Abstract:
A chair assembly including a seat, a back and at least one arm that are detachably connected together without requiring the use of tools or special skill. The chair assembly can be advantageously shipped disassembled in a compact, space-efficient package to reduce shipping costs. A seat bracket affixed to the arm is slidably and removably received by a seat bracket receiver affixed to the seat, whereby the arm is detachably connected to the seat. A back bracket affixed to the back is slidably and removably received by a back bracket receiver at the arm, whereby the back is detachably connected to the arm. The back bracket includes a locking catch that is adapted to rotate into and out of locking engagement with one of a set of serrated edges from a locking plate of the back bracket receiver after the back bracket slides into removable receipt by the back bracket receiver.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a chair assembly including a seat, a back and a pair of arms that can all be detachably connected together without requiring the use of tools, hardware or special skill. The chair assembly can be advantageously shipped disassembled in a compact, space-efficient package so as to reduce shipping costs. 
     2. Background Art 
     Articles of furniture have long been shipped in a fully-assembled condition from a manufacturer to a retailer and then carried off by an end user to a home or office. Consequently, such an article of furniture is characteristically bulky, cumbersome and difficult to transport in a space-efficient manner. That is to say, a fully-assembled article of furniture consumes relatively large shipping space during transport by boat, truck, etc. to a retailer. Similarly, the purchaser/end user may need to have available a specially-sized vehicle should he wish to carry a large article of furniture to his home or office. The inefficient shipment of large articles of furniture between the manufacturer and end user often results in inconvenience as well as significantly higher transportation costs which are commonly passed through to the purchaser. 
     To overcome the aforementioned disadvantages, it is known to ship articles of furniture disassembled. In this case, the end user is typically required to have available and be able to use at least some hand tools and hardware provided by the manufacturer in order to complete the furniture assembly. Sometimes, the user may not have the skill required to use the tools and manipulate the hardware which may consequently hinder the user&#39;s ability to easily assemble and immediately enjoy his furniture. In other cases, the user may lack time and become frustrated which can result in his failure to complete the assembly altogether. Thus, the article of furniture may remain disassembled and eventually have to be returned to its point of purchase. 
     Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a particular article of furniture (e.g., a home or office chair) that is adapted to be shipped and transported disassembled within a compact shipping container so as to minimize shipping costs and then be relatively quickly and easily assembled without requiring special skill or the use of tools or hardware. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In general terms, the seat, back and a pair of arms of a home or office chair assembly are described which can be detachably connected together without requiring the use of tools, hardware or special skill. The chair assembly can be shipped and transported disassembled in a compact, space-efficient package to reduce shipping costs. 
     An arm bracket projects outwardly from each arm of the pair of arms of the chair assembly. A back bracket receiver is recessed in each arm above the arm bracket. A pair of back bracket guide rail slots runs along opposite sides of the back bracket receiver. A cavity is formed in the top of the back bracket receiver within which to receive a back bracket locking plate to be connected to the chair arm. The back bracket locking plate has a set of horizontally-extending and parallel-aligned serrated edges that are accessible within the back plate receiver. 
     Affixed to the back of the chair is a pair of flexible back brackets to be removably attached to respective back bracket receivers of the pair of chair arms by which the chair back is detachably connected to the arms so as to extend therebetween. A rotatable lock release head is located at one end of each flexible back bracket. A locking catch which projects from the back bracket is rotatable with the lock release head. A pair of parallel guide rails runs along opposite sides of the back bracket. 
     A pair of seat bracket receivers are affixed to the bottom of the chair seat. Each seat bracket receiver has curved opposite ends to create a coupling channel for the removable receipt of a corresponding seat bracket that projects from one of the pair of chair arms. 
