Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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RELATED APPLIGATION
Reference may be had to the copending application of E. J.
Shoemaker et al which issued into patent 1, 001, 600 which was assigned to the
assignee of the present invention and over which the present base is believed ~ ;
patentable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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The invention pertains to a base for a reclining platform rocking
chair, similar to that illustrated in the patent to Knabusch et al, No. 799, 767,
which provides mobility thereto. The base is provided with rubber tired
wheels at the front end which contacts the floor and with casters at the rear
end. Spring pressed plungers engage the tires on the front wheels for the
purpose of locking the wheels against rotation when the leg rest of the chair
is retracted. When the handle at the side of the chair is operated to extend
the leg rest, the plungers are retracted near the end of the leg rest extended
movement releasing the front wheels and permitting the chair to be moved to
another location. The chair will again be retained against movement when the
leg rest is partially or fully retracted which releases the plungers so that they
can again be urged against the t~res of the wheels.
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In general terms, the present invention provides,
in a base for a chair, a base frame having side elements
with at least one cross bar therebetween, a wheel mounted at
the forward end of each side element, a castor mounted at
each rear end of said side element, a spring pressed locking
type member at the front ends of the side elements which
are urged by the springs into engagement with the wheels, a
leg rest mounted at the forward end of the chair, a leg rest
mechanism including link means on the sides of the chair
for supporting and moving the leg rest to extended and
retracted positions, and means operated when the link
means moves said leg rest from retracted position for
releasing said locking means.
Preferably, each said wheel is mounted on a shaft
through an inverted U-shaped bracket, said locking member
embodying a rod exte~ding through an aperture in the end web
of the bracket, a spring within the bracket about said rod
for urging the rod axially, and a lever pivoted to the
extending end of said rod for moving the opposite end of the
rod away from said wheel when the lever is actuated. It is
also preferred that each side member of the base have an
inwardly extending boss, and a tubular cross member having its
ends extending over said bosses and secured thereto.
In another aspect of the present invention, a rollable
base is provided for a chair, having rolling means thereon
engageable with the floor, means for locking said rolling
means against rolling movement, a leg rest, means for ``
moving said rest from retracted position to extended position
and means actuated by said leg rest moving means ~or releasing -
said rolling means and permitting said chair to be rolled
when the leg rest is moved from retracted position.
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BP"IEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a lounging chair mounted for
rocking movement on the base of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of the base, the rocker parts and
footrest structure of the chair illustrated in Fig. l;
Fig. ~ is a view in side elevation of the base and locking system
therefor illustrated in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken view of the front end portion of the
structure illustrated in Fig. 3, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 is a sectional viev~ of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4,
10 taken on the line 5~ thereof, and
Fig. 6 is an enlarged broken view of the front end portion of the
structure illustrated in Fig. 3.
DESGRIPTION OF THE PREFERE~ED EMBODIMENT
The chair 11, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is rockable upon a base
12 which embodies features of the present invention. The chair 11 has a leg
rest 13 which is operated by a handle 14 to extended and retracted positions.
rockable chair frame 10 has side frame elements 15 interconnected by cross
members 16 and 17 at the rear and front ends, respectively. The side frame
elements 15 of the chair frame 10 have the convex arcuate bottom surfaces of
the rocking members 18 resting upon the planar top section 19 of the base 12.
20 The rocking members 18 are connected to the side frame elements 15 and to
the base 12 by spring units 22 of conventional construction.
The springs of the units 22 have the top turns secured in slots
in metal brackets 24 which are attached to the lnner face of the rocker mem-
ber 18 by a plurality of screws 25, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The bottom turns
of the springs are secured in slots in metal brackets 26 which are secured to
a bottom section 27 of the base side frame elements 20 of the base 12 by a
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plurality of screws 28. The endmost turns of the spring are retained within
the slots of the brackets 24 and 26 by struck-out tabs 29 which are bent there-
over in the conventional manner. At the front of the base frame elements 20
rubber tired wheels 31 are mounted within inverted U-shaped brackets 32 the
lower end of the inner arm of which is securely welded to the end of a square
cross member 33. A bolt 34 extends through the arms of the U-shaped brac-
kets 32 and through the wheels 31 on which they are mounted for rotation.
Each side frame member 20 is a casting preferably made of white metal,
having an outer face and inwardly extending top and bottom flanges to which
10 the cross members are secured in fixed relationship.
