Folding chair

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many varieties of folding chairs are known in the art, most of which rely on the seat and back rest of the chair for structural rigidity. Consequently, decorative materials, such as fiberglass, cannot be used for the seat and back portions of most folding chairs. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a folding chair having a frame of sufficient independent strength and rigidity to allow the use of such decorative materials as fiberglass for its seat and back rest portions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention a folding chair is provided having a pair of inverted Y-shaped leg assemblies, the upper end of the rear leg being swingably connected to the front leg intermediate its length in each assembly. The two leg assemblies are interconnected by a rigid seat frame comprising a pair of side members interconnected by a pair of transverse braces. The seat frame is connected to the leg assemblies by swingably connecting the side members to the front legs on a fixed axis and by swingably connecting said side members to the rear legs on a slidable axis. Desirably, a pair of braces also interconnect the front and rear legs, respectively, below the seat frame.

The leg and seat frame assemblies of this invention possess sufficient strength that they do not need to depend on the seat and back rest for rigidity. Thus, the seat and back rest may be molded of materials having lesser structural strengths, such as fiberglass; the seat being supported by and attached to the rigid seat frame, and the back rest being attached to the upper ends of the front legs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a folding chair embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along line 2—2 of FIG. 1, but with portions thereof being broken away;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3—3 of FIG. 1, but with portions thereof being broken away;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 4—4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line

5—5 of FIG. 2, but with portions thereof being broken away.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A folding chair embodying our invention, as shown in FIG. 2, comprises a seat 10 and back rest 12 attached to a foldable frame. The frame is formed by a pair of inverted Y-shaped leg assemblies 14 and 16, each of which is IQ formed by a rearwardly angled front leg 18 having a bracket 19 mounted thereon. A rearwardly angled rear leg 20 is swingably connected at its upper end by a pin 24 to each of the brackets whereby said rear legs are swingable between an operative position shown in FIG. 2 in 15 which the lower ends of the front and rear legs are spaced apart and a collapsed position in which the lower ends of said front and rear legs are disposed adjacent each other. As shown, the pairs of front and rear legs are cross-braced adjacent their lower ends by transverse braces 26 and 28, 20 respectively. Conveniently, end caps 29 are mounted on the lower ends of the legs.

As shown, the leg assemblies are interconnected by a seat frame formed by a pair of side members 32 interconnected by transverse braces 34 and 36. Conveniently, 25 the braces 34 and 36 are contoured to conform to the bottom surface of the seat, which is curved for comfort of the user, and to support the seat substantially continuously across its width. The seat frame is swingably connected to the inner faces of the front legs 18 by pins 30 40 projecting outwardly from the side members 32 to thus form a fixed transverse pivot axis between the front legs and seat frame. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, pins 42 project outwardly from the side members 32 adjacent the rear ends thereof and are slidably carried in slots 43 35 formed on a pair of brackets 44 mounted on the inner faces of the rear legs 20. The pins 42 are retained in said slots by their heads 45 which are interposed between said brackets and the adjacent faces of the rear legs. As shown, the heads 45 have larger cross-sectional extents 40 than the slots 43 and thus said slots are provided at their lower ends with enlarged areas 46 to permit the heads to be inserted into the spaces between the brackets 44 and the rear legs. Thus, the pins 42 and brackets 44 provide a slidable pivot axis between the rear legs and seat frame 45 which acts in combination with the fixed pivot axis between the seat frame and front legs to permit the seat frame to be moved between operative and collapsed position upon movement of the legs between their operative and collapsed! position.

The seat 10 which may be formed from any desirable material, such as fiberglass, rests on, and is supported by, the seat frame. As shown in FIG. 5, the seat is provided with depending flanges 51 along its lateral edges abutting the inner faces of the side members 32, and screws 52 55 project through said flanges for reception in the inner faces of the side members 32. As previously indicated, the seat and braces 34 and 36 have corresponding contours whereby said central portion of the seat rests upon the upper faces of said braces throughout substantial por60 tions of their extents. As shown in FIG. 2, the seat flanges 51 have recesses 53 formed in their lower edges for reception over the braces 34 and 36 adjacent the latter’s connection to the side members.

As shown in FIG. 2, the back rest 12, which can also ⁶⁵ be molded from any desired material, such as fiberglass, has a pair of flanges 54 at its lateral edges curved to abut the inner faces of the front legs 18 in face-to-face engagement. This conforming contour distributes the force on the ends of the back rest which otherwise would be concentrated at the points of connection. Screws 55 extend through the back rest flanges 54 for fixedly mounting the

3,466,084 back rest on the front legs adjacent the upper ends thereof.

While the seat and back rest have been described as being made of fiberglass, it is to be understood, of course, that they may be made of any desired material having a strength sufficient, to support the weight of the user.