US3328084A

US3328084A - Chair and method for making same

Info

Publication number: US3328084A
Application number: US478926A
Authority: US
Inventors: Roy L Whitener; Murl E Whitener
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-08-11
Filing date: 1965-08-11
Publication date: 1967-06-27
Anticipated expiration: 1984-06-27

Description

June 1967 R. L. WHITENER ETAL 3,328,084

CHAIR AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 11, 1965 INVENTORS Will 7' E IVE I? R0 Y L. WH/TENEI? MURL E.

ATTORNEY June 27, 1967 R. 1.. WHITENER ETAL 3,328,084

CHAIR AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME Filed Aug. 11, 1965 2 Sheets$heet 2 .ll' lllll' INVENTORS MURL E. WHITENER ROY L. WHITE/ ER ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,328,084 CHAIR AND METHOD FOR MAKING SAME Roy .L. Whitener and Murl E. Whitener, both of Hickory, N.C. 28601 Filed Aug. 11, 1965, Ser. No. 478,926 2 Claims. (Cl. 297445) This invention relates to a chair and method for making same. More particularly, this invention relates to a chair constructed of fewer pieces than heretofore possible and the method for fabricating such a chair.

Chairs in the past have been constructed of a considerable number of small pieces of wood which are tediously hand-finished and fitted and secured together in order to form the wood base or frame upon which upholstering material and seat cushions and the like may be secured. It will be appreciated that in the production of such chairs a considerable amount of hand labor is necessary in order to achieve the final product. Consequently, the utilization of larger units in the fabrication of a chair will obviously result in a chair being produced in a more economical manner.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to disclose an ingenious method for fabricating a chair.

It is another object of the present invention to disclose a chair constructed of a relatively few number of pieces.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in reading the following description in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the chair of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary close-up of a portion of the chair of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 illustrates in a top plan view the method for applying the back to the chair of the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional, fragmentary view of a portion of the chair showing the back as fitted in; and,

FIGURE 7 is like FIGURE 6 showing another embodiment in the insertion of the back.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not limitation.

Now, turning to the drawings, attention is specifically directed to FIGURE 1 which shows the wood frame of the chair generally 11 and FIGURE 2 which shows generally a chair 12 having another configuration.

In particular, the features of the present invention reside in the utilization of laminated wood in constructing the

large U-shaped elements

13, 14, and 15. Element 15 comprises the main unit upon which a seat cushion and the like may be secured. Element 14 comprises, of course, the back rest and side portions, while element 13 is an arm rest and a back rest. The chair has a front cross piece 16 and

front legs

17 and 18.

Legs

17 and 18 terminate somewhat flush with the upper portion of element 15.

The chair 11 also has

rear legs

19 and 20. These rear legs extend above

elements

15 and 14 and are mortised in a suitable manner with respect to

elements

14 and 15. They terminate on the underside portion of element 13 in a conventional manner. It will be appreciated that the

legs

17 and 18, cross piece 16, and

legs

19 and 20 are of conventional structure. In the prior art chairs, the

elements

13, 14 and are broken down into separable units extending, for instance, in connection with element 15 from leg 17 to leg and then another unit would be utilized extending from leg 20 to leg 19 and finally from leg 19 all the way back to the front and leg 18. Similarly,

elements

14 and 13 would be broken down into three pieces extending from uprights 21 around to upright 22.

In the instant invention, the modification resides in the utilization of laminated

U-shaped elements

13, 14, and 15 which are suitably bent into the U-shaped elements seen.

Regarding the embodiment shown in FIGURE 2, it will be noted that only one U-shaped element 23 is necessary to join at each end with

legs

24 and 25. Inasmuch as the back rest does not sweep around to also become as arm rest at the sides thereof, only a single back rest 27 is necessary terminating with

legs

28 and 29, the rear legs.

Additional braces may be employed in connection with both embodiments as at 31.

Of prime interest also to the present invention is the ingenious method for adding a web backing which may be of cane material to the side and back of the chair of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1. To accomplish this satisfactorily, a groove 40 is cut into

elements

13 and 14 and portions of

uprights

21 and 22 as can be seen from FIGURE 1. The cane material is applied in the area defined by the groove.

To illustrate this, attention is directed to FIGURE 3 which shows the left-hand side of the chair of FIGURE 1 and shows a portion of the cane 33 whose edges terminate in the groove 34 (not shown) inasmuch as a wood wedge 35 has been also inserted in the groove to retain the cane in position. The application of the cane to the grooves in the chair is also of considerable ingenuity.

FIGURE 4 shows the result of the cane 33 in position. It will be noted that from this cross-sectional view groove is filled with the wedge 35 and a portion 36 of the cane which has been bent approximately perpendicular to the surface of the cane 33. Suitable adhesive may also be included to secure the wedge cane portion 36 to the groove 40.

