Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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MULTIFUNCTIONAL SEATING UNIT
The present invention relates to a multifunctional seating unit.
Nowadays armchairs are known which are constituted by low and
wide sitting portions, with the back slightly inclined and with a sitting
portion and armrests that present an appropriate space for supporting the
limbs, which are afforded comfortable and outstretched support.
Armchairs are also known which comprise means adapted to allow
the movement of the back and/or of the sitting portion and/or of a footrest
and/or of the armrests in order to allow the user to assume a reclined, more
comfortable position.
Chairs are further known which are constituted by a high and narrow
seat in order to arrange the trunk of the user in an erect position in front
of a
dining table or a desk, with the legs bent substantially at a right angle in
order to support the trunk in a vertical position without effort.
Folding chairs are also known which comprise means adapted to
allow the movement of the legs, of the sitting portion and/or of the back in
order to position them in a compact position and optionally stack two or
more of such chairs on each other, thus reducing the space occupied to the
minimum.
Sofas are further known which comprise means adapted to allow the
movement of the armrests and/or of the sitting portions and/or of the back in
order to enable it to assume either a sofa configuration or a bed
configuration.
Such different shape structures that can be assumed by armchairs,
chairs or sofas are sought after in order to best optimize the increasingly
reduced spaces of modern dwellings.
Other uses or arrangements that such armchairs or chairs or sofas can
assume are not known.
The aim of the present invention is to devise a seating unit that makes
it possible, while saving space, to rapidly and easily take advantage of
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different types of use.
Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to obtain a
seating unit that is structurally simple, is simple to activate, achieves a
pleasing aesthetic result, is low cost, and can be provided with the usual
conventional systems.
This aim and this and other objects which will become better apparent
hereinafter are achieved by a multifunctional seating unit, comprising a
frame constituted by a pair of supports which are crossed in an X-like
arrangement, characterized in that each one of said supports defines a pair
of first and second legs, pivoted in an X-like arrangement, and a first plate
and a second plate, which are associated rotatably with a first armrest and a
second armrest, said frame comprising a parallelogram mechanism adapted
to allow the partial raising/lowering and the partial narrowing/widening of
said first and second armrests and of a seat which constitute said seating
unit and the partial narrowing/widening of said pair of first and second legs,
said seating unit comprising a back composed of a first case and a second
case which are lateral and collapsible onto a fixed central support.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become
better apparent from the detailed description of a particular, but not
exclusive, embodiment thereof, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting
example in the accompanying drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front of the seating unit
lowered and widened;
Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the seating unit lowered and
widened;
Figure 3 is a front elevation view of the seating unit lowered and
widened, without cushions and back;
Figure 4 is a perspective view from the rear of the seating unit
lowered and widened;
Figure 5 is a perspective view from the front of the seating unit raised
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and narrowed;
Figure 6 is a front elevation view of the seating unit raised and
narrowed;
Figure 7 is a front elevation view of the seating unit raised and
narrowed, without cushions and back;
Figure 8 is a perspective view from the rear of the seating unit raised
and narrowed.
In the exemplary embodiments illustrated below, individual
characteristics shown in relation to specific examples may in reality be
interchanged with other, different characteristics, existing in other
exemplary embodiments.
Moreover, it should be noted that anything found to be already known
during the patenting process is understood not to be claimed and to be the
subject of a disclaimer.
With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 generally
designates a multifunctional seating unit which comprises a frame 2
constituted by a pair of supports 3a, 3b which are crossed in an X-like
arrangement.
The pair of supports 3a, 3b defines a pair of first and second legs 4a,
4b, 5a, 5b, which are pivoted in an X-like arrangement and are associated at
one end in an upper region with a first plate 6 and with a second plate 7,
which are arranged mutually opposite and have a substantially trapezoidal
shape when viewed from the front.
Each one of such first and second plates 6, 7 comprises a longer
parallel side 8a, 8b, which is directed toward the ground, and a shorter
parallel side 9a, 9b, which is parallel to the preceding one and is directed
in
the opposite direction.
The longer parallel sides 8a, 8b are blended with the shorter parallel
sides 9a, 9b by first inclined sides 10a, 10b, which meet at the pivoting
point 11 of the first and second legs 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, and by second sides 12a,
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12b which are inclined and directed toward the outside of the seating unit 1
and have a lower inclination with respect to the inclination of the first
sides
10a, 10b.
In the condition in which the seating unit 1 is lowered and widened,
illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, so as to define an armchair 13, the first sides
10a, 10b assume a position such that a first V-shaped split 14 is formed
between them.
The first ends of a first armrest 16 and a second armrest 17 are
rotatably associated, by way of first sliding or guiding bars 15a, 15b that
are
arranged longitudinally with respect to the seating unit 1, in the meeting
point between the second sides 12a, 12b and the longer parallel sides 8a, 8b.
In the embodiment shown, by way of non-limiting example, second
bars 19a, 19b for anchoring the first ends 20a, 20b of adapted straps 21a,
2 lb, which are subsequently guided in the direction of the ground on the
first bars 15a, 15b, are stably positioned, longitudinally with respect to the
seating unit 1, at the second ends 18a, 18b, which are free, of the first and
second armrests 16, 17.
