Abstract:
The armrests and base feet of a chair are encased by a soft cushioning layer of foamed plastic, such as polyurethane, to provide bumping and impact protection and to enable the structural support members of the chair to be fabricated from rough and unfinished metal stock.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a chair construction wherein the structural support members are encased by a soft cushioning layer of foamed plastic or the like. 
     In prior art open chairs or arm chairs the seating bowl typically consists of an approximately horizontal seating surface and a backrest, the latter being integral with the seating surface or separately supported adjacent thereto as an individual component and sometimes adjustable in height. In many arm chairs a headrest has also been disposed above the backrest, again either integral therewith or separately adjustable in height. The legs or foot supports of such chairs are found in many different forms according to both practical and stylistic or appearance considerations. Thus, for example, both open chairs and arm chairs with four conventional legs or with a central column support and radially extending feet are known, both with or without rollers or casters mounted on the ends of such legs or feet. 
     In the case of office furniture for desks or typewriter tables the central support column construction with a star-shaped foot configuration, typically having five projecting feet, has been widely adopted. The advantages of such a construction are that the seating surface can easily be adjusted as to height and/or tilt resiliency about a vertical axis, and because a five footed configuration offers a relatively large support base area and is less prone to tipping as when the occupant&#39;s center of gravity falls outside of the base area. 
     To increase the support base area the foot projections are often extended up to 10 centimeters or more beyond or outside of the peripheral area of the seating bowl. When such chairs are equipped with rollers or casters, however, a disadvantage arises in that the projecting ends of the feet often strike and damage other furniture, walls, etc. when the position of the chair is carelessly shifted or moved. Such lengthy feet must also be constructed in a very solid and sturdy manner in order to effectively transmit the weight of the occupant acting on the center support post or column out to the floor engaging rollers or casters at the extremities of the feet. Such foot constructions often involve bent metal stock shaped according to aesthetic considerations, either square or rectangular in cross-section with rounded edges. Despite such edge rounding, however, the rigid metal projections often injuriously strike the feet or ankles of the occupant. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is thus to provide a chair construction which avoids the drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art noted above, and which particularly avoids or mitigates any damage to the user or adjacent walls or furniture owing to impact by or against the structural elements of the chair. Thus, according to the present invention a chair is constructed of hard metal or the like support elements whose outer surface contours are protectively covered by a layer of soft elastic cushioning material, such as foamed polyurethane. With respect to a typical office chair having a central support column and star-shaped foot members, at least the outwardly projecting free ends of the feet are covered with elastic material to cushion the sides, outer end and top surfaces of the feet, and when armrests are provided these are also protectively encased in a soft elastic material. The foot projections are advantageously encased on all sides and over their entire lengths both to enhance their overall aesthetic appearance and also to avoid any damage or injury to the occupant by striking his shoes or ankles against the feet or legs of the chair. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1 shows a side view of an arm chair constructed in accordance with the present invention, with one projecting foot thereof shown in cut-away, 
     FIG. 2 shows a sectional view taken along lines II--II in FIG. 1, and 
     FIG. 3 shows a sectional view taken along lines III--III in FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The chair construction shown in FIG. 1 comprises a seat member or bowl 1 including a generally horizontal seating surface 1a and a generally vertical molded backrest 1b, and armrest 3, a central support column or pedestal 4, a star-shaped base member 5, and casters 6 mounted on the outer extremities of radially projecting feet 7. Each foot 7 comprises an elongated structural support member 7a rigidly secured at its one end to a central hub 7b by welding or the like and housing a mounting member 7c at its outer extremity for rotatably receiving the pivot post of a caster 6 in a vertical manner. The pivot post of each caster is displaced from the roll center 6a thereof in a known manner such that the center 6a always swings behind and trails the pivot post during movement to ensure straight and even travel. 
     Each support member 7a, the central hub 7b and each mounting member 7c are completely encased by a protective cushioning layer 8, as seen from the cut-away portion of FIG. 1 and in FIG. 2, with the exception of the apertures for the caster pivot posts and for the insertion mounting of the central support column 4. The support members 7a are each configured from sheet metal or stock bent in the shape of an inverted U, and the cushioning layer 8 completely surrounds each support member over its entire length and fills its open interior space. 
     The armrest 3, as best seen in the sectional view of FIG. 3, comprises a central support rod, tube or channel 3a provided with a bushing 3b at each end for accommodating and spacing a mounting screw or bolt 3c. The support rod or the like 3a is similarly completely encased on all sides with a protective cushioning layer 9, except for the apertures for the screws or bolts 3c. 
     The central support rod or the like 3a and the support members 7a of the feet 7 may be fabricated from steel or aluminum materials, and the cushioning layers 8, 9 may be soft foamed polyurethane or the like. It is thus easily seen that any striking or impact against the exposed parts of the chair, such as the base member 5, feet 7, and armrests 3, cannot result in any significant damage to the occupant, walls or furniture owing to the encasement of such parts in a layer of cushioning plastic material. Further, and of significant importance, during the manufacture or fabrication of the structural members 3a, 7a, etc. it is not necessary to employ any costly and time consuming finishing processes to remove and polish surface burrs, sharp edges, waste trimmings or drippings, etc. as such sharp edges and blemishes will be completely encased and neither pose any accident hazard nor aesthetically detract from the external appearance of the chair. 
     It would be possible and fully within the scope of the invention, to encase only the end portions of the radially projecting feet 7 or only their tops and lateral or side surfaces. In such case, however, it would usually be necessary to employ some additional measures or means to fully adhere or attach the cushioning layers to the metallic surfaces. Similarly, it would only be necessary to encase the extreme ends or tips of the feet 7 to protect adjacent furniture or wall surfaces against impact damage, but such limited encasement would then expose the occupant to potential injury or footwear damage from the unencased portions. 
     As mentioned above, the protective cushioning layers 8, 9 may, for example, be soft foamed urethane, which has the characteristic of forming a relatively smooth, attractive, and closed pore surface during foaming. Furthermore, polyurethane readily accepts a number of dye mixtures and compositions whereby the cushioning layers may be evenly and homogeneously colored in a desired manner.