Patent Publication Number: US-10765216-B1

Title: Hinged chair with rotatable fold-down back

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a hinged chair that is capable of being shipped disassembled from the manufacturer to the end user in a compact shipping container so as to reduce both the space consumed by the chair as well as the shipping costs. The hinged chair has a fold-down back that is pivotally connected to a seat and adapted to be rotated between a horizontal folded position laying over and in opposite facing alignment with the seat when the chair is being shipped and a vertical position standing upwardly from the seat when the chair is being used by its purchaser. 
     2. Background Art 
     Large pieces of furniture are typically shipped from a location of manufacture to a location of sale and finally to the end user. The bulky nature of the large furniture contributes to the purchase price paid by consumers. That is to say, as a consequence of its space-consuming size, relatively large shipping vehicles and vessels are often required to move the furniture from place-to-place. Moreover, relatively large storage facilities are sometimes necessary to accommodate the furniture while in transit from location-to-location. Unlike smaller articles that are capable of being transported and stored in compact shipping containers, many larger pieces of furniture are not ideally suitable to be palletized. In addition, more than one workman may be necessary to handle the loading and transport of the furniture from its initial point of manufacture to its final point of sale and ultimately to its place of use. In this same regard, purchasers may not be able to easily lift and transport their furniture from the location of purchase to the location of use. 
     Accordingly, what would be desirable is an article of furniture, such as a chair, that can be shipped, warehoused and carried home disassembled and configured to fit within a compact shipping container, whereby to reduce the cost and inconvenience normally associated with the transport of relatively large articles of furniture from the manufacturer to the end user. It would also be desirable for the furniture to be capable of being quickly and easily assembled by the end user without having a special skill. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In general terms, disclosed herein is a hinged chair to be used inside and out-of-doors. The chair includes a seat to support the weight of a user, a base with legs to hold the seat above the ground, and a fold-down back against which the user reclines when the chair is in use. The base of the chair is detachable from the seat to enable the chair to be shipped disassembled in a compact shipping container so as to minimize the shipping costs. To further reduce the space consumed by the chair and further minimize the shipping costs, the fold-down back of the chair is pivotally connected to the seat and adapted to be rotated through approximately a 90 degree angle between a horizontal folded position lying over and in opposite facing alignment with the seat when the chair is being shipped and a vertical position standing upwardly from the seat after the chair is unpackaged and assembled for use. 
     The seat of the hinged chair has a frame with upturned coupling ends extending rearwardly from opposite sides thereof. A hollow hinge enclosure is affixed (e.g., welded) to each of the coupling ends so as to stand upwardly therefrom. The back of the chair has a frame with vertical frame posts running along opposite sides. The lower-most ends of the vertical frame posts of the chair back are received inwardly of respective ones of the hollow hinge enclosures. Prior to shipment of the hinged chair, the fold-down back is pivotally connected by the chair manufacturer to the seat by inserting first couplers (e.g., pivot pins) into pivot receiving slots that are formed in the hinge enclosures and through the lower-most ends of the frame posts received therewithin. Next, the chair back is pulled upwardly and away from the seat such that the frame posts of the frame of the chair back slide upwardly through the hollow hinge enclosures and the pivot pins correspondingly ride upwardly through respective pivot receiving slots. The chair back is then rotated in a clockwise direction at the pivot pins to its horizontal folded position to facilitate shipment of the chair disassembled in its compact container. 
     After it is purchased and carried to its ultimate destination, the user removes the disassembled chair from the compact shipping container. The base of the chair is then attached to the bottom of the seat by means of fasteners (e.g., screws). Next, the user rotates the chair back in a counter-clockwise direction from the horizontal folded position to its vertically upstanding position. Then, the chair back is pushed downwardly towards the seat such that the frame posts of the frame of the chair back slide downwardly through the hinge enclosures and the pivot pins correspondingly ride downwardly through respective pivot receiving slots. The user inserts second couplers (e.g., locking pins) into the pivot receiving slots of the hinge enclosures and through the lower-most ends of the frame posts so that the locking pins lie above the pivot pins. With the pivot and locking pins now extending through the pivot receiving slots of the hinge enclosures and the frame posts at opposite sides of the frame at the chair back, the chair back can no longer rotate towards its horizontal folded position but is otherwise held stationary and locked in its vertically upstanding position so that the chair is ready for use. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a hinged chair having a rotatable fold-down back according to a preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged partial side view of the hinged chair shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIGS. 3-6  show details by which a frame of the fold-down back of the hinged chair of  FIG. 1  is pivotally connected to a frame of the seat of the chair by means of pivot couplers so that the chair back is rotatable relative to the chair seat; 
         FIGS. 7 and 8  show the fold-down back of the hinged chair rotated at the pivot couplers to a horizontal folded position lying over and in opposite facing alignment with the seat of the chair so that the chair is ideally configured to be shipped in a compact container; 
         FIGS. 9 and 10  show the fold-down back of the hinged chair rotated to and locked in place in a vertical position standing upwardly from the seat after the chair has been removed from its compact shipping container and made ready for use; and 
         FIGS. 11 and 12  show an optional cushion back rest sliding over and surrounding the fold-down back of the hinged chair. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring initially to  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the drawings, there is shown a hinged chair  1  of the kind that has particular application to be used outside. However, the precise location where the chair  1  is used is not to be considered a limitation of this invention, and therefore the chair  1  may be found both inside and out-of-doors. The chair  1  has a flat seat  3  to support the weight of a user. The seat  3  of chair  1  has a tubular, generally rectangular outer frame  5  and a plurality of tubular cross members  7  that run laterally across the outer frame  5  in spaced parallel alignment with one another. A soft cushion  9  is sewn around the top of the seat  3  to enhance the comfort of one seated on the chair  1 . 
