Chair with plug type connection structure

A chair comprises: two side frames, each of the two side frames comprising a front supporting leg and a rear supporting leg; a seat portion fixed between the two side frames; and a backrest portion connected to the rear supporting legs of the two side frames via a plug structure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority of patent application (Application No. 201620190064.7) filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of The People's Republic of China on Mar. 11, 2016.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present invention relate to furniture, and more particularly to a chair.

BACKGROUND

Generally a chair has a backrest portion and is also referred as a backrest chair. A chair generally comprises two side frames, a seat portion fixed between the two side frames and a backrest portion disposed between the two side frames and above the seat portion. In the prior art, the backrest portion of the chair is fixed to the two side frames by welding or utilizing fasteners. With this fixing method, welding or utilizing fasteners will make the assembling operations complicated and inconvenient. In addition, the welding seams or the fasteners are exposed to the outside and thus can be observed from behind, which adversely affects the appearance of the chair.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a chair having simple and convenient assembling operations as well as good appearance.

According to embodiments of the present invention, a chair comprises: two side frames, each of the two side frames comprising a front supporting leg and a rear supporting leg; a seat portion fixed between the two side frames; and a backrest portion connected to the rear supporting legs of the two side frames via a plug structure.

The plug structure may comprise: two grooves formed at front surfaces of the rear supporting legs respectively, each of the two grooves having an opening facing the front supporting legs and extending in a substantial vertical direction; and a plurality of fasteners mounted on a rear surface of the backrest portion, each of the plurality of fasteners having a head received in one of the two grooves.

The fasteners may comprise bolts or screws. Each of the two grooves may have a shape of substantial hollow cuboid.

The backrest portion may comprise a plurality of back plates extending between the rear supporting legs, and each of the back plates may have the fasteners mounted thereon. A plurality of back plate spacers may be disposed between adjacent back plates. Each of the plurality of back plate spacers may have a shape of substantial cuboid with two slots formed in two side surfaces of the back plate spacer respectively. The plurality of back plates may be made of aluminum alloy.

Each of the rear supporting legs may have an upper part and a lower part, and the grooves may be formed on the upper parts of the rear supporting legs. The upper parts may be inclined backward.

Alternatively, the plug structure may comprise two grooves formed at front surfaces of the rear supporting legs respectively, each of the two grooves having an opening extending in a substantial vertical direction and the two openings facing each other.

Each of the two grooves may have a shape of substantial hollow cuboid.

The backrest portion may comprise a plurality of back plates extending between the rear supporting legs. A plurality of back plate spacers may be disposed between adjacent back plates. Each of the plurality of back plate spacers may have a shape of substantial cuboid with two slots formed in two side surfaces of the back plate spacer respectively. The plurality of back plates may be made of aluminum alloy.

Each of the rear supporting legs may have an upper part and a lower part, and the grooves may be formed on the upper parts of the rear supporting legs. The upper parts may be inclined backward.

Each of the grooves may have a depth which is equal to a thickness of the backrest portion.

The chair may further comprise two arms assembled between the front supporting legs and the rear supporting legs respectively.

With the plug structure according to embodiments of the present invention, there is no need to perform welding processing nor fastener connection processing. Rather, the backrest portion can be easily inserted into the rear supporting legs with the plug structure. Therefore, the assembling operations are simple and convenient.

Furthermore, the grooves are formed at the front surfaces of the rear supporting legs which face the front supporting legs. Thus the plug structure will not be observed from behind, which brings much better appearance compared with the prior art.

In addition, the backrest portion may comprise a plurality of back plates and adjacent back plates may be separated by back plate spacers. In this way, it is easy to assemble the back plates to the rear supporting legs. And since each back plate has a relatively small height, even if the upper parts of the rear supporting legs have a curved shape, the backrest portion can be assembled easily. Meanwhile, a plurality of back plates with gap therebetween can bring ventilation function and thus good comfort to users of the chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter a chair according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 1is a schematic view illustrating a chair according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown inFIG. 1, a chair according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a seat portion1, a backrest portion2and two side frames3. The seat portion1is fixed between the two side frames3, and may include a plurality of plates extending in a direction between the two side frames3. Each of the side frames3comprises a front supporting leg31and a rear supporting leg32. The backrest portion2is connected to the two rear supporting legs32via a plug structure.

