JP7650143B2 - Folding chair - Google Patents

Description

This application discloses a folding chair as the subject matter of protection.

For example, in the case of chairs for conference rooms, which need to be stored away in a storeroom or in the corner of a room when not in use, chairs are often made foldable so that they can be stored in as small a space as possible. Some chairs are even designed to be self-supporting when folded, while allowing multiple legs to be nested one behind the other.

As an example, Patent Document 1 discloses a chair in which the seat and backrest are connected so that they can rotate relative to one another, and in which the front and rear legs are connected at an intermediate height to form an X-link mechanism, and the upper ends of the front legs are connected to the sides of the backrest and the upper ends of the rear legs are connected to the sides of the seat to make the chair foldable, and further, the lower ends of the front and rear legs are bent to make the chair self-supporting and nestable in the folded position.

In such folding chairs, the ease with which the seat can be flipped up and rotated to the folded position is inextricably linked to the ease with which the seat can be tilted and rotated from the folded position to the unfolded position. For example, if the seat can be folded simply by placing hands on the rear or front end and lifting, the seat will easily tilt and rotate to the unfolded position under its own weight.

Thus, the ease of folding a chair and the ease of unfolding it are inseparably related, but when the seat automatically tilts and rotates under its own weight, if the seat tilts suddenly it generates an impact noise, which is undesirable.

One idea to address this issue would be to provide a support member made of an elastic material such as rubber, and have the impact absorb the impact. However, this method does not reduce the force of the impact, and the seat is prone to recoil and rotate back when it falls, so it is difficult to say that this is a fundamental solution.

On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a means for keeping the seat in a raised position, in which a lock pin is provided on the seat, an engagement hole into which the lock pin fits is formed on the central axis, and the lock pin is biased by a spring to keep the seat in the folded position. That is, in this patent document, the lock pin is biased in the forward direction by the spring, and when the seat reaches a predetermined folded position, the lock pin moves forward due to the biasing force of the spring, and the seat is kept in the folded position.

JP 2000-210153 A JP 2001-104085 A

Now, when the seat rotates from an upright position, the speed at which it rotates due to its own weight increases as the angle of tilt increases. On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, resistance is applied to the rotation of the seat, but the magnitude of the resistance is constant, making it difficult to rotate the seat slowly.

This application was made in light of this current situation and aims to disclose an improved folding chair.

The chairs disclosed as subject matter of protection in this application include a variety of configurations.

The chair according to the first aspect is
" It has a seat, a backrest, and a pair of front and rear legs,
When the seat is flipped up and rotated so as to raise the front end side or the rear end side, the seat assumes a folded posture, and when the seat is tilted and rotated in the folded posture so as to tilt the front end side or the rear end side, the seat assumes an unfolded posture in which the seat can be sat on,
Furthermore, a damper means is provided for applying resistance to the tilting rotation of the seat to attenuate the speed of the tilting rotation, and the damper means is set so that the resistance gradually increases in proportion to the tilting rotation of the seat.
This is the basic configuration.

The chair according to the first aspect can prevent the seat from suddenly tipping and rotating (in other words, the chair from suddenly unfolding), and can prevent shocks from being applied during unfolding. This allows the unfolding process to be performed safely and quietly.

Furthermore, in the chair according to the first aspect , the seat can be prevented from accelerating in its tilting and rotating, and the seat can be rotated slowly as a whole. This further ensures the safety and quietness of the unfolding operation. Since the resistance during unfolding and the resistance during folding are in an inverse relationship, in the chair according to the second aspect, the resistance during folding decreases gradually, and the transition to the folded position can be ensured.

The chair of the first aspect has, in addition to the basic configuration described above,
"One point on the underside of the seat is rotatably connected to a stay connected to the left and right front legs or rear legs or to an interlocking member connected thereto via a bearing portion provided on the underside of the seat ,
The damper means is disposed at the connection between the bearing and the stay or the connection between the bearing and the interlocking member, for providing frictional resistance to the relative rotation between the bearing and the stay or the relative rotation between the bearing and the interlocking member ."
It has the following configuration.