Third bars 22a, 22b, for the sliding or guiding of the straps 21a, 21b,
which are arranged above the third bars 22a, 22b, are positioned at the
meeting point between the second sides 12a, 12b and the shorter parallel
sides 9a, 9b, longitudinally with respect to the seating unit 1.
The third bars 22a, 22b lie, in every condition of motion of the seating
unit 1, on a plane that lies above the plane on which the first bars 15a, 15b
lie, or at the most on the same plane.
The second ends 23a, 23b of the straps 21a, 21b are associated,
longitudinally with respect to the seating unit 1, with fourth sliding or
guiding bars 24a, 24b, which are coupled between the first and second legs
4a, 4b, 5a, 5b of the seating unit 1, in a region that is adjacent to the
pivoting point 11 of the supports 3a, 3b crossed in an X-like arrangement.
The fourth bars 24a, 24b lie, in every condition of motion of the
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seating unit 1, on a plane that lies below the plane on which the first bars
15a, 15b lie, and in a region that is closer to the pivoting point 11 with
respect to the third bars 22a, 22b.
The seating unit 1 comprises a back 25 composed of a first case 26a
5 and a second case 26b which are lateral and collapsible onto a fixed
central
support 27.
Each one of the first and second cases 26a, 26b comprises a lower end
face 28a, 28b, which lies above the first leg 4b and the second leg 5b
arranged to the rear of the seating unit 1, a third outer side 29a, 29b,
stably
connected respectively to the first armrest 16 and the second armrest 17, a
fourth inner side 30a, 30b, and an upper end face 31a, 31b.
In the condition in which the seating unit 1 is lowered and widened,
illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, so as to define the armchair 13, the fourth
sides
30a, 30b assume a position such that a second V-shaped split 32, concealed
by the central support 27, is formed between them.
The fixed central support 27 is stably connected by way of elastic
means to the first case 26a and to the second case 26b.
The multifunctional seating unit 1 comprises means for limiting,
blocking, such as the first V-shaped split 14, and for assisting, such as at
least one spring, the rotation of the first and second armrests 16, 17 in the
condition in which the seating unit 1 is raised and narrowed, illustrated in
Figures 5 to 8, so as to define a chair 33.
To complete the seating unit 1, adapted cushions 34 can be arranged
on the sitting portion 35, at the back and laterally on the armrests.
In the condition in which the seating unit 1 is lowered and widened,
so as to define the armchair 13, the first plate 6 and the second plate 7 lie
on
the same horizontal plane and between them is the first V-shaped split 14,
the first armrest 16 and the second armrest 17 are inclined outward, and
between the first case 26a and the second case 26b of the back 25 is the
second V-shaped split 32 which exposes the central support 27 which acts as
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a back 25.
The transition from the condition in which the seating unit 1 is
lowered and widened to the condition in which the seating unit 1 is raised
and narrowed, so as to define a chair 33, occurs by way of the rotation of the
first armrest 16 and the second armrest 17 which tension the straps 21a, 2 lb
which, by virtue of the adapted guides on the first and third bars 15a, 15b,
22a, 22b, force the rotation of the pair of first and second legs 4a, 4b, 5a,
5b
and of the first and second plates 6, 7 which constitute the supports 3a, 3b
which are crossed in an X-like arrangement.
In the condition in which the seating unit 1 is raised and narrowed,
illustrated in Figures 5 to 8, so as to define a chair 33, the first plate 6
and
the second plate 7 are inclined and assume, together with the pair of first
and second legs, a structure shaped like an X when viewed from the front,
and the first sides 10a, 10b of the first and second plates 6, 7 are placed in
mutual contact so as to close the first V-shaped split 14 which thus limits
the
rotation that can be imparted to the supports 3a, 3b crossed in an X-like
arrangement.
The first armrest 16 and the second armrest 17 are arranged
substantially mutually parallel, and the fourth sides 30a, 30b of the first
case
26a and the second case 26b of the back are placed in mutual contact.
Thus it has been found that the invention fully achieves the intended
aim and objects, a seating unit 1 having been obtained that makes it
possible, while saving space, to rapidly and easily take advantage of
different types of use, in particular a condition in which the seating unit 1
is
lowered and widened, so as to define the armchair 13, and a condition in
which it is raised and narrowed, so as to define a chair 33.
It has therefore been found that the seating unit 1 optimizes space in
the interior environments of dwellings.
It has further been found that the seating unit 1 is structurally simple,
is simple to activate, since with a single movement the simple mechanism is
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activated without the need for adding parts and assembly operations in order
to carry out the conversion, while keeping the ergonomic characteristics of
an armchair and of a chair unaltered.
Finally it has been found that the invention makes it possible to
achieve a pleasing aesthetic result, is low cost, and can be provided with the
usual conventional systems.
The invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and
variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.
Naturally the materials used as well as the dimensions of the
individual components of the invention may be more relevant according to
specific requirements.
The characteristics indicated above as advantageous, convenient or
the like, may also be missing or be substituted by equivalent characteristics.
The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102016000022171
(UA2016A001304) from which this application claims priority are
incorporated herein by reference.
Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by
reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole
purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such
reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each
element identified by way of example by such reference signs.
