EP1388311A1

EP1388311A1 - Height-adjustable chair for infants

Info

Publication number: EP1388311A1
Application number: EP03425485A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vladimiro Pizzi
Original assignee: Okbaby Srl
Current assignee: Okbaby Srl
Priority date: 2002-08-05
Filing date: 2003-07-21
Publication date: 2004-02-11
Also published as: ITBS20020071A1

Abstract

Adjustable baby's chair (1), in particular to be associated to a standard chair, comprising a seat (2), a back (3) associated to the seat (2) and at least two supporting elements (4) to be associated to the seat (2) in a plurality of operating positions corresponding to a plurality of operating heights of the seat (2) with respect to the standard chair. The baby's chair (1) can further comprise a third supporting element (4c) and a fourth supporting element (4) to be associated to the seat (2). Each of said supporting elements (4) is equipped with a plurality of hooking seatings (5) and the seat (2) is equipped with hooking portions (6) corresponding to the hooking seatings (5) of the supporting elements (4).

Description

The present invention refers to an adjustable baby's chair, and in particular to a baby's chair enabling very small children to sit at table with adults. At the state of the art it is known about some types of baby's chairs suitable to this purpose, generally known under the conventional designation of "boosters".
A first type of known baby's chairs consists of a frame, comprising a seat and a back, and of a pair of fastening brackets enabling to secure the chair to a table. It is thus possible to let even very small children sit at table, who are placed at a given height with respect to the table. Said baby's chairs have some drawbacks, among which the impossibility to adjust the chair's height, which results in that the baby's chair can be used only for a limited period of time, since when the baby grows up, s/he will be in a position that is both uncomfortable and too high. Furthermore, in said chairs a safe fastening to the table is a critical point, since the chair can be secured unsuitably to the table or, if the baby's weight is above a given limit, the supporting brackets can give way with quite serious consequences. It should further be pointed out that said baby's chairs have quite a complex structure, and are also unhandy and bulky to be carried. Conversely, a second type of known baby's chairs envisages that the seat and the back are rested onto the seat of a standard chair so as to lift the child with respect to the chair's seat and place him/her near the table. A first solution included in said type envisages that the seat and back of the baby's chair are interchangeable and have different thicknesses. Both the seat and the back are suitably shaped so as to house the baby and, therefore, the chair can be adjusted for children having different ages and heights by simply turning the chair upside down.
This technical solution is simple and cheap and enables to adjust the chair's height in two operating positions.
However, it should be pointed out that said chairs are unnecessarily bulky, heavy and little practical to be carried, and that the number of possible adjustments is extremely small. A second technical solution known in the field of baby's chairs to be rested onto the seat of a standard chair includes a frame consisting of a back, a main seat and a plurality of additional seats which can be associated to the main seat so as to change the chair's height. This solution offers a higher possibility of height adjustment for the chair, but is expensive, bulky and little handy to be carried.
Under these circumstances the technical aim underlying the present invention is to provide an adjustable baby's chair enabling to substantially obviate the aforesaid drawbacks. A particular technical aim of the present invention is to provide an adjustable baby's chair that is suitable for children of any age thanks to a high flexibility and to a height adjustment of the chair in a plurality of positions. An additional aim of the present invention is to carry out an adjustable baby's chair that is handy and suitable for any standard seat thanks to a wide range of adjustments. A further aim of the present invention is to provide an adjustable baby's chair that is of safe use. Another aim of the present invention is to carry out an adjustable baby's chair that is of simple use, of compact size and handy to be carried. A final aim of the present invention is to provide an adjustable baby's chair that is simple and cheap to be carried out.
These and other aims, which will be evident in the course of the following description, are basically achieved by an adjustable baby's chair comprising the characteristics referred to in the appended claims. Further characteristics and advantages will be more evident from the detailed description of a preferred though not exclusive embodiment of an adjustable baby's chair according to the present invention. Said description will now be stated in the following with reference to the accompanying figures, provided to a merely indicative and therefore non-limiting purpose, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an adjustable baby's chair according to the present invention, in opening position;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the chair in Figure 1 in closing position;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of an execution variant of the chair in Figure 1;
Figure 4 shows a detail of the connection between the chair's seat and a supporting element;
Figure 5 is a view from above of the chair's seat without the supporting elements;
Figure 6 is an enlargement of a supporting element in exploded view.