In the chair according to the first aspect, the damper means is incorporated in the connecting portion between the seat and the stay or the connecting portion between the seat and the interlocking member, so that the chair can be made compact and the aesthetic appearance is not deteriorated. In particular, if the damper means is covered with a bearing cap as in the embodiment, the member for the bearing can be used as a cover as well, which is advantageous in that the structure can be simplified accordingly.

A chair according to a second aspect of the present invention is a chair according to the first aspect of the present invention,
" The damper means includes a ring-shaped receiving portion attached to the stay or interlocking member, a contactor provided on the bearing portion and contacting the outer circumferential surface of the receiving member, and an elastic body also provided on the bearing portion and pressing the contactor toward the receiving member, and the distance from the axis of the stay or interlocking member to the outer circumferential surface of the receiving member gradually increases in the direction of movement of the contactor during deployment ."
The structure is as follows.

The chair according to the second aspect has an advantage that the resistance can be gradually increased with a very simple structure. In this case, the abutment may be made of an elastic body or a hard material such as metal or hard synthetic resin. In either case, the abutment moves while being sandwiched between the receiving member and the bearing part .

A chair according to a third aspect of the present invention has the configuration according to the second aspect of the present invention,
" The abutment is a roller-shaped member that rotates around an axis parallel to the stay, and a groove in which the abutment rolls is formed on the outer periphery of the receiving member, and the distance from the axis of the stay to the groove gradually increases in the direction in which the abutment moves ."
The structure is as follows.

In the chair according to the third aspect, the abutment is fitted into the groove and does not come off. Also, since the abutment is roller-shaped and rolls around the axis, it moves like a roller bearing and can smooth the tilting and rotation of the seat.
The chair according to the fourth aspect has the configuration according to the first to third aspects,
"The seat is made of synthetic resin, and the bearing portion is integrally formed on the lower surface of the seat."
The structure is as follows.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing the appearance of an embodiment, in which (A) is a front perspective view in an unfolded state, (B) is a front perspective view in a folded state, (C) is a side view in an unfolded state, and (D) is a side view in a folded state. 1A is a front view of the embodiment in an unfolded state, FIG. 1B is a bottom view of the unfolded state, FIG. 1C is a rear perspective view of the folded state, and FIG. 1D is a bottom perspective view of the unfolded state. FIG. 1A is a partially exploded perspective view from below in an unfolded state, and FIG. 1A is a separated bottom perspective view, FIG. 1B is a bottom perspective view of the capped connection portion between the seat and the interlocking member, and FIG. 1C is a bottom perspective view of the capless connection portion between the seat and the interlocking member. 4A is a central cross-sectional view taken along line VA-VA in FIG. 2B, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VB-VB in FIG. 2B and FIG. 4C. FIG. 6A is an exploded top perspective view of the upper portion, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIIB-VIIB of FIG. 1A is a rear perspective view in a folded state, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1A, and FIG.

Next, an embodiment (specific example) of the chair disclosed in this application will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the terms front, back, left and right are used to specify directions, but these directions are based on the orientation of a person normally sitting in the chair. The front viewing direction is the direction facing the seated person.

(1) Overview First, an overview of the chair will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. The chair of this embodiment is of a type that is often used in conference rooms, lecture halls, etc., and as shown in Figure 1, it comprises a seat 1, a backrest 2, and rod-like (straight) front legs 3 and rear legs 4 that support them. The upper ends of the front legs 3 and rear legs 4 are located above the seat 1. The legs 3 and 4 are made of metal pipes such as steel pipes.