The plug structure will be described in detail referring toFIGS. 2-5as well asFIG. 1.

FIG. 2is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a side of the chair shown inFIG. 1;FIG. 3is an enlarged view of portion A ofFIG. 2;FIG. 4is a schematic cross-sectional view ofFIG. 3taken along line B-B; andFIG. 5is a schematic cross-sectional view ofFIG. 3taken along line C-C.

As shown inFIGS. 2-5as well asFIG. 1, each of the rear supporting legs32has an upper part and a lower part which are connected through an arc. A top end of the lower part of each of the rear supporting legs32is more adjacent to the front supporting legs31than a bottom end thereof, while a top end of the upper part of each of the rear supporting legs32is more far away from the front supporting legs31than a bottom end thereof. In other words, the lower part of each of the rear supporting legs32is inclined forward, while the upper part of each of the rear supporting legs32is inclined backward.

Particularly referring toFIGS. 4 and 5, the upper part of each of the rear supporting legs32has a shape of substantial hollow cuboid extending in a substantial vertical direction.

Referring toFIGS. 2-5, the upper part of each of the rear supporting legs32has a groove4formed at a front surface thereof, i.e., a surface facing the front supporting legs31. The grooves4may be formed integrally with the rear supporting legs32, but this invention is not limited thereto. An opening of each of the grooves4faces the front supporting legs31. Both of the grooves4and the openings of the grooves4extend in the substantial vertical direction.

Referring toFIGS. 1-3, the backrest portion2includes a plurality of back plates21extending between the two rear supporting legs32, i.e. in the substantial horizontal direction. There is a gap between adjacent back plates21in the substantial vertical direction, so as to bring ventilation function and thus good comfort to users of the chair. Each of the back plates21has a shape of substantial cuboid, two ends of the back plate21in the longitude direction are connected to the rear supporting legs32respectively.

In detail, referring toFIGS. 2-4, fasteners5such as bolts or screws are mounted on both ends of a rear surface of each of the back plates21in the substantial horizontal direction. That is, the positions of the fasteners5in the substantial horizontal direction correspond to the positions of the grooves4in the substantial horizontal direction. The number of the fasteners5may be two or four for one back plate21, but this invention is not limited thereto. The fasteners5are shaped that the heads thereof can be received and slide in the grooves4via the openings of the grooves4, as shown inFIG. 4, while the tails thereof are mounted inside the back plates21.

As shown inFIGS. 2, 3 and 5, a plurality of back plate spacers6are disposed along the grooves4. As shown inFIG. 5, each of the back plate spacers6has a shape of substantial cuboid with two slots formed in its two side surfaces respectively, so that the back plate spacers6can engage with the openings of the grooves4and thus can slide along the grooves4without being separated from the grooves4.

Furthermore, the back plates21can be formed as wood-like plates and be made of metal such as aluminum alloy.

Hereinafter a method for assembling the backrest portion2to the rear supporting legs32will be described.

Firstly, two back plate spacers6are inserted into the openings of the two grooves4respectively, and are slid along a direction from the top end to the bottom end of the upper parts of the rear supporting legs32, until the back plate spacers6are leaned against the bottom ends of the grooves4which are enclosed to support the back plate spacers6.

Secondly, the heads of the fasteners5on the rear surface of one back plate21are inserted into the grooves4, as shown inFIG. 4, and are slid in the direction from the top end to the bottom end of the upper parts of the rear supporting legs32, until the back plate21is leaned against the back plate spacers6, i.e., a bottom surface of the back plate21firmly contacts top surfaces of the back plate spacers6.

Next, like the first step, two back plate spacers6are inserted into the openings of the two grooves4respectively, and are slid along a direction from the top end to the bottom end of the upper parts of the rear supporting legs32, until the back plate spacers6are leaned against a top surface of the back plate21located therebelow.

Then, like the second step, the heads of the fasteners5on the rear surface of another back plate21are inserted into the grooves4, and are slid in the direction from the top end to the bottom end of the upper parts of the rear supporting legs32, until the back plate21is leaned against the back plate spacers6therebelow, i.e., a bottom surface of the back plate21firmly contacts top surfaces of the back plate spacers6.

