Chaise longue

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6588836
  • Patent Number
    6,588,836
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, May 16, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, July 8, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A chaise lounge includes a support device fixed at the rear side of two side rods to expand the two side rods to hold a soft surface sheet. The support device has two pivot bases respectively secured on the two side rods and having a pivot opening. The two pivot openings are respectively combined with a long and a short support member pivotally connected and movable relative to each other. The long support member has one end pivotally combined with the pivot opening and the other end formed with an arcuate edge. The long support member has its upper edge bent inward into a horizontal bend edge for holding the short support member. When the long and the short support member are controlled into a straight line, they will force the two side rods to expand outward together with the soft surface sheet.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to a chaise lounge, particularly to one having a support device to make its soft seat and backrest sheet expanded outward when used, and collapsed when unused.




A conventional stationary chaise lounge is formed with a high backrest for a user to have his/her back rest thereon comfortably, but the size of the whole chaise lounge is so large that one container cannot carry a large number of them in transporting, thus, increasing transporting cost is disadvantageous to both makers manufacturers and consumers.




A conventional collapsible lounge has two-foot frames respectively formed with support members to stand on the ground, and the two support members are respectively screwed firmly with two side rods at two sides of a seat by means of screws. Thus, the seat can be separated from the foot frames to make its size smaller than a stationary chaise lounge, possible to increase transporting amount and lower transporting cost. However, the seat and backrest is made of a soft sheet (such as PVC net cloth), and the upper end of the backrest is supported by an inverted U-shaped rod secured on a rear side of the upper end of two vertical side rods to prevent the portion of the soft seat and backrest sheet held thereon from sagging. The inverted U-shaped rod forces the two side rods at opposite upper sides of the seat and backrest to expand outward to push flat the soft seat and backrest sheet for supporting the head of a user. The width of the inverted U-shaped rod is larger than the distance between the two side rods, so the two side rods have to be stretched outward by machine before they are combined with the inverted U-shaped rod, taking too much labor and time in manufacturing.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




This invention has been devised to offer a chaise lounge provided with a support device, able to expand its soft seat and backrest sheet outward for use, and reduce its size when collapsed, easy in producing and convenient in transporting.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS




This invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a chaise lounge in the preset invention:





FIG. 2

is an exploded perspective view of the chaise lounge in the present invention:





FIG. 3

is a rear view of a support device pivotally assembled in the present invention:





FIG. 4

is a rear view of the support device in a using condition in the present invention:





FIG. 5

is a rear view of the support device expanded in the present invention: and,





FIG. 6

is an upper view of the support device expanded in the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED ENBODIMENT




A preferred embodiment of a chaise lounge in the present invention, as shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, includes a seat and backrest


10


, two-foot frames


20


and a support device


3


combined together.




The two foot frames


20


are positioned separately at left and right, and have three lateral rods


21


,


22


and


23


respectively assembled at a front portion, an intermediate portion and a rear portion between them by means of screws screwing through the side walls of the two foot frames


20


, making up a foot frame base to stand on the ground, with the foot frame base able to be collapsed for facilitating storing and transporting.




The seat and backrest


10


is composed of two side rods


11


and


12


and a soft sheet surface


13


made of soft material (such as PVC net cloth). The two side rods


11


and


12


are respectively formed with a front portion slanting downward, an intermediate portion for a seat, and a rear portion slanting upward for a backrest, and are respectively screwed together with the foot frames


20


for receiving the soft seat and backrest sheet


13


. Then, a support device


3


is provided between the two side rods


11


,


12


, positioned at the rear upper ends of the two side rods


11


,


12


for pushing the two side rods


11


,


12


outward, as shown in

FIGS. 3

,


5


and


6


. The support device


3


can also be provided under the intermediate portion of the two side rods


11


,


12


for making the soft surface sheet expanded outward for a user to sit thereon comfortably.




Specifically, the support device


3


, as shown in

FIG. 2

, is composed of two pivot bases


30


,


31


respectively fixed on the two side rods


11


,


12


. The two pivot bases


30


, and


31


are respectively formed with a pivot opening


300


,


310


faxing each other. The pivot opening


310


is pivotally connected with a long support member


32


, while the pivot opening


300


pivotally connected with a short support member


33


, having the long support member


32


and the short support member


33


pivotally connected and movable relative to each other.




Further, the long support member


32


is a flat rod with a proper thickness and strength and has one end pivotally combined with the pivot opening


310


of the pivot base


31


fixed on the side rod


12


. The long support member


32


has both ends respectively formed with an arcuate edge


321


, and has its upper edge bent inward into a horizontal bend edge


322


to act as a blocking wall for holding the short support member


33


located under, as shown in FIG.


