US20060027148A1

US20060027148A1 - Patio furniture

Info

Publication number: US20060027148A1
Application number: US10/912,869
Authority: US
Inventors: Lian-Shun Chen
Original assignee: JRA FURNITURE INDUSTRIES Inc; JRA FURNITURE INDUSTRIES LLC
Current assignee: JRA FURNITURE INDUSTRIES Inc
Priority date: 2004-08-05
Filing date: 2004-08-05
Publication date: 2006-02-09

Abstract

A patio furniture includes a tabletop having a circular center cavity and defining an inner supporting edge encircling with the center cavity and a rotor mounting arrangement including a plurality of supporting rotors evenly and rotatably mounted along the supporting edge of the tabletop and a turn table having a diameter slightly smaller than a diameter of the center cavity of the tabletop, wherein the turn table has a circular peripheral edge arranged in such a manner that when the turn table is disposed at the center cavity of the tabletop, the peripheral edge of the turn table is securely supported on the supporting rotors to substantially support the turn table within the center cavity such that the turn table is adapted to be rotated in a circular manner with respect to the tabletop through the supporting rotors.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a furniture, and more particularly to a patio furniture which comprises a rotor mounting arrangement to securely mount a turn table on a tabletop in a rotatably movable manner, so as to enhance the practice use of the turn table.
2. Description of Related Arts
Patio furniture, such as a patio table, is generally intended for eating outdoors. Similar to indoor tables, the patio furniture has a main purpose of a sitting location for the consumption of food. However, such patio furniture typically incorporates with an outdoor umbrella at a center of the tabletop since the users require a long exposure in outdoors environment. Therefore, the location of the outdoor umbrella becomes an obstacle when the user must pass food or dishes around. Therefore, most patio tables have utilized a rotatable tray, which is also known as “Lazy Susan”, disposed at the center of the tabletop such that the rotatable tray can be turned in a circular movement to pass the food or dishes around the tabletop. However, such patio table has several drawbacks.
As shown in FIG. 1, a patio table generally comprises a hollow tabletop 1 having a center cavity, a rotatable tray 2 disposed within the center cavity of the tabletop 1 and a supporting frame 3 mounted underneath the tabletop 1 to support the rotatable tray 2 in a rotatably movable manner. Accordingly, the supporting frame 3 comprises a ring-shaped rotor bearing 4 positioned at the center of the center cavity and a plurality of supporting arms 5 radially extended from the rotor bearing 4 to the tabletop 1 such that when the rotatable tray 2 is supported on the rotor bearing 4, the rotatable tray 2 is adapted to be turned in a circular movement with respect to the tabletop 1. Since the rotatable tray 2 is only supported at its center by the rotor bearing 4, the size of the rotatable tray 2 is limited with such weak supportive structure. In other words, the size of the tabletop 1 is also limited by the rotatable tray 2 since it is unreasonable to have a big tabletop with a small rotatable tray at the center.
In addition, such center supportive structure of the rotatable tray 2 is impractical use. Once the food or the dish is placed on one side of the rotatable tray 2, the other side of the rotatable tray 2 will be tipped up by means of pivot movement of the rotatable tray 2. In other words, the user must place the dishes evenly on the rotatable tray 2 to keep the rotatable tray 2 in balance. Once the rotatable tray 2 is at an unbalance position, the rotatable tray 2 cannot be turned smoothly.
Furthermore, in order to mount the outdoor umbrella 6 at the center of the patio table, the rotatable tray 2 must have a center hole aligned with the rotor bearing 4 such that the shaft of the outdoor umbrella 6 can be slidably inserted into the rotor bearing 4 through the center hole of the patio table. As it is mentioned above, the rotor bearing 4 not only supports the rotatable tray 2 thereon but also retains the outdoor umbrella 6 in position such that the supporting frame 3 must be strengthened to support both the weight of the rotatable tray 2 with food and dishes placed thereon and the stress created around the rotor bearing 4 with respect to the outdoor umbrella 6. Therefore, the overall weight of the patio table will be substantially increased by the supporting frame 3. It is worth to mention that when one of the supporting arms 5 is broken, the patio table is useless because both the rotatable tray 2 and the outdoor umbrella 6 cannot be mounted to the tabletop 1 anymore.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A main object of the present invention is to provide a patio furniture which comprises a rotor mounting arrangement to securely mount a turn table on a tabletop in a rotatably movable manner, so as to enhance the practice use of the turn table.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a patio furniture, wherein the rotor mounting arrangement comprises a plurality of guiding wheels rotatably mounted at an inner edge of the tabletop to support a peripheral edge of the turn table such that the turn table can be securely supported by the tabletop through such peripheral supportive structure in comparison with the conventional patio table utilizing the center supportive structure. Therefore, the turn table can also be rotated on the tabletop in a balance manner even the food or dishes are unevenly placed on the turn table to prevent the tip over of the turn table.