US2835317A - Tubular furniture construction - Google Patents

Description

May 20 1958 F. J. vALTRl 2,835,317

` TUBULAR'FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 28, 1955- ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent@ TUBULAR FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Frank J. valfri, Philadelphia, Pa. y Application February 28, 1955, Serial No. 491,000

6 Claims. (Cl. 155-196) This invention relates to tubular furniture construction, and more particularly relates to means for detachably assembling the components of tubular chairs.

Tubular furniture has become highly popular With the consuming public during the last few years, especially as a furniture style for dinette sets, which generally include a table and four or six chairs. As a rule, tubular chairs are formed with a seat and back rest supported by appropriate tubular members. The seat generally comprises a wooden frame, rectangular in construction, on which is mounted a layer of wood or composition board. To this layer is generally secured a sheet of foam rubber, and the ensemble is upholstered with a plastic covering which may be of any desired color. The back rest is similar in overall construction to the seat.

The seat and back rest are generally supported by three tubular members,` two of which are of a Z-shaped configuration and adapted to provide, respectively, a front leg for the chair, a support for the seat and a support for the back rest. The third tubular member is bent in a manner to provide the two back legs of the chair and a U-shaped seat support. In the usual construction, the seat support portion of one of the Z-shaped members is arranged, below the seat frame, in contiguous and parallel relation to one of the sides of the U-shaped seat support, and the seat support portion of the other Z-shaped member is similarly arranged in contiguous and parallel relation to the other side of the U-shaped support.

The usual mode of securing the chair seat to the tubular members is to punch holes through the seat support sections of the Z-shaped members and to insert screws therethrough into the wooden seat frame. Thereupon, the third tubular member is spot Welded to the Z-shaped members along its portions which are contiguous there with.

The foregoing construction has numerous disadvantages. In the first place, the chairs, after assembly, cannot be disassembled or knocked down for shipping. Thus, they occupy an excessive amount of shipping space, thereby limiting the quantity of chairs which may be shipped in a given load and adding greatly to the overall expense of shipment and sale. In addition, considerable diiiculty is encountered in handling the chairs when shipped, with the result that the finish thereof is often subjected to scratches and other damage.

Another disadvantage of the conventional construction Y is that the welds securing the tubular members together often shear when the chair was subjected to excessive stress, causing it to collapse. In addition, the expense of the welding operation greatly adds to the ultimate cost of the chairs.

It is accordingly the object of this invention to overcome the foregoing disadvantages in the manufacture of tubular chairs. More particularly, one of the chief objects of this invention is to provide means whereby a tubular chair may be detachably assembled, and whereby it may be disassembled, or knocked down, for shipment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means for assembling a tubular chair which eliminates the welding operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a structure for a tubular chair which will greatly strengthen the chair assembly, as compared with current practices, and which will maintain the chair in assembled form more rmly and rigidly than has heretofore been achieved.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a structure for tubular chairs by which such chairs may be inexpensively and quickly assembled at greatly reduced overall manufacturing expense.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a knock down tubular chair having a pair of contiguous, parallel, tubular seat support members below the seat thereof, la pair of spaced slots longitudinally disposed in the contiguous tubular portions, a pair of complemental indentations formed, respectively, in the abutting Walls of the contiguous tubular portions intermediate of the slots, a U-shaped clip bridging the slots and having dependent prongs for engagement with the slots and an aperture axially aligned with the clearance formed by the complemental indentations, and means for detachably securing the clip to the chair seat.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will Vappear from the following detailed description of a pre- Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, exploded view, in

perspective, of the seat assembly means of the chair of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary View, partially broken away, of the seat assembly means looking in the direction of the angled arrows Ill-lli in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken as indicated by the angled arrows IVIV in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View in plan of the assembled means looking in the direction of the angled arrows V-V in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but with the clip and screw of the fastening means removed.

In Fig. l of the drawings is shown a tubular chair incorporating a preferred embodiment of this invention. The chair is formedwith a seat 10, a back rest 11 and three separate, integrally formed, tubular members 12, 13 and 14, all of uniform outside diameter. Tubular member 12 is of Z--shaped configuration and provides a back rest support 16, an elongated seat support portion 17 and a front leg 13. Tubular member 13 is likewise of Z-shaped configuration and provides a second back rest support 19, elongated seat support portion 20 and front leg 21. Tubular member i4 is formed to provide rear legs 23 and 2d and a continuous U-shaped seat support having side portions 25 vand 26 and a front portion 27. In assembly, the seat support portion 20 of tubular member 13 is parallel to and contiguous with side portion 25' of tubular member 14, and seat support portion 17 of tubular member 12 is parallel to and contiguous with the other sideportion 26 of tubular member id. The seat support portions 17, 2d, 25, 26 and 27 all lie in the same, substantially horizontal, plane. Seat 10 is formed with the usual wood frame 23, which is designed to rest on the support provided by tubular portions 17, 20, 25, 26 and 27 in a conventional manner.

