DETACHABLE FOOTREST FOR CONVERTING A FOLDABLE BEACH CHAIR INTO A RECLINER

Abstract

A detachable footrest for converting a foldable chair into a recliner, including: (a) a base having a platform portion with a substantially planar surface and an extender portion extending away from the platform portion; (b) a mount attached to the end of the extender portion for detachably clamping the footrest to an elongate frame member of the foldable chair; and (c) a support for supporting the platform portion with the substantially planar surface disposed horizontally above the ground when the mount is detachably clamped to the elongate frame member. Also, an apparatus including the detachable footrest and the foldable chair and a method for using the footrest and a method for transporting the footrest and the foldable chair together.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a footrest that can convert a chair into a recliner. In particular, the invention relates to a footrest that (a) is configured to convert a foldable beach chair into a recliner and (b) that is foldable and easily transportable with the beach chair.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Typically, a beach chair comprises a seat portion and a frame for supporting the seat portion above the ground when the chair is unfolded and in a configuration for seating. The frame typically comprises an elongate frame member covered with fabric and disposed horizontally above the ground at a frontmost part of the seat portion with the chair in the unfolded configuration. With the chair in the unfolded configuration and a person seated with his or her buttocks in the chair, the person's legs extend beyond the elongate frame member at the frontmost part of the chair and are not supported by the chair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a detachable footrest that can convert a chair such as this into a recliner that supports the person's legs above the ground, which in the case of a beach chair is covered with sand. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the footrest comprises:

• • (a) a base comprising a platform portion with a substantially planar surface and an extender portion extending away from the platform portion with an end of the extender portion spaced from the platform portion;
  • (b) mounting means attached to the end of the extender portion for detachably clamping the footrest to the elongate frame member with the chair in the unfolded position; and
  • (c) support means for supporting the platform portion with the substantially planar surface disposed substantially horizontally above the ground when the mounting means is detachably clamped to the elongate frame member;wherein, with the mounting means detachably clamped to the elongate frame member and the support means supporting the platform substantially horizontally above the ground, the extender portion spaces the substantially planar surface a desired distance from the chair that enables a person sitting on the seat portion of the chair to support his or her legs on the substantially planar surface so that his or her legs do not touch the ground.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the base is pivotable with respect to the mounting means from an extended position, in which the mounting means extends from the base in a direction away from the platform portion, to a folded position in which the mounting means extends toward the platform portion of the base such that, with the mounting means clamped to the elongate frame member of the chair, the base can be pivoted from the extended position wherein the platform portion is spaced a distance from the chair to the folded position wherein the footrest lies flat atop the seat portion of the chair with a top surface of the base resting on the seat portion. With the footrest in this latter position, when the beach chair is folded from the unfolded position to the folded position, the beach chair can be folded atop the footrest to sandwich the footrest between the seat portion and a back portion of the beach chair, and the beach chair and the footrest may then be transported together as a single unit.

In still another preferred embodiment of the invention, the mounting means comprises (i) a rod or tube that passes through an opening in the end of the extender portion of the base in a direction transverse to a longitudinal axis of the extender portion, and (ii) a plurality of C-shaped clamps, one at each of end of the rod or tube, that are configured to detachably clamp onto the elongate frame member of the chair to hold the footrest in place. A pair of caps, one at each end of the rod or tube, can be provided to secure the tube in the end of the extender portion. The clamps can hold the footrest in place with the base pivoted to the folded position and with the footrest resting flat atop the seat portion of the chair, as discussed above, or with the base pivoted to the extended position with the support means supporting the platform portion with the substantially planar surface disposed horizontally above the ground. It may be appreciated that the footrest may be configured such that the substantially planar surface can only be supported by the support means horizontally above the ground when the mounting means is clamped onto the elongate frame member of the chair.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the support means comprises a plurality of legs that are pivotable with respect to the platform portion between a plurality of positions including a first position in which the plurality of legs lie substantially flat against an underside of the base, a second position in which the plurality of legs forms a first angle with respect to the base and a third position in which the plurality of legs forms a second angle with respect to the base that is different from the first angle. Each of the first and second angles will preferably be between 80° and 110°. The provision of means to change the angle of the legs with respect to the base enables a user of the footrest to adjust the height of the platform portion above the ground/sand. Thus, when the angle between the base and the legs is 90°, the platform portion will be at a greater height above the ground/sand than if the angle is less than or greater than 90°. This feature is advantageous insofar as elongate frame members of beach chairs can vary in their height above the ground and the provision of means to adjust the height of the platform portion allows the user to adapt the footrest to beach chairs with frames of different dimension.

In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the support means comprises a U-shape support comprising the plurality of legs and a crosspiece joining the legs. Preferably, the base is of generally T shape with the extender portion forming the leg of the T.

In a still further embodiment of the invention, the platform portion and the extender portion of the base are of unitary construction and the legs and the crosspiece of the U-shape support are also of unitary construction.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus comprising the detachable footrest according to any one of the above-described embodiments and a foldable chair. Preferably, the chair is a beach chair and the elongate frame member of the beach chair on which the detachable footrest is clamped is of tubular shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of the footrest in a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of the footrest in a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the relationship between the base of the footrest and a rod that is a component of means for mounting the base to a chair;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing the relationship of the parts of the footrest during their assembly;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the footrest in a folded position clamped to a beach chair; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the footrest in an extended position clamped to the beach chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The above and other features and aspects of the invention are shown in the attached drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings show the footrest as a whole in bottom and top perspective views respectively. The footrest comprises a platform portion 12 with a substantially planar surface and an extender portion 14 that can extend away from the platform portion with an end 16 of the extender portion 14 spaced from the platform portion 12 when the footrest is in an extended position. The footrest 10 further comprises a mount 20 for mounting the footrest on a chair in either the extended position (see FIG. 5) or a folded position (see FIG. 6), and a support 18 for supporting the platform portion 12 above the ground with the footrest mounted on the chair in the extended position.

