Standardised structural seat consisting of a composite material or a plastic

Abstract

 Standardised structural seat consisting of a composite material or a plastic for the production of stools, chairs or armchairs with or without arms, which comprises at its four sides standardised connecting seatings (11) formed during the moulding step and open towards the outer part, for the positioning and anchorage of the legs (16) and also, near at least part of its rear edge (23), at least one hollow (14, 114), formed during the moulding step, to connect with the fixed end portions (15a) of the seatback(19) and/or the fixed end portions (165b) of thearms (22).

Description

[0001] This invention concerns a standardised structural seat consisting of a composite material or a plastic, as set forth in the main claim.

[0002] The standardised structural seat according to the invention is employed for the production of stools, chairs and armchairs with or without arms, modular shelves, etc.

[0003] This seat is applied advantageously also in the making of modular compositions comprising a plurality of seatings connected together and/or intermediate seating planes, such as for example those used in waiting rooms, conference rooms, class rooms, etc.

[0004] According to the state of the art the various components of a chair, such as the legs, the seatback and the arms, are secured to a frame which has a structural function and to which is fixed a seat that has only a supporting function.

[0005] In other cases it is the seat itself which performs the structural function, while the other elements forming the chair are secured directly to the seat by means of adhesives, screws, fixed end joints or another type of coupling.

[0006] This second system makes it necessary that suitable seatings are provided on the seat so as to achieve a stable connection of such components to the seat.

[0007] The arrangement of these connecting seatings entails high costs since it requires a great use of machines and labour.

[0008] Moreover, such seats are specifically arranged for use on particular determined types of chairs or armchairs and can only be adapted with difficulty to different types both from the shape point of view and from the appearance point of view.

[0009] This situation involves the pre-arrangement of a plurality of models of seats, each specifically for a given type of chair, and thus involves resulting problems of at least partial re-adaptation of the production machines, the necessity of keeping a great volume of stocks, specific and different processings and still other problems.

[0010] GB-A-2089202 teaches to make tubular seatings in correspondence with the four corners of the seat in order to position the four legs.

[0011] However with such tubular seatings only legs with a mating shape and size can be accommodated; it is not possible therefore to obtain a substantially standardised seat which can be adopted for a plurality of different configurations of the legs.

[0012] The present applicants have designed, tested and embodied this invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to achieve further advantages.

[0013] This invention is set forth and characterised in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe variants of the idea of the main embodiment.

[0014] The purpose of this invention is to produce by moulding or pressing methods a seat for stools, for chairs and for armchairs which consists of a composite or plastic material and which itself performs structural functions without having to use a reinforcing frame for the assembly of the other components such as the legs, seatback and arms.

[0015] Another purpose of the invention is to reduce as much as possible the processings required to produce the finished product with a resulting reduction of the times and costs of production.

[0016] A further purpose of the invention is to provide a standardised seat which, with simple and speedy operations of personalisation carried out on the seat itself, can be used to produce chairs and other articles of furnishing which are substantially different as regards their design and functional nature, with the use of differing legs and/or seatbacks, as well as possible arms and/or accessories of a different structure.

[0017] The standardisation of the seat entails a lowering of the production costs owing to the great number of seats produced and able to be used to obtain substantially different models of chairs from the points of view of shape and function, and also entails a great saving in the management of stocks.

[0018] The seat according to the invention can be embodied advantageously by using composite materials the components of which consist of processing discards, such as, for instance, varnishing sludges, sawdust, discards of plastic, of medium density fibreboard and of other materials which can be re-used.

[0019] These composite materials provide excellent characteristics of workability and strength at a cost which in itself is decidedly low.

[0020] The seat according to the invention includes seatings for connection of the legs, these seatings being positioned peripherally, while the legs are clamped in position by anchorage means consisting, for instance, of self-threading screws, bolts or other means.

[0021] These connecting seatings are substantially composed of housing hollows of a semicircular form opening towards the outside.

