U.S. patent number 3,758,155 [Application Number 05/235,447] was granted by the patent office on 1973-09-11 for gang chair construction.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Interlake, Inc.. Invention is credited to Ernest J. Straits.
United States Patent |
3,758,155 |
Straits |
September 11, 1973 |
GANG CHAIR CONSTRUCTION
Abstract
A connector means for temporary or permanent ganging of chairs
arranged in side-by-side relationship. The connector means having a
removable hook member intermediate adjacent identical connector
members on adjacent chairs which hook members provides a hook type
engagement between the connector members. The hook and the two
connector members can be fastened together as an assembly to
provide a permanent connection.
Inventors: |
Straits; Ernest J. (St.
Charles, IL) |
Assignee: |
Interlake, Inc. (Chicago,
IL)
|
Family
ID: |
22885547 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/235,447 |
Filed: |
March 16, 1972 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
87799 |
Nov 9, 1970 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/248;
297/239 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C
3/04 (20130101); A47C 1/124 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
1/00 (20060101); A47C 3/04 (20060101); A47C
3/00 (20060101); A47C 1/124 (20060101); A47c
001/124 () |
Field of
Search: |
;297/248 ;108/64 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Zugel; Francis K.
Parent Case Text
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 87,799, filed Nov.
9, 1970.
Claims
I claim:
1. In a chair construction of a type having a seat and a pair of
legs extending downwardly from each side thereof, means for
securing such chairs in a row comprising: a connector member
rigidly supported by each leg of one of said pair of legs on one
side of a chair and another connector member rigidly supported by
each leg of a said pair of legs on the opposite side of the chair,
said connector members having a top wall portion and a generally
planar face portion and being supported at approximately the same
level from the lower ends of the legs, a separate hook member
fastened to the chair by separable fastening means to one of said
connector members along its outside face with a hook portion
extending outwardly therefrom, each connector member having a hook
portion receiving region on the top wall portion engageable with
the hook portion of a hook member on another chair to provide a
freely detachable hooked connection between two chairs arranged in
adjacent side-by-side relation with the hook member on a first
connector member on one of the two chairs freely hooked to the hook
portion receiving region of an adjacent second connector member to
which no hook member is secured on the other of the two chairs,
said hook member having a vertically extending planar body portion
extending parallel to and abutting the generally planar face
portion on the connector member to which it is fastened and
parallel to and abutting a corresponding planar face portion on the
other connector member to which the hook member is detachably
hooked, to thereby sandwich the planar body portion of the hook
member between the two connector members, and the spacing of the
hook portion receiving region of the other connector member from
the corresponding planar portion thereon is substantially the same
as the spacing of the hook portion of the hook member from its said
vertically extending planar body portion, whereby movement of the
hook member on one chair must be made in close proximity to the
other connector member on the other chair in order to guide the
hook member into its hooked position, each of said connector
members having a dished portion surrounding a fastener receiving
opening to receive said separable fastening means, said hook member
also having a dished portion which aligns with said connector
dished portion, such openings in two hooked together connector
members of two chairs arranged in adjacent side-by-side relation
being located for axial alignment with each other and with an
opening in said hook member, said separable fastening means being
positionable through one of said openings in a connector member and
said opening in the hook member to provide a fastening of the hook
member to only one of the chairs, said separable fastening means
also being positionable through the openings in both of the two
hooked together connector members of the two chairs and the opening
of the hook member sandwiched between the connector members to
provide a fastening of the hook member to both of the hooked
together connector members and thereby fasten together the two
chairs.
Description
This invention relates to the art of chair manufacture and
particularly to improved mechanism for ganging together chairs in a
continuous row.
In chairs designed for multiple seating, especially commercial or
institutional types, they often involve large seating capacity with
frequent or infrequent rearrangement of the seats in varying
numbers of rows and of chairs. For this reason, it is desirable to
have connecting means for the chairs which are easily joined and
easily disconnected as necessary.
It is an important object of this invention to provide a ganging or
joining means for joining together chairs of the type described
which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, neat
in appearance and which can be connected and disconnected with a
minimum amount of effort and time.
In order to accomplish this object, a ganging device is provided
which permits hooking one part on one chair into another part on an
adjacent chair in side-by-side arrangement with it. The hooked
portion is preferably a separate piece which can be connected when
the chairs are to be ganged together or removed if it is desired to
use the chairs without any ganging structure.
Another object of the invention is to provide ganging portions
which serve a secondary function as a leg brace and as a spacer to
maintain a fixed distance between chairs in a row.
It is another object of the invention to provide a hook member of a
design which can maintain a fixed straight alignment of the chairs
arranged in a row and is further provided with an optional
fastening means to clamp the hooked member rigidly in position with
the portions of the adjacent chairs it engages in order to secure
the chairs rigidly together in a row. One of the particular
advantages of this rigid arrangement is the facility to easily lift
a ganged row of chairs and manipulate it as a unit to a change of
location. This has a further advantage when the chairs are of the
stacking variety because it enables a rigid row of chairs to be
conveniently stacked upon another rigid row of chairs which greatly
reduces the time involved and the manpower necessary for
rearrangement purposes which can be extremely time-consuming with
chairs employed in an amphitheatre type of room, for example.