An inwardly extending square boss 37 is molded outwardly of the
inner face of the base frame members 20 over which the ends of a hollow
square tubular cross member 38 extend. The ends are secured in fixed re-
lation to the bosses 37 by bolts 39 extending therethrough. The outer side 41
of the U-shaped bracket 32 is secured against a recessed wall in the solid ~ ~ '
downwardly extending end 42 of the side frame member 20 by a screw 43. The
screw 43 which extends through the outer arm of the bracket 32 is threaded
into a threaded aperture 44 in the solid downwardly extending end 42 of the
frame member 20. The opposite end of the frame member 20 slopes down-
wardly at 45 and upwardly and outwardly at 46 having an outer end section 47
in which the stem of a caster 48 is secured.
The bracket 32, as illustrated more specifically in Fig. 6, has
a plate 51 secured across the arms thereof and provided with an aperture 52
through which a rod 53 extends and also through an aperture 55 through the
web end portion 54 thereof. The rod has a s~uare head 56 on the bottom end
containing serrations 57 which engage a rubber tire 58 on the wheel 31. A~
spring 59 abuts the web end portion 54 when compressed thereagainst by a
roll pin 61 to urge the head 56 downwardly against the tire 58 to prevent the
wheel 31 from rotating. The rod 53 has a washer 62 extending thereover
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engaged by a cam end 63 of a link 64 which is U-shaped in cross section. The
link has spaced sides thereof disposed on opposite sides of the upper end of
the rod 53 and secured thereto by a roll pin 65,
The opposite end of the link 64 is secured to a link 66 by a pivot -
pin 67 which pulls the rod 53 to the left when the link 66 is moved to the left.With the cam end 63 resting on the washer 62, the pin 65 and rod 53 are moved
outwardly to move the head 56 from engagement with the tire 58. The link 66
is secured to the end of an arm 68 by a pivot pin 69 with khe opposite end of
the arm 68 bent inwardly and reversely bent into U-shape and provided with
aligned square holes 71 through the opposite walls of the U-shaped end. The
arms 68 are secured to the ends of a square rod 72 and secured thereto by
screws 73. 'rhe square tube 38 has a pair of upstanding arms 74 welded there-
to through which the rod 72 is supported in circular flanges sleeves 75 con-
tained in upper cylindrical apertures which permits the rod and sleeves to ~ ~ `
rotate therein.
An arm 76, similar to the arms 68, having a U-shaped end 70
with aligned square holes through the opposite walls thereof, is secured on the
rod 72 by a screw 73 providing an operating arm for rotating the rod. The
arm 76 has its extending end engaged by a pivot pin 77 which extends through
a slot 78 at the end of a link 79. ~ link 81 is secured at one end over a pin
82 of a ratchet operating arm 83 and at the other end is secured to the link 79
by a screw 84 which is threaded into one of a plurality of apertures 85 which
provides adjustment in length to the link 79. The pin 77 will engage the end of
the slot 78 near the end of the swinging movement of the arm 83 to release the
heads 56 from the tires 58. The arm 83 is secured to a square rod 86 which
is operated by a handle 14 on the outer righthand side of the chair.
The leg rest 13 is mounted on scissors type linkage 87 for sup-
porting the leg rest 13 forwardly of the chair when the handle 14 is rotated
upwardly and to the rear. Near the end of the leg rest extension, the arm
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76 is moved counterclockwise to move the arm 68 and link 66 to the left, as
viewecl in ~ig. 6, moving the link 64 counterclockwise to thereby move the
pins 65 outwardly for moving the rods 53 and heads 56 away trom the tires 58.
A holding and trip mechanism 88 locks the leg rest in extended position and
permits the retraction thereof when the handle 14 is reversed. The square
cross member 33 has a pair of spaced posts 91 secured thereto by screws 92.
A shaft 93 is supported in aligned apertures in the two posts for pivotally sup-
porting the ratchet engaging arm 94 in position to having its end 97 engage one
of a plurality of teeth 95 for locking the chair against forward rocking move-
10 ment when the leg rest is extended. ~hen moving the operating handle 14 toretract the leg rest 13, a wire loop 96 connected to the arm 94 releases the
end 97 thereof from the engaged teeth 95 and permits the chair to again rock
in the normal manner while locking the front wheels against movement. This,
and other novel features of the chair, can be studied in detail in E. M. Knabusch
et al, Canadian Patent No. 799, 767 above mentioned which discloses the same
chair as that of the present invention except for the mobile base.
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