US3540386A

US3540386A - Collapsible table

Info

Publication number: US3540386A
Application number: US801459A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sven Ivar Natanael Hall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-02-21
Filing date: 1969-02-24
Publication date: 1970-11-17
Anticipated expiration: 1987-11-17

Description

United States Patent 72] inventor Sven Ivar Natanael Hall Spanhultevagen 6, Norrahammer, Sweden [2]] Appl. No. 801,459 [22] Filed Feb. 24, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 17, 1970 [32] Priority Feb. 21, 1968, Oct. 10, 1968 [33] Sweden [31 1 2,229/68 and 13,652/68 [54] COLLAPSIBLE TABLE 16 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 108/150; 287/20. 87/201. 108/112 [51] Int. Cl A47b 13/00 [50] Field of Search 108/ 1 50 --16l, l12;20/92;287/189. 56. 54. 20, 20.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 970,637 9/1910 Morris 108/153X 1,395,419 11/1921 Hutchins 108/150 Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant Examiner-Glenn O. Finch Attorney-Michael S. Striker ABSTRACT: A table with a composite leg which comprises several elongated sections whose upper ends are separably connected to a coupling portion detachably mounted at the underside of the board and whose lower ends are separably connected to a foot. The panel of the board has a downwardly extending ledge defining therewith a compartment which can accommodate the foot and the sections of the leg in dismantled condition of the table. The ledge has a circumferentially extending groove for reception of one or more connecting members which can couple the board to the board or boards of one or more additional tables or to one or more auxiliary boards. The foot is threadedly connected to the leg, and the upper ends of the sections can be uncoupled from the board in response to movement of their lower ends away from each other.

Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Sheet 1 of 2 Fig.6

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Patented Nov. 17, 1970 3,540,386

Inventor:

MW/M

COLLAPSIBLE TABLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to tables in general, and more particularly to improvements in collapsible tables. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in tables which can be collapsed or dismantled to form a small package which facilitates storage and/or transport;

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of my invention is to provide a table which can be rapidly assembled or dismantled without necessitating the use of any tools or by resorting to readily available rudimentary tools.

Another object of the invention is to provide a collapsible table which can be stored in a small area, which can be collapsed to form a' small and compact package, and which can be thereupon stacked with one or more similar tables.

A further object of the invention is to provide a table which can be assembled with one or more similar tables to form a composite table of desired size and/or shape.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a table wherein the board is capable of accommodating all other parts in dismantled condition of the table.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a table which can be readily manipulated by children or adults with the exertion of a small force, which tan be carried along or stored in the trunk of a vehicle and which can be set up indoors or outdoors.

coupling unit including a first coupling portion provided at the underside of the board and complementary second coupling portions provided at the upper ends of the sections and separably engaging the first coupling portion to maintain the leg in a position in which it extends from the underside of the board, a foot, and a second coupling unit including a first coupling element provided on the foot and complementary second coupling elements provided at the lower ends of the sections and separably engaging the first coupling element to secure the foot to the leg.

The arrangement is preferably such that the lower ends of the sections are movable away from each other to thus permit disengagement of second coupling portions from the first coupling portion upon separation of the foot.

The board preferably includes a downwardly extending ledge whose outer side is provided with a circumferentially extending groove adapted to receive a portion of a connecting member which can couple the board to the board of a second table or to an auxiliary board.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved table itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stack including several dismantled tables each of which is constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a table in inverted position, showing the manner of engaging the coupling portions of the leg sections with the coupling portion at the underside of the board;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the table in inverted position, showing the manner of coupling the foot to the lower end of the leg;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the table in assembled conditron;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of two assembled tables and of an auxiliary board which is inserted between the boards of the tables;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a connecting member which is used in the structure of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary central vertical sectional view of the table shown in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG. 4, there is shown a collapsible table which comprises a rectangular board 10, a composite leg including two mirror

symmetrical sections

12, 13, and a starshaped foot 14. FIG. 7 shows that the underside of the board 10 is connected with a coupling portion 11, for example, by means of screws, bolts or analogous fasteners. The coupling portion 11 has two downwardly and inwardly extending claws 23 which engage complementary outwardly extending coupling portions or claws 21 at the upper ends of the

sections

12, 13. Each claw 21 is formed with a rounded guide face 22; these guide faces roll along each other when the