The third and fourth steps are repeated until all of the back plates21are assembled to the rear supporting legs32.

It could be understood that the above-described method is just an example, and this invention is not limited thereto. For example, the first step may be omitted. In this case, the lowest back plate21is directly leaned against the bottom ends of the grooves4which are enclosed.

In this embodiment, the fasteners5mounted on the back plates21and the grooves4formed in the rear supporting legs32form a plug structure for assembling the backrest portion2to the rear supporting legs32. With this plug structure, there is no need to perform welding processing nor fastener connection processing. Rather, the back plates21of the backrest portion2can be inserted into the rear supporting legs32with the plug structure according to this embodiment. Therefore, the assembling operations are simple and convenient.

Furthermore, the grooves4are formed at the front surfaces of the rear supporting legs32which face the front supporting legs31, and the heads of the fasteners5mounted on the rear surfaces of the back plates21are received inside the grooves4. Thus the connection structure, i.e., the plug structure including the fasteners5and the grooves4, will not be observed from behind, i.e., from the back side of the chair, which brings much better appearance compared with the prior art.

In this embodiment, the backrest portion2comprises a plurality of back plates21and adjacent back plates21are separated by back plate spacers6. In this way, it is easy to assemble the back plates21to the rear supporting legs32. And since each back plate21has a relatively small height, even if the upper part of the rear supporting legs32has a curved shape, the backrest portion2can be assembled easily. Meanwhile, a plurality of back plates21with gap therebetween can bring the ventilation function and thus good comfort to users of the chair.

It could be understood that the above description is just an example and this invention is not limited thereto. For example, the backrest portion2may be formed of a whole plate, without being divided into a plurality of back plates21. In addition, two arms3may be further assembled between the front supporting legs31and the rear supporting legs32to improve both functionality and stability of the chair, as shown inFIG. 1.

Hereinafter a chair according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference toFIG. 6. The chair according to this embodiment is similar to that according to the embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-5and repeated description may be omitted in order to avoid redundancy.

FIG. 6is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a plug structure for connecting a backrest portion and two rear supporting legs of a chair according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Like the chair according to the embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-5, two grooves4are formed at front surfaces of the rear supporting legs32respectively, each of the two grooves4has a shape of substantial hollow cuboid and has an opening extending in a substantial vertical direction.

The backrest portion2comprises a plurality of back plates21extending between the rear supporting legs32. A plurality of back plate spacers6can be disposed between adjacent back plates21. Each of the back plate spacers6has a shape of substantial cuboid with two slots formed in two side surfaces of the back plate spacer6respectively. The plurality of back plates21may be made of aluminum alloy.

In addition, each of the rear supporting legs32has an upper part and a lower part, and the grooves4are formed on the upper parts of the rear supporting legs32. The upper parts of the rear supporting legs32may be inclined backward.

Different from the chair according to the embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-5in which the openings of the grooves4face the front supporting legs31, in this embodiment, as shown inFIG. 6, the openings of the two grooves4formed in the rear supporting legs32respectively face each other, i.e., the openings are formed in the longitude direction of the back plates21. In addition, the grooves4each has a depth which is equal to the thickness of backrest portion2, i.e., the back plates21, so that the backrest portion2can firmly contact the grooves4, thereby providing stable connection. Here, both of the depth of the grooves4and the thickness of the backrest portion2are measured in the direction from the front side to the rear side of the chair.

In this embodiment, the plug structure for assembling the backrest portion2to the rear supporting legs32is formed of only grooves4, and the fasteners5are not required. During assembling, the two ends of one of the back plates21are directly inserted into the two grooves4formed in the rear supporting legs32respectively, and thus the assembling operations are further simplified.

Furthermore, the grooves4are formed at the front surfaces of the rear supporting legs32which face the front supporting legs31, the openings of the grooves4face each other, and the back plates21are directly inserted into the grooves4. Thus the connection structure, i.e., the plug structure including the grooves4, will not be observed from behind, which brings much better appearance compared with the prior art.