     The seat  3  of the chair  1  is held above the ground by a base  10 . The base  10  preferably includes a pair of generally rectangular tubular legs  12  that are attached to and extend vertically downwardly from opposite sides of the seat  3 . A pair of lateral leg supports  14  run in spaced parallel alignment with one another across the bottom of the base  10  so as to extend between the vertically extending rectangular legs  12  of base  10 . The base  10  is detachably connected to the bottom of the seat  3  by means of removable fasteners (e.g., screws)  16 . In the embodiment best shown in  FIG. 2 , pairs of fasteners  16  extend upwardly through the top of each one of the rectangular legs  12  located at opposite sides of the base  10  for connection to the outer frame  5  at opposite sides of the seat  3 . The fasteners  16  are withdrawn from the legs  12  and the frame  5  so that the base  10  is disconnected from the seat  3  to enable the chair  1  to be disassembled in order to facilitate a shipment or transport thereof in a compact box or similar container. 
     The hinged chair  1  also includes a rotatable fold-down back  18  against which the user reclines his back when resting in the seat  3 . The back  18  includes a generally rectangular outer frame  20  having a pair of generally vertical tubular frame posts  22  located at opposite sides thereof and standing upwardly from the seat  3 . A pair of back support straps  24  against which the user&#39;s back is received run laterally across the chair back  18  and in spaced parallel alignment with one another between the frame posts  22 . An additional back support strap  26  runs vertically along the chair base  18  from the top of the outer frame  20  to a horizontal strap support  28  that runs between the frame posts  22  below the back support straps  24 . 
     As an important feature of this invention, the fold-down back  18  of the hinged chair  1  is rotatably connected to the seat  3  by means of a pair of hinge enclosures  30 . Referring in this regard to  FIGS. 2-6  of the drawings, the outer frame  5  of the seat  3  has a pair of upturned coupling ends (only one of which  32  being shown) located at and extending rearwardly from opposite sides thereof. A hinge enclosure  30  is affixed (e.g., welded) to each upturned coupling end  32  so as to stand upwardly therefrom. Each hinge enclosure  30  is hollow so as to receive therewithin and surround the lower-most end of a respective one of the vertical frame posts  22  located at opposite sides of the chair back  18 . Each hinge enclosure  30  has an open top  34  through which a frame post  22  is slidably received, a front wall  36 , a back wall  38  and opposite side walls  40 . An elongated pivot receiving slot  42  extends vertically through each of the opposite side walls  40  of each hinge enclosure  30 . The front wall  36  of each hinge enclosure  30  has an arcuate recess  44  formed therein so as to communicate with and extend downwardly from the open top  34 . 
     During the manufacture and assembly of the chair  1  and the rotatable connection of the chair back  18  to the chair seat  3 , each of the pair of vertical frame posts  22  (only one of which being shown) from the outer frame  20  of the chair back  18  is moved through the open top  34  of and surrounded by a hollow hinge enclosure  30  that is affixed to one of the pair of upturned coupling ends  32  of the seat frame  5  (best shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). With the frame post  22  located inwardly of the hinge enclosure  30 , the frame post  22  is pivotally attached by the manufacturer to the hinge enclosure  30  prior to the shipment of the chair to a retailer or a purchase of the chair by a consumer. 
     Referring in this regard specifically to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , each of the lower-most ends of the pair of vertical frame post  22  is shown having pairs of axially aligned holes  46  and  48  extending therethrough and located one above the other at opposite sides of the frame post  22 . A first lower pair of axially aligned holes  46  are accessible to the manufacturer and, as will soon be explained, the second upper pair of axially aligned holes  48  are accessible to the end user (i.e., purchaser). More particularly, a first coupler (e.g., a pivot pin)  50  is inserted by the manufacturer through the pivot receiving slots  42  formed in the opposite side walls  40  of the hinge enclosure  30  and through the lower pair of axially aligned manufacturer accessible holes  46  formed through the lower-most end of each frame post  22 . A first retainer (e.g., a cotter pin)  52  is then pushed by the manufacturer through the outwardly extending end of the pivot pin  50  to hold the pin in place and maintain the pivotal connection of the chair back  18  to the chair seat  3 . 