It is another object of the invention to provide ganging means
which lends itself to both a simple hooking arrangement for
temporary hooking together of the chairs or for a more permanent
type of ganging which is more desirable when several chairs are to
remain in a rigid row for any length of time.
It is another object of the invention to provide a standard chair
brace portion of the ganging device which is reversible for either
the left-hand or right-hand side of a chair to minimize the number
of parts necessary and to provide the extra advantage of permitting
the chairs to be arranged in a row facing alternately in opposite
directions or any combination of alternate opposite positioning
without requiring special parts.
Other objects and advantages of the invention can be understood
upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a plurality of chairs joined
together by the ganging means of this invention and being
manipulated in joined multiples for arrangement;
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a plurality of the chairs shown
in FIG. 1 arranged in a stacked manner;
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the ganging means of the
invention and the respective locations of the two main portions of
the ganging device on two adjacent chairs which are indicated in
phantom outline;
FIG. 4 shows a front elevation of the ganging means on two adjacent
chair portions with the two main portions of the ganging means
positioned immediately prior to joining together for
connection;
FIG. 5 shows a front elevation of the ganging means of FIG. 4,
except that the portions of the ganging means are shown connected,
and
FIG. 6 shows this alternate form of ganging means employed when the
chairs are to be semi-permanently joined together.
As indicated in FIG. 3, the ganging means 1 for joining together
one chair 2 with another chair 3 consists of one connector member 4
and a second connector member 4 which are located at the same
horizontal level of adjacent chairs 2 and 3 and with a member 4
welded between side legs 2a and 2b on one chair 2 and another
member 4 welded between legs 3a and 3b on the other chair.
Each connector member 4 is provided with two downwardly divergent
and walls 4a and 4b which extend from a top wall 4c. The end walls
4a and 4b are the portions welded to the chair legs 2a and 2b. The
top wall 4c is provided with a recess 4d having inner side walls 4e
and 4f and an inner wall 4g.
A hook member 6 is secured to a connector member 4 by means of a
bolt 7 which extends through openings 6a and 4h in the hook member
6 and the connector member 4, respectively. This arrangement is
better indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5. It should be apparent that the
hook member 6 can be secured to ether member 4 since they are
identical.
To facilitate positioning of the hook member 6 onto a connector
member 4, the hook member 6 is provided with a central dished
portion 6b which aligns concentrically with a dished portion 4i of
the connector member 4. In addition, the hook member 6 has a lower
outwardly turned lip 6c which engages the lower edge 4j of the
connector member 4 and prevents rotation of the hook member
relative to the connector member 4. The top edge of the hook member
6 is provided with a horizontal flange 6d which connects to a
downwardly extending vertical flange 6e which together form a
hook.
With the hook member 6 in the position as indicated in FIGS. 3, 4
and 5, ganging of the two adjacent chairs 2 and 3 is accomplished
by elevating the chair 2 so that the hook member 6 is above the
connector member 4 on chair 3 and then lowering the chair 2 until
the hook member engages the recess 4d of the connector member 4 on
the chair 3. The elongated flat surface of the top wall 4c engaging
the similar elongated flange 6d of the hook member 6 provides a
lateral stability tending to overcome rotation of one chair
relative to the other. In addition, the two end walls 4e and 4f of
the connector 4 limit transverse shifting of one chair relative to
another.
It is apparent that the connector member 4 on adjacent chairs, one
on the left-hand side and the other on the right-hand side of a
chair, are identical in construction and can be employed
interchangeably. Furthermore, the chairs 2 and 3 can be reversed to
extend in opposite facing directions without any change in parts,
provided a hook member 6 is provided on either pg,5 one of the
connector members 4.
If it is intended to more permanently affix one chair to another, a
longer bolt 8 is employed which extends through the openings 4h in
both connector members 4 and through the opening 6a in the hook
member 6. The connector members 4 are both open inwardly so that
there is free access to these holes 4h for the insertion of the
bolts 7 or 8. It should be apparent from FIG. 6 that the bolt 8
must be removed before the two chairs can be disconnected from each
other. This is identified as the semi-permanent ganging connection
to distinguish it from the ganging connection of FIG. 5 where one
chair can be easily disconnected from another by changing the
elevation of the one and disconnecting the hook member 6 from a
connector member 4.
As shown in FIG. 2, the chairs 2 and 3 are of a type with
downwardly divergent legs to which the connector members 4 are
joined and this type of chair can be stacked in the manner shown
and the ganging means does not interfere with the stacking ability
of the chairs.
As especially shown in FIG. 1, there are two rows of four chairs
ganged together by the alternate semi-permanent ganging means of
FIG. 6 which permits the four chairs to be handled as a rigid
single unit with the four chairs arranged fixedly in a straight
line. In this manner, the one row of four stacking chairs can be
manipulated to be stacked with the other rigid row of four stacking
chairs without separating the chairs and handling them
individually. It should be apparent that any number of chairs can
be connected in a row and handled in a like manner, depending upon
the ability of the workers to lift the connected rows of
chairs.
Although only two principal embodiments of the invention have been
shown and described, it should be clearly understood that the
invention can be made in many different ways without departing from
the true scope of the invention as defined in the depending claims
in which:
* * * * *