Counterbalancing assembly for folding furniture

Abstract

A counterbalancing assembly for an article of folding furniture comprises at least one piston extending between a support assembly and a furniture component, said piston being biased to resist a downward force of gravity acting on the furniture component. An upper mounting bracket secures a first end of the piston to the support assembly, and a lower mounting bracket secures a second end of the piston to the furniture component. One or both of the upper and lower mounting brackets includes a worm gear and a mounting element that is threaded onto the worm gear. Each such mounting element has a portion adapted to engage a complementary fitting defined by a respective end of the piston, such that rotation of the worm gear causes a corresponding linear movement of the mounting element, and thus, linear movement of the respective end of the piston.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 961,623 filed on Aug. 7, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61 / 823,030 filed on May 14, 2013, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to folding furniture and, more specifically, to a counterbalancing assembly for an article of folding furniture.[0003]Various forms of folding furniture are well-known in the prior art and are commonly used where available space within the area of use is limited. Such folding furniture is provided with a rotation system that allows for the rotation of a frame supporting cushion / mattress components (which may collectively be referred to as a “user-contacting portion”) or other furniture component (e.g., a table) between a storage position and a use position. Typically, the storage position is...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]In an article of folding furniture, a furniture component can be rotated relative to a support assembly between a substantially upright storage position and a substantially horizontal use position about a pivot axis. A counterbalancing assembly then includes two gas-filled pistons secured to the inside surfaces of the support assembly and to the furniture component. The pistons are biased to resist the downward force of gravity acting on the furniture component and any supported cushion / mattress components, thus assisting in both the lowering of the furniture component and any supported cushion / mattress components to the use position and the lifting / returning of the furniture component and any supported cushion / mattress components to the substantially upright storage position.

[0009]The lower end and / or the upper end of each piston is fixed to a respective mounting bracket that allows for adjustment of the torque that biases the furniture component and any supported cushion / mattress components to the substantially upright storage position, but without requiring the use of a different piston, relocation of the mounting hardware, or even disconnecting and reconnecting the piston to one or both of the mounting brackets.

[0013]As a result of the use of the upper mounting bracket and / or the lower mounting bracket, a user can readily adjust the torque that biases the furniture component to the substantially upright storage position, but without requiring the use of a different piston, relocation of the mounting hardware, or even disconnecting and reconnecting the piston to one or both of the mounting brackets.

Problems solved by technology

Variances in the weight complicate the selection of the pistons and the mounting locations.

Such changes of the pistons and / or mounting locations can be both time-consuming and expensive, and may prove impractical to the end user who innocently changes the component weight.

However, this does require the disconnecting and reconnecting of each piston to both of the mounting brackets.

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