The seat 1 is formed in a generally trapezoidal shape with a left-right width narrowing toward the rear in a plan view, while the backrest 2 is gently curved so as to be concave toward the front in a plan view so as to fit the back of the user, and is gently tilted backward in a side cross-sectional view.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the seat 1 is made of resin or wood and is in the shape of a plate. In other words, it has a structure of a single seat plate. However, the seat 1 can also be a structure in which a cushioning material is stretched on the seat plate (inner shell), or a type in which a mesh material is stretched on a frame body with openings at the top and bottom. The backrest 2 is a molded product made of synthetic resin, but it can also be made of wood. Alternatively, a structure in which a cushioning material is stretched on the front surface can also be used.

The backrest 2 has a front-to-rear longitudinal side frame 5 formed integrally at both the left and right ends. The side frame 5 has a width that allows it to function as an armrest. Therefore, it can be seen as the armrest and backrest 2 being integrated. As shown in Figures 1(A) and 2, the backrest 2 is smoothly connected to the side frame 5 by lowering its height on both the left and right sides. This results in a neat design.

The upper ends of the front legs 3 are fixed to the front ends of the side frame 5, while the rear legs 4 are connected to the side frame 5 so that they can rotate back and forth around their upper ends. Therefore, the front legs 3 and rear legs 4 can be folded from an unfolded state in which the distance between them increases downward in side view to a state in which they cross in an X-shape in side view.

For example, as shown in Figures 2(C) and (D), the left and right front legs 3 are fixed together by left and right long front stays 6 at the height of the underside of the seat 1, and the front part of the seat 1 is rotatably connected to the front stays 6. Meanwhile, the left and right rear legs 4 are also fixed by left and right long rear stays 7 at the height of the underside of the seat 1, and the rear stays 7 and the seat 1 are connected to each other so that they can rotate relative to each other via an interlocking member 8 that is bent into a trapezoidal shape.

When the seat 1 is unfolded, it is supported at the front and rear by stays 6, 7, which are made of metal pipes such as steel pipes and are fixed to the legs 3, 4 by welding, providing high support strength. When the rear end of the seat 1 is lifted, the seat 1 rotates around the front stay 6 as a fulcrum, and in conjunction with this, the interlocking member 8 is pulled up and rotated so that its rear end is raised higher. As a result, the rear legs 4 rotate relative to the front legs 3, the seat 1, and the side frame 5, and the seat is folded into the state shown in Figure 1 (D).

For example, as shown in Figures 1(B) and 2(B), the left-right spacing of the front legs 3 is greater than the left-right spacing of the rear legs 4 in a front or plan view, so that multiple chairs can be nested together when folded. A downward-facing pull rib 9 is provided in the middle left and right parts of the rear ends of the side frame parts 5 so that people can easily place their hands on it when folding. In addition, the rear stays 7 are formed with crank-shaped bent parts 7a that protrude forward so as not to get in the way when people place their hands on the pull ribs 9.

(2) Connection structure between seat and front stay As shown in Fig. 3, for example, the front part of the side frame 5 is rotatably connected to the front stay 6 by a pair of left and right front bearing parts 11 and a front cap 12 that completely covers them. The front bearing parts 11 are formed integrally with the lower surface of the seat 1, and have a semicircular downward recess 11a. On the other hand, the front cap 12 has a semicircular upward recess 12a that fits into the front stay 6 from below, and the front cap 12 is fixed to the front bearing parts 11 with a screw (not shown). Therefore, the front cap 12 has a screw insertion hole 13, and the front bearing parts 11 have a tapped hole 14.

As shown in Fig. 3(B), the front bearing portion 11 (and the front cap 12) have many ribs (or recesses for removing material) formed therein to reduce friction with the front stays 6 (the recesses for removing material can also be filled with grease). Since there is a certain amount of space between the front bearing portion 11 and the left and right ends of the seat 1, auxiliary bearing portions 15 having downward semicircular recesses that fit into the front stays 6 are provided on the undersides of both left and right ends of the seat 1 and protrude downward. Therefore, the front of the seat 1 is supported by the front stays 6 at four points in the left and right directions.