FIG. 3 shows the base 2 of the footrest 10 and a rod 1 of the mount 20 configured for passing through an opening 40 of the extender portion 14 of the base 2. As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the rod 1, the mount 20 comprises a pair of clamps 4 each of which comprises an opening 22 for securing the clamps 4 to respective ends of the rod 1 and a pair of caps 5 for securing the clamps 4 to the rod 1 in a manner that allows the mount 20 to pivot with respect to the base 2 to any of a plurality of different positions. The clamps have C-shaped openings at ends opposite to the ends of openings 22 for detachably clamping the mount to a tubular frame of a beach chair (see FIGS. 5 and 6).

As shown in FIG. 4, the support 3 may be of generally U-shape comprising a pair of legs 32 and a crosspiece 34 joining respective first ends 33 of the legs 32. Second ends 35 of the legs 32 can be provided with pins 37 that protrude from the respective second ends 35 of the legs 32. An underside of base 2 can be provided with brackets 40 having openings 41 in which the pins 37 of the legs 32 can be inserted to mount the support 3 to the base 2 in a manner that allows the support 3 to pivot with respect to the base 2 to any of a plurality of desired positions.

FIG. 6 shows the footrest 10 attached to a beach chair 50 with the footrest in an unfolded configuration in which the beach chair 50 is converted into a recliner and ready to support the legs of a user sitting in the beach chair. As shown in FIG. 6, the base 2 of the footrest 10 is in an extended position with the platform portion 12 spaced from mount 20 and with the mount 20 pivoted to a position in which it can be clamped to a frame 52 of the beach chair 50.

FIG. 5 shows the footrest 10 clamped to the beach chair 50 in a folded configuration with the base 2 of the footrest 10 resting flat atop the seat portion 56 of beach chair 50 and ready to be transported with the beach chair 50. As described above, with the footrest 10 in this latter position, when the beach chair 50 is folded from an unfolded position to a folded position, the beach chair 50 can be folded atop the footrest 10 to sandwich the footrest between the seat portion 56 of the beach chair 50 and a back portion of the beach chair 50 (not shown), and the beach chair 50 and the footrest 10 may then be transported together as a single unit.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A detachable footrest for converting a foldable chair into a recliner, wherein the chair comprises a seat portion and a frame for supporting the seat portion above the ground when the chair is in an unfolded configuration, the frame comprising an elongate frame member disposed horizontally above the ground at a frontmost part of the seat portion with the chair in the unfolded configuration, wherein with the chair in the unfolded configuration and a person seated with his or her buttocks in the chair, the person's legs extend beyond the elongate frame member at the frontmost part of the chair and are not supported by the chair, the footrest comprising: (a) base comprising a platform portion with a substantially planar surface and an extender portion extending away from the platform portion with an end of the extender portion spaced from the platform portion;(b) mounting means attached to the end of the extender portion for detachably clamping the footrest to the elongate frame member with the chair in the unfolded position; and(c) support means for supporting the platform portion with the substantially planar surface disposed horizontally above the ground when the mounting means is detachably clamped to the elongate frame member;

2. The detachable footrest according to claim 1, wherein the base is pivotable with respect to the mounting means from an extended position in which the mounting means extends from the base in a direction away from the platform portion to a folded position in which the mounting means extends toward the platform portion of the base such that, with the mounting means clamped to the elongate frame member of the chair, the base can be pivoted from the extended position with the platform portion spaced a distance from the chair to the folded position with a top surface of the base resting atop the seat portion of the chair.

3. The detachable footrest according to claim 2, wherein the mounting means comprises (i) a rod that passes through an opening in the end of the extender portion of the base in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the extender portion and (ii) a plurality of C-shaped clamps, one at each of end of the rod, that are detachably attachable to the elongate frame member of the chair.

4. The detachable footrest according to claim 3, wherein the support means is pivotable with respect to the platform portion between a plurality of positions including a first position in which the support means lies substantially flat against an underside of the base, a second position in which the support means forms a first angle with respect to the base and a third position in which the support means forms a second angle with respect to the base.

5. The detachable footrest according to claim 4, wherein the support means comprises a U-shape support comprising a plurality of legs and a crosspiece joining the legs.

6. The detachable footrest according to claim 5, wherein the base is of generally T shape with the extender forming the leg of the T.

7. The detachable footrest according to claim 6, wherein the platform portion and the extender portion of the base are integrally formed and the legs and the crosspiece of the U-shape support are integrally formed.

8. An apparatus comprising the detachable footrest according to claim 2 and the foldable chair.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the chair is a beach chair and the elongate frame member is tubular.

10. A method comprising: (a) providing the apparatus according to claim 8,(b) pivoting the base of the footrest from the extended position with the platform portion spaced a distance from the chair to the folded position with a top surface of the base resting atop the seat portion of the chair;(c) folding the chair from the unfolded position to a folded position with the footrest sandwiched between the seat portion and a back portion of the chair; and(d) transporting the chair and the footrest together as a single unit.

11. A method comprising; (a) providing the apparatus according to claim 8; and(b) converting the chair into a recliner by clamping the mounting means to the elongate support frame of the chair and using the support means to support the platform portion of the chair with the substantially planar surface disposed horizontally above the ground.