Collapsible Hanging Chair with Pivotable Arcuate Frame for Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hanging chairs, such as egg chairs, face challenges in design and construction due to the need to resist tensile loading, which is different from chairs with legs that experience compressive forces, requiring specific materials and construction techniques to support the weight of the occupant.
Innovation Solution
A folding hanging chair design featuring a suspension frame with arcuate frame members and a flexible cover, allowing the chair to be collapsed for storage and transportation, with pivotable upright supports that connect to both an upper and lower frame member, enabling easy assembly and disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the chair structure is made rigid to resist tensile loading, then structural strength is improved, but storage and transportation convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The chair structure is divided into multiple arcuate frame members that can pivot relative to each other, allowing the rigid structure to be segmented into collapsible sections for storage while maintaining strength during use
Solution Approach 2:
The frame members are designed to be dynamic rather than static, allowing the structure to transition between a rigid deployed state for strength and a collapsed flexible state for storage, resolving the contradiction between structural integrity and storage convenience
2Ease of operation
If the chair structure is made collapsible for storage, then storage convenience is improved, but structural integrity under tensile loading deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The structure employs dynamic characteristics where the frame members can collapse for storage but maintain structural integrity when deployed and loaded, allowing the same structure to serve both storage and strength requirements at different operational states
Solution Approach 2:
By segmenting the structure into multiple arcuate members connected by pivot joints, the design achieves collapsibility for storage while each segment maintains sufficient strength to resist tensile loads when the structure is in its deployed configuration
3Shape
If traditional materials like wicker are used, then aesthetic appearance is improved, but resistance to tensile loading deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The design uses composite construction combining metal tubing for the frame structure to provide tensile strength while allowing wicker or similar materials to be used for aesthetic elements, merging the strengths of different materials to satisfy both aesthetic and structural requirements
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the chair have different material properties optimized for their specific functions: metal tubing provides structural strength in load-bearing areas while wicker or other materials provide aesthetic appearance in non-critical areas
Data Source
AI summary
A hanging chair connectable to and suspendable from an external support structure that includes a lower frame member, arcuate frame members and a cover. The arcuate frame members are connected to the lower frame member. A first arcuate frame member from the arcuate frame members is substantially perpendicular to the lower frame member. A second arcuate frame member from the arcuate frame members and a third arcuate frame member from the arcuate frame members are pivotable between a collapsed position and an open position. The first arcuate frame member, the second arcuate frame member, and the third arcuate frame member are substantially parallel in the collapsed position. The cover extends over the arcuate frame members, and the lower frame member, the first arcuate frame member, and the cover cooperate to define an opening to an interior space.