Improvements in Folding Chairs.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 25th Mar., 1893
5
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE NORTH WESTERN WIRE MATTRESS
COMPANY, & corporation organized and existing under and by virtue of the
laws of the State of Wisconsin, and having its principal place of business at
Kenosha, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States of America.]
Improvements in Folding Chairs.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My improvement is applied to a chair embodying an open frame which constitutes
the front legs and the support for the rear legs, the seat, and the back, said rear
legs, seat and back being located between the side rails of said open frame.
My improvement relates particularly to means for controlling the movement of
said rear legs, seat and back.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a chair when open.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the chair when folded.
Figure 3 is a side elevation when open.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are details.
A is the open frame. This is composed of the side rails A' A¹ the rung A³, and
the top bar, A³. B B are the rear legs. These are located between the side
rails A A', and hinged on the rung A'. The legs B may be united by rungs B¹.
C is the back of the chair. This is located within the frame A, immediately
below the top bar A', and joined at each upper corner to the adjacent side rail A',
by a hinge C. The axis of said hinge is preferably located at the rear of the
middle of the side rails, A', as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
D is the seat. When the chair is open, the front of the seat rests upon the
upper ends of the legs B, and the rear end of the seat meets the lower end of the
back C. The back and the seat are joined at their meeting ends by two hinge-
plates C, one of said plates C, being rigidly applied to each lateral edge of the
seat, D as by nails or screws dd, and loosely to each lateral edge of the back C
by means of a pin or screw c so that a hinge is formed upon the axes of said
pins c.
EE are links, hinged at e, at the front ends to the upper ends of the legs B, B
and at e', to the bottom of the seat D. The rear ends of these links may be sunk
in the bottom of the seat as shown in Figure 4. F F are links located at opposite
sides of the seat and hinged at f to the inner face of the side rails A¹ and extending
horizontally rearward, when the chair is open, and hinged to the rear portion of the
lateral edges of the seat as by means of one of the pins d.
In folding, the entire seat D is raised by turning it upon the hinge c, until the
seat lies in contact with the back. The lifting of the seat at d raises the rear end
of the links F and turns the latter upon the hinges f. Thus the links F are raised
into the space between the side rails A', A', and the lower end of the back C, and
the rear portion of the seat D is drawn forward by said links, F into the space
between said side rails. The rear portion of the hinge plate, C, is directed upward
so that the hinge c will be about in line with the upper face of the seat, D to the
end that said hinge will permit the seat D to fold closely against the front face of
the back C.
While the seat is thus raised into the vertical position the rear ends of the
links F, are drawn rearward and upward, and the links in turn draw the upper ends

page_text: of the legs B B, rearward so that the legs are turned upon the rung A' until said
legs and said links assume positions substantially in line with each other between
the side rails A' A' the links E overlapping the seat D, from the hinge f to the
rear edge of the seat.
The chair as above described has been heretofore made by others and has been
found defective in that it is difficult to open the chair after it has been folded.
This defect is so marked that persons in the furniture trade are puzzled in manipu
lating the chair and have declared that it is not marketable. The peculiarity is
that the chair unfolds in several different ways, only one of which is right, and it
is difficult to effect this correct unfolding.
My invention relates to means for positively overcoming these difficulties. This
I accomplish by applying to the hinge plate C2 above the pin, c, a horizontal,
laterally directed extension, c³, which is of sufficient length to extend into the
plane of the adjacent side-rail A¹. When the chair is being folded, this extension
is carried rearward- and downward around the pin c, until it stands a little at the
rear of the plane of the rear face of the back C, and against the rear edge of the
adjacent side rail A'. When in this position, said extension positively prevents
the lower portion of the back and the rear portion of the seat from moving forward
between the side rails A', through the frame A, whereby the seat would be thrown
bodily forward and downward into a position near the floor. The application of
this extension to the hinge plate C2, is an effective, convenient, and economical
manner of forming such a stop. The entire hinge plate C, may be stamped and
cast in one piece, and the pins, d d, and c, serve to support the stop as well as to
form the hinge between the back and the seat.
To the front portion of the link F, 1 employ an extension", the direction of
said extension being first downward a distance about equal to the distance between
the hinge f, and the rear edge of the side rail, A' and then towards the middle
of the chair a distance a little more than the space between the adjacent faces of
the side rails A¹, and the legs B. When the chair is being folded, the extension f
will turn rearward and upward on the hinge f, until the portion of said extension
which is directed toward the middle of the chair is substantially even with the
rear edge of the side rail A'. The upper end of the leg B, has meanwhile, moved
rearward into the space between the side rails A', and against the extension f":
Thus the upper end of the legs B and the lower ends of the links E are prevented
from moving rearward when it is attempted to unfold the chair.
With both of these stops applied as described, the back the seat, the links E,
and the legs B, can move in only one direction when it is sought to unfold the
chair. The back is prevented from moving forward by a stop and a stop prevents
the rearward movement of the links E, and the legs B B.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
The combination with the frame A, back D, located within said frame and hinged
to the latter at its upper end, the legs B, located within and hinged to said frame,
the seat D, located within said frame A, and extending to the lower portion of said
back, and extending over the upper ends of the legs B, and the hinged links E,
joining the upper ends of said legs and the rear portion of said seat, of links F,
having extensions f, and being hinged to the side rails A', and extending rear-
ward and hinged to the seat D, and hinge-plates C* secured to the seat D, and
back C, and having the extension c, substantially as and for the purposes herein
set forth
Dated this 7th day of February 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
M !
1341