Table

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6640730
  • Patent Number
    6,640,730
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, December 6, 2001
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, November 4, 2003
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Mai; Lanna
    • Anderson; Jerry A.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A table comprises a tabletop, joints, legs, a connecting device and auxiliary supporting devices, the tabletop is formed with pipes and rails, the rails are formed on two sides of each pipe, perpendicularly, and every two rails are connected by the joint, each joint is formed by a pair of blocks, with one block secured to the rail and the other block slidably attached to the rail, the legs are connected by the auxiliary supporting devices to support the tabletop.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a table, and more particular to a table with a foldable tabletop.




2. Description of the Prior Art




This applicant had applied an application, and received the patent previously, with a U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,751, which is also related to a foldable table, however, it still possesses some shortcomings:




1. The tabletop is formed by a number of plates, and every two adjacent plates are connected by a pair of connecting device and pivot, which is costly.




2. The tabletop is formed by assembling a number of plates together, the joint area has gaps.




3. The supporting areas for the tabletop are merely top heads of four legs, which structure is too weak that may not support too heavy objects on it.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a table, which tabletop is formed by a number of pipes connected and the joint areas are seamless.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a table, which is easy to carry when folding into a compact one.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide a table, which has a strong structure.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view showing the tabletop being flipped over to one side of the legs;





FIG. 3

is an enlarged view of the tabletop of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a view showing disengagement of a connecting device of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a view showing the present invention in an open status;





FIG. 6

is a view showing folding of the legs of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is a view showing the legs are covered by the folded tabletop;





FIG. 8

is a view showing the tabletop in a folded status.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




The table of the present invention, as shown in

FIGS. 1 through 5

, comprises a tabletop


1


supported by a number of legs


3


and auxiliary supporting devices


5


in an open status, to fold the table, simply collapse the legs


3


and auxiliary supporting devices


5


, and fold the tabletop


1


. The table further comprises a number of joints


2


, and a connecting device


4


.




The tabletop


1


is formed by a number of pipes


11


and rails


12


which connect the pipes


11


together. Each rail


12


has a hollow body with a slot


121


there on, and each pipe


11


has a pair of apertures


111


at respective ends perpendicularly for the rails


12


to extend therein. The rails


12


are inserted into the apertures


111


and secured with fasteners


112


to combine the pipes


11


together forming the tabletop


1


. One of the pipes


11


of the tabletop


1


has a hole


13


. Every two adjacent rails are connected by a joint


2


thereat.




The joint


2


is formed by connecting a pair of blocks


21


and


22


together, the first block


21


is secured to the rail


12


with a fastener


121


, while the other block


22


comprises a number of locating apertures


221


and one of the locating apertures


221


is secured with a fastener


222


to the slot


121


of the rail


12


in a slidably manner.




The legs


3


are used to support the tabletop


1


, each leg


3


has a pair of sleeves


31


and


32


equally spaced from each other for connection of the auxiliary supporting devices


5


thereat. One sleeve


31


is secured to a leg


3


by a fastener


311


, while the other sleeve


32


is slidably attached to the leg


3


. A rib


33


on the leg


3


limits movement of the sleeve


32


. Three of the legs


3


comprise a head


34


on the top, while the fourth leg


3


has a connecting device


4


on the top which connects the tabletop


1


and allows the tabletop


1


to rotate.




The connecting device


4


comprises a connector


41


, a pair of bolts


42


and


43


, two washers


44


and a lid


45


. The bolt


42


has an aperture


421


at one end portion. The connector


41


has a seat


411


on the top for the bolt


42


to extend along with the washers


44


there through, while the other bolt


43


is inserted transversely through the seat


411


and intercourse with the aperture


421


of the bolt


42


, thus the bolt


42


is able to bring the tabletop


1


to rotate. The top end of the bolt


42


exposing from the tabletop


1


is capped with the lid


45


.




Each auxiliary supporting device


5


is connected in between two legs


3


as the control mechanism to open and close the legs


3


. Each auxiliary supporting device


5


is formed with a pair of posts


51


and


51


′ in a cross connection, with the connecting areas of each post


51


or


51


′ secured with a pair of blocks


52


and


53


, while the other ends of the posts


51


and


51


′ are secured to the sleeves


31


and


32


, respectively. By activating the auxiliary supporting devices


5


, the sleeves


32


slide along the legs


3


, simultaneously.




In assembly, the tabletop


1


is rotated along the connecting device


4


, and the legs


3


are expanded, which brings the sleeves


32


to slide along the legs


3


and slide the auxiliary supporting devices


5


along the legs


3


, as well, until the sleeves


32


reach the ribs


33


, thus the legs


3


have reached to there limits, and are stabled in position, the tabletop


1


is flipped upwards, so that it seats on tops of the heads


34


and the blocks


52


. There are eight points engaging with the tabletop


1


, the table is stronger than prior arts.




When folding the table of the present invention, as shown in

FIG. 2

, the tabletop


1


is flipped down until it has reached to one side of the legs


3


, as shown in

FIG. 6

, and then the sleeves


32


and the blocks


52


and


53


are slid, thus the legs


3


are all collapsed together. Meanwhile, the blocks


22


are slid along the rails


12


to gain gaps between each pipe


11


so that the pipes


11


may be folded to the smallest size as shown in

FIGS. 7 and 8

.



Claims
  • 1. A folding table comprising a tabletop, joints, legs, a connecting device, and auxiliary supporting devices, said tabletop being formed with pipes connected together, said legs comprising two sleeves with one sleeve able to slide on said leg and connected with said auxiliary supporting devices, each said auxiliary supporting device being secured between every two adjacent legs and linked with said legs, said connecting device being secured at one end of said legs to be connected with said tabletop for rotation,said tabletop being formed with pipes and rails, each said pipe having a set of connected rails, said rails being connected by a collapsible joint, said joint having one end secured to one said rail, and another end of said joint being secured to said adjacent rail, said joint including a connected pair of blocks extending respectively into said connected rails, each said auxiliary supporting device comprising at least one linking block connected by posts to said sleeves between adjacent legs, at least one of said blocks engaging with a bottom end of said tabletop upon spreading the legs and auxiliary supporting devices being disposed to provide support for said tabletop.
  • 2. The table, as recited in claim 1, wherein said auxiliary supporting device is formed with a pair of posts in cross connection with blocks on the adjacent ends of said posts.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
1262356 Kirkland Apr 1918 A
3770106 Kuehl et al. Nov 1973 A
6026751 Tsai Feb 2000 A
6079338 Yeh Jun 2000 A
6112757 Tseng Sep 2000 A
6234089 Zheng et al. May 2001 B1
6283045 Izumi Sep 2001 B1