WO1994028771A1

WO1994028771A1 - A piece of furniture, especially a child's chair

Info

Publication number: WO1994028771A1
Application number: PCT/DK1994/000235
Authority: WO
Inventors: Thomas Hinge
Original assignee: Brio A/S
Priority date: 1993-06-15
Filing date: 1994-06-15
Publication date: 1994-12-22
Also published as: AU6994894A

Abstract

In a piece of furniture, especially a child's chair, the frame comprises at least one pillar (4) for the body, e.g. a seat section (8). The body is equipped with or designed having an engagement portion for engaging a random notch in a row of vertical notches (48) accessible from the front of the pillar. The body further comprises a portion gripping behind the pillar such that it tightens around the pillar. The body can easily be moved up and down by a slight tilting causing a release of the engagement portion from the notches. In cases of a load being put on the body, the latter will become even more firmly secured to the pillar which is of vital importance in a child's chair.

Description

A piece of furniture, especially a child's chair.

The present invention concerns a piece of furniture, in particular a child's chair comprising a frame and a body, such as a seat, a table top, a cupboard module or the like, adjustable in height fitted to it.

In DK-PS 159 367 is described a chair based on the idea that it shall be adjustable to a person through all stages from baby to adult. The chair comprises two vertical side members with support runners directed to the rear. The side members have number of through grooves between which a seat and a foot rest may be fitted. At the upper end the side members are held together by a chairback and at the lower end by a cross member while the side members are tightened around the seat and possibly the foot rest by means of tie bars. By loosening the tie bars the seat and the foot rest may be moved up and down and displaced backwards and forwards. However the chair has the disadvantage that the seat and foot rest may loosen unintendedly during use and due to temperature variations.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a child's chair where the height adjustment of the is considerably simpler than in the case of the known chairs. This has provided a piece of furniture which according to the invention is particular in that the frame comprises at least one standing carrying post for the body with a number of notches accessible from the front and that the body is on the one hand fitted or shaped with a part for engaging an arbitrary notch in the carrying post and on the other hand with a part above it designed to grip behind the carrying post for abutment against its backside. By tilting the lower side of the body forward so that the projections get out engagement of the notches the body may be freely moved up and down the post. In fixing the body use is made of the torque generated by the weight of the body and the load whereby the lower edge of the body is pressed against the front of the post and the strap against its back, in other words the fastening of the body is strenghened when it is loaded-

In the following embodiments of the invention will be described in greater detail with refernce to the attached drawing, in which

Fig. 1 shows a child's chair in a simplified form in perspective,

Fig. 2 shows the top of the chair from the front,

Fig. 3 shows the top of the chair as in Fig. 2 but from the side,

Fig. 4 shows another embodiment of the chair or rather of the engagement between chair and post,

Fig. 5 shows the chair frontally,

Fig. 6 shows a longitudinal section through the chair,

Fig. 7 shows the chairback from above, Fig. 8 shows a horizontal section through the chair just above the foot rest,

Fig. 9 shows a further embodiment of a child's chair, and

Fig. 10 shows a piece of furniture according to the invention.

As will be apparent from the drawing, the inventions consists of tree main parts, viz. a foot construction 2, a post 4, the lower end of which is integrated into the foot 2, and finally a seat 6 which comprises a seat plate 8, a foot rest 10, a backrest 12 and a support bracket 14. In the seat plate 8 there are two rearwards directed dowels 16 which are designed for fitting into holes 18 on the front of the post. Hence the back edge of the seat plate 8 is supported against the post. The support bracket 14 is carried around behind the backrest so that the post may fit between the seat plate/backrest on one side and the bracket on the other. The seat is hence very firmly fixed under influence of the weight of the child but may on the other hand easily be moved up and down the post by tilting the body 6 such that the dowels 16 are pulled out of the holes 18. In this way the seat may be lifted and lowered without problems.

Instead of dowels or other kinds of rearward projections the back edge of the seat plate may engage a series of crosswise oriented grooves 20 or depressions. As will be apparent, this embodiment is different from the preceding in that the post is built as two side members 22, each fitted to an extended foot member 24. The two side members 22 are joined by a top tie 26 and by cross rods 28 connecting the foot members. In the sides facing each other a series of grooves 30 have been provided in the side members. The grooves are downwards directed, at forming angle with the side members. The lower edge of the grooves is preferably rectilinear, but the upper edge is curved upwards towards the opening whereby the fitting of a seat section 6 is simplified. The seat section carries on the underside a plate 32 which is slanted downwards to the rear for engaging the grooves in the side members. As before the seat section has a strap part 34 which reaches behind the side members 22. The strap part 34 is in this case a separate unit, independent of the support bracket 14. The seat section may be freely moved up and down to the desired postion where the slanted plate is introduced into the relevant groove. The upwards slanted direction of the grooves constitutes a further insurance against unwanted release of the chair section. The chair section is moved by lifting it whereby the slanted plate slides up and out of the grooves, and held in this tilted position the section may be freely taken up and down to the new position where the slanted plate again engages the grooves.

