Adjustable Children's Chair

My present invention relates to a chair designed for safely accommodating small children of various ages.

The usual high chair comprises a seat which is supported on a fixed framework and is therefore not adjustable to accommodate children of different sizes and in different situations.

The general object of my present invention, therefore, is to provide a chair for infants and other small children in which such adjustments are possible.

A more particular object is to provide a chair of this description which can either stand up on the floor or be suspended from an elevated support such as, for example, a headpost of a bed in which a child is to be fed or perhaps medically examined.

A children's chair according to my invention comprises a framework in the form of a base frame with a pair of sidebars from which a pair of parallel struts rise at an acute angle. A pair of sliders respectively mounted on these struts are provided with indexing means by which they can be immobilized at a selected level. The sliders, in turn, carry seat-supporting means pivotally mounted thereon for rotation about a horizontal axis, the seat-supporting means being connected with clamping means in order to be fastened in a selected angular position relative to the sliders.

Advantageously, the base frame includes a transverse rear member interconnecting its sidebars to stabilize the framework, the struts being joined to the sidebars at locations remote from that rear member and sloping rearward from these locations, preferably at an angle of approximately 45.degree. with reference to the base frame. Such a structure enables the framework of the chair to be suspended from a headpost or other elevated support with the aid of suitable coupling means such as simple hooks engaging its rear member. The angular adjustability of the seat-supporting means will then allow the seat to be placed in the proper position despite the rotation of the base frame through 90.degree..

The seat-supporting means may be designed as a U-shaped element or bail embracing a bucket seat at or near the junction of its bottom with its backrest. The struts, furthermore, conveniently enable the mounting of a tray--as used in conventional high chairs--in front of the bucket seat.

The above and other features of my invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in

FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of a children's chair according to my invention, equipped with a bucket seat and shown suspended from a headpost of a bed;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of the same chair resting on the floor of a room;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the framework of the chair shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of the chair with its bucket seat removed.

As shown in the drawing, a children's chair according to my invention comprises a generally rectangular metallic base frame 1 with sidebars 1', a rear member 1" and a front member 1"'; the latter member may be omitted if the frame 1 has the necessary rigidity. Two struts 2 rise from forward extremities of sidebars 1' to which they are welded, sloping rearward at an angle of about 45.degree. to these sidebars but terminating well ahead of the rear member 1" as viewed from above in FIG. 3. The free ends of struts 2 are provided with removable bumpers 20 of rubber or the like for protective purposes.

Struts 2, which like the members of frame 1 are tubular, are each formed with a multiplicity of transverse indexing bores 12 spaced apart in their longitudinal direction. The struts are slidably engaged by respective sleeves 3 having parallel lugs 4 welded thereto, these lugs extending generally forward at right angles to the struts. Each sleeve 3 has a laterally projecting tubular boss 21 in which a pin 13 provided with a milled head 15 is slidable to serve as a detent engaging in one of the bores 12 of the associated strut 2; the pins are provided with tension springs 14 serving to hold them in the engaged bores for securely indexing the sleeves 3 at a desired level relative to frame 1.

The left-hand lug 4 (as viewed from the front in FIG. 4) is rigid with a toothed jaw 9 of a jaw clutch whose other jaw 8 is fixed to one lateral leg of a bail 6 serving as a support for a bucket seat 7. The two jaws 8, 9 are traversed by a bolt 5 whose outwardly projecting end is threadedly engaged by a handwheel 10 whereby the two jaws can be positively clamped together in any selected angular position of bail 6 relative to lugs 4; the clutch 8, 9 will maintain that position even in the face of violent motions of a child occupying the seat 7. The opposite lug 4 carries a stud 11 penetrating the right-hand leg of bail 6 as viewed in FIG. 4. The bail 6, in turn, is riveted or otherwise secured to bucket seat 7 at the junction of its bottom 7' with its backrest 7". The seat 7 may be provided with a nonillustrated safety belt closable about the body of an infant by a suitable fastener, preferably one of burr type known under the name Velcro; such a fastener could be disposed on a plate secured to the rear of the backrest 7" to which the ends of the belt can thus be attached.

FIGS. 2 and 4 show the framework 1, 2 in its normal position designed to support the seat 7 with a suitable attitude selectable by the clamping means 8-10. FIG. 1, on the other hand, shows this framework suspended by hooks 17, engaging its rear member 1", from the top of a headpost 16 of a crib in which the child can be seated at a level convenient for feeding; a tray 18 provided with a pair of tubular lateral sockets 19 can be placed in front of the child by fitting these sockets on the struts 2 (after temporary removal of bumpers 20) and letting them slide down into contact with sleeves 3. Each hook 17 (only one shown) is provided with a manual clamp 21 in order to be firmly connected to the top bar of the headpost. The same kind of suspension could be used in a hospital bed to facilitate a medical examination of the child.