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a patio furniture, wherein the size of the turn table can be enlarged by the peripheral supportive structure such that the tabletop can also be correspondingly enlarged its size without alternating its original structure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a patio furniture, wherein a supporting frame is substantially mounted to the tabletop not only to enhance the strength thereof but also to support an outdoor umbrella at the center of the turn table. In other words, the supporting frame can evenly distribute the retention force of the outdoor umbrella to the tabletop without interfering the circular movement of the turn able.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a patio furniture, wherein the turn table can be mounted to any tabletop having a center cavity so as to minimize the manufacturing cost of the tabletop incorporating with the turn table.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a patio furniture, wherein no expensive or complicated mechanical structure is required to employ in the present invention in order to achieve the above mentioned objects. Therefore, the present invention successfully provides an economic and efficient solution not only for providing the turn table to securely support on the tabletop in rotatably movable manner but also for enhancing the strength of the tabletop to retain the outdoor umbrella in position.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a patio furniture, comprising:
a tabletop having a circular center cavity and defining an inner supporting edge encircling with the center cavity;
a leg frame downwardly extended from the tabletop; and
a rotor mounting arrangement, which comprises:
a plurality of supporting rotors evenly and rotatably mounted along the supporting edge of the tabletop; and
a turn table having a diameter slightly smaller than a diameter of the center cavity of the tabletop, wherein the turn table has a circular peripheral edge arranged in such a manner that when the turn table is disposed at the center cavity of the tabletop, the peripheral edge of the turn table is securely supported on the supporting rotors to substantially support the turn table within the center cavity such that the turn table is adapted to be rotated in a circular manner with respect to the tabletop through the supporting rotors.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional patio table.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a patio furniture according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the rotor mounting arrangement of the patio furniture according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a top view of the patio furniture according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative mode of the rotor mounting arrangement of the patio furniture according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a patio furniture according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the patio furniture comprises a tabletop 10 having a circular center cavity 11 and defining an inner supporting edge 12 encircling with the center cavity 11, a leg frame 20 downwardly extended from the tabletop 1, and a rotor mounting arrangement 30.
The rotor mounting arrangement 30 comprises a plurality of supporting rotors 31 evenly and rotatably mounted along the supporting edge 12 of the tabletop 10 and a turn table 32 having a diameter slightly smaller than a diameter of the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10, wherein the turn table 32 has a circular peripheral edge 321 arranged in such a manner that when the turn table 32 is disposed at the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10, the peripheral edge 321 of the turn table 32 is securely supported on the supporting rotors 31 to substantially support the turn table 32 within the center cavity 11 such that the turn table 32 is adapted to be rotated in a circular manner with respect to the tabletop 10 through the supporting rotors 32.
According to the preferred embodiment, the tabletop 10 is made of lightweight but durable material, such as wood or plastic, wherein the tabletop 10 has a circular shape to form the center cavity 11 at the center thereof such that the turn table 32 is coaxially mounted to the tabletop 10 in a rotatably movable manner. It is worth to mention that the tabletop 10 can be constructed as a rectangular shape, square shape, or hexagonal shape wherein the center cavity 11 is formed at the middle of the tabletop 10 to provide the supporting edge 12 having a circular shape.
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the supporting rotors 31 comprises a driving wheel 311 and a wheel shaft 312 substantially mounted at the supporting edge 12 of the tabletop 10 to rotatably support the driving wheel 311 such that the driving wheels 311 are radially spaced apart along the supporting edge 12 of the tabletop 10 within the center cavity 11 thereof. It is worth to mention that since the turn table 32 is supported within the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10 at the peripheral edge 321, the turn table 32 is allowed to be rotated in a balance manner with respect to the tabletop 10. In addition, the size of the tabletop 10 can be enlarged to support the bigger size turn table 32 by simply adding more supporting rotors 31 along the supporting edge 12 of the tabletop 10.
