US929213A - Folding chair. - Google Patents

Description

G. J. GULLIGKSON.

FOLDING CHAIR. APPLIOATION HLED DBO. so, 1907.

929,213. l Y Patented July 27,1999.

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2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

C. J. GULLIGKSON.

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLIOATION FILED 1330.30, 1907.

929,21 3. Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENT FFICE.

CHARLES J. GULLICKSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. GULLIOK- SON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and lState of Illinois, have invented certain new and' useful Improvements in Folding Chairs; and I do hereby declare that the fol owing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in folding chairs and the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Among the objects of the invention is to produce a folding chair which is capable of bein folded in compact form to occupy a smal space for the purpose of storage and shipment, and which, when set up for use, possesses substantially the strength and rigidity of a non-folding chair.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying my invention. Fig. y2 is a vertical section thereof. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, taken on line 3 3 of Fig.. 2', indicating in full and dotted lines the open and folded positions, respectively, of the chair. Fig. 4 is a detail View illustrating the manner of hinging the chair rounds to the front legs and the manner of interlocking the front legs with the seat member. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the hinge connection between the chair round and the front leg. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the chair rounds. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the front legs of the chair. Fig. 8 is a view in elevation of the upper end of one of the front legs showing a modification of the means for connecting the leg with the seat member.

As shownin the drawings, 1() designates the chair-back, 11 the seat, 12, 12 the rear legs, and 13, 13 the front legs thereof. The rear legs 12 are shown as made integral parts of the side members 14, 14 of the chair-back, in a familiar manner. The two rear legs 12 are connected by means of a round 15 attached rigidly at its ends to said legs and the back members 14 are in a like manner connected by cross members 16, 16 which extend between and are fixed rigidly at their ends to said side members 14. The front legs are secured together by means of rounds Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 30, 1907.

Patented July 27', 1909'.

Serial N0. 408,472.

18, 18 which are attached rigidly at their ends to said front legs. The front legs of the chair are connected with the rear legs, at the sides of the chair, by means of upper and lower rounds 20, 20 which have hinged connection at their front and rear ends with the front and rear legs, respectively, in any suitable manner permitting the front legs and said side rounds to be swung laterally with respect to the rear legs. The seat comprises a rectangular closed frame 22 and a seatboard 23 lying on and attached thereto. The seat frame 22 rests on the upper hinged or side rounds 20, 20 and the upper ends o the front legs 13 and is hinged atv its rear margin to the lower cross-member 16 of the chair back by hinges 25, whereby said seat may be swung upwardly against the chair back into the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The manner of hinging the upper and lower si'de rounds'to the front and rear legs consists, as herein shown, of U-shaped hinge strapsor loops 26, 26', which are fitted over the ends of said rounds and extend at their closed portions beyond said ends. Said rounds 20 are formed at their ends with hori- Zontally concave recesses between which and the closed ends o-f the hingev straps or loops are formed openings 27 which engage and in which have bearing reduced cylindric bearing portions 30, 31 at the upper and lower ends, respectively, of the front and rear cha-ir legs, thev square form of legs herein shown being turned down to provide such reduced portions. The said hinge straps or loops are attached to the rounds by means of bolts 28 which extend transversely through the side members of the loops and the ends of said rounds. Preferably the ends of said rounds are recessed to receive the side mernbers of the hinge loops, thus bringing the sides of the loops flush with the side faces of said rounds.

The upper ends of the front legs are shown as provided, above the upper bearing portions 30, with lugs or tenons 33 which enter downwardly opening mortises or sockets 34 in the underside of the seat frame 22 when the seat is in its normal or lowermost position.. This construction provides an interlocking connection between the seat frame and the front legs which prevents said legs from swinging sidewise and holds them rigidly in position. rIlhe connection of the hinged loops with the reduced bearing portions of the rear legs and at the lower ends of the front legs is such as to hold the hinged rounds vertically in place. In order to prevent the forward hinges of the upper rounds from rising off the upper bearings of the frontV legs when the seat is thrown baclrwardly, may provide washers 35, which are 'fitted to the upper ends of the legs around the tenons or lugs 33 thereof and overlap the strap or loop hinges in the manner clearly'shown in Fig. 4. In lieu of the construction described I may employ the arrangement shown in Fig. 8, which comprises a circular plate or disk 36 fixed to the upper plain end of the leg 13 above the reduced bearing 30, and is itself provided with an integral, upwardly extending lug 37 which constitutes a tenon adapted to enter the socket 34 of the seat frame.

The position of the several parts of the chair when set up in readiness for use is shown in Fig. l, from which it will be observed that the chair has the general appearance of an ordinary wooden chair, and that the legs of the chair are connected together and with the hinged seat in such manner as to effectively brace the chair from stress tending to collapse it. When it is desired to fold the chair, the seat 11 is first thrown upwardly to the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Thereafter the front legs and the side rounds are swung sidewise, in either direction desired, about the hinge bearings of the rear legs in a manner to bring one of the front legs into the plane of the rear legs and to bring the other front leg in front of and against the other rear leg,as clearly shown in Fig. 3. This movement of the front legs is permitted by reason of the hinged connection of the forward ends of said side rounds to said front legs. When the chair is folded in this manner it occupies a space of a depth from front to rear not substantially greater than twice the thickness of the legs, as will be apparent froman inspection of Fig. 3. A large numberof chairs folded in this manner may obviously be piled or packed closely one upon the other to occupy a minimum space.

VVfhile said chair is capable of being so folded,

its construction is such that when set up in readiness for use it is practically as rigid and strong as a chair in which the legs and rounds are rigidly fixed together, as in ordinary chair constructions.

The structural details of the chair may be somewhat varied without de arting from the spirit of my invention and F do not wish to be limited to such details except as hereinafter made the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention:-

In a folding chair, a pair of front legs, a pair of rear legs, front and rear rounds extending directly between and xedly and rigidly attached to the legs of the front and rear pairs, respectively, upper and lower side rounds hinged at their front and rear ends to the front and rear legs to swing horizontally,

the rear legs being extended upwardly to form parts of the chair back, and a seat member hinged at its rear margin to the back to swing upwardly thereagainst and adapted to rest at its forward side on the upper ends of the front legs, said seat member resting on and being supported at its side margin on the upper hinged side rounds, and interfitting connection between the forward marginal part of said seat member and the upper ends of the front legs.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 24th day of December A. D. 1907.

CHARLES J. GULLICKSON.

Witnesses:

Gr. R. WILKINs, T. H. ALFRnDs.

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