With reference to the aforesaid figures, the adjustable baby's chair according to the invention is globally referred to with 1. The baby's chair 1 can be associated to a standard chair and can therefore be rested onto the seat of a standard chair so as to enable the baby the be at the level of a table or of another surface. The baby's chair 1 comprises a seat 2 and a back 3 associated to the seat 2. The back 3 is preferably hinged to the seat 2 and can shift at least between an opening position of the chair 1 (Figure 1) and a closing position of the chair 1 (Figure 2) so as to be carried and stored. The back 3 is equipped with conventional blocking means in opening and closing position, not shown in the figures, carried out for instance by means of an abutment and a slot 18 placed on the hinge 19 so as to allow the chair 1 to be blocked in opening position by a simple shift.
The baby's chair 1 further comprises at least two supporting element 4, resting onto the chair's seat, which can be associated to the seat 2 in a plurality of operating positions corresponding to a plurality of operating heights of the seat 2 with respect to the standard chair. In the preferred embodiment, shown in the accompanying figures, the baby's chair 1 further comprises a third supporting element 4c to be associated to the seat 2. In such a case the two supporting elements 4a, 4b are preferably placed on the rear side of the seat 2, whereas the third supporting element 4c is placed centrally on the front side of the seat 2. In a further embodiment, not shown in the figures, the baby's chair 1 can further comprise a fourth supporting element 4 to be associated to the seat 2, the supporting elements 4 being arranged for instance in the four corners of the seat 2. Each supporting element 4 is equipped with a plurality of hooking seatings 5, placed at different heights, and the seat 2 is equipped with hooking portions 6 corresponding to the hooking seatings 5 of the supporting elements 4. In the preferred embodiment the supporting elements 4 are spherical, since said shape enables a higher handiness and adaptability to the various positions. However, said supporting elements 4 could be shaped in any way, for instance as pyramids, cylinders, cubes., etc. In particular, in the case of only two supporting elements 4a, 4b, these would obviously not be spherical, but for instance shaped as parallelepipeds, cylinders, etc.
As can be seen from the figures, the seat 2 of the chair 1 can be associated to any of the hooking seatings 5 of each supporting element 4, and it is thus possible to freely determine not only the height of the chair 1, but also its inclination, so as to balance the effect of possible curved surfaces of the chair's seat and to ensure a higher comfort.
In the preferred embodiment, with the supporting elements 4 being shaped as spheres, the hooking seatings 5 are provided only on half of the spheres, being it possible to turn the spheres upside down so as to choose whether the seatings are to be used in the lower or upper area of said spheres for height adjustment. Figure 6 shows for instance five hooking seatings 5, for a total of ten height positions that can be selected for the baby's chair 1 by turning the sphere upside down, but the number of said hooking seatings 5 can be any one, depending on contingent needs. The chair 1 further comprises stopping means 7 for selectively fastening the supporting elements 4 to the seat 2. In the preferred embodiment said stopping means 7 are obtained by a suitable shape of the hooking portions 6 and of the supporting elements 4. The hooking portions 6 are provided with a hooking opening 8 which narrows towards the end of the hooking portion 6 on a mouth 8a, whereas inside it is wider and has an almost circular shape. The supporting elements 4 comprise a first portion 9 in which the hooking seatings 5 and a central hole 10 are obtained, and a second portion 11, which can be rotated with respect to the first portion 9 and is equipped with a blocking element 12 to be inserted into the central hole 10 of the first portion 9. The blocking element 12 is designed to be inserted into the mouth 8a of the hooking opening 8 in a first rotating position of the second portion 11 with respect to the first portion 9. The blocking element 12 is also designed to be blocked in the hooking opening 8 in a second rotating position of the first portion 9 with respect to the second portion 11. In particular, the blocking element 12 has a section having a first side 12a shorter than the width of the mouth 8a of the hooking opening 8, and a second side 12b longer than said width, so as to keep the blocking element 12 within the hooking opening 8 when said element is rotated of 90°.
In an execution variant shown in Figure 3 the baby's chair 1 further comprises a resting surface 13 to be operatively associated to the chair 1. In said variant the chair 1 further comprises a limiting ring 14 for a child, to be operatively associated to the back 3 and to one of the supporting element 4c, with the resting surface 13 to be fitted onto the limiting ring 14. The baby's chair 1 further comprises a supporting rod 15 having a lower threaded end to be inserted into a threaded hole of the front supporting element 4c, and an upper end to be associated to the limiting ring 14 and to be secured to the latter by means of a cap 16. The limiting ring 14 and the resting surface 13 can be mounted onto the chair 1 when the child is very small and therefore could in no way reach the table level, or when a higher safety level is desired for the baby's chair 1.
Preferably, the baby's chair 1 can be further equipped with a grip enabling to carry it, not shown in the accompanying figures but preferably placed on the lower side of the seat 2, between the two rear supporting elements 4a, 4b. Advantageously, the chair 1 further comprises fastening means 17 for securing said baby's chair 1 to the standard chair. Said fastening means 17 comprise for instance two first fastening seatings 17a obtained in the seat 2 and a first belt (not shown in the figures) to be inserted into said first fastening seatings 17a and to be associated to the chair's seat. The fastening means 17 further comprise two second fastening seatings 17b obtained in the back 3 and a second belt (not shown either) to be inserted into the second fastening seatings 17b and to be associated to chair's back 3.
Having described the baby's chair according to the present invention from a structural point of view, this is how it works. First of all, the chair 1 is opened by rotating the back 3 with respect to the seat 2 and by blocking the back 3 in operating position. Depending on the child's age and on the kind of standard chair the user then associates the supporting elements 4 to the seat 2 by inserting the hooking portions 6 of the seat 2 into the hooking seating 5 of the supporting elements 4 placed at a desired height. The user chooses whether to use each supporting element 4 with the first portion 9, containing the hooking seatings 5, upwards or downwards, and further chooses which inclination should be given to the chair 1. The supporting elements 4 are then secured to the seat 2 by rotating the second portion 11 of the supporting elements 4 of about 90° with respect to the first portion 9, so that the blocking element 12 is blocked in the hooking opening 8.
If the child is very small, the limiting ring 14 can further be connected to the chair 1 by screwing the supporting rod 15 into the front supporting element 4c, inserting the limiting ring 14 into the corresponding seatings in the back 3 and on the supporting rod 15 and securing the ring by means of the cap 16. The resting surface 13 is now fitted onto the limiting ring 14.
The invention has important advantages. First of all, an adjustable baby's chair according to the present invention is highly flexible since it enables a large number of height adjustments for the seat. Said chair is thus suitable for children of any age, and is always ergonomic and handy. Moreover, the adjustable baby's chair also enables adjustments in seat inclination, and can therefore be used with seats of any standard chair and always offers high levels of stability, safety and handiness. It should further be pointed out that the adjustable baby's chair according to the invention is of simple use and has a compact size so as to be easily carried. Eventually, it should be pointed out that the invention provides an adjustable baby's chair with a simple structure and that the manufacturing costs related to the invention are quite low. The baby's chair thus conceived can undergo several changes and variants, all of which fall within the inventive idea characterizing it. All details can be replaced by other technically equivalent elements and practically all materials used as well as sizes can be chosen depending on contingent needs.