[0022] These connecting seatings are obtained according to a fixed conformation pre-defined during the moulding step, and this conformation can then be adapted in a successive step according to the specific requirements, by means of extremely speedy and simple operations of personalisation, for the connection to legs having various forms.

[0023] By using these substantially semicircular connecting seatings, it is possible to put together several seats, or one seat with one or more seating surfaces, where these seats share one or more legs, in the construction of modular structures with adjacent seating surfaces used in waiting rooms, conference rooms, etc.

[0024] With the adjacent elements sharing the legs, there is a great saving in components, a better structural solidity of the modular composition and a more pleasing aesthetic effect in general.

[0025] According to a further use, it is possible to achieve modular shelves by placing, one on top of the other, a plurality of seats with legs by connecting the legs one on top of the other by means of fixed end joints.

[0026] According to a variant specially shaped reinforcing elements, which too are embodied directly in the moulding step, are included in cooperation with seatings for the legs provided in the seat and therebelow and extend below the plane defined by the seat itself.

[0027] These reinforcing elements have the task of stiffening the assembly of the legs and enable the use of connecting slats between the legs to be obviated.

[0028] According to the invention, the seat includes in a position adjacent to its outer edge a hollow to position the seat and/or arms, provided in the thickness of the seat, which extends along at least part of the rear segment of the perimeter of the seat.

[0029] According to a variant this hollow extends at least partly along the sides of the seat too.

[0030] In a first embodiment, this hollow is closed in relation to the upper side of the seat and extends for a considerable part of the rear segment of the perimeter of the seat and advantageously also along the sides of the perimeter.

[0031] In this case, the seating for connecting the fixed end portions of the seatback and/or of the arms is obtained by making in the seat, at the hollow which is closed at the upper part, slots of a mating shape, the characteristics of which are in accordance with the type of seatback and arms to be fitted.

[0032] These slots, which put the hollow in communication with the upper surface of the seat, can be made either in the upper surface or in the peripheral lateral edge of the seat, depending on the type of seatback and/or of the arms to be fitted.

[0033] According to this embodiment, the seat according to the invention can be used in connection with seatbacks and/or arms substantially of any form and connection type; the only adaptation operation needed is to remove, during the assembly step of the final product, the thickness which closes the hollow in relation to the upper surface of the seat.

[0034] According to a variant, along the hollow are included one or more reinforcing elements consisting of elements dividing that hollow and defining a solid segment which has substantially the same height as the hollow.

[0035] In one embodiment of the invention the seating or seatings for connection of the seatback and/or arms are embodied in coincidence with these reinforcing elements.

[0036] According to another embodiment, the hollow is open at the upper part at least in correspondence with what will be the connecting seatings for the seatback and/or the arms.

[0037] This embodiment on the one hand speeds up the assembly operations of the final product, which are limited to simply fixed end joining the seatback and/or arms to the seat, and on the other hand is used for a product intended for a specific type of seatback and/or arms at least as regards their joining elements.

[0038] The clamping of the fixed end portions of the seatback and/or of the arms to the seat according to the invention is ensured by suitable anchorage elements consisting, for instance, of self-threading screws, bolts or other means, which cooperate with the connecting seatings and with the fixed end portions of the seatback and arms.

[0039] According to a variant the seatback is secured to the seat by these same anchorage elements, which clamp the two rear legs to the seat.

[0040] The seat according to the invention has an upper anatomic conformation and can be associated or not with linings, upholstery or other means of any type.

[0041] The attached figures are given as a non-restrictive example and show some preferred embodiments of the invention as follows:-

Fig.1

is a partly cutaway three-dimensional view of a chair including a seat according to the invention;

Fig.2

shows a variant of Fig.1;

Fig.3

shows in a reduced scale a view from below of the seat of the chair of Fig.1;

Fig.4

shows in an enlarged scale a partial section of the seat of Fig.3 along the line A-A;

Fig.5

shows in an enlarged scale a partial section of the seat of Fig.3 along the line B-B;

Fig.6

shows a variant of the structural seat according to the invention;

Fig.7

shows a section along the line C-C of Fig.6;

Fig.8

shows a modular composition obtained by using seating elements which adopt the structural seat according to the invention.

