WO1992006615A1

WO1992006615A1 - Folding furniture

Info

Publication number: WO1992006615A1
Application number: PCT/GB1991/001799
Authority: WO
Inventors: Patrick William Fitzgerald
Original assignee: Fitzgerald Patrick W
Priority date: 1990-10-17
Filing date: 1991-10-16
Publication date: 1992-04-30
Also published as: GB9307942D0; GB2264638A; GB9022590D0; GB2264638B

Abstract

A folding table or the like has a leaf (10) hinged to a vertically movable carriage (14), so that it can be extended or lowered with respect to the carriage, and its height can be adjusted by the vertical setting of the carriage. A gas strut (86) or the like counterbalances the carriage and provides slight lift. A locking device (70, 72, 74, 76) for the carriage is manually operable by one hand, as is the release mechanism (42-50) for catches (28, 30), which lock the table in the horizontal, or the release mechanism (95-97) for an adjustable device (93, 94, 99, 100) which locks the table leaf at a desired angle when extended.

Description

FOLDING FURNITURE

This invention relates to furniture, and more particularly to furniture which can be folded from an operative condition to a collapsed condition. It is especially applicable to tables, but possibly also to chairs and the like, involving a platform or leaf which is extended in use and is to be folded away into a generally vertical collapsed condition. Folding furniture of this kind has already been disclosed, for example in my earlier patent specifications GB 1367621 and GB 2025204. Both of these specifications disclosed an article of folding furniture including a leaf which is normally used in an extended condition and is pivotally mounted to an upright support at one end of the leaf by a linkage, so that the leaf may be hinged between an extended condition and a collapsed condition in a substantially vertical plane alongside said upright support, releasable means being provided for maintaining the leaf in an extended condition. In those prior art disclosures, there was no easy means provided for adjusting the height of the leaf in the extended condition. Such adjustment would be useful for people of different heights, and especially for disabled people in wheelchairs. Also, the catch release mechanism disclosed in GB 1367621 for maintaining the leaf in the extended condition was not readily useable by physically handicapped people.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an article of folding furniture of the general kind described above, wherein said support comprises a carriage to which the leaf is pivoted, the carriage being movable vertically on the support, means being provided for releasably locking the carriage on the support at a desired height.

Preferably, means are provided for counteracting the weight of the carriage and its associated leaf, so that it can be raised and lowered with little effort. Said counteracting means suitably comprises a gas strut. Preferably the locking means is releasable and engageable manually by means of a lever which can be operated by a single hand, and which will remain in either the locked or unlocked condition when released, whereby the vertical adjustment of the leaf can be effected by the same hand of the user.

The carriage is suitably mounted on the support by means of elements on the sides of the carriage which are slidable in respective channels provided on the support, the slidable elements or the channels being adjustable with respect to the carriage or the support respectively so as to accommodate lack of alignment of the sides of the support when fixed in position, for example to a wall.

The leaf is suitably mounted on the support by means of one or more link arms pivotally mounted at one end to the underside of the leaf and at the other end to the carriage, the inner end of the leaf being pivotally mounted to the support or to the carriage so as to rise and fall as the leaf is moved between its extended and collapsed conditions.

The pivotal mounting may comprise elements on the sides of the leaf which are slidable in tracks on the fixed frame. Preferably, however, the pivotal mounting comprises at least one rod pivotally connected at its upper end to the leaf and vertically slidable in guides provided on the carriage.

The leaf may be releasably maintained in the extended condition by a catch mechanism as described below. According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an article of folding furniture of the general kind described above, wherein said means for maintaining the leaf in an extended condition comprises a catch having a movable part on the leaf spring-loaded towards the support end of the leaf and adapted for engagement with a co-operating part on the carriage when the leaf is in the extended condition, and manually releasable from said engagement by means of a lever pivotally mounted on the leaf so as to lever the movable part of the catch against its spring and out of said engagement. Preferably, the lever is arranged to withdraw the catch on movement of the lever in either direction about its pivot.

Preferably, there are a plurality of said catches on the leaf, all of which are operated by the single lever action. Suitably, there are two such catches, on either side portion of the leaf, the movable parts of the catches being interconnected by a bar, the lever being arranged so as to act on a central region of the bar so as to withdraw it, together with the attached parts of the catches. The lever is suitably provided with a cam which bears upon a part of the said bar. Said part of the bar preferably presents a ramp surface at an angle to the length of the bar. In a particularly preferred form, the lever has two cams, each bearing upon a respective ramp surface, the two ramp surfaces forming an apex, whereby movement of the lever in either direction causes one or the other of the cams to act upon its respective ramp surface and withdraw the bar.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, and readily carried into effect, one embodiment, given by way of example only, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a table in a partially collapsed condition;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the table in the extended condition at a low level;

Fig. 3 shows perspective view of the table in the extended condition at a raised level;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view from below of the table being released from its extended condition; Fig. 5 shows a perspective view from the side of a modified form of the table in the almost extended condition;

Fig. 6 shows a perspective view of a table with a locking mechanism for setting the table leaf at various angles;

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of an ironing board emboding the invention, and Figs. 8A and B show a perspective view of further embodiments of the table.

Referring to the drawings, and firstly to Figs. 1-3, the table comprises a leaf 10 mounted within a rectangular supporting framework 12, so as to be movable between an extended condition, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and a collapsed condition, in which it lies vertically within the framework (Fig. 1 showing the table leaf being withdrawn from its collapsed condition). The framework 12 will suitably be mounted to a wall or other supporting surface. Referring to Fig. 4, the table leaf 10 is pivotally mounted on a carriage 14, which in turn is mounted on the frame support 12, so as to be vertically movable up and down the frame. A pair of arms 16 are pivoted at 18 to the lower end cross-member 20 of the carriage, and are pivoted at their other end 22 to respective brackets 24 secured to the underside of the table leaf 10. During the movement of the table between the collapsed and extended conditions, the inner end of the table is guided by pins 52 which project from the sides of the table and travel in guide channels 54 in the frame 12.

The brackets 24 are elongate in form, each comprising a central tube 26 housing a bolt 28 which normally projects from the inner end of the tube 26 for engagement with a retaining latch 30 which is mounted on the upper cross- member 32 of the carriage. Each latch comprises a ramp surface leading to a shoulder behind which the bolt engages, and a stop element defining into said shoulder a space within which the bolt is located in the latched condition. The bolts 28 are carried at the ends of rods 34 which extend from the tubes 26 and are joined by a crossbar 36. The bolts are urged into the extended condition for engagement with the latches 30 by means of compression springs 38 housed within the tubes 26 surrounding a part of the rods 34, and bearing at their other ends against respective stop pins 40. The bolts can be withdrawn from engagement with the latches 30 by means of a lever arm 42 pivotally mounted at 44 to the underside of the table, and carrying a cam 46 having a pair of lobes 48 which are capable of bearing on respective ramp surfaces 50 provided in the central region of the bar 36 so as to form an apex. In the neutral position of the lever arm 42, both lobes 48 bear upon their respective ramp surfaces. By pivoting the lever arm to one side or the other (arrow A) of the neutral position, one of the lobes 48 bearing upon its respective ramp surface 50 displaces the bar 36 (arrow B) retracting the rods 34, and hence the bolts 28, thereby allowing the table to be hinged on its arms 16 into the collapsed condition within the frame 12.

The carriage 14 is slidably supported in the frame 12 by means of nylon blocks 56 or the like mounted on the sides of the carriage and slidable in channels 58 in the frame 12. In order to compensate for any slight misalignment of the side members 13 of the frame 12, each pair of blocks 56 is secured to a bar 60, pivoted at its centre 62 to a respective side frame member 64 of the carriage. The ends of the bar 60 project above and below the frame members 20, 32 of the carriage, and are secured to brackets 66 on the carriage by means of bolts 68. The brackets 66 have elongated slots through which the bolts 68 pass, thereby allowing the bars 60 to pivot through a few degrees about the centre 62 prior to tightening the bolts 68. In this way, any corresponding misalignment of the side frame members 13 on being secured to a wall, for example, can be compensated.

The movement of the carriage up and down the frame enables the height of the table to be adjusted, as can be seen from Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. It is locked at the desired height by means of a finger 70 carried at the lower end of a rod 72 which is journaled in the carriage

14. The rod can be rotated by means of a lever 74 at its upper end, so as to bring the finger 70 into and out of engagement with a selected slot 76 in a vertical rack member 78 which is mounted at its lower end on a bracket 80 on a cross member 82 of the fixed frame 12, and extends loosely within a box housing 84 on the carriage. Also loosely carried within the box housing 84 is a gas strut

86, the lower end of which projects below the carriage and also bears upon the bracket 80. The purpose of the gas strut is to counterbalance the weight of the carriage and table, so that it can be raised or lowered by one hand of the user, without undue effort. It will be apparent that the lever 74 is readily movable by hand, and will stay in whichever of the locked or unlocked positions is has moved to. Thus the user will have the same hand free to move the table and carriage or down in the unlocked condition.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the table here is essentially similar to that described in Fig. 4, except that instead of the inner end of the table leaf being guided by pins 52 and channels 54, as in Fig. 4, the guidance is provided by a pair of rods 90 which are vertically slidable in sleeves 92 mounted on the top and bottom of the side members 64 of the carriage. At their upper ends, the rods 90 are pivotally connected to respective brackets 9I secured to the underside of the table leaf. This enables the leaf to be secured at an angle to the horizontal in its extended condition, simply by locking the rods 90 or the table leaf at the desired position, for which purpose suitable manually operable locking means may be provided. This is illustrated in Fig. 6, where a channel 93 with a series of slots 100 is spring-loaded (not shown) so that a selected slot 100 engages a pin 94 on the carriage, thereby releasably locking the channel at the selected height. The upper end 99 of the channel is pivoted to the underside of the table leaf adjacent its rear edge, so that the table is locked at the angle determined by the selected slot 100. The channel 93 is released from its engagement with the pin 94 by rotation of a lever 97 on either side.of the table leaf, fast with a horizontal connecting bar 95, and having a lug 96 which bears upon the channel to urge it away from the pin 94 and against the resilience of the spring loading. Since this can lock the leaf at any angle, including the horizontal, such a construction can eliminate the need for the catches 28, 30 and their associated release mechanism, even though these are shown (optionally) in Fig. 6.

Referring to Figure 7, another embodiment of the invention is in the form of an ironing board. In this embodiment the usual design of such a board dictates that the leaf 10 should be narrower than for a table. As a consequence of this preferably only one bolt/latch mechanism (only the lever arm 42 and latch 30 are shown) is employed. This mechanism may be made to go along the centre line of the underside of the leaf. As a consequence of this, carriage locking mechanism (70, 74, 78) is offset to one side, and gas strut 86 offset to the other side.

The frame 12 is mounted in a cupboard style housing, with door 15.

A potential disadvantage with the above embodiments is that the sliding mechanism is visible on either side of the leaf, unless encased in a housing, such as with the ironing board of Fig. 7. This could be considered unsightly in some cases, and may be modified by adding a second link arm 17 or pair of link arms 17, in the manner described in my patent GB 1367621 and as illustrated in Fig. 8A hereof. That is, the leaf will be pivotally attached to the carriage 14 by a linkage comprising longer and shorter arms (16, 17) pivotally attached to one end of the leaf 10 at respectively outer and inner positions (22 and 23 respectively) with respect to the carriage 14 and pivotally attached or adapted for pivotal attachment at their other ends to respectively lower and upper positions (18, 19) on the carriage 14 so that when not in use the leaf may be hinged into a generally vertical plane alongside the carriage 14. This modification allows the width of the leaf 10 to be extended and provided with a depending skirt 11 so as to cover the frame support 12 when said leaf 10 is in the vertical position.

Fig. 8A shows the catch release mechanism based on that described in GB 1367621, but with a transverse bar 36 joining the outer ends of the rods 34 to facilitate simultaneous withdrawal of the bolts. Fig. 8B, however, shows the improved catch release mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4 hereof, where a lever arm 42 operates the catches via the bar 36. This may necessitate a cut-out in the front of the skirt 11, as shown.

Claims

1. An article of folding furniture including a leaf (10) which is normally used in an extended condition, and is pivotally mounted to an upright support (12) at one end of the leaf by a linkage (16), so that the leaf may be hinged between an extended condition and a collapsed condition in a substantially vertical plane alongside said upright support, releasable means (28,30) being provided for maintaining the leaf in an extended condition, characterised in that said support (12) comprises a carriage (14) to which the leaf is pivoted, the carriage being movable vertically on the support, means (70-76) being provided for releasably locking the carriage on the support at a desired height.

2. Folding furniture according to claim 1, including means (86) for counteracting the weight of the carriage and its associated leaf, so that it can be raised and lowered with little effort.

3. Folding furniture according to claim 2 wherein said counteracting means (86) comprises a gas strut.

4. Folding furniture according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the locking means (70-76) is releasable and engageable manually by means of a lever (74) which can be operated by a single hand, and which will remain in either the locked or unlocked condition when released, whereby the vertical adjustment of the leaf can be effected by the same hand of the user.

5. Folding furniture according to any one of the preceding claims when said locking means comprises a rack (78) with a series of recess (76) and a finger (70) movable into and out of engagement with a selected recess (76), one of the rack and finger being mounted on the support (12) and the other on the carriage (14), whereby the height of the carriage can be determined according to the recess (76) selected for engagement by the finger (70).

6. Folding furniture according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the carriage (14) is mounted on the support (12) by means of elements (56) on the sides of the carriage which are slidable in respective channels (58) provided on the support, the slidable elements or the channels being adjustable (66,68) with respect to the carriage or the support respectively so as to accommodate lack of alignment of the sides of the support when fixed in position, for example to a wall.

7. Folding furniture according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the leaf (10) is mounted on the support (12) by means of one or more link arms (16) pivotally connected at one end to the underside of the leaf and at the other end to the carriage (14), said one end of the leaf being pivotally connected (52,94) to the support (12) or to the carriage (14) so as to rise and fall as the leaf is moved between its extended and collapsed conditions.

8. Folding furniture according to claim 7 wherein the pivotal mounting comprises elements (52) on the sides of the leaf which are slidable in tracks (54) on the support (12).

9. Folding furniture according to claim 7 wherein the pivotal mounting comprises at least one rod (90) pivotally connected at its upper end (94) to the leaf and vertically slidable in guides (92) provided on the carriage.

10. Folding furniture according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said means for maintaining the leaf in an extended condition comprises a catch having a movable part (28) on the leaf spring-loaded (38) towards said one end of the leaf and adapted for engagement with a co-operating part (30) on the carriage when the leaf is in the extended condition, and manually releasable from said engagement by means of a lever (42) pivotally mounted (44) on the leaf so as to lever the movable part of the catch against its spring and out of said engagement.

11. Folding furniture according to claim 10 wherein the lever is arranged to withdraw the catch on movement of the lever in either direction about its pivot (44).

12. Folding furniture according to claim 10 or claim 11 wherein there are a plurality of said catches on the leaf, all of which are operated by the single lever action.

13. Folding furniture according to claim 12 wherein there are two such catches, on either side portion of the leaf, the movable parts of the catches being interconnected by a bar (36), the lever (42) being arranged so as to act on a central region of the bar so as to withdraw it, together with the attached parts of the catches.

14. Folding furniture according to claim 13 wherein the lever (42) is provided with a cam (48) which bears upon a part (50) of the said bar.

15. Folding furniture according to claim 14 wherein said part (50) of the bar presents a ramp surface at an angle to the length of the bar.

16. Folding furniture according to claim 15 wherein the lever (42) has two cams (48), each bearing upon a respective ramp surface (50), the two ramp surfaces forming an apex, whereby movement of the lever in either direction causes one or the other of the cams to act upon its respective ramp surface and withdraw the bar.

17. Folding furniture according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the means for maintaining the leaf (10) in an extended condition comprises angle setting means (93-100) for locking said one edge of the leaf at any of a plurality of preselected heights relative to the carriage (14), whereby the leaf in its extended condition can be set at a selected angle to the horizontal.

18. Folding furniture according to claim 17 wherein said angle setting means comprises a rack (93) with a plurality of spaced apart recesses (100), and a pin (94) which is releasably engageable in a selected recess, one of said rack and said pin being connected to the leaf (10) and the other to the carriage (12).

19. Folding furniture according to claim 18 wherein the said angle setting means further includes a manually operable lever (95,95,97) mounted on the carriage and movable to lever the rack (93) and pin (94) out of engagement.