Claims

Adjustable baby's chair, in particular to be associated to a chair, comprising
a seat (2);
a back (3) associated to said seat (2);
characterized in that it further comprises at least two supporting elements (4) to be associated to said seat (2) in a plurality of operating positions corresponding to a plurality of operating heights of said seat (2).
Baby's chair according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a third supporting element (4c) to be associated to said seat (2).
Baby's chair according to claim 2, characterized in that it further comprises a fourth supporting element (4) to be associated to said seat (2).
Baby's chair according to any one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that each of the supporting elements (4) is equipped with a plurality of hooking seatings (5), and in that said seat (2) is equipped with hooking portions (6) corresponding to said hooking seatings (5) of said supporting elements (4).
Baby's chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said supporting elements (4) are spherical.
Baby's chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises stopping means (7) for selectively securing said supporting elements (4) to said seat (2).
Baby's chair according to any of the claims 4 to 6, characterized in that said hooking portions (6) are equipped with a hooking opening (8) narrowing towards the end of the hooking portion (6).
Baby's chair according to claim 7, characterized in that said supporting elements (4) comprise a first portion (9) in which said hooking seatings (5) and a central hole (10) are obtained, and a second portion (11), which can be rotated with respect to the first portion (9) and equipped with a blocking element (12) to be inserted into said central hole (10), said blocking element (12) being designed to be inserted into said hooking opening (8) in a first rotating position of the second portion (11) with respect to the first portion (9), and being designed to be blocked in said hooking opening (8) in a second rotating position of the second portion (11) with respect to the first portion (9).
Baby's chair according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a resting surface (13) to be operatively associated to the chair (1).
Baby's chair according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises a limiting ring (14) for a child, to be operatively associated to said chair (1), said resting surface (13) being designed to be mounted onto said limiting ring (14).
Baby's chair according to claim 10, characterized in that it further comprises a supporting rod (15) having a lower threaded end to be inserted into a threaded hole of one of said supporting elements (4c), and an upper end to be associated to said limiting ring (14).
Baby's chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is further equipped with a grip enabling to carry it.
Baby's chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said back (3) is hinged to said seat (2) and moves at least between an opening position of the chair (1) and a closing position of the chair (1).
Baby's chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises fastening means (17) for securing said baby's chair (1) to said standard chair.
Baby's chair according to claim 14, characterized in that said fastening means (17) comprise two first fastening seatings (17a) obtained in said seat (2), and a first belt to be inserted into said first fastening seatings (17a) and to be associated to the seat of the standard chair.
Baby's chair according to claims 14 or 15, characterized in that said fastening means (17) further comprise two second fastening seatings (17b) obtained in said back (3), and a second belt to be inserted into said second fastening seatings (17b) and to be associated to a back (3) of the standard chair.