Improvements in Folding Chairs, Settees, Couches, and the like.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 23rd Dec., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Folding Chairs, Settees, Couches, and the like.
I, ROBERT HOLLOWAY BAVEYSTOCK, of 121, Great Cambridge Street,
Hackney Road, in the County of London, Furniture Manufacturer, 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 invention relates to improvements in folding chairs, settees, couches and like
articles of furniture.
According to my invention the seat of the chair, settee or the like is pivotted to
the side-bars or legs of the back so as to fold up against the latter and the front
legs of the chair are pivotted to the underside of the seat or seat-frame so that when
the latter is folded up the legs will lie against it.
In order to fix the parts for use, two arms or struts are pivotted upon a rail fixed
between the hind legs, the said arms at their front ends carrying a bar the ends of
which slide in slots on the underside of the seat when the chair or the like is being
folded or unfolded. When the chair is in use the said ends of the bar are located
in notches above the slots. To the said bar is also connected another strut adapted
to engage with the rail between the front legs.
:-
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe my invention as
applied to a chair, and in the accompanying drawings
Figures 1 and 2 are a side elevation and an underside view respectively of my
improved chair in position ready for use; and,
Figures 3 and 4 are views at right angles to each other of my chair when
folded.
•
and
a is the chair-seat, the frame 6 of which is pivotted between the side-bars c, c of
the back, the pivots d, d passing through the said side-bars, and through plates e, e
fixed to the seat-frame 6 in order to enable the latter to be made as light as
possible. are the front legs which are connected together by a rail
pivotted at h, h between the sides of the seat-frame b. i, i are the arms or struts
which serve to lock the seat in position for use, and j is the rail upon which the
said arms are pivotted. k is the bar carried in the free ends of the said arms i, i
and having its ends 1, sliding in slots m, m formed by recessed bars n, n fixed to
the underside of the seat-frame. o, o are the notches into which the said ends 1, l
enter as shewn in Figure 1 when the chair is open ready for use.
p is the strut which serves to retain the front legs in their open position, the said
strut being pivotted upon the bark and having its free end notched so as to engage
with the rail gas indicated in Figures 1 and 2. 9, 9 are springs arranged in the
underside of the seat-frame b and against which the tops of the front legs f, f bear
when the chair is in use, the said springs serving to compensate for any shrinkage
of the wood and to ensure the strut p being always in tight connection with the
rail g.
In order to fold up the chair the strut p is disengaged from the rail or stretcher g,
as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, so that the front legs are free to fold
against the underside of the seat and so that the seat itself can be turned up
against the back, the ends 1, 1 of the bar k then sliding out of the notches o, o
and along the slots m, m, the parts being then in the position shewn in Figures 3
and 4.
Although I have shewn and described my improvements as applied to a chair it
is obvious that they can also be applied to settees or couches, in which case the arms
which are arranged as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1 fold up as indicated
by the dotted lines in Figure 3.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A folding chair, settee, couch or the like the seat of which is pivotted to the
back and the front legs of which are pivotted to the seat, the parts being retained
in their positions for use by means of pivotted arms or struts carrying a bar having
its ends sliding in slots and adapted to enter notches in the seat-frame and a strut
pivotted to the said bar and engaging with the stretcher or rail of the front leg, all
substantially as described.
2. The manufacture and use of folding chairs, settees, couches and like articles of
furniture substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 18th dox of November 1902
G. F. REDFERN & Co., .
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.