As before, the foot rest may be an integrated part of the chair section- In this case it is shown as a separate unit. The foot rest is constituted by a horizontal plate 36 which in the samme way as the chair section is supplied with a slanted plate 38 at its underside which is intended for engaging the grooves in the side members. The engagement with the rear side of the side members is in this case obtained by means of cut-outs 40 in each side of the foot plate at its rear end which is taken somewhat behind the side members. The cut-outs are dimensioned such that the side members fit therein. The foot rest is released from its engagement with the side members in the same way as the chair section, viz. by pulling it upwards, whereby the slanted plate slides up and out of the pair of grooves. Held in this slightly tilted position the foot rest may be freely taken up and down to the new position, in that the foot rest with the cut-outs slides on the side members. The foot rest may be entirely removed by releasing it from the grooves and turning it between the side members so that the cut-outs release their grip, whereupon the foot rest may be pulled out.

Even though the visual impression of the chair here described is completely different from that in the previous example, it falls within the concept of the invention as described above.

In Fig. 9 of the drawing a further embodiment of a child's chair according to the invention is shown. The construction is a variation of those shown in Figs. 1-4. In this case the foot construction 2 is a ring 42 open to the rear with a cross member 44 and possibly also a web part 46 at the front. The post 4 in this case has an L-shape and is fixed to the foot. Consequently the stability is identical in all directions. The holes 48 in the post are rectangular, and below the seat there is a rearward directed cross piece for engaging the holes. Here the foot rest 10 may be moved up and down with respect to the seat plate 8 as there is arow of holes in the two members 50 for moveable bolts in the foot rest. In other respects the construction functions as described above.

A piece of furniture based on the same foot construction as in Fig. 9 is shown in Fig. 10. The body in this case is a table based on the same ring as in the foot. At the rear in the ring there is a cross member 54 for abutment against the front side of the post. Below the cross member there is fitted the rearward directed cross piece which engages the holes in the post. The table top 56 is conceived as a plate of smoke-coloured glass let into the ring. The engagement with the post occurs as described above, in that the ring grips behind the post and on the front the holes are engaged. Lifting and lowering of the table top takes place as described above by slightly tilting it. It will be realized immediately that the body may equally be in the form of a seat.

Even though the invention has been described above in particular in connection with a child's chair, it is obvious that the basic concept of the invention may be used for other types of furniture, e.g. nursing tables, writing desks, writing tables, etc. where the "functional" part, such as table tops, chairs, shelves, etc. is suspended in a similar way by one or possibly several posts.

Claims

P A T E N T C L A I M S

1. A piece of furniture, in particular a child's chair comprising a frame and a body, such as a seat, a table top, a cupboard module or the like, adjustable in height fitted to it, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the frame comprises at least one standing carrying post for the body with a series of notches (18, 20, 30, 48) acces- sible from the front and that the body (6, 36, 52) is on the one hand fitted or shaped with a part (16, 58, 32) for engaging an arbitrary notch in the carrying post and on the other hand with a part (14, 34, 36) above it designed to grip behind the carrying post for abutment against its backside.

2. A piece of furniture according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the notches in the post are shaped as two rows of parallel holes (18) and that the engagement part of the body is constituted by dowels (16)

3. A piece of furniture according to claim l, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the notches in the post are shaped as crosswise oriented grooves (20) and that the body is fitted or supplied with a rearward projecting edge (58) for engaging the grooves.

4. A piece of furniture according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the notches in the post are shaped as essentially rectangular depressions (48) and that the body is fitted or supplied with a rearward projecting part for engaging the depressions.

5. A piece of furniture according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the frame comprises two parallel carrying posts (22) supplied with oppositely positioned depressions or grooves (30) , preferably in the sides facing each other.

6. A piece of furniture according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the grooves are disposed in the sides of the posts facing each other and are downwardly angled to the rear and that the part on the body for engaging is in the form of a common plate (32) with a corresponding angle.

7. A piece of furniture according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the part which grips behind the post (4) is shaped as a strap or bracket (14, 34) .

8. A piece of furniture according to claim 1 and 5, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the part which grips behind the posts (22) is shaped as projections which are fitted between these (Fig. 8) .

9. A piece of furniture according to one of the claims 1-8, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that it is in the form of a child's chair with a seat and a foot rest which are independently moveable (Fig. 5) .