGURE 5. Also if desired, the arms 20 may be faced downwardly to constitute legs for raising the seat above the ground, as is illustrated in FIGURE 6, simply by turning the seat 12 over and pivotally adjusting the back 15 to extend away from the members 20. This may be done without the use of tools of any kind.

As stated, the seat may be positioned on the supporting frame to constitute a high chair or youth chair as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, it may be used as a swing illustrated in FIGURE 3, and it may be positioned as a tall stool without back as illustrated in FIGURE 4, or with back, or merely as a portable seat unit with the members 20 serving as arms as illustrated in FIGURE 5, or as legs as illustrated in FIGURE 6. This provides a wide range of adjustment and this adjustment can be quickly made. It should be understood that no tools are required in making the above described adjustments. In the particular embodiment shown, the seat 12 is dimensioned to fit a child when positioned with the arms 20 up. However, when positioned with the arms 20 down, the seat 12 is large enough to serve as a stool top for an adult.

By detaching the cross pieces 3 and 6 from the unitary sides of the frame, each comprising a front leg 9 and a rear leg 1, subsequent to removing the swing unit and seat 12, the chair construction can be packed into a relatively thin, compact volume as for storage or for travel or shipping.

The use of tubular metal as described is desirable as it results in a structure which is of relatively light weight in proportion to its strength. I have not illustrated all the various welds, that not being considered as necessary, but it should be understood that the welding of the parts together is important from the point'of production and strength and appearance.

I have illustrated and described my invention in a highly practical embodiment thereof. I have not attempted to illustrate other adaptations and embodiments as it is believed that it will enable others skilled in the art to adapt my invention as may be desired.

What is claimed is:

1. A seat structure comprising:

a supporting frame including upright rear frame members provided with forwardly projecting arms at their upper ends and crosspieces interconnecting said rear frame members;

said frame further including rearwardly curved front leg and strut members with the upper ends of said front members being supportingly secured to the forwardly projecting arms of said rear frame members, said front members having intermediate portions laterally displaced from the upper and lower ends of said front members with said intermediate portions being fixedly secured to said rear frame members; and

seat means including a seat member having mounting means thereon supportedly and detachably engageable with said forwardly projecting arms.

2. A seat structure according to claim 1, further including a swing unit comprising rod-like hangers interconnected to the forwardly projecting arms of said rear frame members and having a seat supporting cross-piece fixedly connected to the lower ends of said hangers, and support means for permitting said seat means to be removably mounted on said seat supporting crosspiece.

3. A seat structure according to claim 2, in which said seat member includes a pair of opposed load-supporting surfaces and said mounting means permits said seat means to be reversibly engageable with said forwardly projecting arms whereby either of said load-supporting surfaces may be positioned in an upwardly facing direction, said seat means further including side members secured thereto and extending outwardly with respect to one of said load-supporting surfaces in a substantially vertical direction, said side members being adapted to constitute arms when said seat means is supported in said frame and adapted to constitute legs when said seat means is removed from said frame and inverted to be used as a self-supporting stool.

4. A seat structure according to claim 1, wherein said rear frame crosspieces comprise a top crosspiece acting as a handle member and having forwardly and downwardly projecting portions secured to said rear frame members, and a bottom crosspiece connected to the lower ends of said rear frame members;

said intermediate portions of said rearwardly curved front leg and strut members being fixedly secured to said rear frame members in spaced relationship to the upper and lower ends thereof;

seat-supporting and coupling brackets supportedly secured to the inner sides of said forwardly projecting arms of said rear frame members, said mounting means connected to said seat member including projecting lug-like portions detachably engageable with said brackets.

5. A seat structure according to claim 4, including a swing unit including rod-like hangers pivotably connected to the forwardly projecting strut portions of said front leg and strut members and having a seat-supporting crosspiece fixedly connected to the lower ends of said hangers, said seat means being selectively and detachably mountable on said seat-supporting brackets or said swing unit.

6. A seat structure comprising:

a supporting frame including upright rear frame members provided with forwardly projecting arms at their upper ends, said rear frame members having a bottom crosspiece connected to the lower ends thereof and a top crosspiece and handle member having forwardly and downwardly projecting arms secured to said rear frame members;

said supporting frame also including rearwardly curved front leg and strut members having intermediate portions thereon fixedly secured to said rear frame members in spaced relationship to the upper and lower ends thereof, the upper ends of said front members being supportedly secured to the forwardly projecting arms of said rear frame members;

seat-supporting and coupling brackets supportedly secured to the inner sides of said forwardly projecting arms of said rear frame members;

a seat comprising a body member having projecting lug-like portions detachably engageable with said brackets in an upright position and in an inverted position, said seat in said inverted position functioning as a stool;

said seat also including side members connected thereto and extending upwardly from said body portion, said side members comprising arm members when said seat is in said upright position, said seat being usable as a self-supported stool when removed from said frame and inverted, said side members being such as to permit same to constitute the legs for the seat when functioning as a self-supported stool.

7. A seat structure comprising:

a frame including upright rear members having forwardly projecting arms at their upper ends, and a crossmember fixedly secured to said rear frame members;

said frame also including arcuate, rearwardly curved front frame members fixedly secured at a first point thereon to the arms of said rear frame members, said front frame members being fixedly secured directly to said rear frame members at a second point spaced from said first point, said second point being positioned intermediate the upper and lower ends of said front frame members, the portions of said front frame members below said second point constituting legs and the portions of said front frame members above said second point constituting struts;

bracket means secured to the forwardly projecting arms of said rear frame members and having laterally spaced, upwardly and inwardly opening sockets therein; and

seat means having lugs thereon detachably engageable with said bracket means.

8. A seat structure according to claim 7, wherein said second point is spaced rearwardly of the upper and lower ends of said front frame members and of said first point, and said seat means including looped members having projecting end portions engageable with the sides of said seat means to constitute arms when said seat means is supported in said frame and to constitute legs when said seat means is inverted as a self-supported stool.

9. A variable seat structure according to claim 8, wherein said seat means includes a seat member and a back member and means interconnecting said back member to said seat member for permitting said back member to be tiltably positioned at variable angles relative to said seat member.

10. A seat structure according to claim 6, including a swing unit comprising rod-like hangers pivotally connected to the forwardly projecting strut portions of said front leg and strut members and having a seat supporting crosspiece fixedly connected to their lower ends, said seat being selectively engageable with said seat supporting brackets or with said hangers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 147,581 9/1947 Coulter 2973 X 1,188,235 6/1916 Ball 297-281 2,486,716 11/1949 Kuebler 297-357 2,533,019 12/1950 Ketcham 297 2,697,477 12/ 1954 Welsh 297130 X 2,961,248 11/1960 Meyers 297-130 X 2,982,562 5/1961 Gladstein 297--130 X 2,991,122 7/1961 Boo 2973 3,121,587 2/1964 Bavaro 2971 3,224,806 12/ 1965 Butters et al. 297136 JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner.