Folding chair

Abstract

To provide a folding chair which does not harm fingers and does not cause deformations on a seat frame and front legs when an excessive load acts on a seat front side part in the folding chair used in competitions such as basket ball held in an arena.SOLUTION: A front leg 1, a rear leg 4, and a seat frame 7 are connected to be foldable. A lower part attachment instrument 11 is provided on a front leg stay 3 connecting the front legs 1. An upper part attachment instrument 13 is provided in a lower part of the seat frame 7. An inner pipe 19 and an outer pipe 20 are assembled to slide, a lower end of the inner pipe 19 is pivotally attached to the lower part attachment instrument 11, and an upper end of the outer pipe 20 is pivotally attached to the upper part attachment instrument 13. A protection piece 16 is provided on a front end of the upper part attachment instrument 13 to enclose an upper end outer periphery of the outer pipe 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a folding chair that can be suitably used in an arena for playing sports such as basketball.

Background Art

[0002] According to the basketball competition rules, a team bench area is provided outside the court, and 16 seats must be prepared in this area for the coach, assistant coach, substitute players, team members announced as five fouls, and team bench personnel consisting of team-related personnel. In many cases, folding chairs are used as the chairs used in the bench area, and during the competition, team members repeatedly sit down and stand up.

[0003] The folding chair is configured such that the front legs and the rear legs are foldably connected, a seat frame (seat part) is pivotally attached to the middle part of the front legs, and the rear part of the seat frame is connected to the rear legs. When the front legs and the rear legs are opened, the seat frame rotates to a horizontal state so that a person can sit down. When a seated person sits shallowly on a seat that is almost horizontally deployed, an excessive force acts on the front edge of the seat, so there is a risk that the seat frame and the front legs may bend due to the lever principle. Especially in basketball or the like, since sitting down is repeated frequently, accidents such as bending are more likely to occur in such a usage environment.

[0004] In a folding chair, in order to support the load acting on the front end side of the seat, a configuration in which a support device is provided between the receiving portions of the front legs and the rear legs is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the folding chair described in Patent Document 1, a receiving portion for supporting the lower surface of the seat body (seat portion) is provided on the upper end side of the rear legs, and a support device is provided between this receiving portion and the front legs. Specifically, between the side surfaces of the front legs and the rear legs, a pipe-shaped reinforcing strut and a rod-shaped reinforcing strut that is slidably inserted into this reinforcing strut are provided. The lower end of the pipe-shaped reinforcing strut is bent and inserted into a through hole provided on the side surface of the front leg, and the upper end portion of the rod-shaped reinforcing strut is bent and inserted into a through hole formed on the side surface of the rear leg. The tip of the bent portion of the rod-shaped reinforcing strut and the base frame of the seat are connected by a connecting rod. Even though this configuration can support the load acting on the front end side of the seat with the reinforcing strut, since the support device is exposed between the side surfaces of the front legs and the rear legs, it is easy to pinch fingers during the deployment or folding operation of the chair. Especially in a sport like basketball, where sitting and standing up are repeated in a short time, there is a risk of harm if fingers are placed on the side of the seat. Also, since the support device protrudes in the folded state, the folded thickness becomes large.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a folding chair that can prevent deformation that may occur due to excessive load on the front end side of the seat in a folding chair where sitting and standing up are frequently repeated, such as in a basketball game in an arena, etc., and that also poses no risk of harm to fingers and does not increase the folded thickness.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] According to the present invention, in a folding chair having front legs and rear legs that are foldably connected, and a seat frame that rotates and unfolds into a horizontal state by the front legs and rear legs when the legs are opened, a front leg stay that connects the middle portions between the front legs located on both sides, a lower fixture provided on the front leg stay, an upper fixture provided on the lower surface of the seat frame, an inner pipe and an outer pipe that are slidably inserted between the lower fixture and the upper fixture so as to extend and contract between the seat frame and the front leg stay as the seat frame rotates, the lower end of one of the pipes is pivotally attached to the lower fixture, the upper end of the other of the pipes is pivotally attached to the upper fixture, and a protective piece that bends and extends toward the back side of the seat frame so as to surround the outer periphery of the upper end of the pipe pivotally attached to the upper fixture is formed at the front end of the upper fixture. A folding chair is provided, and the above problems are solved.

[0008] A bush that slidably contacts the outer periphery of the inner pipe is provided at the tip of the outer pipe, and a latching piece is formed on the side surface of the upper fixture in the folding chair.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] The present invention is configured as described above. The middle portions between the front legs located on both sides are connected by a front leg stay, a lower fixture is provided on the front leg stay, an upper fixture is provided on the lower surface of the seat frame, and an inner pipe and an outer pipe that are slidably inserted between the lower fixture and the upper fixture so as to extend and contract between the seat frame and the front leg stay as the seat frame rotates are provided. Then, the lower end of one of the pipes is pivotally attached to the lower fixture, and the upper end of the other of the pipes is pivotally attached to the upper fixture. Therefore, when the seat frame is unfolded, the space between the seat frame and the front leg stay is supported by the contracted inner pipe and outer pipe, the front side of the seat is reinforced, and the seat frame and the front legs can be prevented from bending. And since the inner pipe and the outer pipe are positioned along the front legs when the chair is folded, the folding thickness does not increase. Furthermore, a protective piece is formed at the front end of the upper fixture, which bends and extends to the back surface side of the seat frame so as to surround the outer periphery of the upper end of the pipe pivotally attached to the upper fixture. Therefore, the upper end portion of the pipe is hidden by the protective piece and the back surface of the seat frame, preventing fingers from being inserted and ensuring safety. Also, a bush that slidably contacts the outer periphery of the inner pipe is provided at the tip of the outer pipe, preventing the generation of abnormal noises during folding and damage to surrounding members. Furthermore, forming a latching piece on the side surface of the upper fixture enables the latching of a cup holder or the like, which is convenient.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

