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(11) | EP 1 155 641 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Knockdown chair |
| (57) Knockdown chair (10) comprising a plurality of components (11) able to be associated
with each other, including at least a seat part (12), front (15) and rear (14) support
means, or legs, and at least a tie bar element (16), with the function of giving structural
rigidity, able to be attached diagonally below the seat part (12) to connect the latter
with the rear support means (14). |
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention concerns a knockdown chair, that is to say, suitable to assume an assembled condition for use and a dis-assembled condition for storage and/or transport.
[0002] In the following description, the term chair should be taken to mean any type of seating arrangement and therefore, although only the specific case of a chair is shown, the invention must not be limited to this, but extends to armchairs, stools, benches and similar.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] There are various types of knockdown chairs known to the state of the art; they differ in structure, materials used and assembly systems.
[0004] They comprise a plurality of components, generally supplied separately by the producer, able to be associated together at a later moment to assemble the chair.
[0005] Generally speaking, the problems of knockdown chairs are: high production costs, difficulties in assembling/dis-assembling the chair, the high number of attachment elements to be used, the lack of resistance to stress when the chair is assembled, the bulkiness of the packaging with consequent difficulty in storing and transporting the chairs. These problems are even more accentuated in the case of chairs with a metal frame wherein the couplings cannot exploit, as in wood or plastic, a partial yielding of the material, and hence have to guarantee resistance to the stresses caused by use on their own.
[0006] In conventional embodiments, solving one of these problems has very often accentuated another problem.
[0007] For example, in the attempt to make the chair more stable and resistant in its assembled condition, some components are made solid during the production step or made in a single piece. This, however, entails a greater bulk of the packaging with consequent problems in storage, movement and transport thereof. Likewise, by limiting the number of attachment elements employed, also to reduce the assembly times, the solidity and resistance to mechanical stresses of the chair are compromised.
[0008] Embodiments proposed until now, particularly in chairs with a metal frame, have therefore been only partly satisfactory, because they have left some problems unsolved or imposed limitations in aesthetics and use on the knockdown chairs.
[0009] Therefore, until now, in metal chairs, it has only been possible to partly dis-assemble the components; this has mainly concerned accessories and finishing parts, rather than structural parts.
[0010] The present Applicant has devised and embodied this invention to overcome these shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain further advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention.
[0012] The purpose of the invention is to achieve a chair which can be completely dis-assembled and which is aesthetically valid, economical to make, practical and quick to assemble, using a limited number of attachment elements.
[0013] Another purpose of the invention is to provide a knockdown chair which is extremely stable and resistant to mechanical stresses in its assembled condition and during use and with components which, in the dis-assembled condition of the chair, can be packed into containers of a regular shape and limited size.
[0014] The knockdown chair according to the invention comprises a seat part, front and rear support means and at least a tie bar element, the function of which is to give support and structural rigidity, able to be attached diagonally below the seat part to connect the latter with the rear support means.
[0015] The components develop substantially in two dimensions and are able to be associated with each other, for example by means of screws, to assemble the chair.
[0016] In a preferential embodiment, the chair according to the invention comprises a base frame, also developing substantially on a single plane, associated below the seat part and provided with insertion and attachment seatings for the front support means.
[0017] In a first form of embodiment, the tie bar element is able to be attached directly on the lower surface of the seat part, located in a position associated with the relative base frame.
[0018] According to a variant, the tie bar element is able to be attached on the base frame, preferentially in correspondence with a front segment thereof.
[0019] In one embodiment of the invention, the tie bar element comprises at least a rod associated at its two ends, respectively to a lower plate, suitably inclined, able to be attached to the rear support means, and to an upper plate, also suitably inclined, able to be attached to the seat part and/or the base frame.
[0020] According to a variant, the tie bar element can include one only of the plates and is able to be attached with its free end directly on the seat part or on the rear support means.
[0021] In a preferential embodiment, the rear support means extend upwards and define in a single piece the back rest of the chair according to the invention.
[0022] The presence of the tie bar element confers on the chair according to the invention a high level of stability and structural rigidity, so that in its assembled condition it is much safer and more resistant to the mechanical stresses which derive from continued use.
[0023] The limited number of components of the chair gives a reduction in the quantity of attachment elements which have to be used, making the assembly operations easier and quicker, while the shape of the components allows to use packaging containers of limited size and regular shape, allowing to optimize the storage, movement and transport operations of the chair in its dis-assembled condition.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] These and other characteristics of the invention will be clear from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example, with reference to the attached drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is a front view of a knockdown chair according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view of the chair in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a view from below of the chair in Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is the chair according to the invention in its dis-assembled condition;
Fig. 5 shows a variant of Fig. 2;
Fig. 6 shows a variant of Fig. 3;
Fig. 7 shows a variant of Fig. 1;
Fig. 8 shows a side view of Fig. 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0025] With reference to the attached Figures, a knockdown chair 10 according to the invention consists of a plurality of components 11 able to be associated together to define an assembled condition of the chair 10 (Figs. 1-3, 5-8) and dis-associated to define the dis-assembled condition of the chair 10. The components 11 substantially comprise: a seat part 12, a base frame 13, a rear support 14, two front legs 15 and a tie bar 16.
[0026] The base frame 13 is advantageously made of metal and is able to be associated, by screw elements or similar, below the seat part 12 which is for example of the padded type.
