Folding table

The present invention relates to a table with four legs which can be reduced to a minimum of space by folding its legs in pairs until bringing them into contact with the underside of the table top.

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The supporting structure which supports the tray consists of two pairs of feet which are respectively secured together by a rod or a crosspiece, these pairs of feet can be blocked perpendicularly to the tray, so that they can be detached by articulation mechanisms operating together in each pair, by means of automatic blocking members, and which can also, after these blocking members have been removed, be folded up until contact with the underside of the platform, the sides of which are perpendicular to the hinge pins of the pairs of legs must be more than twice the height of the legs.

It is known that a very important problem which arises in the field of equipment items lies in the need to minimize the volume of these items and their packaging so as to limit the costs of transporting and storing furniture. A second problem resides in the growing need to facilitate assembly and disassembly operations so that they can be carried out not only by non-specialized personnel but also by the user who may sometimes need to disassemble the table to park it or to reassemble it elsewhere or in another room.

By making it possible to fold the table, the present invention solves these problems by means of a set of mechanisms which allow the table to be put in use or out of service and vice versa quickly and automatically without having to use any tool. or to removable blocking members such as screws or similar parts which can be lost when dismantling and performing maneuvers than everything. the world can do and at the same time ensuring perfect stability at the table in position to be used.

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- 3 In the accompanying drawing, there is shown by way of indicative and non-limiting example, two embodiments of the invention; drawing on which:

Figure 1 is a side view of the longitudinal side of the table in the use position;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of this table in the assembly phase;

Figure 3 is an axial, vertical and partial section of the upper end of a leg and part of the table made along a plane perpendicular to the axis of articulation in the case of a table with legs of rectangular section;

Figure 4 is a cross section of one of the crosspieces which interconnect the pairs of legs showing, seen from the inside, part of the longitudinal side of the table;

Figure 5 shows in detail the corner area of ​​the table with a partial side view of one of its longitudinal sides;

Figure 6 is a section similar to that of Figure 3 but relating to a second embodiment better suited to the case of tables provided with legs of round cross section or the like;

Figure 7 is a top view of the corner portion of the table of Figure 6 which is assumed. partially removed the upper side of the tray.

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- 4 It will be noted that the two embodiments are substantially identical, apart from a few specific adaptations in their form, so that the functionally equivalent parts will be identified in both cases by the same figures. We will therefore only describe one of these embodiments.

The table essentially comprises an upper plate 1 made of any suitable material and which is integral with two longitudinal rods 2, preferably tubular, at the ends of which are housed the parts of the articulation mechanisms carried by the assembly 1-2, which will be produced with advantage in the form of cast and added parts 3 · The parts of these mechanisms which cooperate with them are also produced, for construction reasons, in the form of cast and attached parts 4, integral with the body of the feet 5 which are also preferably tubular, of rectangular section (Figures 1 to 5) or round (Figures 6 and 7) or the like. The parts 4 and, consequently, the pairs of feet 5 are made integral with one another by a cross-member 6, preferably tubular.

The essential part of the table, according to the present invention, is the articulation mechanism of the pairs of opposite feet 5 made respectively integral by the crosspieces 6. For this purpose, each lever piece has been mounted with a lever system. , pivoting about the axis 7 perpendicular to the sides of the rods 2, these axes 7 being coaxial in each pair of feet 5 intended to move together. The end 8 of the lever arm 8a is in the form of a hook so as to grip the hook-shaped end 9 of the part 4 which pivots as well as the foot 5 which is integral therewith, as does the part 3, around an axis 10 parallel to the axes 7 and coaxial with a similar articulation axis 10 of the part 4 of the foot 5 which is made integral by the cross-member 6.

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The other lever arm 8b is connected to a »

.robust spring 11 attached at '12 to the body of the part 3 st which tends to keep the two elements 8 and 9 attached to one another. The two arms 8a of the two blocking systems for the feet 5 of a pair are made integral with one another by a transverse bar 13 (FIGS. 2 and 3 to 7) which passes under the table while being normally hidden from view. the view and which is provided, at least at an intermediate point, with a fin 14 for capturing it.

When the table is in the position of use (FIGS. 1, 3 and 6) the springs 11 keep the hook-shaped ends 8 and 9 firmly attached to each other and the table behaves like a monolithic assembly. When we want to bring it back to its minimum size, we grab under the plate one of the fins 14 in order to simultaneously rotate the lever arms 8a as a result of the rotation of the bar 13 around its axis represented by the alignment of the axes 1 , oval guides 15 being provided in the bodies 3 to allow this displacement of the bar 13 correspon20 dante. The pair of hooks 8 having been lowered by overcoming the action of the springs 11, the sides 4, 5 and 6 can be rotated around the coaxial axes 10 (FIG. 5) until the whole assembly is folded against the underside of the table top 1-2. The heads 4a of the parts 4 will obviously be profiled at their upper part so that they can, when its sides pivot, slide in contact with the lower face of the plate 1, presenting at their end 4b a flat area to determine the relative position. mutual at the end, of travel between the sides and the plate in the position of use in which the different parts are locked by the pair of detachable elastic stop systems described above whose movements are synchronized.

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- β The operations to return the table from the folded position to the position of use are even simpler because it suffices to rotate each pair of feet 5 in the opposite direction, made integral by the cross-member 6, the attachment systems and blocking then automatically triggered by the action of the springs 11 to put the table in place for use. Figure 2 shows a table in the position where a pair of legs 5 is already in the use position while the other pair is still folded; the arrows indicate the direction of the rotations performed. or to carry out to put the table in position to be used. One could obviously also provide well known elastic stop members for locking the feet in the folded position.