Patent Application
20130119713
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable chair, and more particularly to a foldable chair comprising a fabric made chair seat and a foldable frame adapted for folding and unfolding the chair seat, wherein the foldable chair provides a rigid and strong support while it is easy for hand carrying, storage and usage.
2. Description of Related Arts
Foldable chairs are easy to be carried and used both indoor and outdoor. A typical foldable chair comprises a foldable frame and a seat member foldably supported by the foldable frame in such a manner that the chair is capable of folding between a folded condition and an unfolded condition, wherein in the unfolded condition, the foldable frame stands on a ground surface and supports the seat member in a substantially horizontal position for a user to set, and that in the folded condition, the foldable frame can be pivotally and collapsibly folded to form a compact structure for ease of carry and storage.
Accordingly, the legs of the frame of the foldable chair are connected together by joint members such as rivets, screws or the like, when a user sits on the seat member, the downward force will be directly applied on the joint members. The repeat movement between the folded condition and the unfolded condition of the foldable chair may make the joint members become loosen. In other words, a conventional foldable chair often fails to provide a stable support which is prone to flip over when a heavy user sits on the seat and is easy to be damaged when a relatively heavy downward force is applied thereon. Therefore, a portable and flexible foldable chair which has a light weight for hand carrying or storing in a trunk of a vehicle as well as enhanced structural strength and stability for use is highly desired.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a foldable chair comprising a chair seat and a foldable frame adapted for folding and unfolding the chair seat wherein the foldable chair provides a rigid and strong support while it is easy for hand carrying, storage and usage.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable chair adapted to fold between a folded condition and an unfolded condition, wherein in the folded condition, the chair seat and the foldable frame are folded into a compact structure for ease of carrying and storage, and that in the unfolded condition, the foldable frame unfolds the chair seat for a user to sit thereon comfortably.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable chair, wherein the foldable frame comprises two stand frames prarallelly and spacedly aligned with each other, wherein the fabric made chair seat is mounted to the two stand frames in such a manner that the chair seat can be extended therebetween when the foldable chair is in the unfolded condition to define a sitting platform.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable chair, wherein the first crossed leg is connected to the second crossed leg by a stand stopper, wherein the stand stopper enhances the stability of the stand frame and also facilitate the movement of the first crossed leg with respect to the second crossed leg.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable chair, wherein the foldable frame further comprises a first support comprising two first supporting arms crossedly connected at a first pivot point, and a second support comprising two second supporting arms crossedly connected at a second pivot point, wherein the two first supporting arms and the two second supporting arms are connected by support stoppers, and thus a distance between the two stand frames is maintained and the stability of the foldable chair is attained, especially when the user sits on the chair seat.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable chair which has a simple and strong structure while manufacturing in lower cost to enable it being affordable to all consumers.
Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a foldable chair, comprising:
a chair seat;
a foldable frame comprising two stand frames substantially aligned parallelly and spacedly with each other, wherein each of said two stand frames comprises a first crossed leg and a second crossed leg; and
two stand stoppers mounted to said two stand frames respectively, wherein each of said two stand stoppers connects said first crossed leg with said second crossed leg at a pivot point, so that said first crossed leg rotates with respect to said second crossed leg between a folded condition and an unfolded condition, wherein said chair seat is extended between said two stand frames to define a sitting surface for a user to sit on when said foldable chair is in said unfolded condition.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
Referring to
Accordingly, the chair seat 10 is made of soft material, and thus the chair seat can be a fabric seat, weave seat, or canvas seat so that the user can comfortably sits thereon. In other words, the chair seat 10 is made of soft and flexible material so as to provide a lighter weight structure and convenient seating effect for the user.
Referring to
Each of the stand frames 21 comprises a first crossed leg 211 and a second crossed leg 212, wherein the foldable chair comprises two stand stoppers 30 mounted with said two stand frames 21. Accordingly, each of the two stand stoppers 30 connects the first crossed leg 211 with the second crossed leg 212 at a pivot point 213, so that the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212 are capable of rotating with respect to each other about the pivot point 213. Accordingly, the first crossed leg 211 can be overlappedly and parallelly aligned with the second crossed leg 212 in the folded condition, and that when the first crossed leg 211 rotates with respect to the second crossed leg 212 in the unfolded condition, the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212 can be unfolded to a cross-X structure adapted for standing on a ground surface for supporting the user sitting on the chair seat 10.
Referring to
Accordingly, the stopper body 31 is mounted to the second crossed leg 212 by a first joint member 33, and the stopper body 31 is mounted to the first crossed leg 211 by a second joint member 34, so that the first crossed leg 211 is adapted to rotate with respect to the second crossed leg 212 about the stopper 30. In other words, the first joint member 33 penetrates the second crossed leg 212 and the stopper body 31 for mounting the stand stopper 30 with the second crossed leg 212, the second joint member 34 penetrates a portion of the first crossed leg 211 in the receiving hole 32 and the stopper body 31 for connecting the stand stopper 30 with the first crossed leg 211, as shown in
According to the prior art, the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212 are connected by just a rivet or a screw, but in this preferred embodiment, with the help of the stand stopper 30, when the users sits on the chair seat 10, the downward force applied on the two stand frames 21 will be distributed by the first joint member 33 and the second joint member 34. In other words, the strength of the foldable chair is enhanced by the connection between the stand stopper 30 with the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212.
