Horizontally supported planar surfaces – Folding – Legs fold axially parallel to surface edges
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-06
2004-05-11
Chen, Jose V. (Department: 3637)
Horizontally supported planar surfaces
Folding
Legs fold axially parallel to surface edges
C108S091000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06732663
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to folding furniture, and more particularly to a portable foldable table with enhanced supporting structure and storage arrangement which allow the foldable table to be more secure and can be more conveniently stored as compared to related conventional arts.
2. Description of Related Arts
The transportable utility renders the foldable tables being useful for various kinds of activities, such as annual meetings in school's hall, church gathering, beverage reception in a particular university's podium, exhibitions, and the likes. Very often, these participant-intensive activities take place in multi-function rooms or designated areas in which the related furniture and equipments are temporary set up. After the functions, all the furniture and equipments will be cleared from the multi-function rooms or the designated areas and neatly stored to, say, other storage room for further uses, and the multi-function rooms or the designated areas will be made over for other purposes.
Foldable tables are usually utilized by function's host to support or retain the necessary equipments in that they are foldable and portable so that they can be easily set up when necessary, and removed after the functions ended. A conventional foldable table usually comprises a tabletop having an upper utilizing surface and a lower attaching surface, a foldable table frame which comprises a pair of table leg frames pivotally mounted on the lower attaching surface of the tabletop in a foldable manner.
Regarding to such conventional foldable table, some deep-seated drawbacks can be found. First, foldable tables are hard to stack up. Foldable tables are prevalent because of their flexibility. When needed, they can be unfolded for retaining and supporting a variety of objects. When they are not needed, they can be folded up into a relatively compact size for storage. Of course, most of the conventional foldable tables allow user to fold up their legs in order to make them more compact. There is nothing wrong with each individual foldable table. However, many organizations need lots of foldable tables for large-scale functions, storing a large number of them is another story. Typically, one may erect the folded foldable tables one by one and overlappedly lay them in order. One potential problem of this practice is that the foldable tables easily collapse. In order to prevent them from collapsing, some sorts of strings or ropes may have to be used to tighten them. In other cases, one may wish to stack up all the foldable tables. However, the user may not be able to do so simply because the upper one may not be able to securely stack on the lower one.
Second, the foldable table may not be secure enough. In order that the foldable table to be portable, the material used for manufacturing the tabletop should be light in weight, such as plastic. This can be easily justified by the fact that most of the conventional foldable tables have their tabletops made by some sorts of plastic. However, light material probably suffers from inadequate strength, making the foldable table not secure enough, especially when it is loaded with fairly heavy objects. Though some manufacturers employ light but strong material, such as fiber reinforced composites, the foldable table made by this kind of material is unavoidably expensive which decreases the willingness of consumers to buy this product. One may choose to sacrifice the portability of the foldable table by building the tabletop with heavier and more rigid material. Nonetheless, portability and rigidity are mutually contending.
Besides, almost all conventional foldable tables have their respective tabletop supported at four corner portions, or at several separate supporting points along the edge portion of the tabletop. However, very often, an object will be placed at the middle portion of the tabletop. This creates a large bending moment to the tabletop and, if the tabletop was not strong enough, it would be broken or deflected after being used for a period of time. Also, with such kinds of mechanical designs, any loading loaded on the tabletop will not be evenly shared among the foldable table frame.
Finally, foldable tables are usually bulky in size, even though their weights are relatively light. Therefore, when someone wants to move a particular foldable table, he/she may not be able to so do because of the bulky size. He/she even can't find a gripping portion of the foldable table. The usual way is to call another person to help him/her. The conventional foldable tables, even when folded, usually require more than one people to move.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide a foldable table which can be easily and securely stacked up for convenient storage without involving any complicated mechanical process or equipments.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable table which has enhanced rigidity as compared with conventional arts without significantly increasing its overall weight.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable table wherein a tabletop is substantially and evenly supported by a foldable table frame so as to enhance the overall strength of the foldable table.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable table which is easy to carry and transport even by one people only.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable table which does not involve complicated mechanical structure, so as to minimize the manufacturing cost and other related expenses of the foldable table.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a foldable table comprising:
a tabletop having an upper utilizing portion, a top resting edge integrally and peripherally extended around the tabletop, and a lower supporting portion, the tabletop further having an engaging rim downwardly protruded from the supporting surface to form an outer edge of the tabletop and to define a storage cavity within the engaging rim, wherein the engaging rim has an engaging edge groove, having a depth with respect to a height of the engaging edge rim, indently formed at an inner surface thereof, wherein the engaging edge groove is shaped and sized for fittedly engaging with the top resting edge; and
a table supporting frame which comprises:
a pair of leg frames pivotally and spacedly supported underneath the supporting surface in such a manner that the leg frames are capable of folding between a folded position and an unfolded position, wherein in the folded position, each of the leg frames is pivotally folded to receive in the storage cavity at a position above the engaging edge groove, wherein in the unfolded position, each of the leg frames is pivotally folded out of the storage cavity at a predetermined unfolded angle between each of the leg frames with the supporting surface; and
means for retaining the leg frames in the folded position;
means for retaining the leg frames in the unfolded position;
whereby, the foldable table is adapted to overlappedly stack on another foldable table by engaging the top resting edge of a lower foldable table in the engaging edge groove of the foldable table with the upper utilizing portion of the lower foldable table is received in the storage cavity of the foldable table, while the top resting edge of the lower foldable table is encircled by the engaging rim of the foldable table so as to substantially retain the two foldable tables in position in the overlapped manner and to avoid a lateral relative movement between the two foldable tables.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2695828 (1954-11-01), Witkowiak
patent: 6112674 (2000-09-01), Stanford
patent: 6422157 (2002-07-01), Rumph
patent: 6431092 (2002-08-01), Stanford
patent: 6471173 (2002-10-01), Tseng
patent: 6520094 (2003-02-01), Wen
patent: 3011797 (1981-10-01), None
Chan Raymond Y.
Chen José V.
David & Raymond Patent Group
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