[0042] The reference number 10 in the attached figures denotes generically a seat according to the invention for stools, chairs or armchairs.

[0043] The seat 10 includes peripheral connecting seatings 11 having a fixed pre-determined conformation and produced during a moulding or pressing step for the positioning of legs 16 of the chair.

[0044] In this case the connecting seatings 11 have a rounded and substantially semicircular shape, which can be adapted with simple and quick processings in a successive step to suit the specific conformation of the legs 16 to be connected to the seat 10.

[0045] In this example reinforcement elements 18 are provided in correspondence with the connecting seatings 11 formed on the seat 10 and below those seatings 11.

[0046] These reinforcement elements 18 too include at least part of connecting seatings for the legs 16 and extend below by a given segment so as to cooperate with a corresponding segment of the relative leg 16 (see also Fig.6).

[0047] The reinforcement elements 18 impart rigidity and strength to the connection between the seat 10 and the legs 16 and may enable the use of connecting slats or stiffening elements of another type to be obviated.

[0048] The connecting seatings 11 or the reinforcement elements 18 contain at least one hole 12 for the passage of fixture elements 13 consisting, for instance, of bolts or self-threading screws cooperating with the legs 16.

[0049] In the case shown in Figs.1-5, a downwardly open hollow 14 is provided on the thickness of the seat 10 and extends at least to, or near to, the rear edge 23 of the seat 10.

[0050] This hollow 14 may extend along the whole rear edge 23 of the seat 10 or may even extend beyond the seatings 11 which connect the rear legs 16.

[0051] According to a variant the hollow 14 extends also along the sides of the seat 10

[0052] The hollow 14 may have a development substantially perpendicular to the plane defined by the seat 10 or else, according to a variant, may be inclined towards the inside of the seat 10 from the upper edge of the latter so as to facilitate insertion of a seatback and/or arms of an ergonomic conformation.

[0053] During the assembly of the final product, connecting seatings 21 are formed, advantageously by milling or other similar process, in correspondence with the hollow 14.

[0054] These connecting seatings 21 are obtained by making first slots 25a, which leave the hollow 14 open upwards too and put the hollow 14 into communication with the upper side 24 of the seat 10, as shown with lines of dashes in Fig.5.

[0055] With these connecting seatings 21 there cooperates a mating fixed end portion 15a of the seatback 19.

[0056] Analogous third slots 25c in cooperation with the hollow 14 define seatings 21 for connection of the fixed end portions 15b of arms 22.

[0057] The fixed end portions 15a, 15b are secured in position by suitable fixture elements 13, which in this case are screws.

[0058] This embodiment has the effect that in the prearrangement of the connecting of the seat 10 to the seatback 19 and/or arms 22 it is necessary to carry out milling only of the thickness which separates the hollow 14 from the upper part of the seat 10, and only in the segment which is necessary according to the type and the size of these fixed end portions 15a and 15b of the seatback and arms; this gives an advantage as regards the production times and costs of equipment, and also as regards standardisation of the moulds, versatility of the product, management of the stocks and other advantages.

[0059] According to the embodiment shown in Fig.1 the same fixture element 13 cooperates both with a fixed end portion 15a of the seatback 19 and with one of the rear legs 16 of the chair.

[0060] According to another variant, which is not shown here, the same fixture element 13 cooperates both with one of the fixed end portions 15b of an arm 22 and with one of the front legs or rear legs 16 of the chair.

[0061] In the particular form of embodiment shown in Fig.2 the seatback 19 is of a type including supporting elements 17 having a curved end portion that constitutes a substantially horizontal fixed end 15a.

[0062] According to a variant of this embodiment the fixed end portions consist of auxiliary elements which can be solidly secured to the supporting elements 17.