It is worth mentioning that the length of the first crossed leg 211 can be different from the second crossed leg 212. For example, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first crossed leg 211 is longer than the second crossed leg 212, wherein when the foldable chair is in the unfolded condition, the first crossed leg 211 provides a backrest for the user sitting on the chair seat 10 and the second crossed leg 212 provides a seat support for the user.
Accordingly, the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212 are both preferably constructed in arc shape so as to define a desired angle when the foldable frame 20 is in the unfolded condition. The pivot point 213 divides the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212 into two half portions: an upper portion and a lower portion. When the foldable chair is in the unfolded condition, the upper portion of the first crossed leg 211 and the corresponding upper portion of the second crossed leg 212 define the unfolding angle of the foldable frame 20 in such a manner that the chair seat 10 is resting on the upper portion 2111 of the first crossed leg 211 and the upper portions 2121 of the second crossed leg 212 at a position above the stand stopper 30.
The chair seat 10 comprises a seat member 11 having a first end 111 and a second end 112, wherein the first end 111 of the seat member 11 is mounted to the upper portion of the first crossed leg 211 and the second end 112 of the seat member 11 is mounted to the upper portion of the second crossed leg 212 in such a manner that the seat member 11 is extended between the two stand frames 21.
It is worth mentioning that the chair seat 10 comprises a plurality of fasteners 12 provided on the edge of the seat member 11 of the chair seat for grasping the upper portions of the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212 so that a downward force applied on the chair seat is distributed by the first crossed leg 211 and the second crossed leg 212.
Referring to
Referring to
It is worth mentioning that two first support arms 221 of the first support 22 and the two second support arms 231 of the second support 23 can also be connected by two support stoppers 40 respectively. For instance, a support stopper 40 comprises a stopper body 41 having a receiving hole 42 is mounted to one of the two first support arms 221 by a first joint member 43, wherein the other of the two support arms 221 has a portion received in the receiving hole 42 and is connected to the stopper body 41 by a second joint member 44.
It is worth mentioning that the first support 22 and the second support 23 not only provide supporting force to the two stand frames 21 when the foldable chair is in the unfolded condition, but also retain a predetermined distance between the two stand frames 21, wherein the distance is slightly larger than the width of the user.
The foldable frame 20 may further comprises two armrest 24, wherein each of the two stand frames 21 comprises a mounting arm 214 integrally and inclinedly extended from the upper portion of the second crossed leg 212 in such a manner that the mounting arm 214 of the second crossed leg 212 stands in an upright direction when the foldable chair is in the unfolded condition. Each of the armrest 24 comprises an armrest body 241 which is pivotally and vertically extended from the mounting arm 214 of the second crossed leg 212. The armrest 24 further comprises a pivot arm 242 having a first end 2421 pivotally and movably connected to the armrest body 241 and a second end 2422 pivotally and movably connected to the first crossed leg 211 in such a manner that the armrest body 241 is capable of rotating about the first crossed leg 211. Preferably, the first end 2421 of the pivot arm 242 is pivotally and movably connected to a middle portion of the armrest body 241 and the second end 2422 of the pivot arm 242 is pivotally and movably connected to the middle portion of the first crossed leg 211. And thus when the foldable chair is in the unfolded condition, the two armrests 24 are substantially extended horizontally for a user to comfortably rest his forearms and hands thereon, and when the foldable chair is in the folded condition, the two armrests 24 are substantially extended vertically to parallelly align with the two first crossed legs 211 and the two second crossed legs 212.
Referring to
Accordingly, the foldable frame 20A comprises two stand frames 21A substantially aligned paralledlly and spacedly with each other, wherein each of the stand frames 21A comprises a first crossed leg 211A and a second crossed leg 212A connected to the first crossed leg 211A at a pivot point 213A, so that the first crossed leg 211A and the second crossed leg 212A are capable of rotating with respect to each other about the pivot point 213A. Accordingly, the foldable chair comprises two stand stoppers 30A provided at the pivot points 213A for mounting the first crossed leg 211A with the second crossed leg 212A of each of the two stand frames 21A respectively.
Each of the two stand stoppers 30A comprises a stopper body 31A having a receiving hole 32A, wherein the stopper body 31A is mounted to one of the first crossed leg 211A and the second crossed leg 212A. As an example, the stopper body 31A is mounted to the second crossed leg 212A at the pivot point 213A, wherein the first crossed leg 211A passes through the receiving hole 32A so that the first crossed leg 211A and the second crossed leg 212A are crossedly aligned with each other.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