6


. The short support member


33


is of a proper thickness and strength, and has one end pivotally combined with the pivot opening


300


of the pivot base


30


secured on the side rod


11


, and the other end pivotally connected with the long support member


32


. Thus, when the long support member


32


and the short support member


33


are disposed in a straight line, the arcuate edge


321


of the long support member


32


just slightly pushes against the edge of the pivot opening


300


of the pivot base


30


. Then the arcuate edge


321


enables the long support member


32


push against or separate from the edge of the pivot opening


300


with easiness and with little force, rendering the two side rods


11


,


12


easily expanded outward, as shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

.




Thus, when the long and the short support members


32


,


33


are expanded to the largest angle, the arcuate edge


321


of the long support member


32


pushes against the edge of the pivot opening


300


of the pivot base


30


, obtaining supporting and positioning effect, as shown in

FIGS. 4

,


5


and


6


. Besides, the horizontal bend edge


322


on the inner upper end of the long support member


32


can stably hold the upper edge of the short support member


33


.




Furthermore, the whole length of the long support member


32


and the short support member


33


expanded fully is a little larger than the distance between the two pivot openings


300


,


310


. Therefore, when the long and the short support members


32


and


33


respectively have their outer ends fixedly combined with the two pivot bases


30


,


31


, as shown in

FIG. 3

, and the long support member


32


is pressed down in the direction (F) shown in

FIG. 4

, the two support members


32


and


33


will be expanded to the largest angle to force the soft surface sheet


13


to normally expand outward, thus preventing the top portion of soft surface sheet


13


from sagging when a user's head rests thereon and letting the user feel comfortable when lying on it.




On the contrary, when unused, the two support member


32


,


33


of the support device


3


can be pulled inward to become loose, as shown in

FIG. 4

, so as to prevent the soft surface sheet from being always expanded outward and accordingly reducing its resilience after used for a long period of time. Moreover, the whole length of the two support member


32


,


33


of the support device


3


in a fully expanded position is larger than the distance between the two side rods


11


,


12


, therefore the soft surface sheet


13


between the two side rods


11


and


12


can be expanded smooth, and besides, the intermediate portion of two support members


32


,


33


may slightly be curved backward because the support device


3


is confined between the two foot frames


20


, as shown in FIG.


6


. And between the backward curved portion of the two support members


32


,


33


and the soft surface sheet


13


is formed a distance, which may enable the soft surface sheet sagging slightly to prevent a user's head (or buttocks) from directly bumping the support device


3


when resting thereon.




As can be noted from the above description, the chaise lounge in the present invention is preferable to a conventional one. The chaise lounge of this invention doesn't have to push outward its support device


3


for expanding the soft surface sheet


13


outward when it is unused. Only when the chaise lounge is to be used, does the support device


3


need to be stretched outward, thus getting rid of the defect of the conventional chaise lounge that the soft surface sheet may gradually reduce.




While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above, it will be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications that may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. A chaise lounge comprising two foot frames, three lateral rods fixed between said two foot frames respectively at a front portion, an intermediate portion and a rear portion, a seat and backrest fastened firmly with said two foot frames, said seat and backrest composed of two side rods and a soft surface sheet provided between said two side rods, said two side rods respectively formed with a front portion slanting downward, an intermediate portion serving as a seat and a rear portion slanting upward as a backrest: and,Characterized by a support device pivotally fixed between said two side rods for expanding said two side rods upward, said support device composed of a right and a left pivot base, said two pivot bases respectively secured on said two side rods and respectively formed with a pivot opening facing each other, said two pivot openings respectively combined pivotally with a long support member and a short support member, said long and said short support members pivotally connected to each other, said long support member having both ends respectively formed with an arcuate edge, said long support member having one end pivotally combined with said pivot opening of said left pivot base, said long support member having its upper edge bent inward into a horizontal bend edge for stably holding said short support member located under, said long support member having its arcuate edge slightly pushing against an edge of said pivot opening of said right pivot base when said long and said short support members are disposed in a straight line to expand said two side rods outward together with said soft surface sheet.
  • 2. The chaise lounge as claimed in claim 1, wherein said two side rods each has a rear upper end and said support device is fixed with the rear upper ends.
  • 3. The chaise lounge as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support device is fixed with a rear intermediate portion of said two side rods.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
488095 Scott et al. Dec 1892 A
3189382 Fortier Jun 1965 A
4234226 Colby Nov 1980 A
4592126 Bottemiller Jun 1986 A
6341822 Apissomian Jan 2002 B2
6406091 Saul et al. Jun 2002 B1