The front bearing 11 and auxiliary bearing 15 can be manufactured as separate parts from the seat 1 and screwed to the seat 1, but molding them integrally with the seat 1 as in this embodiment has the advantage of preventing misalignment with the front stay 6. It is also possible to place a sleeve made of a resin material with a low friction coefficient between the front bearing 11 and the front cap 12.

(3) Connection structure between seat and rear stay As shown in Figures 3(A) and 4(A), the interlocking member 8 has a left-right long base portion 8a and front-rear long side portions 8b extending rearward from both left and right ends thereof, and is generally trapezoidal in shape. The left and right intermediate portions of the base portion 8a are rotatably connected to the underside of the seat 1 by a rear bearing portion 16 and a rear cap 17, and the rear ends of the left and right side portions 8b are rotatably connected to the rear stay 7 by a pair of upper and lower clamp-type bearing bodies 18. Note that the rear cap 17 is omitted in Figures 1, 2, and 8.

The rear bearing 16 is formed integrally with the seat 1, and has a semicircular downward recess 16a formed in the middle between the front and rear. On the other hand, the rear cap 17 completely covers the rear bearing 16, and has a U-shaped upward recess 17a formed therein. A synthetic resin sleeve 19 is interposed between the two, and the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 is held by the sleeve 19. Therefore, the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 is connected to the rear bearing 16 and the rear cap 17 via the sleeve 19.

As shown in FIG. 5(A), the rear cap 17 is fixed to the rear bearing portion 16 by a pair of front and rear screws 20. Therefore, the rear cap 17 has a screw insertion hole 21, and the rear bearing portion 16 has a tapped hole 22. In addition, the rear bearing portion 16 and the rear cap 17 have a number of ribs (or recessed portions).

As shown in FIG. 5(A), the sleeve 19 is C-shaped with an opening, and is fitted to the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 by expanding against its elasticity. The sleeve 19 is positioned with the opening facing upwards, and has upward-facing stopper protrusions 23 on the inner surface of the middle left and right parts, while the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 has stopper holes 24 into which the stopper protrusions 23 fit. Therefore, the sleeve 19 is held so that it cannot slide or rotate relative to the base 8a of the interlocking member 8.

As shown in Figures 4(A) and 5(B), damper grooves 25 are formed on both the left and right sides of the sleeve 19, and the depth of the damper grooves 25 decreases in the direction of rotation (the X direction in Figure 5(B)). In other words, the thickness between the damper grooves 25 and the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 increases. On the other hand, on both the left and right sides of the rear bearing 16, cylindrical damper pins 26 that can roll in contact with the damper grooves 25 and elastic bodies 27 that urge the damper pins 26 into the damper grooves 25 are arranged. The elastic bodies 27 are made of synthetic resin or natural rubber, but a spring such as a coil spring can also be used.

The damper groove 25 is a specific example of a groove as described in the claims, and the damper pin 26 is an example of a roller-shaped abutment as described in the claims. The damper pin 26 and the elastic body 27 are respectively arranged in circular retaining holes 28 and 29 that open sideways, and are held in place by the rear cap 17 so that they cannot fall out.

When the chair is folded, the damper pin 26 is located at the deepest end of the damper groove 25, and as the seat 1 rotates toward the horizontal position, the rotational resistance of the damper pin 26 gradually increases, which prevents the seat 1 from suddenly tipping over and rotating. In other words, the chair can be unfolded at a slow speed.

A locking recess 30 that stably holds the damper pin 26 is formed in the damper groove 25 at the portion where the damper pin 26 is located in the deployed state. This prevents pressure from being continuously applied to the elastic body 27, and also maintains the deployed state.