     By virtue of the foregoing, the fold-down chair back  18  is now rotatable at the pivot pins  50  that extend through the pair of frame posts  22  in a clockwise direction through an angle of about 90 degrees between a vertical position (best shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) standing upwardly from the seat  3  and a horizontal folded position (best shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 ) lying over and in opposite facing alignment with the seat  3 . To permit the chair back  18  to rotate relative to the chair seat  3  to its folded position, the chair back  18  is initially pulled upwardly and away from the chair seat  3  in the direction of the reference arrow shown in  FIG. 4  such that each vertical frame post  22  slides upwardly through its hinge enclosure  30 , and the pivot pin  50  carried by the frame post  22  correspondingly rides upwardly through the opposing pin receiving slots  42 . Each vertical frame post  22  of the back frame  20  that projects upwardly through the open top  34  of a hinge enclosure  30  is now rotated downwardly at the pivot pin  50  towards the seat  3  and into receipt by the arcuate recess  44  that communicates with the open top  34  at the front wall  36  of enclosure  30  (best shown in  FIG. 8 ). 
     With the chair back  18  in its aforementioned horizontal folded position of  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the profile of the chair  1  is advantageously reduced to further facilitate its being shipped and transported disassembled in a compact box or similar container within which to be carried to its ultimate destination. Once the chair  1  has been delivered to its ultimate destination, it is removed from the compact shipping box to be assembled and used by the purchaser. 
     Referring specifically to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the user rotates the chair back  18  at the pivot pins  50  in an opposite counter-clockwise direction (represented by the reference arrow shown in  FIG. 7 ) through the aforementioned 90 degree angle from its horizontal folded position as packaged to its aforementioned vertical upstanding position of  FIGS. 1 and 2  at which to be made ready for use. In this case, each frame post  22  of the frame  20  of the chair back  18  is moved out of the recess  44  of the hinge enclosure  30  in which the frame post had formerly been received. Following its rotation, the chair back  18  is pushed downwardly towards the chair seat  3  in the direction of the reference arrow shown in  FIG. 5  such that each vertical frame post  22  slides downwardly through its hinge enclosure  30 , and the pivot pin  50  that is carried by the frame post  22  correspondingly rides downwardly through the opposing pin receiving slots  42 . 
     After the fold-down chair back  18  has been rotated to its vertical upstanding position and pushed downwardly towards the chair seat  3 , the user inserts second couplers (e.g., locking pins), only one of which  54  being shown, through the pivot receiving slots  42  that are formed in the opposite side walls  40  of each hinge enclosure  30  and through the upper pair of axially aligned user accessible holes  48  that are formed through the lower-most end of each frame post  22  above the pair of manufacturer accessible holes  46 . A second retainer (e.g., a cotter pin)  56  is then pushed by the user through the outwardly extending end of the locking pin  54  to hold the locking pin in place and thereby prevent the frame post  22  from one again sliding upwardly through its hinge enclosure  30 . 
     Referring concurrently to  FIGS. 9 and 10  of the drawings, the hinged chair  1  is shown after the user has rotated the fold-down back  18  to its vertical upstanding position and inserted the locking pins  54  into the opposing pin receiving slots  42  of the hinge enclosures  30  and through respective ones of the pairs of axially aligned user accessible holes  48  formed in each of the pair of frame posts  22  that are received in and surrounded by the hinge enclosures. With the pair of frame posts  22  pushed downwardly through the hinge enclosures  30  and both the first and second manufacturer and user installed pivot and locking pins  50  and  54  extending one above the other through each of the frame posts  22  of the outer frame  20  of the fold-down chair back  18 , the chair back  18  is now held stationary and locked in place in its vertically upstanding position shown in  FIGS. 9 and 10 . That is to say, the combination of the pivot and locking pins  50  and  54  prevent the chair back  18  from moving vertically relative to the hinge enclosures  30  or rotating within the hinge enclosures  30  towards the horizontal folded position of  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
     The assembly of the chair  1  is completed and made ready for use when the user attaches the base  10  to the seat  3  by means of installing the fasteners  16  in the manner previously described when referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Prior to using the assembled chair  1 , the user may slide an optional cushion back rest  58  downwardly over and around the chair back  18  as shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 . The cushion back rest  58  has an inside pocket  60  that is sized to receive therewithin and surround the chair back  18  so as to cooperate with the seat cushion  9  to enhance the comfort of one seated in the chair  1 . 
     It has been described above that the chair base  10  is attached to the bottom of the chair seat  3  after the chair back  18  has been rotated to and locked in its vertically upstanding position. However, for convenience during assembly of the chair  1 , the base  10  can also be attached first to the seat  3  while the chair back  18  is still in its horizontal folded position. In either event, the chair  1  described herein is advantageously capable of being shipped from the manufacturer to the end user in an efficient compact configuration that is ideally suited for transport in a compact shipping container.