For an understanding of the manner in which the cane is applied to the grooves, attention is directed to FIG- URE 5. The chair'having the framework as in FIGURE 1 is positioned to receive an expandable sectional male die member on which has been located sufficiently moistened cane webbing of a size approximately the dimension necessary. The moistened cane is held by the male member 50 and then is moved downwardly between the U- shaped

members

13 and 14 and is positioned so that, as the

expandable portions

53 and 54 of the die member 50 expand, suitable flanges 51 carrying the cane 33 carry forward the peripheral edge portion of cane 33 into the groove 40 as is desired which is then followed by suitable wedging with wood portion 35.

To illustrate two of a number of ways in which the cane 33 is carried, attention is directed to FIGURES 6 and 7. In FIGURE 6 the die member 50 is shown carrying the web 33 (in dotted lines) and as the die member 50 is moved towards the element 13, for instance, due to flange 51, it carries the already bent cane into the groove after which the male member may be withdrawn leaving the cane in position for receipt of adhesive and the wedge 35.

For a more secure fit, it will be noted from FIGURE 7 that the cane material is not bent in the same manner as in the above embodiment, but extends across from flange to flange 51 in the wet condition (as seen in dotted lines in FIGURE 7). As the die is moved in the direction of

elements

13 and 14, the flange 51 carries the web into the groove and bends it as shown in FIGURE 7 and, naturally, a portion of the cane not only fills the side of the groove but also fills a portion of the bottom of the groove so that when secured with adhesive and the wedge it is tightly mounted in position.

It will be appreciated that the die member 50 must have side

expansible members

53 and 54 in order to move the web of cane material 33 into the side of

elements

13 and 14. This can be accomplished by having a fixed lower unit 55 and

pivotable units

53 and 54 of die 50. Suitable linkage means can be seen to show lateral movement of

elements

53 and 54 of the die by further pushing on rod 56 which through appropriate linkage means 57 and 58 pushes apart

elements

53 and 54 of die 50, moving the wetted cane secured thereabout into the grooves as is necessary.

It will be appreciated that by employing laminated construction considerable time is saved and at the same time a fantastic strength characteristic is built int-o the chair which resists breaking and cannot be broken apart into its individual pieces inasmuch as

elements

13, 14, and 15 are constructed of solid laminate units.

It will be apparent that many changes and modifications of the several features described herein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore apparent that the foregoing description is by way of illustration of the invention rather than limitation of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A chair comprising a U-shaped seat carrying member, said seat carrying member being constructed of bent laminated wood, cross-piece means connecting substantially the end portions of said U-shaped member, front legs depending from said crosspiece member, rear legs depending from said U-shaped member and in spaced relationship to the front legs and to each other, said rear legs extending above said U-shaped member, a second U-shaped member connecting said portion of said rear legs extending above said seat carrying member, said second U-shaped member approximately parallel with said seat member and constructed of bent laminated wood, a third U-shaped member approximately mounted with respect to said rear legs intermediate the seat carrying member and said second U-shaped member, a groove in said second and third U-shaped member for receiving a backing, a backing, said backing bridging said second and third U-shaped members and terminating in said groove.

2. A chair as set forth in claim 1 wherein said backing is cane webbing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 95,491 10/1869 Lapham 297-445 134,545 1/ 1873 Heywood 29744O 1,555,377 9/1925 Knoll 297-418 X 1,674,375 6/1928 Patton 297-445 X 1,864,477 6/1932 Stannard 29--91.1 2,649,136 8/1953 Eames 297-452 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,095,296 5/ 1955 France.

34,352 6/1905 Switzerland.

OTHER REFERENCES Publication: The Architectural Forum Magazine, pages 12 to 14, ZO/Plywood Digest, March 1944.

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Examiner.

Claims

1. A CHAIR COMPRISING A U-SHAPED SEAT CARRYING MEMBER, SAID SEAT CARRYING MEMBER BEING CONSTRUCTED OF BENT LAMINATED WOOD, CROSS-PIECE MEANS CONNECTING SUBSTANTIALLY THE END PORTIONS OF SAID U-SHAPED MEMBER, FRONT LEGS DEPENDING FROM SAID CROSSPIECE MEMBER, REAR LEGS DEPENDING FROM SAID U-SHAPED MEMBER AND IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP TO THE FRONT LEGS AND TO EACH OTHER, SAID REAR LEGS EXTENDING ABOVE SAID U-SHAPED MEMBER, A SECOND U-SHAPED MEMBER CONNECTING SAID PORTION OF SAID REAR LEGS EXTENDING ABOVE SAID SEAT CARRYING MEMBER, SAID SECOND U-SHAPED MEMBER APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL WITH SAID SEAT MEMBER AND CONSTRUCTED OF BENT LAMINATED WOOD, A THIRD U-SHAPED MEMBER APPROXIMATELY MOUNTED WITH RESPECT TO SAID REAR LEGS INTERMEDIATE THE SEAT CARRYING MEMBER AND SAID SECOND U-SHAPED MEMBER, A GROOVE