As shown in FIG. 4(A), the upper and lower clamp-type bearing bodies 18 have a semicircular holding portion 18a that holds only half of the rear stay 7, and a semicylindrical arm portion 18b that fits into the side portion 8b of the interlocking member 8, and a sleeve 31 (see the upper right part of FIG. 4(A)) is interposed between the upper and lower holding portions 18a. The sleeve 31 is held rotatably relative to the upper and lower holding portions 18a. As can be seen from FIG. 4(A), the upper holding portion 18a has an upwardly bulging buffer protrusion 32 that contacts the underside of the seat 1. The sleeve 31 has a positioning protrusion (not shown) that fits into a positioning hole (not shown) formed in the rear stay 7. Therefore, the sleeve 31 is held non-rotatably relative to the rear stay 7. The sleeve 31 is provided on the left and right clamp-type bearing bodies 18.

The upper and lower arm portions 18b are inserted into the side portion 8b of the interlocking member 8 in a mutually overlapping state, and are fixed to the side portion 8b of the interlocking member 8 with a screw (not shown). Therefore, screw insertion holes 33 are drilled in the side portion 8b of the interlocking member 8 and the lower arm portion 18a, and a tapped hole 34 is provided in the upper arm portion 18b. The tapped hole 34 may be formed directly in the arm portion 18b, or may be formed by embedding or attaching a nut such as a hexagonal nut.

The procedure for assembling the interlocking member 8 involves first holding the rear stay 7 with the upper and lower clamp-type bearing bodies 18, then inserting the side portion 8b of the interlocking member 8 into the overlapping arm portions 18b and fixing them with screws, and then connecting the base portion 8a of the interlocking member to the rear bearing portion 16.

As mentioned above, the rear stay 7 is formed with a crank-shaped bent portion 7a, which protrudes forward as shown in FIG. 5(A), and a C-shaped buffer material 35 that contacts the seat 1 is fitted to the tip of the bent portion 7a. The buffer material 35 is made of synthetic resin, just like the sleeves 19 and 31, and is held in place by the positioning protrusion 35a that protrudes downward and fits into the positioning hole 36 of the bent portion 7a, preventing it from slipping.

In this embodiment, in the deployed state, the seat 1 also abuts against the holding portion 18a of the upper clamp-type bearing body 18. Therefore, the rear of the seat 1 is supported by the rear stays 7 at three points on the left and right.

(4) Connection structure between legs and side frame As shown in Fig. 7(B), the side frame 5 is basically a plate with a width wide enough for a person to rest their elbows on, with a flat upper surface, and a downward rib 5a is formed on the inside that extends along its entire length. Therefore, the side frame 5 has a roughly inverted L-shaped cross section. And by having the downward rib 5a, the rigidity against loads from above is remarkably improved, despite the slim design.

At the front end of the side frame 5, a front boss 37 that tapers downward is formed as an example of a front leg attachment portion, and a joint shaft 39 is forcibly fitted into this front boss 37 so as not to come off. An upper bush 40, a retaining washer 41, and a lower bush 42 are fixed to the joint shaft 39 with screws 43, and these posture-maintaining bushes 40, 42 and retaining washer 41 are forcibly fitted into the front leg 3. In other words, the joint shaft 39, the upper and lower posture-maintaining bushes 40, 42, the retaining washer 41, and the screws 43 constitute a joint unit, and the side frame 5 is fixed to the front leg 3 by the joint unit.

The retaining washer 41 is formed in a petal shape that spreads upward, and is fixed by being sandwiched between upper and lower bushes 40, 42. The retaining washer 41 then narrows and enters downward inside the front leg 3, while being held in place so that it cannot fall out upward. In other words, the retaining washer 41 bites into the inner surface of the front leg 3, preventing it from falling out. Therefore, the front leg 3 is fixed to the front boss 37 so that it cannot fall out. The lower end of the front boss 37 is formed with a small diameter portion 37a into which the front leg 3 fits.

Similar to the front legs 3, a joint unit consisting of bushes 40, 42 for maintaining the upper and lower positions, a retaining washer 41, and a screw 43 is fitted from above onto the rear legs 4. A joint (lever portion) 44 is formed integrally with the upper bush 40, and the joint 44 is connected to a rear boss portion 45 formed on the side frame portion 5 by a pivot pin 46. The rear boss portion 45 is an example of a rear leg attachment portion.

