Piece of furniture provided with a folding support

Abstract

 The invention relates to a piece of furniture (13,14) provided with a folding support comprising at least two leg systems including two legs, each leg system being provided with at least two support arms which are hingedly connected to the legs (2,3) of the leg system, and which can each be stretched out respectively on a first and a second side of the legs, which second side is situated opposite the first side, which support comprises further attachment means for fixing the support arms in the folded out position, at least one of the support arms of at lest one leg system show a L-shaped profile, the part of which to be fixed into the attachment means extends outwards with respect to the plane defined by the legs.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a piece of furniture provided with a folding support comprising at least two leg systems including two legs, each leg system being provided with at least a first and a second support arm which are hingedly connected to the legs of the leg system, which first and second support arm can be stretched out respectively on a first and a second side of the legs, which second side is situated opposite the first side, and which support comprises further attachment means for fixing the support arms in the folded out position.

[0002] The support of such a piece of furniture is known from the international model registration DM/011394 while a table provided with such a support is introduced on the market by the applicant. The support arms on both sides of the legs show a mainly U-shaped profile, the raised parts of which are hingedly connected to the legs and the base part being fixed, in the folded out position, into attachment means provided thereto on the underside of the tabletop. The legs of a leg system are connected to one another by means of a connecting piece which is also fixed into attachment means in the folded out position. In this way, the known table is provided with a folding support.

[0003] A drawback of the known table or of other pieces of furniture provided with such a folding support is that some parts of this piece of furniture are insufficiently supported. Consequently, when exerting a pressure onto these parts which is somewhat too high, the piece of furniture will stagger or it can even tip over.

[0004] An object of the invention is to provide a solution for the hereabove mentioned drawback.

[0005] To this end, a piece of furniture according to the invention is characterized in that at least one of the support arms of at least one leg system shows a mainly L-shaped profile, the part of which to be fixed into the attachement means extends outwards with respect to the plane defined by the legs. The use of such a L-shaped profile for one or more of the support arms enables a better distribution of the forces onto the support and provides in this way a better support of the piece of furniture. Indeed, as the part to be fixed into the attachment means extends outwards, the bearing surface formed by the support is enlarged so that the piece of furniture is better supported and has therefore a considerable stability.

[0006] A first embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the invention is characterized in that the second support arm as well as a third support arm show the mainly L-shaped profile, which third support arm can be stretched out on said second side and said parts of the second and third support arm to be fixed in the attachment means are arranged in opposite directions. The use of two mainly L-shaped profiles which are arranged in opposite directions results in a large bearing surface so that a high stability is obtained.

[0007] A second preferred embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the invention is characterized in that said part of the mainly L-shaped profile to be fixed into the attachment means is irremovably fixed therein. This simplifies folding the leg system up.

[0008] A third preferred embodiment of a piece of furniture according to the invention is characterized in that said mainly L-shaped profile can be stretched out towards a center line of the piece of furniture. For most of the pieces of furniture, such as for example for tables, the largest surface to be supported is situated near the center line. By disposing the mainly L-shaped profile towards the center line, the largest surface is consequently supported.

[0009] The invention also relates to a support to be used in a piece of furniture as described hereinbefore.

[0010] The invention will now be explained further with reference to the embodiment represented in the drawings, wherein a table is chosen as piece of furniture. It will be clear that the invention can not only be applied to tables but also to other furniture such as folding benches, podiums, counters, etc... In the drawings :

Figure 1 shows a table upside down comprising a folding support according to the invention ;

Figure 2 shows the same table as in figure 1 but having its support folded in ;

Figure 3 shows a detail of the attachment means ; and

Figure 4 shows a detail of further attachment means.

[0011] In the drawings, the same reference numeral has been given to the same or analogous elements.

[0012] The table, represented in Figure 1, comprises a tabletop 1 and is provided with a support comprising two leg systems 13, 14. Each leg system comprises two legs 2, 3 which are connected to one another by means of an intermediate piece 15. It will be clear that the use of an intermediate piece 15 is a preferred embodiment and that it is also possible to use two arm pieces in stead of one continuous piece.

[0013] In the folded out position, the legs are fixed into the attachment means 8 through their intermediate piece, which means are for example composed of clips such as represented in figure 3. These attachment means are applied to the underside of the tabletop. The use of clips offers the advantage of being very user-friendly and of enabling to snap the legs in and out the clips by a simple push movement. The clips are preferably provided with a notch 12, which has an advantageous influence on their resilient properties.

[0014] Each leg system is provided with a first support arm 4 showing a mainly U-shaped profile. The first support arm can be stretched out, in its folded out position, on a first side of the legs, for example on the side directed towards the outer edge of the table. The attachment means 9, which are applied to the underside of the tabletop and which are preferably also composed of clips, are provided for fixing the first support arm in its stretched out position. It will be clear that the U-shaped profile of the first support arm is a preferred embodiment and that other embodiments, such as two arm halves, are also possible. The advantage of a mainly U-shaped profile is, on the one hand, that this is a strong structure and, on the other hand, that the first support arm can then also be used as handle for transporting the table.

