US20090091176A1

US20090091176A1 - Leg Cap For Folding Chair

Info

Publication number: US20090091176A1
Application number: US11/869,016
Authority: US
Inventors: Mei Chuen Lin; Tzu Mei Wang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-10-09
Filing date: 2007-10-09
Publication date: 2009-04-09

Abstract

Leg caps for a folding chair are mounted at lower ends of front legs and rear legs. A cross section of the front leg is the same as that of the rear leg. The leg includes a strip and two curved edges disposed at both sides of the strip respectively. The leg cap includes a pad and a slanted fixing portion disposed on a top of the pad. The fixing portion has a slit to divide the fixing portion into two sections. The top of the pad includes two cavities disposed at two sides of the fixing portion respectively. Lower ends of the curved edges of leg are fitted in and fully contacted with the cavities. Then, the fixing portion and the strip are riveted together, thereby connecting the leg cap with the leg.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a leg cap for a folding chair, and in particular to a leg cap for a folding chair that can be securely connected with a leg and provide strong support.
2. The Prior Arts
Conventional leg caps for a folding chair are rubber caps mounted at lower ends of front legs and rear legs and done by painting and baking. However, the rubber leg cap is easily fallen off from the leg due to thermal expansion. In order to securely connect the leg cap with the leg, the inventor had designed a leg cap A as shown in FIG. 7. The leg cap A includes a rubber pad A1 and a U-shaped metal fixing portion A2 engaged with the pad A1. The fixing portion A2 includes two wavy rods. The leg corresponding to the leg cap A includes a strip and two tube-like curved edges. When the leg cap A is mounted on the leg, the wavy rods of the leg cap A are forced into tubes B1 of the curved edges. The wavy rods of the fixing portion A2 are coupled with the inner surface of the tubes B1 of the leg, thereby connecting the leg cap A with the leg. Therefore, the disadvantage that the leg caps are easily fallen off from the leg is overcome.
However, when the tubes B1 are coupled with the wavy rods for practical use, ends of the tubes B1 can not reach to contact with a top surface of the pad A1. The tubes B1 are suspended and without support. Instead of transmitting the weight of the user and the chair through the pad A1 to the floor, the weight is transmitted through the tubes B1 to the wavy rods. Thus, the wavy rod is easily fractured due to the weight it bears. On the other hand, the rubber pads A1 will show signs of wear after repeatedly rubbing against the floor. Thus, after a long period of time, the pads A1 can not be in full contact with the floor, and the folding chair will be shaky during seating. Moreover, thermal expansion coefficient and surface tension of the rubber pad A1 are different from those of the metal fixing portion A2. After exposed under the sun for a long period of time, the fixing portion A2 and the pad A1 will have different degrees of deformation and a gap between the fixing portion A2 and the pad A1 will be generated. Thus, the coupling of the pad A1 and the fixing portion A2 is loosening up.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a leg cap for a folding chair, which is easy to manufacture and to be securely mounted on the leg of the folding chair.
The leg cap according to the present invention is made of aluminum. Firstly, the leg cap is integrally formed by extrusion to include a pad and a slanted fixing portion disposed on a top of the pad. The fixing portion includes a slit to divide the fixing portion into a thick section and a thin section. The leg cap includes two cavities on the top of the pad and at both sides of the fixing portion respectively.
The leg caps are mounted at lower ends of front legs and rear legs. The cross section of the front leg is the same as that of the rear leg. The leg includes a strip and two curved edges disposed at both edges of the strip respectively. When assembling the leg cap and the leg, the strip is inserted into the slit of the fixing portion. The thick section of the fixing portion is then disposed in a channel between the curved edges. The thin section of the fixing portion is then in contact with an opposite side of the strip to the channel. Ends of the curved edges is inserted into the cavities and contacted with bottoms of the cavities. Then, the fixing portion and the strip are fastened with rivets, thereby fixing the leg cap and the leg together.
The aluminum leg cap according to the present invention is integrally formed by extrusion, the slit is cut, and then the cavities and the holes are formed thereon. Compared with the conventional rubber leg cap, the leg cap according to the present invention does not have problems caused by thermal expansion or wear. Thus, the lifetime of the leg cap according to the present invention is longer than that of the conventional rubber leg cap. Compared with the inventor's previously proposed leg cap as shown in FIG. 7, the leg cap according to the present invention is integrally formed. The leg cap according to the present invention does not have the disadvantage that parts can not be firmly connected together, and has an advantage of simplifying manufacturing process.
The leg cap according to the present invention includes the two cavities on the pad to receive the curved edges of the front leg or the rear leg. The weight of the user and the chair is evenly distributed on the cavities. The strip of the leg is not only tightly fitted into the slit, but also securely riveted with the fixing portion of the leg cap. Because the curved edges are firmly received in the cavities and the strip is tightly fitted into the slit, the leg cap according to the present invention can bear a heavy load.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a leg cap for a folding chair in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing leg caps in accordance with the present invention and a folding chair corresponding to the leg caps;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the leg cap assembled with a front leg;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the leg caps in accordance with the present invention assembled with the folding chair corresponding to the leg caps;

FIG. 4A is a detailed view showing the leg cap in accordance with the present invention assembled with the front leg;