     The no-tools chair of this invention is quickly and easily assembled by first detachably connecting the pair of arms to opposite sides of the seat. To accomplish the foregoing, the arms are moved towards the seat such that the seat brackets carried by and projecting from the arms are slidably received within and captured by respective ones of the coupling channels of the seat bracket receivers affixed to the bottom of the seat. Next, the chair back is detachably connected to the pair of arms so as to extend therebetween and stand upwardly from the seat. To accomplish the foregoing, the back is held above and moved downwardly towards the seat so that the flexible back brackets carried at the rear of the back are slidably received within respective ones of the back bracket receivers recessed in the chair arms. That is, the guide rails of each back bracket slide longitudinally through and are captured by the back bracket guide rail slots which run alongside each back bracket receiver. The locking catch of each back bracket simultaneously rides over and into locking engagement with one of the set of serrated edges of the back bracket locking plate that is received within the cavity at the top of the back bracket receiver. Should it become necessary to remove or adjust the chair back relative to the chair arms, a force is applied to the lock release head of each flexible back bracket to cause the lock release head to rotate and thereby pull the locking catch of the back bracket out of its engagement with the serrated edges of the back bracket locking plate. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows parts of a no-tools chair according to a preferred embodiment including a seat, a back, and a pair of arms that are shipped disassembled and detachably connected to one another; 
         FIG. 2  shows one arm of the pair of arms of the no-tools chair of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a back bracket locking plate which is affixed to the chair arm of  FIG. 2  to enable the back of the no-tools chair to be detachably connected to the chair arm; 
         FIG. 4  shows the back of the no-tools chair and a pair of back brackets to be affixed thereto; 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged perspective view of one of the back brackets of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-section of the back bracket of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  shows the seat of the no-tools chair and a pair of seat bracket receivers to be affixed thereto; 
         FIG. 8  shows the pair of arms being detachably connected to the seat during assembly of the no-tools chair; 
         FIG. 9  shows the pair of arms and the seat of the no-tools chair once they have been connected to one another; 
         FIGS. 10 and 11  show the back being detachably connected to the pair of arms of the no-tools chair; and 
         FIG. 12  shows the back and the pair of arms of the no-tools chair once they have been connected to one another. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  of the drawings shows parts of a chair  1  that can be shipped to and transported by a user disassembled in a compact shipping container to be removed from the container and assembled without the requirement of tools, hardware or special skill. The chair  1  includes a (e.g., plywood) seat  3 , a (e.g., plywood) back  5 , and a pair of (e.g., molded plastic) arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2 . The seat  3 , back  5  and arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  of chair  1  are packaged and shipped disconnected. However, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter, the pair of arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  are manufactured (e.g., molded) so that the arms, the seat  3  and back  5  can be quickly and easily connected to one another during assembly of the no-tools chair  1 . 
     The arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  of the chair  1  of  FIG. 1  include pockets  9 - 1  and  9 - 2  within which cushion arm rests (not shown) are to be attached. Other parts of the chair (also not shown) will be connected to the seat  3  to complete the chair assembly. However, such other chair parts form no part of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  of the drawings shows the seat facing side of one (e.g.,  7 - 2 ) of the pair of arms from the chair  1  of  FIG. 1  with means by which to facilitate the interconnection of arm  7 - 2  to the seat  3  and back  5  during assembly. The chair arm  7 - 2  has a ribbed (e.g., molded plastic) seat bracket  10  projecting outwardly therefrom to be moved into receipt by and engagement with a seat bracket receiver (designated  44 - 2  in  FIG. 8 ) in order to connect the arm  7 - 2  to the chair seat  3 . The chair arm  7 - 2  also has a back bracket receiver  12  recessed therein and located above the seat bracket  10 . The back bracket receiver  12  establishes a recess within which to receive a back bracket (designated  26  in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) in order to connect the chair back  5  to the arm  7 - 2 . To this end, the back bracket receiver  12  of arm  7 - 2  has a pair of longitudinal back bracket guide rail slots  14  running along opposite sides thereof at which to slidably engage and retain the back bracket  26 . 
     Located at the top of the back bracket receiver  12  of the chair arm  7 - 2  is a cavity  16  within which to receive a back bracket locking plate  18  (best shown in  FIG. 3 ). Referring in this regard to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the back bracket locking plate  18  includes mounting holes  20  through which fasteners (not shown) are inserted during manufacture of the arm  7 - 2  to connect locking plate  18  within the cavity  16  of the back bracket receiver  12 . The back bracket locking plate  18  also includes a set of horizontally-extending and parallel-aligned serrated edges  22  formed at an outside face thereof. The locking plate  18  lying inside the cavity  16  lies flush with the back plate receiver  12  such that the serrated edges  22  of locking plate  18  are accessible at the back plate receiver  12  of chair arm  7 - 2  for an advantage that will soon be described. 
       FIG. 4  of the drawings shows a pair of identical back brackets  26  to be affixed to the rear of the chair back  5  at opposite sides thereof so that the back  3  can be detachably connected to the chair arms (one of which  7 - 2  being shown in  FIG. 2 ). Each back bracket  26 - 1  and  26 - 2  has mounting holes  28  through which fasteners (not shown) are inserted during manufacture of the chair back  5  in order to connect the back brackets to the rear of the chair back  3  at holes  29  formed therein so that each back bracket will be aligned for receipt by a back bracket receiver (designated  12  in  FIG. 2 ) of a corresponding one of the pair of chair arms. 
     Details of each back bracket  26  are described while referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6  of the drawings. Back bracket  26  is preferably manufactured from a flexible material, such as, for example, spring steel or nylon. Back bracket  26  has a body  30  located at one end thereof through which the mounting holes  28  extend and a rotatable lock release head  32  at the opposite end. A relatively narrow neck  34  extends between the body  30  and the head  32  to enable the head  32  to rotate relative to the body  30  (in the direction of the reference arrow  35  of  FIG. 5 ) in response to a force manually applied thereto. 
