Patent Publication Number: US-2020281362-A1

Title: Multifunctional seating unit

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a multifunctional seating unit. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Nowadays armchairs are known which are constituted by low and wide sitting portions, with the back slightly inclined and with a sitting portion and armrests that present an appropriate space for supporting the limbs, which are afforded comfortable and outstretched support. 
     Armchairs are also known which comprise means adapted to allow the movement of the back and/or of the sitting portion and/or of a footrest and/or of the armrests in order to allow the user to assume a reclined, more comfortable position. 
     Chairs are further known which are constituted by a high and narrow seat in order to arrange the trunk of the user in an erect position in front of a dining table or a desk, with the legs bent substantially at a right angle in order to support the trunk in a vertical position without effort. 
     Folding chairs are also known which comprise means adapted to allow the movement of the legs, of the sitting portion and/or of the back in order to position them in a compact position and optionally stack two or more of such chairs on each other, thus reducing the space occupied to the minimum. 
     Sofas are further known which comprise means adapted to allow the movement of the armrests and/or of the sitting portions and/or of the back in order to enable it to assume either a sofa configuration or a bed configuration. 
     Such different shape structures that can be assumed by armchairs, chairs or sofas are sought after in order to best optimize the increasingly reduced spaces of modern dwellings. 
     Other uses or arrangements that such armchairs or chairs or sofas can assume are not known. 
     SUMMARY 
     The aim of the present disclosure is to devise a seating unit that makes it possible, while saving space, to rapidly and easily take advantage of different types of use. 
     Within this aim, the present disclosure obtains a seating unit that is structurally simple, is simple to activate, achieves a pleasing aesthetic result, is low cost, and can be provided with the usual conventional systems. 
     This aim and this and other advantages which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by providing a multifunctional seating unit, comprising a frame constituted by a pair of supports which are crossed in an X-like arrangement, characterized in that each one of said supports defines a pair of first and second legs, pivoted in an X-like arrangement, and a first plate and a second plate, which are associated rotatably with a first armrest and a second armrest, said frame comprising a parallelogram mechanism adapted to allow the partial raising/lowering and the partial narrowing/widening of said first and second armrests and of a seat which constitute said seating unit and the partial narrowing/widening of said pair of first and second legs, said seating unit comprising a back composed of a first case and a second case which are lateral and collapsible onto a fixed central support. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Further characteristics and advantages of the disclosure will become better apparent from the detailed description of a particular, but not exclusive, embodiment thereof, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view from the front of the seating unit lowered and widened; 
         FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the seating unit lowered and widened; 
         FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of the seating unit lowered and widened, without cushions and back; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view from the rear of the seating unit lowered and widened; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view from the front of the seating unit raised and narrowed; 
         FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of the seating unit raised and narrowed; 
         FIG. 7  is a front elevation view of the seating unit raised and narrowed, without cushions and back; and 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view from the rear of the seating unit raised and narrowed. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the exemplary embodiments illustrated below, individual characteristics shown in relation to specific examples may in reality be interchanged with other, different characteristics, existing in other exemplary embodiments. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1-8 , the reference numeral  1  generally designates a multifunctional seating unit which comprises a frame  2  constituted by a pair of supports  3   a ,  3   b  which are crossed in an X-like arrangement. 
     The pair of supports  3   a ,  3   b  defines a pair of first and second legs  4   a ,  4   b ,  5   a ,  5   b , which are pivoted in an X-like arrangement and are associated at one end in an upper region with a first plate  6  and with a second plate  7 , which are arranged mutually opposite and have a substantially trapezoidal shape when viewed from the front. 
     Each one of such first and second plates  6 ,  7  comprises a longer parallel side  8   a ,  8   b , which is directed toward the ground, and a shorter parallel side  9   a ,  9   b , which is parallel to the preceding one and is directed in the opposite direction. 
     The longer parallel sides  8   a ,  8   b  are blended with the shorter parallel sides  9   a ,  9   b  by first inclined sides  10   a ,  10   b , which meet at the pivoting point  11  of the first and second legs  4   a ,  4   b ,  5   a ,  5   b , and by second sides  12   a ,  12   b  which are inclined and directed toward the outside of the seating unit  1  and have a lower inclination with respect to the inclination of the first sides  10   a ,  10   b.    
     In the condition in which the seating unit  1  is lowered and widened, illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 4 , so as to define an armchair  13 , the first sides  10   a ,  10   b  assume a position such that a first V-shaped split  14  is formed between them. 
     The first ends of a first armrest  16  and a second armrest  17  are rotatably associated, by way of first sliding or guiding bars  15   a ,  15   b  that are arranged longitudinally with respect to the seating unit  1 , in the meeting point between the second sides  12   a ,  12   b  and the longer parallel sides  8   a ,  8   b.    
     In the embodiment shown, by way of non-limiting example, second bars  19   a ,  19   b  for anchoring the first ends  20   a ,  20   b  of adapted straps  21   a ,  21   b , which are subsequently guided in the direction of the ground on the first bars  15   a ,  15   b , are stably positioned, longitudinally with respect to the seating unit  1 , at the second ends  18   a ,  18   b , which are free, of the first and second armrests  16 ,  17 . 
