Coupling device for interconnecting chairs and similar seating furniture in a row

摘要

752,483. Connecting seats &c. in rows. KRUIJT, W. J. April 7, 1954, No. 10269/54. Class 52(2). [Also in Group XXV] Like chairs are connected in a row by the engagement of a pawl on one chair with a catch on the adjacent chair, the release of a catch allowing it to move under spring influence to move the pawl on the same chair which releases the next catch and so on down the row. In figs. 1 and 3, a catch 4, underneath the seat of a chair 2 is swung through 180 degrees, against the action of a spring 8 on a horizontal shaft 6 by the turning of a key 7 to rest in slots 9 so that a transverse bar 10 on the catch 4 engages with the nose of a pawl 5 pivoted on an adjacent chair 1. The row of chairs is connected together in this manner. In the first chair 1 of the row an abutment 11 prevents the catch 4, under the action of its spring 8, pushing the pawl 5 upward against a rubber block 16 to the release position. The withdrawal of the abutment 11 by the action of a leaf spring 12, after rotation of the catch anticlockwise to free the abutment, will allow this and hence cause the progressive releasing of the catches 4 in the row. In a modification, fig. 4 (not shown), the catch 4 is longitudinally slidable between two chairs. In a further embodiment, Fig. 6, a catch 4 is swung through 180 degrees on a horizontal shaft 6, against the action of a spiral spring, to engage with a pawl 5 of an adjacent chair. A fixed projection 161 of said adjacent chair enters an opening 17 of the catch 4. Three pawls 5 side by side are used. Release of the catch will allow it to rotate back under the seat due to its spring and cause a U-shaped bar 18, eccentrically pivoted to the catch 4, to push the tail 19 of the paw] 5 to release the next catch 4 and so on down the row. However, if a small plate 11 on the first chair, rotable about a horizontal shaft 21 by a handle 22, is swung round to force the bar 18 down, the pawl 5 is not raised and engages the catch of the second seat for interconnection. Fixed pins 20 prevent unauthorized lifting of the bars 18 in the rest of the chairs of the row. The plate 11 has a projection 23 which extends between the limbs of the bar 18 and engages in the opening 17 of the catch 4. For release, the first shaft 6 is turned by a key which releases the projection 23 from the opening 17; the plate 11 rotates upward under the weight of the handle 22 and the successive release of the row of chairs follows. The bars 18 are adaptable to different widths of chairs.