US2890744A - Chair or the like object, and support therefor - Google Patents

Description

C. Gr NG June 16, 1959 CHAIR 0R THE LIKE OBJECT, AND SUPPORT THEEEFOE Eile@ oct. 5, 195e 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Clifford G., Ng

.111116191959 Q NG v' 2,890,744`

CHAIR 0R THE; LIKE OBJECT, ANDSUPPORT THEREFOR Filed oct. 5, 1956 2 sheets-sheet 2 i I v l INVENToR. n F ,i Q 4 Clifford` G. Ng

,37M WMA iorneys United States Patent CHAIR lR THE-:LIKE OBJECT, AND SUPPORTTHEREFOR Clifford G. Ng, SanfMateoCounty, Calif.

#Application October 5,. 1956, Serialy No.. 614,237

4 Claims. :(Cl. 15S-191) Thisinvention relates tosupporting'meansfor -a chair seat or the like object, andmore particularly-to a support iframe that can be quickly attached to parts of said object Vby snap-lock connectingmeans, thus obviating the necessi-ty of having to employ additionalsecuring means, such .as separate clamps and bolts andl nuts, heretofore utilized for xedly securing the support frame to the object.

With respect to certain types'of chairs in which the seats are made essentially of rattan, and which are commonly known as basket chairs, it is customary for economic reasons to have the chair seats manufactured in countries foreign to the United States. Such chair seats vare imported into the United States, and'separate frame supports manufactured domestically are providedfor the seats. 'The seats and the lsupport frames are general-ly sold as unattached units, thus' leaving it to the customer to assemble a seat yand support frame. For effecting such assembly, it has, heretofore'been necessary to provide clamps and nuts and'boltsfor iixedlysecuring these parts together.

Summarizing the invention, it eliminates the timerequired and the necessity of having toA perform the manual operation for securing a support frame'to such seat with the usual separate fastening means heretofore required.

-`For this pui'pose, a supportframe having upwardly extending ltugs is provided, and these lugs .are of such character as to provide snap-lock connecting means with parts of the seat or similar object. The invention thus has as its objects, among others, the provision of an improved support frame which can be quickly and easily attached to a chair seat or a similar object, which is of economical and simple construction,y and which is of such character as to lend itself for ready stackingto facilitate shipping andhandling of the same in stacked units. Other objects of the invention will become apparent from vthe following more ldetailed. description.

Referringfto the drawings Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the support frame of the invention;

fFig. `2is a viewe'lookirrg'attheunderside of'a basket Qty-pe 'chairseat to which thesupport of jFig. 1A is attached, to provide the *compl-ete chair; v

iFig. 3 'is Awan 'isometric-view of the assembled chair, in which the chair seat is illustra-ted in phantom lines;

Fig. 4 is an isometric View illustrating a plurality of the supports of Fig. l in stacked relationship for storage or transportation.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken in a plane indicated byline 5 5 in Fig. l.

Chair seat 2 is of conventional construction, comprising frame members of relatively resilient material, such as bamboo, and flexible strips of cellulosic material, such as rattan 3, interwoven with the frame members. The frame members include substantially parallel side rails `4 which are at the bottom of the chair in its normal position, and a concave or downwardly curved rear rail 6 extending transversely with respect to side rails 4 and connected thereto.

Frice Support frame 7 is of very simple construction, land is adapted for quick connection tothe parts of thel chair seat comprising rails 4 Vand V6. )It consists essentiallyfof the following parts. `Two generally U-shaped frame members are provided. They are of-any suitable 'strong but bendable material, preferably iron rods, but may 1be of any other metal or tubing. vEach of these U-shaped members is bent to provide a side rail 8, ya downwardly extending forwardly inclined front leg-9, Vand -a downwardly extending rearwardly inclined rear leg 11.

Adjacent f the front end of frame 7, side rails 8 are rigidly connected together in substantially parallel spaced apart relationship by a transversely extending rail -12Jof suitable material, such as iron, and which for strength is an angle section. VRail'lZ is iixedly secured to-railsf8 by any suitable means such as welding. At their/rear ends,rails'S are desirably unconnected as such connection is unnecessary when the support is connected to the chair seat.

vAplurality of upwardly extending lugs is xed on support frame 7 to provide for snap-lock connection ofsuch support to chair seat parts i or 6. Two of'such lugs-lf3 areformed at the ends of transversely extending rail 12 at the front end of frame 7; and each of these lugs 13 Vhas van inner face 14, the respective faces l@ extending-longitudinally of the chair seat `whereby they Vare opposed-to each other. The distance between such faces 14-is slightly less, in the order of about'a quarter ofaninch -orany other suitable short distance, than the distance lbetween -the outer sides oflside rails 4 in the normal position of -such rails before the support is attached to the chairseat.

These faces 14 are adapted to engage frictionallylongitudinally extending side-rails 4 of the chair seat 2, as Vis shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and because of the natural resiliency of such-side rails 4 andthe'fact that the distance `between lug faces 14 is slightlyless than the normal distance between the outer sides of the side rails, lugs113 will -iirmly grip such side rails in the assembled-position of the frame support on the chair seat. Tofacilitate such gripping actionflugs 13 are bent inwardly slightly as can be seenbest from'Fig. 5.