     Third bars  22   a ,  22   b , for the sliding or guiding of the straps  21   a ,  21   b , which are arranged above the third bars  22   a ,  22   b , are positioned at the meeting point between the second sides  12   a ,  12   b  and the shorter parallel sides  9   a ,  9   b , longitudinally with respect to the seating unit  1 . 
     The third bars  22   a ,  22   b  lie, in every condition of motion of the seating unit  1 , on a plane that lies above the plane on which the first bars  15   a ,  15   b  lie, or at the most on the same plane. 
     The second ends  23   a ,  23   b  of the straps  21   a ,  21   b  are associated, longitudinally with respect to the seating unit  1 , with fourth sliding or guiding bars  24   a ,  24   b , which are coupled between the first and second legs  4   a ,  4   b ,  5   a ,  5   b  of the seating unit  1 , in a region that is adjacent to the pivoting point  11  of the supports  3   a ,  3   b  crossed in an X-like arrangement. 
     The fourth bars  24   a ,  24   b  lie, in every condition of motion of the seating unit  1 , on a plane that lies below the plane on which the first bars  15   a ,  15   b  lie, and in a region that is closer to the pivoting point  11  with respect to the third bars  22   a ,  22   b.    
     The seating unit  1  comprises a back  25  composed of a first case  26   a  and a second case  26   b  which are lateral and collapsible onto a fixed central support  27 . 
     Each one of the first and second cases  26   a ,  26   b  comprises a lower end face  28   a ,  28   b , which lies above the first leg  4   b  and the second leg  5   b  arranged to the rear of the seating unit  1 , a third outer side  29   a ,  29   b , stably connected respectively to the first armrest  16  and the second armrest  17 , a fourth inner side  30   a ,  30   b , and an upper end face  31   a ,  31   b.    
     In the condition in which the seating unit  1  is lowered and widened, illustrated in  FIGS. 1 to 4 , so as to define the armchair  13 , the fourth sides  30   a ,  30   b  assume a position such that a second V-shaped split  32 , concealed by the central support  27 , is formed between them. 
     The fixed central support  27  is stably connected by way of elastic means to the first case  26   a  and to the second case  26   b.    
     The multifunctional seating unit  1  comprises means for limiting, blocking, such as the first V-shaped split  14 , and for assisting, such as at least one spring, the rotation of the first and second armrests  16 ,  17  in the condition in which the seating unit  1  is raised and narrowed, illustrated in  FIGS. 5 to 8 , so as to define a chair  33 . 
     To complete the seating unit  1 , adapted cushions  34  can be arranged on the sitting portion  35 , at the back and laterally on the armrests. 
     In the condition in which the seating unit  1  is lowered and widened, so as to define the armchair  13 , the first plate  6  and the second plate  7  lie on the same horizontal plane and between them is the first V-shaped split  14 , the first armrest  16  and the second armrest  17  are inclined outward, and between the first case  26   a  and the second case  26   b  of the back  25  is the second V-shaped split  32  which exposes the central support  27  which acts as a back  25 . 
     The transition from the condition in which the seating unit  1  is lowered and widened to the condition in which the seating unit  1  is raised and narrowed, so as to define a chair  33 , occurs by way of the rotation of the first armrest  16  and the second armrest  17  which tension the straps  21   a ,  21   b  which, by virtue of the adapted guides on the first and third bars  15   a ,  15   b ,  22   a ,  22   b , force the rotation of the pair of first and second legs  4   a ,  4   b ,  5   a ,  5   b  and of the first and second plates  6 ,  7  which constitute the supports  3   a ,  3   b  which are crossed in an X-like arrangement. 
     In the condition in which the seating unit  1  is raised and narrowed, illustrated in  FIGS. 5 to 8 , so as to define a chair  33 , the first plate  6  and the second plate  7  are inclined and assume, together with the pair of first and second legs, a structure shaped like an X when viewed from the front, and the first sides  10   a ,  10   b  of the first and second plates  6 ,  7  are placed in mutual contact so as to close the first V-shaped split  14  which thus limits the rotation that can be imparted to the supports  3   a ,  3   b  crossed in an X-like arrangement. 
     The first armrest  16  and the second armrest  17  are arranged substantially mutually parallel, and the fourth sides  30   a ,  30   b  of the first case  26   a  and the second case  26   b  of the back are placed in mutual contact. 
     Thus it has been found that the disclosure fully achieves the intended aims and advantages, a seating unit  1  having been obtained that makes it possible, while saving space, to rapidly and easily take advantage of different types of use, in particular a condition in which the seating unit  1  is lowered and widened, so as to define the armchair  13 , and a condition in which it is raised and narrowed, so as to define a chair  33 . 
     It has therefore been found that the seating unit  1  optimizes space in the interior environments of dwellings. 
     It has further been found that the seating unit  1  is structurally simple, is simple to activate, since with a single movement the simple mechanism is activated without the need for adding parts and assembly operations in order to carry out the conversion, while keeping the ergonomic characteristics of an armchair and of a chair unaltered. 
     Finally it has been found that the disclosure makes it possible to achieve a pleasing aesthetic result, is low cost, and can be provided with the usual conventional systems. 
     The disclosure is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations. Naturally the materials used as well as the dimensions of the individual components of the disclosure may be more relevant according to specific requirements. 
     The characteristics indicated above as advantageous, convenient or the like, may also be missing or be substituted by equivalent characteristics. 
     The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102016000022171 (UA2016A001304) from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.