The rear boss 45 is connected integrally to the rib 5a, and cuts out a groove 47 into which the joint 44 fits from below. The joint 44 is connected to the rear boss 45 by a pivot pin 46 with a left-right longitudinal axis. Therefore, the rear leg 4 rotates back and forth with the pivot pin 46 as a fulcrum. As shown in Figure 7 (B), the pivot pin 46 is held in place by a screw 46a so that it cannot be removed.

The joint 44 has an upper end that protrudes forward, forming an inverted L shape when viewed from the side, and has a connecting hole 48 at the front. In the deployed state, the part of the upper surface 44a of the joint 44 behind the connecting hole 48 is set to come into contact with the inner bottom surface of the rear boss portion 45. Therefore, even if a large downward load acts on the side frame portion 5, the load does not act on the pivot pin 46, but acts on the upper surface 44a of the joint 44.

(5) Means for holding the folded state The chair of this embodiment is provided with a means for easily unfolding the chair while holding the chair in the folded state. That is, for example, as shown in Fig. 3, a magnet 49 facing downward and rearward is screwed to a portion of the front stay 6 directly in front of the rear leg 4 as a means for holding the chair in the folded state. Then, as shown in Fig. 8, in the folded state, the magnet 49 is magnetically attached to the rear leg 4, so that the chair is held in the folded state. When a certain amount of force is applied, the magnet 49 and the rear leg 4 separate from each other, so the ease of unfolding the chair is not impaired.

In FIG. 8(C), as another example of a folded state maintaining means, a catch member 50 is provided that holds the rear stay 7 from both the left and right sides. The catch member 50 is fixed to the front stay 6 with a screw 51. The catch member 50 may be made of a metal plate such as a leaf spring, or may be made of synthetic resin.

(6) Summary As already explained, when the rear end of the seat 1 is lifted in the unfolded state, the seat 1 is flipped up and rotated so that the rear end becomes higher, with the front stay 6 as the fulcrum, and in conjunction with this, the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 is pulled upward. Then, the rear legs 4 rotate with their upper ends as the fulcrums.

When the seat 1 is fully rotated by lifting the entire chair off the floor or lifting it with only the bottom ends of the front legs 3 on the floor, the center of gravity comes directly under the handle rib 9, causing the front legs 3 to tilt forward and the rear legs 4 to tilt backward, resulting in the front legs 3 and rear legs 4 crossing in an X-shape in side view. This allows the chair to stand on its own in the folded state. Also, the chair's own weight acts to widen the gap between the bottom ends of the front legs 3 and rear legs 4, so the folded state is maintained.

The seat 1 is connected to the front stay 6 at its front end, so it can be rotated by placing a hand on the pull rib 9 at its rear end and lifting it up, but because the span from the pull rib 9 to the front stay 6 is large, the seat 1 can be reliably lifted and rotated.

At the same time as the seat 1 flips up and rotates, the interlocking member 8 starts to rotate around its rear end as a fulcrum, and the rear legs 4 also start to rotate accordingly; however, because the base 8a of the interlocking member 8 is connected to the middle of the front and rear of the seat 1, the interlocking member 8 rotates smoothly due to the lever action. Therefore, the rotation of the interlocking member 8 and the rotation of the rear legs 4 are smooth, and when the entire chair is lifted, or the rear legs 4 are lifted with the lower ends of the front legs 3 on the floor, the center of gravity shifts, causing the front legs 3 to lean forward and the rear legs 4 to lean backward, automatically transitioning to the folded state.

