Foldable seat frame
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing foldable chair frames face challenges with stability, ease of use and installation, durability, and storage efficiency, including complexity in installation, susceptibility to twisting, and bulky folded sizes.
Innovation Solution
A foldable seat frame design featuring a plurality of supporting bars, lower connectors, upper connectors, and pairs of crossing bars, where the crossing bars are pivotally coupled and have substantially flat bar surfaces facing each other, enhancing stability, ease of use, and reducing folded size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional foldable chair frames are designed with simple structures, then manufacturing and installation are easier, but stability and durability deteriorate due to twisting susceptibility
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is divided into multiple supporting bars (front and rear) connected by crossing bars that form triangular segments. This segmentation creates a truss structure where forces are distributed across multiple members, enhancing stability without requiring complex joint designs or difficult installation procedures.
2Ease of manufacture
If crossing bars are designed with round cross-sections, then manufacturing is simpler, but stability deteriorates due to twisting susceptibility
Solution Approach 1:
The crossing bars utilize a composite construction combining a round outer tube with an internal flat bar element. This composite structure maintains the manufacturing simplicity of circular tubing while the internal flat bar provides torsional rigidity and resistance to twisting, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and reliability.
3Ease of operation
If supporting bars are made longer to improve comfort, then user comfort is enhanced, but folded size increases making storage more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The frame employs a nesting mechanism where the front supporting bars are designed to telescope within or alongside the rear supporting bars when folded. This allows longer supporting bars that provide user comfort to be compacted into a smaller folded volume, resolving the contradiction between comfort and storage efficiency.
4Adaptability or versatility
If connectors are designed with multiple adjustment features, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connectors are designed as universal multi-functional components that can accommodate different bar configurations, adjustment positions, and loading conditions through a single standardized design. This universal connector provides adaptability for various frame configurations without requiring multiple specialized connector types, thus avoiding increased complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A foldable seat frame includes a plurality of supporting bars and a plurality of crossing-bar pairs. Each crossing-bar pair is disposed between and pivotally connected to two adjacent supporting bars. Each crossing-bar pair includes first and second crossing bars pivotally coupled to each other at their middle portions. Each of the first and second crossing bars of one or more crossing-bar pairs includes a substantially flat surface for enhancing stability, enhancing ease of use and installation, improving durability, or reducing folded size of the foldable seat frame.