[0027] In this case, the base frame 13 comprises a U-shaped tubular element 13a which develops in the lateral-rear part of the seat part 12, a front profile 13b with a rectangular section and, at the ends of the latter, two bushings 13c where the legs 15 are inserted and attached.
[0028] The rear support 14, which can be for example of the padded type (Figs. 1-6) or metallic (Figs. 7 and 8), is able to be associated with the base frame 13 by means of screw elements or similar.
[0029] In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-4, the base frame 13 and the rear support 14 are joined together by means of an connecting angle bar 17.
[0030] The connecting angle bar 17 is preferentially made in a single piece with, or solidly associated during the production step to, the base frame 13.
[0031] In the variant shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the U-shaped tubular element 13a is longer and the rear support 14 is able to be attached directly thereon.
[0032] When associated with the base frame 13, the rear support 14 defines at the upper part the back rest of the chair 10 and at the lower part a supporting element which performs the function of the rear legs and, in cooperation with the front legs 15, allows the chair 10 to rest stably on the floor.
[0033] The tie bar 16 is made of metal and consists of a pair of rods 18 joined together at one end by a lower plate 19 and at the other end by an upper plate 20.
[0036] The plates 19 and 20 are suitably angled with respect to the rods 18 so as to define a complanar coupling with the elements to which they are anchored, as we shall see hereafter.
[0037] The tie bar 16 is able to be attached diagonally below the seat part 12 to connect the latter to the rear support 14, so as to confer greater structural rigidity, and hence greater stability and resistance, to the chair 10 in its assembled condition.
[0038] The tie bar 16 is attached by appropriate screw elements inserted into seatings made on the plates 19, 20.
[0039] In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1-3, the tie bar 16 is arranged with its lower plate 19 resting on the rear support 14 and with its upper plate 20 directly on the lower face of the seat part 12.
[0040] In the variant shown in Figs. 5-6, the rods 18 of the tie bar 16 are longer and, while the lower plate 19 is attached resting on the rear support 14, the upper plate 20 is attached on the front profile 13b of the base frame 13.
[0041] In the other variant shown in Figs. 7 and 8, wherein the rear support 14 is made of tubular metal material, the rods 18 of the tie bar 16 are even longer since they are attached with the lower plate 19 in correspondence with the horizontal lower segment of the rear support 14.
[0042] The chair 10 according to the invention is very quick and easy to assemble; first the base frame 13 is associated with the seat part 12, then the rear support 14 is attached to the connecting angle bar 17 or directly to the U-shaped tubular element 13a.
[0043] Subsequently the tie bar 16 and the front legs 15 are assembled; in the preferential embodiment shown here, the front legs 15 are provided at the upper part with respective screw elements 21 able to be screwed into mating threaded seatings made inside the bushings 13c.
[0044] The chair 10, moreover, is assembled using an extremely limited number of attachment elements, which allows to save on manufacturing costs, to reduce production times and also to simplify assembly operations.
[0045] In the dis-assembled condition of the chair 10, all the components 11, developing essentially in two dimensions, are able to be arranged in packaging containers with limited thickness and of regular shape, thus making the operations to store, move and transport the components 11 more practical.
[0046] It is clear however that modifications and/or additions can be made to the knockdown chair 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
1. Knockdown chair comprising a plurality of components (11) able to be associated with
each other, including at least a seat part (12) and front (15) and rear (14) support
means, or legs, the knockdown chair being characterized in that it comprises at least a tie bar element (16), with the function of giving structural
rigidity, able to be attached diagonally below said seat part (12) to connect the
latter with said rear support means (14).
2. Knockdown chair as in Claim 1, characterized in that said tie bar element (16) is able to be attached directly on the lower surface of
said seat part (12).
3. Knockdown chair as in Claim 1, comprising a base frame (13) arranged below said seat
part (12), characterized in that said tie bar element (16) is able to be attached on said base frame (13).
4. Knockdown chair as in Claim 3, characterized in that said base frame (13) comprises at least a profile (13b) arranged in correspondence
with the front part of said seat part (12) on which said tie bar element (16) is able
to be attached.
5. Knockdown chair as in Claim 3, characterized in that said base frame (13) comprises hollow elements (13c) into which at least said front
support means (15) are inserted and attached.
6. Knockdown chair as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said tie bar element (16) comprises at least a rod (18) associated at the two ends
to first coupling means able to cooperate with said rear support means (14) and to
second coupling means able to cooperate with said seat part (12) and/or said base
frame (13).
7. Knockdown chair as in Claim 6, characterized in that said coupling means comprise respective plates (19, 20) suitably angled so as to
achieve a complanar association with the elements (14, 12, 13) with which they are
able to cooperate.
8. Knockdown chair as in Claim 6 or 7, characterized in that said tie bar element (16) comprises two rods (18) joined at their ends by said coupling
means (19, 20).
9. Knockdown chair as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said rear support means (14) extend upwards to define a back rest.
10. Knockdown chair as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises a supplementary connecting element (17) between said rear support means
(14) and said seat part (12).
11. Knockdown chair as in Claims 3 and 10, characterized in that said supplementary connecting element (17) is solid with said base frame (13).
12. Knockdown chair as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said front support means (15) are integrally provided with screwing means (21) to
associate them with said seat part (12).
13. Knockdown chair as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said components (11) develop substantially in two dimensions and are able to be inserted
into packaging containers of limited thickness.