US792127A - Folding chair. - Google Patents

Description

' No. 792,127. PATENTED JUNE13,1905.

B. 0. I. HALLGREN.

FOLDING CHAIR APPLIUATION FILED FEB.3,1904.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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WCJZVWYV l I by fima PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

B. C. I. HALLGREN.

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.3.1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Merely) 131'01' 6Z1? Mllgren, y M/ mbwsses: TIM C 7 X PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

B. G. I. HALLGREN.'

FOLDING CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.3,1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 8- liwentor .Bmr 61112111 by @i f t m'tne'ssea. T) W L M 1314 UNTTED STATES Patented June 13, 1905.

BROR O. I. HALLGREN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,127, dated June 13, 1905.

Application filed February 3, 1904. Serial No. 191,808.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. BROR G. I. HALLGREN, a citizen of Sweden, and a resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chairs, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in folding chairs, especially well adapted for use in theaters, lecture-rooms, or public halls, &c., and it has for its object means for automatically swinging the seat to an upright position when not occupied, so as to leave afree passage to persons while leaving the auditorium at the close of the performance, or in case of a fire or accident occurring when it is desired to allow the public to leave the hall as quickly as possible.

The'chair is pivotally connected to its base so that it may be turned around its axis to enable persons in one row of the seats to pass readily into the next row in the rear, as may be advantageous for a person in passing from one row of seats to the next one adjacent thereto without passing by persons in the row of seats occupied by people in the same row with the person desirous of leaving the seat, as will hereinafter be more fully shown and described, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a top plan view of one of my improved folding chairs, showing the seat in a horizontal position. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of 2. showing the stationary base in section. Fig. 4: is a side elevation of the chair, showing the seat swung into an upright, or nearly so, position when not in use. Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial cross-section on the line 5 5 shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail vertical section on the line 6 6 shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a partial front view of the seat and one of the pivoted'arm-rests, showing a portion of the latter in section; and Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the line 8 8 shown in Fig. 7.

Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur on the difierent parts of the drawings.

In the drawings, A represents the tubular base or chair-support secured in a suitable manner to the floor.

B represents the chair-frame, having a downwardly-projectingspindle b, loosely journaled in the tubular base A, to enable the chair to be rotated as may be desired.

O is the seat-frame, preferably made of metal and provided with a cushion O, as usual. At or near its rear portion the seatframe is pivotally connected at O to the chairframe B to enable the seat to be swung from the normal position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and vice versa.

D represents the preferably metal chairback, which may be made integral with the chair-frame B or attached thereto in any suitable or practical manner.

(Z is the cushion of the chair-back.

In each of the upright sides of the chairback is made a longitudinal groove or pocket D, in which is movable a spring-pressed block E. (Shown in Figs. 5 and 6.) Saidblock E is provided with a lateral pin 0, which extends through a longitudinal slot f in a plate or cover F, secured to each side of the chairback D, as shown. In practice such block E is longitudinally perforated and through it passes loosely a rod E, to the lower end of which is attached nuts 0 e, as shown in Fig. 6. Upon said spindle E between the block E and nuts 6 is located a coiled compression-spring G. (Shown in Figs. 4 and 6.) The upper end of the rod E is screw-threaded and passes through a perforation in the upper end of the chair-frameD and is provided with a nut E, by means of which the tension of the spring G may be regulated according to the weight of the chair-seat that is pivotally connected to said block E, as will hereinafter be described.

H H represent the arm-rests, one in each side of the chair, each such arm-rest being pivotally connected at its upper end to the pin a on the block E, as shown. The lower portion of each arm-rest H is made tubular, as shown at H in Figs. 7 and 8, and within it is located a coiled drawing-spring I, the upper end of which is attached to the arm-rest and having its lower end attached to a block K, movable in the tubular portion H of the arm-rest, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The said block K is suitably attached or pivotally connected to the side of the chair-frame G, as shown in Fig. 7, and has a reduced portion or shank Z7, adapted to slide in a slotted opening 72/ in the side of the tu nilarportit'm H of the arm-rest, as shown in Fig. 7.

hen the chair is not occupied, as shown in Fig. 4, the side openings G G cause the blocks E E to be forced to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 6 at or about the same time as the arm-springs I I are contracted, by which the chair-seat and its arm-rests are held out of the way by the action of the said springs G I,

as represented in Fig. 4t, and when the chairseat and arm-rests are thus, as it were, collapsed they are not in the way for persons passing by the seats in coming or going. If desired, the chair may be turned around its axis to enable a person to pass from one row of seats into another one, as hereinabove described. When the chair is to be used, it is only necessary for a person to swing the chair-seat with its arm-rests against the action of the springs G I from the position shown in Fig. 4: to that shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and as long as the person is seated the chair will remain in the position shown in said ligures. As soon as a person rises from the seat the latter and its arm-rests will automatically assume the closed positions shown in Fig. 4, which is done by the action of the seat and arm-rest springs hereinbefore mentioned.

In practice I prefer to use in construction with this my improved folding-chair a pivoted seat-support constructed as follows: To the sides of the seat-frame C is pivotall y connected at Z a preferably curved or semicircular frame or brace, the lower end L of which is. preferably curved and adapted to rest against an annular shoulder A on the chairbase A when the chair is occupied, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Then the seat is raised, the said seat-brace is automatically swung by its own gravity to the out-of-the-way position shown in Fig. 4. For the purpose of preventing the said brace from assuming a vertical position during the forward swinging motion of the seat, and particularly when the lower portion of said brace approaches the shoulder A on the chair-base A, so as to guide it properly onto said shoulder, I make on the upper end of said brace a lip or side projection Z, adapted to rest on the under side of the chair-frame when the lower end of said brace approaches the shoulder A or comes to a rest thereon during the opening movement of the seat.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation of my invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent and claim 1. In a chair,the combination of a standard,a frame and back rotating thereon,a seat hinged to the frame and folding up against the back, arm-rests pivotally connected to the seat and having their rear ends pivotally connected to movable spring-pressed blocks, arranged in grooves in the back and compressible springs located in said grooves, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In achair the combination of astandard, a frame and back rotating thereon, a seat hinged on the frame and folding up against the back, arm-rests pivotally and yieldingly connected at their forward ends to the seat and having the rear ends of said arm-rests yieldingl y connected to the back as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Inachair the combination of a frame and back, a seat hinged on the frame and folding up against the back, arm-rests yieldingly pivoted at their forward ends to the seat and pivotally connected at their upper ends to a block movable in a groove in the chair-back and a compressible spring arranged in said groove for normally holding said seat in its normal upwardly-swinging position substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a chair, the combination of a frame and back, a seat hinged on the frame and folding up against the back, arm-rests yieldingly and pivotally connected at their forward ends to the seat and pivotally connected at their rear ends to blocks movable in guides in the back, springs located in grooves in the back for normally holding said arm-rests in their upper position, blocks pivotally connected to the seat and coiled drawing-springs attached to the blocks at one end and to the rear portions of the arm-rests at the other end substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a chair, the combination of a stand ard,a frame and back rotating thereon, a seat hinged to the frame, a seat-support hinged to the seat and having a lip or projection at its upper end, and having a preferably forked lower end and a shoulder or projection on the standard, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BROR (l. I. HALLGREN.

IVitnesses:

ALBAN ANDnnN, FRED H. Gnossnn.

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