FIG. 5 is a exploded view showing wheels, the leg caps in accordance with the present invention and the folding chair corresponding to the leg caps;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the wheels, the leg caps in accordance with the present invention and the folding chair corresponding to the leg caps; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a conventional leg cap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a leg cap 1 for a folding chair is used to be mounted at an end of a front leg 2 or a rear leg 3. First of all, the aluminum leg cap 1 is integrally formed by extrusion and the single-piece leg cap 1 includes a pad 11 and a fixing portion 12. A bottom of the pad is a plane to be in contact with the floor. The fixing portion 12 is disposed on a top of the pad 11 and is slanted at an angle corresponding to the leg of the folding chair. The top of the pad 11 includes two cavities 13 at both sides of the fixing portion 12, respectively. Moreover, a slit 121 is made to divide the fixing portion 12 into a thick section and a thin section.
FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing the leg caps 1 according to the present invention and part of a folding chair corresponding to the leg caps. The front leg 2 is pivotally connected with the rear leg 3. The cross section of the front leg 2 is the same as that of the rear leg 3. The front leg 2 or the rear leg 3 includes a strip 21 and two curved edges 22 disposed at both edges of the strip respectively. The strip 21 and the curved edges 22 form a channel therebetween. Because the front leg 2 and the rear leg 3 have the same cross section, the following description only uses the front leg 2 as an example to describe the assembling of the leg cap 1 and the leg 2 or 3. Referring to FIG. 3, the leg cap 1 is mounted to the front leg 2. When assembling the leg cap 1 and the front leg 2, the slanted fixing portion 12 of the leg cap 1 is aligned with the channel of the front leg 2. The strip 21 of the front leg is tightly fitted in the slit 121 of the fixing portion 12 and the thick section of the fixing portion 12 is disposed in the channel between the curved edges 22. One side of the strip 21 is contacted with the thick section of the fixing portion 12 and the other side of the strip 21 is contacted with the thin section of the fixing portion 12. The lower ends of the curved edges 22 are received in and contacted with the cavities 13. Then, a plurality of rivets pass through the thin section of the fixing portion 12, the strip 21 of the front leg 2, and the thick section of the fixing portion 12, thereby fixing the leg cap 1 at a lower end of the front leg 2. If the fixing portion 12 is too thick, the fixing portion 12 will interfere the folding of the chair. As shown in FIG. 3, because one of the two sections of the fixing portion 12 is disposed in the channel of the front leg, the fixing portion 12 being divided into a thin section and a thick section can minimize the fixing portion 12 exposed outside of the front leg 2. Thus, the fixing portion 12 will not interfere with the folding of the chair.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 4A, rivets 14 connect the leg caps 1 with the front leg 2 and the rear leg 3. The lower ends of the curved edges 22 are in fully contact with the cavities 13 of the leg cap 1. The weight of the user and the chair is evenly distributed to the rivets 14 and cavities 13 of the leg caps 1. Therefore, the folding chair with the leg caps 1 according to the present invention can bear more load than the conventional folding chair.
Referring to FIG. 5, the leg cap 1 according to the present invention may further include a wheel or a caster 4 for easy dragging. The bottom of the pad 11 includes a screw hole 15 at an exterior side thereof. The wheel 4 being installed at the exterior side of the leg cap 1 can prevent the folding chair from rollover due to the unbalance of center of gravity. The wheel 4 is then screwed into the screw hole 15. FIG. 6 shows a folding chair having the leg caps 1 and the wheels 4 according to the present invention.
In conclusion, the aluminum leg cap 1 for the folding chair according to the present invention is formed by extrusion. The leg cap 1 overcomes the disadvantage of the conventional rubber leg cap that is easily fallen off from the leg due to thermal expansion. The curved edges 22 of the front leg 2 and the rear leg 3 are firmly received in the cavities 13 of the leg caps 1, and the fixing portions 12 of the leg caps 1 are securely engaged with the legs 2 and 3. Therefore, the weight of the user and the folding chair is distributed to the floor through the cavities 13 and the fixing portion 12, so the folding chair with the leg caps 1 according to the present invention can bear more weight than the folding chair with the conventional rubber leg caps. Moreover, the leg cap 1 may further include a screw hole 15 at the bottom of the pad 11 to install the wheel 14 or the caster for easy dragging or moving.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A leg cap for a folding chair, the folding chair comprising front legs and rear legs pivotally connected with each other; a cross section of the front leg is the same as that of the rear leg; each of the front leg and the rear leg comprises a strip and two curved edges disposed at two edges of the strip respectively; and the leg cap is fixed on the strip;

wherein the improvements comprise that:

the leg cap comprises a pad and a slanted fixing portion disposed on a top of the pad;

the fixing portion comprises a slit to divide the fixing portion into two sections;

the top of the pad comprises two cavities disposed at two sides of the fixing portion respectively; and

the strip is fitted in the slit between the two sections, and ends of the curved edges are fitted in and fully contacted with the cavities.

2. The leg cap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing portion and the strip are fixed together by one of rivets and screws.

3. The leg cap as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing portion is divided into a thick section and a thin section; and the thick section is attached to one side of the strip and the thin section is attached to the other side of the strip.