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Figure 7

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] The present invention can be applied to various folding chairs having front legs and rear legs that are foldably connected, and a seat frame that rotates by the front legs and rear legs and is deployed in a horizontal state when the legs are opened. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment thereof. The front leg 1 formed in a substantially inverted U shape by a pipe material with a circular cross-section has a backrest frame 2 formed continuously at the upper part, and the middle parts between the two front legs 1 on both sides are connected by a front leg stay 3. The rear leg 4 is formed in a substantially U shape by a pipe material with a circular cross-section, and a connecting rod 5 pivotally attached to the front leg 1 is slidably inserted into the rear leg 4 from above. A seat frame 7 is pivotally attached to the front leg 1 via a connecting shaft 6, and an appropriate seat portion 8 is formed on the upper surface of the seat frame 7. The rear end of the seat frame 7 is connected to the rear leg 4 by a connecting member 9, and a back plate 10 that fits into the backrest frame 2 is attached above the rear leg 4.

[0012] On the front leg stay 3, a lower fixture 11 is provided close to the inner side of the front leg 1. The lower fixture 11 is a plate-like body having a mounting hole 12 formed at the tip side, and its base is fixed to the front leg stay 3 by welding or the like.

[0013] An upper fixture 13 is fixed to the lower surface of the seat frame 7 by welding or the like. As shown in FIG. 7, the upper fixture 13 has an upper fixture body 15 that extends along the seat frame 7 and forms a mounting hole 14, and a protective piece 16 that bends and extends to the back surface side of the seat frame 7 is formed at the front end thereof. The upper side of the protective piece 16 is curved so as to contact the lower surface of the seat frame 7, and the corner portion on the lower side is also curved to prevent damage. Further, a latching piece 17 is formed by bending the side surface of the upper fixture body 15 in a substantially U shape so that a cup holder 18 or the like can be latched, but it can also be not provided.

[0014] Between the lower fixture 11 and the upper fixture 13, an inner pipe 19 and an outer pipe 20 are provided so as to be slidably inserted so as to extend and contract between the seat frame 7 and the front leg stay 13 when the seat frame 7 is rotated. A mounting hole 21 is formed at the lower end of one of the pipes, which is the inner pipe 19 in the illustrated embodiment, and is pivotally attached with a rivet 22 through the mounting hole 12 of the lower fixture 11. Further, a mounting hole 23 is formed at the upper end of the other pipe, which is the outer pipe 20 in the illustrated embodiment, and is pivotally attached with a rivet 24 through the mounting hole 14 provided in the upper fixture 13. Conversely to the embodiment, the upper end side of the inner pipe 19 may be pivotally attached to the upper fixture 13, and the lower end side of the outer pipe 20 may be pivotally attached to the lower fixture 11 to slidably connect the inner pipe and the outer pipe. A plastic bush 25 is fitted to the open end of the outer pipe 20 to prevent damage, and the inner pipe 19 is in sliding contact with the bush 25.

[0015] The open end of the pipe pivotally attached to the upper fixture 13 is surrounded by the back surface of the seat frame 7, the inner surface of the upper fixture body 15 of the upper fixture, and the protective piece 16 that bends and extends on the back surface side of the seat frame 7, so that it is not exposed to the outside, preventing fingers from being inserted and eliminating the risk of causing harm.

[0016] With the above configuration, when the front legs 1 and the rear legs 4 are opened, the seat frame 7 is deployed in a substantially horizontal state, and the inner pipe 19 and the outer pipe 20 contract as shown in FIG. 5. Since the tip of the inner pipe 19 abuts against the rivet 24, it can firmly support even if an excessive load acts on the front side of the seat, preventing deformation such as bending from occurring in the seat frame 7 and the front legs 1.

[0017] When the seat frame 7 is bounced up, the front legs 1, the rear legs 4, and the seat frame 7 can be folded. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner pipe 19 and the outer pipe 20 extend and are stored along the front legs, so the folding thickness does not increase.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0018] 1 Front leg 3 Front leg stay 4 Rear leg 7 Seat frame 11 Lower fixture 13 Upper fixture 16 Protective piece 19 Inner pipe 20 Outer pipe 25 Bush

Claims

1. In a folding chair having front legs and rear legs that are foldably connected, and a seat frame that rotates and unfolds into a horizontal state by the front legs and rear legs when the legs are opened, a front leg stay that connects the middle portions between the front legs located on both sides, a lower fixture provided on the front leg stay, an upper fixture provided on the lower surface of the seat frame, and an inner pipe and an outer pipe that are slidably inserted between the lower fixture and the upper fixture so as to extend and contract between the seat frame and the front leg stay as the seat frame rotates. The lower end of one of the pipes is pivotally attached to the lower fixture, the upper end of the other of the pipes is pivotally attached to the upper fixture, and a protective piece is formed at the front end of the upper fixture so as to bend and extend to the back surface side of the seat frame so as to surround the outer periphery of the upper end of the pipe pivotally attached to the upper fixture. A folding chair characterized by that.

2. The folding chair according to claim 1, wherein the lower end of the inner pipe is attached to the lower fixture and the upper end of the outer pipe is attached to the upper fixture.

3. The folding chair according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a bush that slidably contacts the outer periphery of the inner pipe is provided at the tip of the outer pipe.

4. The folding chair according to claim 1, wherein a latching piece is formed on the side surface of the upper fixture.

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