In order to align a top surface of the tabletop 10 with a top surface of the turn table 32, the supporting edge 12 of the tabletop 10, having a L-shaped cross section, forms a circular brim 121 extended downwardly wherein the supporting rotors 31 are mounted at the circular brim 121 of the tabletop 10 such that the turn table 32 is dropped downwardly at the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10 at a position that a gap between the top surface of the turn table 32 and the top surface of the tabletop 10 is minimized. Accordingly, when the supporting rotors 31 are adjustably supported at a lower portion of the circular brim 121, the turn table 32 can be further dropped in the center cavity 11 at a position that the top surface of the turn table 32 is aligned with the top surface of the tabletop 10. In other words, the wheel shaft 312 is mounted at the circular brim 121 to rotatably support the respective driving wheel 311 at a position below the top surface of the tabletop 10.
As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor mounting arrangement 30 further comprises a retention frame 33 having a ring shape encirclingly mounted along the peripheral edge 321 of the turn table 32 to support the peripheral edge 321 thereof on the supporting rotors 31 wherein the retention frame 33 has a circular sliding slot 331 formed at a bottom side thereof to slidably engage with the supporting rotors 31 such that the supporting rotors 31 are rotatably slid along the sliding slot 331 to allow the turn table 32 to rotate in a circular manner with respect to the tabletop 10.
Accordingly, the sliding slot 331 has a L-shaped cross section for the driving wheels 322 of the supporting rotors 32 to rotatably slide therealong. It is worth to mention that when the driving wheels 322 are received along the sliding slot 331, the turn table 32 is retained within the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10 so as to prevent an unwanted lateral movement of the turn table 32 with respect to the tabletop 10. Therefore, the tabletop 10 and the turn table 32 can be made of different materials. For example, the turn table 32 is made of glass to support within the center cavity 11 of the wooden tabletop 10, wherein the retention frame 33 is made of metal to enhance the strength of the turn table 32 as shown in FIG. 3. In addition, a glass stopper 332, such as a rubber stopper, is mounted at the retention frame 33 to prevent an unwanted lateral movement of the turn table 32 with respect to the retention frame 33 when the turn table 32 is made of glass.
Alternatively, the sliding slot 331′ is integrally formed on the peripheral edge 321′ of the turn table 32′ to slidably engage with the supporting rotors 31′ such that no retention frame 33 is required, as shown in FIG. 5. In other words, the peripheral edge 321′ has a L-shaped cross section to form the sliding slot 331′ therearound. Therefore, the turn table 32′ can be made of wood to be supported within the center cavity 11 of the wooden tabletop 10. It is worth to mention that the tabletop 10 can be made of other materials, such as metal or plastic, to withstand the sunlight or rain since the patio furniture is intended for using outdoors.
Accordingly, each of the driving wheels 311 are made of lightweight but durable material such as plastic or metal depending on the loading weight on the turn table 32. When the turn table 32 is intended to support limited food or dishes thereon, the driving wheels 311 can be made of plastic and are strong enough to support the turn table 32, as shown in FIG. 3. However, when the wooden turn table 32′ is used, a stronger driving wheel 311 should be used to support the relatively heavy turn table 32′. In addition, the wheel shaft 312′ can be further extended to mount to a supplemental supporter 313′ at the bottom side of the tabletop 10 so as to enhance the rigid support of the turn table 32′ at the center of the tabletop 10, as shown in FIG. 5. It is worth to mention that when more driving wheels 311 are provided at the supporting edge 12 of the tabletop 10, the turn table 32 can be further securely supported within the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the patio furniture further comprises a supporting frame 40 mounted at the tabletop 10 for retaining an outdoor umbrella 6 in position, wherein the supporting frame 40 has a center through hole 320 formed at a center of the turn table 32 and comprises a supporting ring 41 positioned within the center cavity 11 of the tabletop 10 to coaxially align with the center through hole 320 of the turn table 32 and a plurality of supporting arms 42 radially extended from the supporting ring 41 to the tabletop 10 to support the supporting ring 41 in position for allowing a shaft of the outdoor umbrella 6 to insert into the supporting ring 41 through the center through hole 320. In other words, the supporting frame 40 not only provides a retention force at the supporting ring 41 to retain the outdoor umbrella 6 in position but also enhance the strength of the tabletop 10 while the turn table 32 is free to rotate in a circular manner with respect to the tabletop 10.
Accordingly, the leg frame 20 comprises a plurality of standing legs 21 spacedly and downwardly extended from the tabletop 10. It is worth to mention that the standing legs 21 can be detachably attached to the supporting arms 42 respectively such that the patio furniture of the present invention can be disassembled to form a compact structure.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A patio furniture, comprising:

a tabletop having a circular center cavity and defining an inner supporting edge encircling with said center cavity;

a leg frame downwardly extended from said tabletop; and

a rotor mounting arrangement, which comprises:

a plurality of supporting rotors evenly and rotatably mounted along said supporting edge of said tabletop; and

a turn table having a diameter slightly smaller than a diameter of said center cavity of said tabletop, wherein said turn table has a circular peripheral edge arranged in such a manner that when said turn table is disposed at said center cavity of said tabletop, said peripheral edge of said turn table is securely supported on said supporting rotors to substantially support said turn table within said center cavity such that said turn table is adapted to be rotated in a circular manner with respect to said tabletop through said supporting rotors.

2. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 1, wherein said supporting edge of said tabletop, having a L-shaped cross section, forms a circular brim extended downwardly, wherein said supporting rotors are mounted at said circular brim of said tabletop such that said turn table is dropped downwardly at said center cavity of said tabletop at a position that a gap between a top surface of said turn table and a top surface of said tabletop is minimized.

3. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 1, wherein said peripheral edge of said turn table has a L-shaped cross section to form a sliding slot formed therealong of to slidably engage with said supporting rotors such that said supporting rotors are rotatably slid along said sliding slot to allow said turn table to rotate in a circular manner with respect to said tabletop.

4. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 2, wherein said peripheral edge of said turn table has a L-shaped cross section to form a sliding slot formed therealong of to slidably engage with said supporting rotors such that said supporting rotors are rotatably slid along said sliding slot to allow said turn table to rotate in a circular manner with respect to said tabletop.

5. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 1, wherein said rotor mounting arrangement further comprises a retention frame having a ring shape encirclingly mounted along said peripheral edge of said turn table to support said peripheral edge thereof on said supporting rotors, wherein said retention frame has a circular sliding slot formed at a bottom side thereof to slidably engage with said supporting rotors such that said supporting rotors are rotatably slid along said sliding slot to allow said turn table to rotate in a circular manner with respect to said tabletop.

6. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 2, wherein said rotor mounting arrangement further comprises a retention frame having a ring shape encirclingly mounted along said peripheral edge of said turn table to support said peripheral edge thereof on said supporting rotors, wherein said retention frame has a circular sliding slot formed at a bottom side thereof to slidably engage with said supporting rotors such that said supporting rotors are rotatably slid along said sliding slot to allow said turn table to rotate in a circular manner with respect to said tabletop.

7. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said supporting rotors comprises a driving wheel and a wheel shaft substantially mounted at said supporting edge of said tabletop to rotatably support said driving wheel such that said driving wheels are radially spaced apart along said supporting edge of said tabletop within said center cavity thereof.

8. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 2, wherein each of said supporting rotors comprises a driving wheel and a wheel shaft substantially mounted at said supporting edge of said tabletop to rotatably support said driving wheel such that said driving wheels are radially spaced apart along said supporting edge of said tabletop within said center cavity thereof.

9. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 4, wherein each of said supporting rotors comprises a driving wheel and a wheel shaft substantially mounted at said supporting edge of said tabletop to rotatably support said driving wheel such that said driving wheels are radially spaced apart along said supporting edge of said tabletop within said center cavity thereof.

10. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 6, wherein each of said supporting rotors comprises a driving wheel and a wheel shaft substantially mounted at said supporting edge of said tabletop to rotatably support said driving wheel such that said driving wheels are radially spaced apart along said supporting edge of said tabletop within said center cavity thereof.

11. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 1, further comprising a supporting frame mounted at said tabletop for retaining an outdoor umbrella in position, wherein said supporting frame has a center through hole formed at a center of said turn table and comprises a supporting ring positioned within said center cavity of said tabletop to coaxially align with said center through hole of said turn table and a plurality of supporting arms radially extended from said supporting ring to said tabletop to support said supporting ring in position for allowing a shaft of said outdoor umbrella to insert into said supporting ring through said center through hole.

12. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 4, further comprising a supporting frame mounted at said tabletop for retaining an outdoor umbrella in position, wherein said supporting frame has a center through hole formed at a center of said turn table and comprises a supporting ring positioned within said center cavity of said tabletop to coaxially align with said center through hole of said turn table and a plurality of supporting arms radially extended from said supporting ring to said tabletop to support said supporting ring in position for allowing a shaft of said outdoor umbrella to insert into said supporting ring through said center through hole.

13. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 6, further comprising a supporting frame mounted at said tabletop for retaining an outdoor umbrella in position, wherein said supporting frame has a center through hole formed at a center of said turn table and comprises a supporting ring positioned within said center cavity of said tabletop to coaxially align with said center through hole of said turn table and a plurality of supporting arms radially extended from said supporting ring to said tabletop to support said supporting ring in position for allowing a shaft of said outdoor umbrella to insert into said supporting ring through said center through hole.

14. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 9, further comprising a supporting frame mounted at said tabletop for retaining an outdoor umbrella in position, wherein said supporting frame has a center through hole formed at a center of said turn table and comprises a supporting ring positioned within said center cavity of said tabletop to coaxially align with said center through hole of said turn table and a plurality of supporting arms radially extended from said supporting ring to said tabletop to support said supporting ring in position for allowing a shaft of said outdoor umbrella to insert into said supporting ring through said center through hole.

15. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 10, further comprising a supporting frame mounted at said tabletop for retaining an outdoor umbrella in position, wherein said supporting frame has a center through hole formed at a center of said turn table and comprises a supporting ring positioned within said center cavity of said tabletop to coaxially align with said center through hole of said turn table and a plurality of supporting arms radially extended from said supporting ring to said tabletop to support said supporting ring in position for allowing a shaft of said outdoor umbrella to insert into said supporting ring through said center through hole.

16. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 11, wherein said leg frame comprises a plurality of standing legs detachably attached to said supporting arms respectively to downwardly extend from said tabletop.

17. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 12, wherein said leg frame comprises a plurality of standing legs detachably attached to said supporting arms respectively to downwardly extend from said tabletop.

18. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 13, wherein said leg frame comprises a plurality of standing legs detachably attached to said supporting arms respectively to downwardly extend from said tabletop.

19. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 14, wherein said leg frame comprises a plurality of standing legs detachably attached to said supporting arms respectively to downwardly extend from said tabletop.

20. The patio furniture, as recited in claim 15, wherein said leg frame comprises a plurality of standing legs detachably attached to said supporting arms respectively to downwardly extend from said tabletop.