Chairs and seats – Collapsible chair; i.e. – relatively folding bottom – back,... – With folding armrest
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-17
2001-03-27
Brown, Peter R. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Collapsible chair; i.e., relatively folding bottom, back,...
With folding armrest
C297S016100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206462
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pinch preventing mechanism for a collapsible chair.
2. Description of the Related Art
A collapsible chair may be collapsed when not in use. Nevertheless, when sitting in an extended collapsible chair, a user may be injured when he/she leans backward, as front legs of the chair might be moved above the ground and thus cause the chair in a status allowing collapse. In addition, when collapsing the collapsible chair, the fingers of the user are placed on pivotal sections of the collapsible chair and thus might be injured.
The present invention is intended to provide a pinch preventing mechanism for a collapsible chair to solve the above problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A collapsible chair in accordance with the present invention comprises:
a backrest frame including two lateral sides each having a lower end,
a seat frame including two lateral sides each having a front end and a rear end, the rear end of each said lateral side of the seat frame including a mounting block securely mounted thereon, the lower end of each said lateral side of the backrest frame being pivotally connected an associated said mounting block,
two armrests each having a front end and a rear rend, the rear end of each said armrest being pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of an associated said lateral side of the backrest frame,
two front legs each having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end of each said front leg being pivotally connected to the front end of an associated said armrest,
two rear legs each having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end of each said rear leg being pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of the associated armrest,
a pinch preventing mechanism including:
a pin fixed to one of the rear legs,
a sleeve slidably mounted around said one of the rear legs and including a locking member and a wedge, the sleeve including a compartment into which the pin extends, a spring being mounted in the compartment and attached between the pin and an end wall defining the compartment, thereby biasing the sleeve downward, the wedge including a bottom surface,
an engaging device including an upper end pivotally connected to said lower end of an associated said lateral side of the backrest frame, the engaging device further including a lower end pivotally connected to said one of the rear legs in a position below the sleeve, the engaging device including a notch, the wedge being engaged in the notch of the engaging device when the collapsible chair is in an extended status, the locking member of the sleeve being biased by the spring to securely yet releasably engaged with the upper end of the engaging device when the collapsible chair is in the extended status, thereby preventing collapse of the collapsible chair,
whereby when collapsing the collapsible chair, the sleeve is manually moved upward along said one of the rear legs to disengage the wedge from the notch, the spring exerts a downward force to the sleeve to make the bottom side of the wedge abut against the engaging device to thereby retain the sleeve at a level in which the locking member of the sleeve disengages from the upper end of the engaging device, thereby allowing collapse of the collapsible chair.
The wedge includes an inclined side surface and the notch includes a correspondingly shaped inclined surface. The inclined side surface of the wedge slides along the inclined surface of the notch when collapsing the collapsible chair by moving the sleeve upward along said one of the rear legs. The sleeve further includes a thumb-piece formed on an outer periphery thereof to allow easy upward manual movement of the sleeve along said one of the rear legs. The sleeve may include an end cap mounted to an upper end thereof.
A stop is formed on an outer periphery of said one of the rear legs for retaining the sleeve at a level above the engaging device when the collapsible chair is in a collapsed status, thereby allowing the collapsed chair to be extended directly. The sleeve includes a second compartment in which an upper end wall defining the second compartment abuts against the stop when the collapsible chair is in the collapsed status.
In an embodiment of the invention, the engaging device includes two parallel side plates between which said one of the rear legs extends. Each side plate includes an upper end and a lower end. The upper ends of the side plates of the engaging member are connected by an engaging tube that is integrally formed with the upper ends of the side plates and pivotally connected to the lower end of the associated lateral side of the backrest frame. The lower ends of the side plates of the engaging member are pivotally connected to said one of the rear legs. The notch is defined in one of the side plates of the engaging member.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3319997 (1967-05-01), Clement
patent: 5054848 (1991-10-01), Liu
patent: 5735570 (1998-04-01), Tseng
patent: 6095596 (2000-08-01), Chen
Brown Peter R.
Kamrath Alan
Rider Bennett Egan & Arundel, LLP.
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