At the rear` end of support frame `7, two additional laterally spaced apart lugs 16 are provided; being -ixedly secured to rails -8 by any suitable means, desirably welding. Each of these lugsle` has a hook part 17 extending above the support frame and facing in a direction toward lugs 13 at the front end of lsupport frarne7, and `are henceadapted to engage over transverse frame member-6 of the chair seat. lt willbe noted that each of the. four lugsll and 16 is adjacent a top portion of a legof :sup-

port' frame 7, thus providinga strong construction` when the support frame is attached to the chair seat; landthe four lugs are arranged in polygonal-relationship, or in other words, they form the cornersfof a polygon formed 'byimaginary straight-lines connecting the lugs. "This l.polygonalrelationship'ofthelugs makes for rigidity-When -the'support -islattached to the chair` seat. Althoughfour such lugs are most advantageously employed in the pre` ferred embodiment of the invention, such strength factor `can be obtained by any other number of lugs greater than two arranged in polygonal relationship, depending upon the character of the object to which the support frame is adapted to be attached.

In assembling support frame 7 to the chair seat 2, this can be quickly and easily done merely by positioning front lugs 13 over the outer sides of rails l at any convenient location Whereat rear lugs 16 are displaced rearwardly of transverse rail 6, for example, at the location indicated at L in Fig. 2. By merely sliding lugs -13 forwardly along side rails 4, hooks 17 of lugs 16 will become engaged over rear rail 6 of the chair seat.

It will be noted that rear legs 11 of support frame 7 are of effective shorter length than front legs 9. As a result, the top of support frame 7 is inclined downwardly toward the rear thereof when it rests on a support such as a oor.

Consequently, the weight of a person sittingin chair seat 2 will cause a rearward thrust on the chair seat maintaining rm engagement of hooks 17 with rear rail 6 of the chair seat. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, rear legs 11 are actually shorter than front legs 9.

However, the arrangement of the legs could be such that legs 11 are longer, and the top of support frame 7 be inclined downwardly toward the rear by increasing the angle of inclination of legs 11.

No other securing means need be provided after support frame 7 is attached to chair seat 2 in the manner described. However, if desired, a hole 18 may be formed at each end of rail 12 adjacent a lug 13 to receive a small wood screw that can be screwed into a side rail 4 of the chair seat after assembly of the parts. Such securing with wood screws will insure that hooks 17 will not accidentally slip away from rear rail 6, which might otherwise occur should the assembled chair be roughly handled or when the assembled chair is moved from one location to another. The screws are, however, not required to maintain struction of support frame 7 is such as to enable a plurality of the frames to be conveniently stacked for storage,

- or shipment to a customer.

I claim:

1. A quickly attachable and detachable support for a chair seat or like weight supporting object comprising a supporting frame structure including four downwardly extending legs, a first pair and a second pair of chair seat engaging lugs positioned on said frame structure with a lug adjacent the top of each of said legs, each of said l'st` pair of lugs having an inner face extending longitudinally of said supporting frame structure whereby said faces are opposed to each other, said inner faces being spaced from each other a distance slightly less than the distance between outer surfaces of longitudinally extending side frame members of said chair seat whereby each of said opposed faces is frictionally engageable with an outer surface of an asosciated longitudinally extending side frame member of said chair seat, each of the lugs of said second pair being substantially hook shaped with the hook thereof facing the lugs of said rst pair, said hooks being frictionally engageable with a transversely extending rear frame member of said chair seat, whereby said supporting frame structure may be snap-locked into secure engagement with said frame members of said chair seat thereby precluding the need for other auxiliary fastening means.

2. In combination, a chair seat comprising two spaced substantially parallel longitudinally extending resilient side frame members and a rear frame member extending transversely of said side frame members; and a quickly attachable and detachable supporting frame structure for said chair seat including four downwardly extending legs, first and second pairs of chair seat engaging lugs extending upwardly from said supporting frame structure with a lug adjacent the top of each of said legs, each of said rst pair of lugs having an inner face extending longitudinally of said chair seat whereby said faces are opposed to each other and spaced fromeach other a distance slightly less than the distance between the outer sides of said resilient side frame members, each of said opposed faces being frictionally engaged with an outer side of an associated side frame member, each of the lugs of said second pair being substantially hook shaped with the hook thereof facing the lugs of said rst pair and frictionally engaged over said rear frame member, said pairs of lugs securely fastening said supporting frame structure to said chair seat in snap-lock fashion thereby precluding the need for auxiliary fastening means to prevent inadvertent separation of said chair seat and said supporting frame structure.

3. A supporting frame structure Ifor rapid attachment to and detachment from a chair seat which includes two resilient side frame members extending longitudinally of said chair seat and a rear frame member extending transversely of said side frame members, said supporting frame structure comprising a plurality of downwardly extending legs and a transverse rail for operatively connecting together said legs, first and second pairs of chair seat engaging lugs extending upwardly from said supporting structure, each of said rst pair of lugs having'an inner face extending longitudinally of said supporting frame structure whereby said faces are opposed to each other, said faces being spaced from each other a distance slightly less than the distance between outer surfaces of said side frame members of said chair seat whereby each of said faces may be frictionally engaged with an outer surface of an associated side frame member when said supporting frame structure is attached to said chair seat, each of the lugs of said second pair being substantially hook shaped with the hook thereof facing said lirst pair of lugs whereby said second pair of lugs may be frictionally engaged with said rear frame member of said chair seat when said supporting -frame structure is attached thereto, said pairs of lugs adapting said supporting frame structure to be securely attached to said chair seat in snap-lock fashion thereby precluding the need for tools or auxiliary fastening means to effect such attachment.

4. The supporting frame structure of claim 3 wherein the top thereof is inclined downwardly longitudinally rearwardly to insure secure engagement of said second pair of lugs with said chair seat rear frame member when said structure is attached to said chair seat and weight is supported thereby.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Rawlinson May 2l,

Bertoia Sept. 18, 1956

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