     A locking catch  36  (best shown in  FIG. 6 ) projects outwardly from the rear of the back bracket  26 . A will soon be described, the locking catch  36  is moved into detachable locking engagement with one of the serrated edges  22  of the back bracket mounting plate  18  (of  FIG. 3 ) when the chair back  5  is connected to the chair arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  in the manner to be described when referring to  FIGS. 10-12 . A pair of parallel guide rails  40  (best shown in  FIG. 5 ) runs longitudinally along the neck and body  34  and  30  of the back bracket  26 . The guide rails  40  are slidable through respective ones of the back bracket guide rail slots  14  of the back bracket receiver  12  (of  FIG. 2 ) when the chair back  5  is attached to the arm  7 - 2  (of  FIG. 2 ) and the back bracket  26  carried by the chair back  5  is correspondingly moved through the back bracket receiver  12 . 
       FIG. 7  of the drawings shows a pair of seat bracket receivers  44 - 1  and  44 - 2  to be affixed to the bottom of the chair seat  3 . Each of the seat bracket receivers  44 - 1  and  44 - 2  has mounting holes  46  to be aligned with holes  48  formed in the seat  3  through which fasteners (not shown) are inserted during manufacture of the seat by which to connect the seat bracket receivers underneath the seat. The opposite ends of each seat bracket receiver  44 - 1  and  44 - 2  are bent backwards towards one another to create opposing coupling channels  50  that are sized to slidably receive therewithin one of the seat brackets  10  that is carried by one of the chair arms ( 7 - 2  of  FIG. 2 ) when the chair arm is attached to the chair seat  3  in the manner to be described when referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 . 
     The method by which the chair  1  of  FIG. 1  is quickly and easily assembled without the use of hardware, tools or special skill is now described. Turning first to  FIGS. 8 and 9  of the drawings, the pair of arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  are shown being attached to opposite sides of the seat  3 . More particularly, the arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  are moved laterally towards the seat  3  such that the coupling channels  50  of the seat bracket receivers  44 - 1  and  44 - 2  lying underneath the seat  3  slidably receive and capture respective ones of the ribbed seat brackets  10  which project from the arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2 . The receipt of the seat brackets  10  by the coupling channels  50  of the seat bracket receivers  44 - 1  and  44 - 2  below the seat  3  prevents the arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  from twisting or turning relative to the seat. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 10-12  of the drawings, the chair back  5  is shown being attached to the pair of arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  which has first been connected to the seat  3 . More particularly, the back  5  is held above and moved downwardly towards the seat  3  such that the back brackets  26 - 1  and  26 - 2  mounted at the rear of seat  5  (best shown in  FIG. 11 ) are slidably received through respective back bracket receivers  12  formed in chair arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2 . That is, and referring once again to  FIGS. 2-6 , the body  30  of each back bracket  26  is pushed downwardly through a back bracket receiver  12  so that the guide rails  40  of the back bracket slide longitudinally through and are captured by the back bracket guide rail slots  14  (of  FIG. 2 ) which run alongside the receiver  12 . At the same time, the locking catch  36  (of  FIG. 6 ) of each back bracket  26  rides over and into locking engagement with one of the serrated edges  22  of the back bracket locking plate  18  (of  FIG. 3 ) that is located within the cavity  16  atop the back bracket receiver  12 . 
     With the pair of guide rails  40  of the back brackets  26 - 1  and  26 - 2  received by the guide rail slots  14  of the back bracket receivers  12  and the locking catches  36  of back brackets  26 - 1  and  26 - 2  engaging a serrated edge  22  of the back bracket locking plates  18 , the back  5  will be detachably connected to and held in place between the arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  so as to stand upwardly from the seat  3  (best shown in  FIG. 12 ) of the no-tools chair  1 . It may be appreciated that with the guide rails  40  received by the guide rail slots  14  and each of the locking catches  36  engaging a serrated edge  22 , the seat  3 , back  5  and arm  7  of the chair  1  are all interconnected to one another so as to avoid an inadvertent separation thereof. In this same regard, locking the back  5  in place between the pair of arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  prevents the arms from being pulled outwardly and away from the seat  3 . 
     Should it be necessary to adjust the position or remove the back  5  from the arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  of chair  1 , a pushing force is applied by the user to the lock release head  32  of each back bracket  26 - 1  and  26 - 2  (in the direction of the reference arrow  35  of  FIG. 6 ). Because of the flexible nature of the back brackets  26 - 1  and  26 - 2 , the lock release heads  32  thereof will rotate at the necks  34  away from the back bracket receivers  12  and towards the chair back  5  so that the locking catches  36  of the back brackets are correspondingly moved out of their engagement with the serrated edges  22  of the back bracket locking plates  18  (of  FIG. 3 ). The chair back  5  is now free to be pulled upwardly and away from the chair arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  so that the back brackets  26 - 1  and  26 - 2  carried by the back  5  slide outwardly and are detached from the back bracket receivers  12  that are recessed in the chair arms. When the chair back  5  is separated from the chair arms  7 - 1  and  7 - 2  as just explained, should it become necessary, the arms may be detached from the seat  3  by the user pulling the arms outwardly and away from the seat in order to cause the seat brackets  10  to slide out of their receipt by the seat bracket receivers  44 - 1  and  44 - 2 .