sections

12, 13 are being connected to the coupling portion 11 in a manner as shown in FIG. 3, i.e., by moving the lower ends of the

sections

12, 13 toward each other. When the leg including the

sections

12, 13 is properly assembled with the coupling portion 11, the teeth of claws 23 extend into notches below the teeth of claws 21 in a manner as shown in FIG. 7. During assembly of the table, the board 10 is preferably placed onto a suitable support upside down, see FIGS. 3 and 4, so that the operator is free to manipulate the sections l2, l3 and to thereupon connect the foot 14 to the lower ends of these sections in a manner as shown in FIG. 4. The coupling portion 11 and the claws 21 constitute a first coupling unit which serves to separably connect the

sections

12, 13 to the board 10 in such a way that the leg extends from the underside of the board. A second coupling unit is provided to establish a separable connection between the lower ends of the

sections

12, 13 and the foot 14. This second coupling unit comprises a first coupling element constituting the central portion of the leg 14 and provided with a socket 17 which is surrounded by a conical surface tapering downwardly, i.e., away from the underside of the board 10. The lower ends of the

sections

12, 13 are provided with complementary second coupling elements 16 which can be received in the socket 17 when the sections are moved into abutment with each other in a manner as shown in FIG. 3 or 7. The coupling elements 16 have external surfaces which together form a conical surface complementary to the conical surface surrounding the socket l7 and abutting against the latter when the foot 14 is properly assembled with the leg. An externally threaded bolt 15 is fixedly mounted in the lower end of one ofthe

sections

12, 13 and can be screwed intoa tapped bore 24 which communicates with the central portion of the socket 17. Once the sections l2, 13 are moved into abutment with each other and the tip of the bolt 15 is introduced into the upper end of the tapped bore 24, the operator simply rotates the foot 14 so as to draw the coupling elements 16 into the socket l7 and to thus establish a firm but readily separable connection between the foot and the leg.

The board 10 includes a downwardly extending marginal ledge 25 of rectangular outline whose outer side (i.e., the edge face of the board 10) is provided with a circumferential groove 18. This groove serves to receive one-half of an elongated strip-shaped connecting member 19 (FIG. 6) the other half of which can be received in the groove 18 provided in the board 10 of a second table or in the groove of an auxiliary board or filler board in a manner as shown in FIG. 5. The ends of the connecting member 19 are provided with stops 20 each'of which abuts against two sides of the adjoining ledges 25. Thus, if a connecting member 19 is inserted into the I grooves 18 provided in two sides of a pair of adjacent ledges 25, the stops 20 abut against those sides of both ledges which flank the filled portion of the groove. In this way, the stops 20 prevent lengthwise displacement of adjacent grooves with reference to each other and maintain the board 110 in requisite alignment with the boards 10. Each board 10 can be coupled with as many as four auxiliary boards 110 or with as many as four boards 10 of additional tables, depending on the desired size and/or shape of the resulting composite table. FIG. 5 shows the stops 20 of two connecting members 19 each of which couples the auxiliary board 110 (i.e., a table without a leg and without a foot) to one of two discrete tables of the type shown in FIG. 4. The connecting members 19 are preferably received in the grooves 18 with at least some friction to establish a reliable but separable connection between boards 10, or 10,110.

When the table of FIG. 4 is to be taken apart, the operator rotates the foot 14 in a direction to withdraw the bolt from the tapped bore 24. The foot 14 is then simply lifted off the lower end of the composite leg. The operator thereupon moves the lower ends of the

sections

12, 13 away from each other whereby the rounded faces 22 of the claws 21 roll along each other and permit separation of claws 21 from the claws 23. In the next step, the operator removes the fasteners which connect the coupling portion 11 with the underside of the board 10. The panel (i.e., the top plate) of the board 10 .defines with the ledge a relatively shallow compartment (see FIG. 1) which is deep enough to accommodate the coupling portion 11, one or more connecting members 19, the leg 14 and the

