Chairs and seats – Collapsible chair; i.e. – relatively folding bottom – back,... – Collapsed to a compact bundle having all rigid elongated...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-03
2001-06-19
Brown, Peter R. (Department: 3624)
Chairs and seats
Collapsible chair; i.e., relatively folding bottom, back,...
Collapsed to a compact bundle having all rigid elongated...
C297S440110
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247748
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to fabric made portable seat products, and more particularly to a seat support arrangement for folding chair which can evenly distribute a downward pulling force on the fabric seat and minimize a stress around the supporting ring.
2. Description of Related Arts
Referring to
FIG. 1
of the drawing, a conventional portable chair comprises a foldable chair frame constructed by metal tubes and a chair seat made of durable fabric wherein the foldable chair frame A
1
is constructed by a pair of back legs A
11
to provide a back frame A
2
and a seat frame A
3
for supporting a fabric seat B
1
. The back frame A
2
and the seat frame A
3
are arranged in such a manner that the chair frame A
1
can be easily opened to provide a rigid cross-support for use and be folded up for storage.
The conventional method of attaching the fabric seat B
1
to the chair frame A
1
is to affix an upper end B
2
of the fabric seat B
1
to a top end of the back frame section A
2
and to have two leg placement holes B
11
reinforced by two lining pads B
12
at two front comers of the fabric seat B
1
for mounting a front end B
3
of the fabric seat B
1
on the seat frame A
3
. The conventional fabric seat B
1
is attached to the seat frame A
3
by slipping the placement holes B
11
over the frame extension legs of the seat frame portion of the chair. The seat can then be hooked over the top of the back frame A
2
to secure the back of the fabric seat B
1
to the frame. This means that at least two leg placement holes B
11
on the front portion of the fabric seat B
1
are needed for attaching the conventional fabric seat B
1
to the front portion of the seat frame A
3
.
All typical frame legs, including two front frame legs A
11
a
, are cylindrical hollow leg and the two leg placement holes B
11
of the conventional fabric seat B
1
are circular holes reinforced with two lining pads B
12
which are affixed on top of two front frame joints A
12
by means of a pair of affixing plugs B
13
.
However, these conventional structures of mounting the front end B
3
of the fabric seat B
1
to the frame joints A
12
of the chair frame A
1
have inherent problems when the chair is used. Since the two front frame legs A
11
a
are supported inclinedly and pivotally in cross manner but not in vertical manner, an individual sitting down on the fabric seat B
1
causes stress to the lining pads B
12
of the leg placement holes B
11
of the fabric seat B
1
. This causes the leg placement hole B
11
to be stretched and misshapen, or worse, torn open, as a pulling pressure is applied to the lining of the leg placement holes B
11
as in individual sits on the fabric seat B
1
.
When an individual sits down, an angle is created on the fabric seat B
1
from the downward pulling force on the fabric seat B
1
at the point where the edge of the support ring is pulled from a stress created at the edge of the support ring ends. An individual's weight causes the fabric seat B
1
to be pulled away from the edges of the two placement holes B
11
. Therefore, the fabric seat B
1
at the edges of the leg placement holes B
11
are pulled from a stress created at the edges of the leg placement holes B
11
. At the same time, each of the lining pads B
12
itself causes an opposite downward pulling force on the fabric seat B
1
at the same stress point. As a result, the fabric seat B
1
will be distorted at the edge of the leg placement hole B
1
, creating a pointed ridge at the edge of the leg placement hole B
11
.
In other words, the stress on the fabric seat B
1
has simply been transferred from the lining pads B
12
of the leg placement holes B
11
to a point just off each of the leg placement holes B
11
. The stress created will then cause a tear, not at the leg placement hole B
11
, but along the edge of the leg placement hole B
11
. Also, the fabric will be permanently misshapen at the stress point over a period of continued use.
Besides, in order to reduce the folding size of the of the chair frame A
1
of the folding chair for easy storage and carrying, the two front frame legs A
11
a
are made as closed to the back legs A
11
as possible. However, the sitting area of the fabric seat B
1
which substantially supports the weight of the user is limited too. Normally, such a limited sitting area of the fabric seat can merely support the buttock portion and an upper portion of the thigh of the user. Therefore, most of the users of the conventional folding chair have an intention to slide out of the seat frontwardly.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide a seat support arrangement for folding chair which substantially increases the supporting area of the fabric seat to more evenly distribute and support the downward pulling force and stress applied by the user's weight.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat support arrangement for folding chair, wherein a thigh supporting flap of the fabric seat is supported by two seat supporting arms frontwardly extended from two front upper frame joints in such a manner that no hole is needed to provided on the front end of the fabric seat and an individual is allowed to sit on the fabric seat without distorting the shape of the fabric seat.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat support arrangement for folding chair, wherein the attachment of the front end of the fabric seat with the foldable chair frame is easy and fast, that is simply by inserting the two seat supporting arms into to two side pockets provided on two sides of the thigh supporting flap of the fabric seat.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seat support arrangement for folding chair, wherein the lower portion of the user's thigh can also be well supported without increasing the distance between the front frame legs and the back legs, i.e. the folding size of the chair frame. In other words, the chair frame of the present invention is more comfortable and capable of supporting more weight in comparison with the conventional chair frame having same frame structure and size.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a seat support arrangement for a folding chair which comprises:
a foldable chair frame supporting a fabric seat having a back support portion and a seat support portion,
wherein the seat support arrangement comprises:
a thigh-supporting flap integrally and frontwardly extended from a front end of the seat support portion of the fabric seat,
and a pair of seat supporting arms which are frontwardly extended from two front upper frame joints of the foldable chair frame and parallelly connected to two side edges of the thigh supporting flap so as to evenly support the seat support portion in such a manner that the thigh supporting flap of the fabric seat is firmly supported to extend frontwardly so as to substantially increase a seat area of the seat support portion of the fabric seat.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2694438 (1954-11-01), Frech
patent: 3222108 (1965-12-01), Pablos
patent: 3437375 (1969-04-01), Kettler
patent: 4047752 (1977-09-01), Rohr
patent: 4671566 (1987-06-01), Knapp et al.
patent: 5984406 (1999-11-01), Lee
patent: 1417366 (1965-10-01), None
Brown Peter R.
Chan Raymond Y.
David and Raymond Patent Group
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