| CPC A47C 4/10 (2013.01) | 17 Claims |
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1. A foldable chair comprising
a front-leg unit including a seat back and a front leg coupled to the seat back to move therewith during folding and unfolding of the foldable chair,
a seat bottom mounted on the front-leg unit for pivotable movement relative to the seat back from a horizontal-support position in which a support surface of the seat bottom is separated from the seat back by a support angle to a vertical-stowed position in which the support surface of the seat bottom is separated from the seat back by a stowed angle, wherein the stowed angle is less than the support angle,
a rear-leg unit in spaced apart relation to the front-leg unit so that an upper gap is formed between the seat back and the rear-leg unit and a lower gap is formed between the front leg and the rear-leg unit, and is further mounted on the front-leg unit for pivotable movement relative to the front-leg unit during folding and unfolding of the foldable chair from an extended position in which the rear-leg unit cooperates with the front leg to define an extended angle to a retracted positon in which the rear-leg unit cooperates with the front leg to define a retracted angle, wherein the retracted angle is less than the extended angle, and
mover means for driving the rear-leg unit away from the front-leg unit from the retracted position to the extended position in response to pivoting movement of the seat bottom away from the seat back from the vertical-stowed position to the horizontal-support position to establish an expanded-use mode of the foldable chair in which the seat bottom is supported in a substantially horizontal orientation to support an occupant and for driving the rear-leg unit toward the front-leg unit from the extended position to the retracted position in response to pivoting movement of the seat bottom toward the seat back from the horizontal-support portion to the vertical-stowed position to establish a collapsed-storage mode of the foldable chair in which the seat bottom is supported in a substantially vertical orientation while the upper gap between the rear-leg unit and the seat back is maintained in both the expanded-use mode and the collapsed-storage mode,
wherein the rear-leg unit comprises a rear leg having a first rear-leg segment and a second rear-leg segment spaced apart from the first-rear-leg segment, wherein the seat bottom is positioned between the first rear-leg segment and the second rear-leg segment, and
wherein the mover means comprises a rear-leg driver that includes a pivot mount coupled to a rear end of the seat bottom, a slider adapted to slide along a length of one of the rear-leg segments, and a connecting rod interconnecting the pivot mount and the slider.
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