sections

12, 13. Thus, the collapsed table can be converted into a relatively small and compact package which can be stacked with one or more similar tables (see FIG. I) to occupy little room in storage or during transportation. One or more collapsed tables can be readily accom modated in the trunk or in the passenger compartment of an automotive vehicle, on a boat or another conveyance for transport to camping sites, picnic areas, sports events and/or elsewhere. The table can be set up indoors or outdoors. It was found that the table can be used with advantage in restaurants, inns, diners and other institutions which serve beverages or foods and wherein one or more tables must be set up or dismantled and stored with little loss in time. Furthermore, two or more tables (with or without auxiliary boards) can be assembled into larger tables of polygonal or other shape in a manner as described in connection with FIG. 5. All parts of the table can be made of light metal, plastic or other suitable material. It is also possible to use a wooden board with a metallic or plastic leg and foot. The table can be manufactured in many different sizes or shapes. It can be made small enough to be carried along in a bag, and it is equally possible to provide the table with a round or oval board, especially if the table is not intended to be assembled with additional tables or auxiliary boards. However, by employing suitably configurated auxiliary boards, a table with a round or oval board can be readily assembled with one or more rectangular, round or oval tables.

It is further clear that the leg of my improved table may include three or more sections without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Furthermore, the table can utilize a round, oval or polygonal foot as a substitute for a star-shaped foot and the upper ends of the

sections

12, 13 can be pivotally connected to each other. Still further, the coupling portion 11 can form an integral part of the board 10.

It is equally possible to employ different types of coupling units, either between the

sections

12, 13 and board 10 or/and between the

sections

12, 13 and foot 14. The aforedescribed coupling units are preferred at this time because the

sections

12, 13 can be connected to the board 10 without necessitating the use of any tools and because the foot 14 can also be connected to the sections l2, 13 without the use of tools. Furthermore, once the foot is properly attached to the coupling elements 16, it prevents unintentional disengagement of claws 21 from the claws 23. If desired, the position of socket 17 and coupling elements 16 can be reversed, i.e., the lower ends of the sections l2, 13 can form a socket which receives an upwardly extending conical coupling element of the foot.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features which fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of my contribution to the art.

Iclaim:

1. A table, comprising a board having an underside; a composite leg including a plurality of separable elongated sections having first and second ends; a first coupling unit including a first coupling portion provided at the underside of said board and complementary second coupling portions provided at the first ends of said sections and separably engaging said first coupling portion to maintain the leg in a position in which it extends from the underside of said board; a foot; and a second coupling unit including a first coupling element provided on said foot and complementary second coupling elements provided at the second ends of said sections and separably engaging said first coupling element to thereby secure the foot to said leg.

2. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said second coupling portions comprises a first claw and wherein said first coupling portion comprises a plurality of second claws each engaging with one of said first claws.

3. A table as defined in claim 1, further comprising fastener means separably securing said first coupling portion to said board.

4. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein the first ends of said sections are pivotable with reference to said first coupling portion upon separation of said foot from said leg to move the second ends of said sections away from each other and to simultaneously separate said second coupling portions from said first coupling portion.

5. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein the second ends of said sections are movable away from each other on separation of second coupling elements from said first coupling element to thereby permit separation of said second coupling portions from said first coupling portion.

6. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said second coupling portions comprises an outwardly extending claw and wherein said first coupling portion comprises a plurality of inwardly extending claws each of which engages one of said outwardly extending claws.

7. A table as defined in claim 6, wherein said outwardly extending claws have rounded surfaces which roll along each other during movement of said second ends away from each other upon separation of said first coupling element from said second coupling elements.

8. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein said first coupling element comprises a socket and said second coupling elements are male coupling elements which are received in said socket.

9. A table as defined in claim 8, wherein said socket is bounded by a conical surface which tapers in a direction away from the underside of said board and wherein said second coupling elements together define a complementary conical surface which abuts against said first mentioned conical surface.

10. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein said board has an edge face provided with a groove and further comprising a connecting member removably received in said groove and adapted to couple said board to a second board.

11. A table as defined in claim 10, wherein said edge face has a plurality of sides and wherein said groove is provided in at least one of said sides, said connecting member having stops abutting against the sides flanking said one side.

12. A table as defined in claim 10, wherein said board is provided with a downwardly extending ledge and wherein said edge face is provided on said ledge.

13. A table as defined in claim 1, wherein said board includes a top panel and a ledge extending downwardly from the edges of said panel and defining therewith a compartment 1 dimensioned to accommodate said foot and the sections of I shaped.

said threaded member in response to angular displacement between said leg and said foot and while said second coupling elements engage said first coupling element.