In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the seat 10 is detachably secured to the tubular members 12, 13 and 14 in the following manner. As shown in sessel? Fig. 6, a centrally disposed, longitudinal slot 30 is formed in each of the two contiguous tubular portions Ztl and 25, such slots being formed so as to be in opposing and spaced relationship to each other. Intermediate of the slots complemented indentations 31 are formed in the abutting walls or" the tubular portions so as to provide a clearance 3,2 therebetween. A U-shaped clip 33 having a bridge portion 34 and dependent prongs 35 spans the distance between-'fthe slots 30. The prongs 35 are designed to enterslots 3i). To facilitate entry, one side edge of each prong 35 is formed with a notch 36 tor engagement with the tubular walls and the other side edge has its lower corner 37 rounded, all as best shown in Fig. 2. Bridge 34 of clip 33 is formed with a countersunk aperture 33 axially aligned with clearance 32.

In assembling the chair, the tubular members l2, 13 and 14 are positioned below seat il@ in a manner to bring slots 3th into properly spaced and opposed relationship. Thereupon, the prongs 35 of clip,33 are inserted into the slots 36 and the shank of a screw 39 is inserted through aperture 38 and clearance 32 and screwed into wooden seat frame 255, as best shown in Fig. 4.

in assembling a tubular chair in accordance with this invention, it is preferred that the assembly means above described be provided at four spaced locations under the seat, preferably adjacent to each of the four legs, as shown in Fig. 1. ln utilizing the invention hereof, the chair need not be assembled until after it has been shipped and, indeed, may be sold in knocked down form to the ultimate consumer who may easily assemble it after purchase.

While a preferred embodiment of this invention has been particularly described and illustrated, it is to be understood that various modifications and changes in the shape, proportion and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended claims. For example, tie slots 30 and pendent prongs 35 may be dispensed with entirely and in lieu thereof a ciip usedwhich is designed to span completely over the contiguous tubes. ln such arrangement, the ends of the clip would be curved to conform to the curvature of the outside walls of the tubes, and would be mounted in abutting relationship therewith.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

l. ln a knock down tubular chair, a seat, a plurality of contiguous tubular seat support members below the seat, each such member having a longitudinally disposed slot therein, a clip having integrally formed dependent prongs adapted to engage the slots, a notch formed in one side edge of each prong adapted to interlock with the tubular wall and provide a pivot about which the clip is inserted into the slots, the terminal end of each notch in each prong being spaced from the opposite side edge of the prong a distance substantially equal to the length of the slot in which the prong is engaged, and means for detachably securing the clip to the chair seat.

2. The invention of claim l wherein each prong has the lower portion of the opposite side edge rounded.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein the slots are spaced in opposing relation to each other and wherein a clearance is provided between the abutting walls of the tubular portions intermediate of the slots.

4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the U-shaped clip is provided with an aperture axially aligned with the clearance.

5. in knock down furniture wherein a supporting surface, such as a seat, is sustained by a plurality of contiguously-arranged tubular frame members, a clip transversely bridging portions of the frame members, said clip having ends formed with dependent means adapted to grip the frame members, a clearance between the abutting Walls of the frame members and means passing through said clearance for detachably securing the clip to the supporting surface.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein each tubular frame member has a longitudinally disposed slot therein, wherein the clip` dependent means comprise dependent prongs adapted to engage the slots, a notch formed in one side edge of each prong adapted to interlock with the tubular wall and provide a pivot about which the clip is inserted into the slots, the terminal end of each notch in each prong being spaced from the opposite side edge of the prong a distance substantially equal to the length of the slot in which the prong is engaged.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,578,397 Brown Dec. `11, 1951 2,584,471 Kohen Feb. 5, 1952 2,613,957 Ritter Oct. 14, 1952 2,629,157 OHerron Feb. 24, 1953 2,673,775 Silverman Mar. 30, 1954

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