[0063] In this case the connecting seatings 21 with which the fixed end portions 15a cooperate are formed in the rear side of the seat 10 by making second slots 25b in the reinforcement elements 20 placed along the hollow 14.

[0064] The clamping of the fixed end portions 15a to the seat 10 is provided by fixture elements 13 cooperating advantageously with the lower side of the seat 10.

[0065] According to the variant shown in Figs.6 and 7, the seat 110 has its hollows 114 opening towards the upper side and closed towards the lower side of the seat 110 itself

[0066] According to a further variant, which is not shown here, the hollows 114 are through hollows along the whole thickness of the seat 110.

[0067] The hollows 114 are provided directly during the moulding step and are used to connect the seat 110 and the seatback 19 and/or the arms 22.

[0068] The hollows 114 are obtained at least in the knowledge of the type of the fixed end parts 15a and 15b of the seatback 19 and the arms 22 which will be associated at a later time with the seat 110.

[0069] Fig.8 shows a modular composition which uses a plurality of seating elements, such as seats, stools or simply seating planes, even placed one on top of the other by means of fixed end joining the respective legs 16, these seating elements adopting the seat 10, 110 according to the invention.

[0070] The inclusion of legs 16 connected to housing seatings 11 of the type disclosed by the invention makes it possible for every adjacent pair of seating elements or seating planes to share two legs 16, thus achieving a saving as regards components used, a greater structural solidity, easier composition and a better aesthetic effect.

Claims

1. Standardised structural seat consisting of a composite material or a plastic for the production of stools, chairs or armchairs with or without arms, tables or articles of furnishing in general, the seat being characterised in that it comprises at its four sides standardised connecting seatings (11) formed during the moulding step and opening towards the outside, for the positioning and anchorage of the legs (16) and also, near at least part of its rear edge (23), at least one hollow (14, 114), formed during the moulding step, to connect with the fixed end portions (15a) of the seatback (19) and/or with the fixed end portions (15b) of the arms (22).

2. Structural seat as in Claim 1, in which the hollow (14, 114) situated in cooperation with the rear edge (23) of the seat (10) extends up to the two seatings (11) which connect the rear legs (16).

3. Structural seat as in Claim 1 or 2, in which the hollow (14) is closed on its upper part in relation to the upper side (24) of the seat (10).

4. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the hollow (14) closed at the upper part is put in communication with the upper side (24) of the seat (10) by at least one first slot (25a) or a third slot (25c) provided during the assembly step of the finished product.

5. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the hollow (14) closed at the upper part has at least one reinforcement divider (20).

6. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which at least one reinforcement divider (20) is open towards the outer part of the seat (10) by means of a second slot (25b) provided during the assembly step of the finished product.

7. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the first slot (25a) and/or the second slot (25b) cooperate with a mating fixed end portion (15a) of the seatback (19).

8. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the third slot (25c) cooperates with a mating fixed end portion (15b) of the arm (22).

9. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the slots (25a,25b,25c) are provided by processing with a machine tool.

10. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the slot (25a,25b,25c) is oval or round or substantially rectangular with rounded sides.

11. Structural seat as in Claim 1 or 2, in which the hollow (114) is open at the upper part in relation to the upper side (24) of the chair (110).

12. Structural seat as in Claim 11, in which the hollows (114) are of a number, arrangement and shape to mate with the number and shape of the fixed end portions (15a) of the seatback (19) and/or the fixed end portions (15b) of the arms (22).

13. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the seatings (11) for the connection of the legs (16) include in their lower portion reinforcement elements (18) cooperating with the upper segment of the relative leg (16) and having a stiffening and reinforcement function

14. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the fixed end portions (15a) of the seatback (19) and at least one rear leg (16) cooperate with the same fixture element (13).

15. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which the fixed end portions (15b) of the arms (22) and at least one rear leg (16) cooperate with the same fixture element (13).

16. Structural seat as in any claim hereinbefore, in which, in a modular composition containing several adjacent seating elements, two structural seats (10, 110) share at least one leg (16).

Drawing