[0015] The first support arm is hingedly connected to the legs. To this end, pins 10 and 11 are applied into the leg, which pins connect also a second 5 and a third 6 support arm to the legs. The first support arm 4 is preferably connected to the inner side of the legs whereas the second 5 and the third 6 support arm are connected to the outer side of the legs since this simplifies the folding up of the different components. By connecting the support arms on one and the same height to the legs, it is possible to use a same hinge pin, but it will be clear that the support arms may also be connected to the legs at different heights.

[0016] The second 5 and the third 6 support arm show a mainly L-shaped profile. The raised part of the L-shape extends in the folded out position between the leg and the underside of the table. The base part of the L-shape is fixed in the attachment means 7 which are applied against the underside of the tabletop. Preferably, this base part is fixed permanently against the underside of the tabletop and the attachment means are composed of brackets which are screwed against the underside of the tabletop. It will be clear that use can also be made of clips for the attachment means 7.

[0017] The base parts of the second and third support arm extend outwards with respect to the plane defined by the legs and are therefore directed towards the edge of the tabletop. In this way, the base parts of the second and the third support arm are arranged in opposite directions with respect to one another.

[0018] The use of mainly L-shaped support arms, such as represented in the drawings, results in that more support points are created per leg, which support points are moreover applied along the outer periphery of the tabletop. By directing the second and the third support arm towards the outer periphery, the bearing surface formed by the support arm is increased so that a same stability is obtained over substantially the whole tabletop. Consequently, one may push onto any point of the folded out table without any risk that this table becomes unbalanced and would tip over. The couple exerted onto the table by pushing for example somewhere along the table edge, is distributed well over the support arm and led to the legs by using a support according to the invention.

[0019] In the example of a round table, represented in Figures 1 and 2, use was made of one mainly U-shaped support arm and two mainly L-shaped support arms per leg system. It will, however, be clear that other embodiments, wherein the U-shaped support arm is replaced by one or two L-shaped support arms or wherein the L-shaped support arms and the U-shaped support arm are permuted, are also possible. Further, it is also possible to dispose the base parts of the mainly L-shaped support arms in one and the same direction.

[0020] The support arms and the legs are preferably made of hollow tubes which offers the advantage of being strong and moreover light-weight. The latter is especially important for portable furniture.

[0021] The use of clips offers the advantage that the table can be easily and quickly folded in and out without requiring the use of screws, bolts or nuts. When the leg system is folded in, the legs are maintained on their place by the clips 16 and 17 as well as by the irremovably connected second and third support arm.

[0022] When folding the leg system out, the user pulls the legs out of the clips 16 and 17 and pivotes the legs around the hinge points 10 and 11. By pulling onto the intermediate piece, the second and third support arm will hinge around the axis XX'. Said leg system and said first support arm are simultaneously positioned above the attachment means 8 and 9 respectively by rotating them. By a simple outward push movement by the user, said leg system and said first support arm are fastened to the tabletop. Folding the leg system in and out can therefore be done quickly and easily.

[0023] In order to transport the table, the user takes a first support arm 4 in his hand, turns this arm upwards and can lift the table easily in this way.

Claims

1. A piece of furniture provided with a folding support comprising at least two leg systems including two legs, each leg system being provided with at least a first and a second support arm which are hingedly connected to the legs of the leg system, which first and second support arm can be stretched out respectively on a first and a second side of the legs, which second side is situated opposite the first side, and which support comprises further attachment means for fixing the support arms in the folded out position, characterized in that at least one of the support arms of at least one leg system shows a mainly L-shaped profile, the part of which to be fixed into the attachment means extends outwards with respect to the plane defined by the legs.

2. A piece of furniture according to claim 1, wherein the first support arm shows a mainly U-shaped profile, characterized in that the second support arm as well as a third support arm show the mainly L-shaped profile, which third support arm can be stretched out on said second side and said parts of the second and third support arm to be fixed in the attachment means are arranged in opposite directions.

3. A piece of furniture according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said part of the mainly L-shaped profile to be fixed into the attachment means is irremovably fixed therein.

4. A piece of furniture according to claim 2, characterized in that the first support arm is connected to the inner side of the legs whereas the second and the third support arm are connected to the outer side of these legs.

5. A piece of furniture according to any one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said mainly L-shaped profile can be stretched out towards a center line of the piece of furniture.

6. A piece of furniture according to any one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the attachment means comprise clips.

7. Support for use in a piece of furniture according to any one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises a support arm showing a mainly L-shaped profile.

Drawing