When the chair is lifted by placing a hand on the rear end of the seat 1, the weight of the entire chair is placed on the seat 1, so a large moment acts on the connection between the interlocking member 8 and the seat 1. Therefore, the damper pin 26 reliably disengages from the lock recess 30 against the elasticity of the elastic body 27. As the folding progresses, the moment on the connection between the interlocking member 8 and the seat 1 decreases, but the frictional resistance between the damper pin 26 and the damper groove 25 decreases in proportion to the progress of the folding, so simply lifting the chair reliably transitions to the folded position.

When unfolding from the folded position, the rotational moment of the seat 1 increases in proportion to the rotation angle, so unless some measures are taken, the rotational speed of the seat 1 increases in proportion to the rotation angle, making it more likely to stop suddenly and cause an impact. However, in this embodiment, the friction between the damper pin 26 and the damper groove 25 gradually increases, so the seat 1 falls and rotates slowly and no impact is applied. Therefore, the unfolding operation can be performed safely and quietly.

Although the above describes an embodiment of the concept of the present disclosure, the concept can be embodied in various other ways. For example, various mechanisms such as friction plates and hydraulic dampers can be used as damping means for providing resistance to the unfolding of the chair. The damper groove in the embodiment is an example of a peripheral cam, but it is also possible to use an end cam.

The folding manner of the chair is not limited to the embodiment. For example, it can be applied to a chair in which the front and rear legs are connected in an X-shape when viewed from the side. In this case, it is also possible to incorporate a damper means in the connection between the legs. Also, if front and rear stays are provided as in the embodiment, it is also possible to incorporate a damper means in the connection between the seat and the front stay, or the connection between the interlocking member and the rear stay. It is also possible to form a damper groove or other groove in the bearing part or bearing cap without using a receiving member as in the embodiment.

The ideas disclosed herein can be embodied in a folding chair, and therefore have industrial applicability.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 seat 2 backrest 3 front leg 4 rear leg 5 side frame 6 front stay 7 rear stay 8 interlocking member 8a base 8b side 9 pull rib 11 front bearing portion 12 front cap 16 rear bearing portion 17 rear cap 18 clamp-type bearing body 19 receiving member 26 damper pin, which is an example of an abutment constituting the damper means 25 damper groove, which is an example of a groove constituting the damper means 27 elastic body

Claims (4)

The chair has a seat, a backrest, and a pair of front and rear legs,
When the seat is flipped up and rotated so as to raise the front end side or the rear end side, the seat assumes a folded posture, and when the seat is tilted and rotated in the folded posture so as to tilt the front end side or the rear end side, the seat assumes an unfolded posture in which the seat can be sat on,
The folding chair further includes a damper means for applying resistance to the reclining rotation of the seat to reduce the speed of the reclining rotation, the damper means being set so that the resistance increases gradually in proportion to the reclining rotation of the seat,
One point on the underside of the seat is rotatably connected to a stay connected to the left and right front legs or rear legs or to an interlocking member connected thereto via a bearing portion provided on the underside of the seat,
the damper means is disposed at a connection portion between the bearing portion and the stay or at a connection portion between the bearing portion and the interlocking member, the damper means providing frictional resistance to relative rotation between the bearing portion and the stay or relative rotation between the bearing portion and the interlocking member.
Folding chair. the damper means includes a ring-shaped receiving member attached to the stay or the interlocking member, a contactor provided on the bearing portion and contacting an outer circumferential surface of the receiving portion, and an elastic body also provided on the bearing portion and pressing the contactor toward the receiving portion,
The distance from the axis of the stay or the interlocking member to the outer circumferential surface of the receiving member gradually increases in the direction of movement of the abutting member during deployment.
A folding chair according to claim 1. The abutting member has a roller shape that rotates around an axis parallel to the stay,
A groove in which the abutting piece rolls is formed on the outer periphery of the receiving member,
The distance from the axis of the stay to the groove gradually increases in the moving direction of the abutting piece.
A folding chair as claimed in claim 2 . The seat is made of synthetic resin, and the bearing portion is integrally formed on the lower surface of the seat.
A folding chair according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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