US505795A - Oscar s - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

0. S. JENNINGS.

CONVERTIBLE GHAIR AND STEP LADDER.

' Patented Sept. 26, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

OSCAR S. JENNINGS, OF DANBY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN E. BEERS,

OF SAME PL ACE.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR AND STEP-LADDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 505,795, dated September 26, 1893.

Application filed March 20, 1893.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that .I, OSCAR S. JENNINGS, a resident of Danby, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Convertible Chair and Step-Ladder; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to convertible chairs and step ladders, and has for its object to increase the stability, ease of manipulation, and simplicity of structure in such devices and to reduce their cost; and it consists in the construction hereinafter described and particularly pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a porspective of the chair. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the ladder.

Numeral 1 denotes rear chair posts consistin each of a rear leg and a side rail of the chair back made in one piece; said posts 1 are rigidly secured to each other in proper relative position by the cross bars or rails 2 to constitute a rear chair frame. The chair seat is indicated by 3.

4 are the front posts or legs. These to form a front chair frame are firmly joined by the bar or rail 5 and at their upper ends each is pivoted at 4: to a side rail 6 to which the seat is fixed.

7, 7, are side rails fixed to the front legs and pivotally connected at 7 to the rear legs. Each side rail 6 is pivoted to a front leg as stated and also to a rear leg at 6'. The inner ends of pivots 6' extend into the grooves 8 cut in the outer sides of the back posts of the chair and can freely turn therein and they can also be moved the whole length of said slots when it is desired to convert the chair into a ladder or vice versa.

Holes 9 through the side rails may be provided at the ends of the slots or grooves 8 and the pivots 6 made slightly movable lengthwise, by a screw thread connection if desired with said holes, whereby the pivots can be secured, but this is not deemed essential.

Serial No. 466,902. (No model.)

A chair thus constructed is perfectly stable and no appropriate use of it can cause it to collapse and if ordinarily well made it is firm and safe, the weight of the chair itself tending to maintain its adjustment as a chair which effect is increased by the weight of an occupant.

To convert the chair into a ladder it is only necessary to move the pivots 6 to the upper ends of the grooves or slots 8 thereby turning the side bars 6 and 7 on their respective pivots 4. and 7' and moving the parts into the positions indicated in Fig. 2.

12 indicates a hand hole which may be pro vided in the seat to facilitate grasping it in the operation of converting the chair into a ladder or the ladder into a chair. To effect the latter transformationit is only necessary to move the pivots 6' down to the lower end of the grooves 8. The appropriate use of the ladder has no tendency to produce this result the pivots 4 at such times being preferably in or inside of straight lines drawn from pivots 6' to the feet of the posts or legs 4. If, however, the pivots i were outside of said line it would still be practically impossible to move pivots 6' down in the grooves when the ladder was occupied. The fixed parts of the structure may be joined together in any suitable manner and have any form not inconsistent with the op erations described, and any desired number of cross bars or rails may be used between the posts or bars 1. Four is deemed a very suitable number and these may be variously arranged either to present an edge or a face to the foot when the article is used as a ladder. Bars 2 inclined with reference to the chair back as indicated will present a wide horizontal tread in the ladder and in such case other bars 2 may be used to provide a comfortable back to the chair and strengthen the structure. But it is obvious that either set of bars could be used as steps if the others were omitted.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is In a convertible chair and ladder the main grooved posts 1 connected rigidly by cross bars in combination with the rails 6 having attached thereto seat 3, the bars 7 and posts 4 said bars being pivotally connected to the posts 1 and rigidly to the posts 4 and the rails 6 having pivots movable in the grooves of the posts 1, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OSCAR S. JENNINGS. Witnesses:

MYNDERSE VAN CLEEF, WM. HAZLITT SMITH.

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