US2120183A - Folding chair - Google Patents

Description

June 7, 1938.

H. o. MEARKLEI FOLDING CHAIR Filed March 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 7, 1938. H. o. MEARKLE FOLDING CHAIR Filed March 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v 2,120,183

FOLDING CHAIR Harland 0. Mearkle, Sharon Hill, Pa., assignor to Philadelphia Screen Mfg. Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 29, 1937, Serial No. ream 2 Claims.

The present invention comprehends a folding adjustable backarm-chair which may be folded .or set up by a single relative movement of its component parts and which when folded occupies a minimum amount of space.-

Another object of the invention is to provide a chair of the character'set forth having novel means for effecting adjustment of the back support at will.

A further feature of the invention resides in the comparatively simple construction of the chair, the economy with which it may be produced and the ease with which it may bet set up or folded and adjusted.

These and other objects and features of the invention and the details of construction thereof are set forth hereinafter and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a folding adjustable back arm-chair made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a detached fragmentary view in perspective illustrating certain structural details of the chair;

Figure 3 is a view in section vertically through the chair, and

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic fragmentary view illustrating the positions and movement of the back support and associated elements when adjusted from reclining to sitting position.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral I designates a pair of front legs which are connected together adjacent their lower or bottom ends by means of a strut or brace 2. The front legs I are pivotally connected to the side frame members 3 of the seat frame outwardly thereof as indicated by reference numeral 4, and the upper extremities of said front legs I are pivotally connected as at 5 to arm rails 6 which are in turn pivoted to rear side upright members 1 as indicated at 8.

A pair of rear legs 9 have their upper forward ends pivotally connected to the front legs I by the previously mentioned means indicated by reference numeral 4 and these rear legs 9 decline rearwardly of the chair a suflicient distance to give a broad firm support thereto and also to support the rear side uprights l the lower ends of which rest upon said legs 9 and are connected thereto by means of links I pivoted adjacent their opposite ends to said rear uprights l and rear legs 9 respectively.

The seat frame is supported at the rear of the chair by means of abrace or strut which connects between the rear uprights .l, the side frame members 3 of said seat frame merely rest upon said strut or brace II and haveino positive or other connection therewith. A front transverse,

member '12 connects the forward ends of the side members 3 of the seat frame and a rear transverse member |3 connects between the rearward ends of said side members 3, this rear member l3 being located rearwardly of the uprights I and provided with laterally projecting portions or elements I 4 at opposite ends thereof which extend into the path of said uprights l and function as supports therefor when the chair is set up as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings,

A back support having side and top frame members l5 and I6 respectively is pivotally connected adjacent the lower ends of said side frame members l5 to the side members 3 of the seat frame as indicated by reference numeral l1 and these same side frame members l5 are further connected to the upper ends of the uprights l by means of links l8 pivoted at their opposite ends to said uprights l and side frame members I5 respectively as at 8 and I 9 to permit said back support to be adjusted to either a reclining or sitting (upright) position with respect to the seat frame and chair structure.

To adjust the back support from say, for example, reclining to sitting (upright) position, the back structure including the side frame members I5 is lifted or raised upwardly, carrying with it the seat frame which is raised from its position of rest upon the brace or strut H to the position shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 4 of the drawings, and causing the uprights l to approach a vertical position likewise shown in dot and dash lines in said Figure 4. As these elements of the chair assume the aforementioned relative positions, the back support and its links l8 are swung in a clockwise direction with respect to the drawings about the pivot 8 to a position forwardly of the uprights 1 until the seat frame again resumes its position upon the strut H and the uprights I assume their normal position shown in solid or full lines in Figure 4, the back support and links [8 ultimately assuming the position shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 3, and in dotted lines in Figure 4. The same operation takes place when adjusting the back support from sitting or upright position to resupport and links 18 are swung in a counterclockwise or rearward direction with respect to the figures in the drawings.

In use with the chair in a set-up position, as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings, when it is desired to collapse or fold the same, it is merely necessary to grasp the front transverse member l2 of the seat frame and the top frame member N3 of the back support structure and swing or pivot these members and their associated structure toward one another. In similar manner, when the chair is folded, opening or setting up thereof is accomplished by grasping said members l2 and I6 and relatively separating them and their associated structure as far as possible, the primary folding action taking place about the pivots I! in both the folding and setting-up operations.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been set forth herein for descriptive purposes, it is not intended that said invention shall be precisely limited thereto but that modifications and changes may be incorporated and embodied therein within the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a folding chair, a. pair of front legs, a pair of rearwardly declining rear legs pivotally connected to said front legs, a. pair of rear uprights arrangedto rest upon said rear legs for support when the chair is set up, arm rests pivotally con- 2,120,183 clinin'g position with the exception that the back nected to the front legs and uprights, members movably connecting said uprights and rear legs, a transverse element connecting the uprights, a back support structure, a seat structure pivotally connected to the front legs and said back support structure arranged to rest upon said transverse element for support when the chair is set up, and other members adjustably connecting the back structure and the rear uprights to permit the former to be swung relative to the latter between two positions disposed respectively at an angle to each other and said seat structure.

2. In a folding chair, a pair of front legs, a pair of rearwardly declining rear legs pivotally connected to said front legs, a pair of rear uprights arranged to rest upon said rear legs for support when the chair is set up, arm rests pivotally connected to the front legs and uprights, members movably connecting said uprights and rear legs, a back support structure, a seat structure pivotally connected to the front legs and said back support structure, means for supporting the rear of said seat structure when the chair is set up, and other members adjustably connecting the back structure and the rear uprights to permit the former to be swung relative to the latter between two positions disposed respectively at an angle to each other and said seat structure.

HARLAND O. MEARKLE.

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