ITEM OF SEATING FURNITURE IN TWO-SHELL DESIGN FOR HOLDING DECAL SHEETS

Abstract

The invention relates to a piece of seating furniture formed from two seat shells connected to one another, which form a seating surface and a backrest of the piece of seating furniture as a connected component, wherein the upper and lower seat shells connected to form the piece of seating furniture are designed approximately identically in construction and same are connected to one another only in the edge region thereof such that a free, narrow and flat gap space remains between the seat shells which holds a decal sheet via a slot-shaped access opening on the top side of the backrest and/or on the front edge of the seating surface and/or in the rear surface of the piece of seating furniture, which decal sheet is approximately the size of the surface of the piece of seating furniture.

Claims

1. Item of seating furniture formed from two interconnected seat shells, forming as a connected unit the seat surface and backrest of the item of seating furniture, wherein the top and bottom seat shells joined to form the item of seating furniture are approximately identical in design and these are joined to each other only in their edge region such that a free, narrow and flat gap space remains between the seat shells, which accommodates a decal sheet via a slotlike access opening at the top end of the backrest and/or at the front edge of the seat surface and/or in the rear surface of the item of seating furniture, which decal sheet has roughly the size of the surface of the item of seating furniture.

2. Item of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the slotlike access opening for introducing the decal sheet into the gap space between the seat shells is arranged at the top edge of the backrest and/or at the front edge of the seat surface, extending across their entire width.

3. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slotlike access opening for introducing the decal sheet is arranged at the rear in the curvature region of the transition from backrest to seat surface.

4. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein besides the transversely running slotlike access openings for the decal sheet, other apertures are likewise arranged in the bottom seat shell, which apertures run approximately at right angles to the former and make possible a guiding of the decal sheet into the gap space between the seat shells.

5. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the item of seating furniture is in the form of a chair or a bar stool.

6. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein spacers to produce the flat gap space between the seat shells are arranged at the edge between the seat shells, wherein these spacers may be part of one or both seat shells along their periphery or at spots, or may be arranged as separate bodies between the seat shells.

7. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flat gap space between the seat shells comprises the entire area of the item of seating furniture minus the connection regions in the peripheral edge region of the item of seating furniture, so that a full-surface design is possible by means of an inserted decal sheet.

8. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the seat shells is transparent.

9. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein several items of chair-type seating furniture can be detachably joined to form a bench.

10. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insertable and interchangeable decal sheet is composed of several segments.

11. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seat shells to be joined together are interconnected by means of an adhesive bond in their peripheral edge regions.

12. The item of seating furniture claimed in claim 1, wherein the seat shells to be joined together are interconnected by means of connecting strips in their laterally peripheral edge regions, which connecting strips interconnect the laterally peripheral edge regions continuously or partially in detachable manner.

13. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 12, wherein the connecting strips are formed as a C-profile or E-profile in cross section, the outer edges of the seat shells being grasped by the profiles.

14. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 12, wherein the spacers for producing the flat gap space between the seat shells are an integral part of the E-profile of the connecting strip, or are inserted as separate bodies into the profiles of the connecting strips.

15. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 12, wherein the connecting strips have receptacles for fastening means or have integrated fastening means for detachable fastening to the seat shells, wherein these engage into correspondingly formed and arranged receptacles in the side edge regions of the seat shells.

16. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 15, wherein the connecting strips have tonguelike fastening means for detachable fastening to grooves on the seat shells.

17. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 12, wherein fastening points of the substructure and/or of other strips serving for the supporting of the item of seating furniture are arranged on the connecting strips.

18. The item of seating furniture as claimed in claim 12, wherein flat recesses are arranged in the side edge regions of the seat shells for the sunken resting of the connecting strips against the seat shells.

Description

[0033] The invention will be explained more closely below with the aid of drawings, in which

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention as a chair made of transparent plastic in a side perspective view,

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention with two-part decorative panel 7 not yet inserted, in a side perspective view,

[0036] FIG. 3 shows a design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention with one-piece decorative panel 7 inserted, in a side perspective view,

[0037] FIG. 4 shows a design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention in a side perspective view in exploded view,

[0038] FIG. 5 shows a design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention in a side perspective view in exploded view with one-piece decorative panel 7 inserted,

[0039] FIG. 6 shows an alternative design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention with side fastening strips in a side perspective view,

[0040] FIG. 7 shows the alternative design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention with side fastening strips 15 in exploded view,

[0041] FIG. 8 shows a sectional detail view of the seat shells 2 and 3 connected by side fastening strips 15 and

[0042] FIG. 9 shows a sectional detail view of the seat shells 2 and 3 connected by side fastening strips 15 and their connection to form a substructure 13.

[0043] The design of the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention represented in FIG. 1 is a typical design of a stackable chair with a substructure 13 as a skid frame, on which the seat shell is fastened for example by screws. Such seating furniture is widely used in public spaces such as schools or event locations. This is a representation in which the seat shell according to the invention has already been assembled from the two structural elements of the top seat shell 2 and the bottom seat shell 3. On account of the transparent top seat shell 2 here, the apertures 8 situated in the bottom seat shell 3 can also be recognized, which apertures serve to assist the introduction of a decorative panel 7, not shown here.

[0044] In FIG. 2, the decorative panel 7 is now shown, formed in this example from 2 segments 7 and 7. This is a design of the inventive solution in which an access opening 6 to the gap space 5 between the top seat shell 2 and the bottom seat shell 3 is arranged both at the front edge 11 of the seat surface of the chair and at the top edge 10 of the backrest. The segments 7 and 7 of the decorative panel 7 have been fitted here, arrows showing the pushing-in direction.

[0045] FIG. 3 now shows on the one hand the item of seating furniture 1 according to the invention with inserted decorative panel 7, by means of which a full-surface representation of for example a graphic representation or a company logo can be arranged so as to occupy the entire seat surface of the chair.

[0046] On the other hand, an enlarged cutout is reproduced here, revealing the transition of the edge region as a connecting region between the top seat shell 2 and the bottom seat shell 3 with the adhesive bond 9 arranged in between, as well as the gap space 5 between the seat shells 2 and 3, adjoining the adhesive bond 9.

[0047] The exploded representation of FIG. 4 in turn illustrates the structural elements from which the item of seating furniture 1 is assembled. This shows the substructure 13 as a skid frame, being the load-bearing element, and also connection means 14, serving for the fastening of the seat shell to the substructure 13. It becomes clear in this FIG. 4 that the transparent seat shell is composed of a closed top seat shell 2 and the identically configured bottom seat shell 3 underneath, wherein the bottom seat shell 3 has additional apertures 8 which are useful when introducing the decorative panel 7. In the present case, the access opening 6 needed for this may be arranged at the top edge 10 of the backrest or else at the front edge 11 of the seat surface or at both edges.

[0048] Finally, FIG. 5 again shows an exploded drawing, where the placement of a one-piece decorative panel 7 between the two seat shells 2 and 3 can also be seen. As can be seen, the decorative panel 7 covers roughly the entire surface of the seat shell and thus the entire seat surface and backrest of the seat shell can be used for decoration.

[0049] FIGS. 6 and 7 in turn refer to an alternative design in which the seat shells 2 and 3 are not glued together, but instead are interconnected by means of connecting strips 15 fitted in detachable manner on the side edge regions 4. Basically, these connecting strips 15 can be formed as profiles of different cross section, but in the design shown it can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9 that an E-profile 17 is used here.

[0050] The E-profile 17 consists here of the arms resting against the seat shells 2 and 3 on the sides and joining them, as well as the middle arm extending between the seat shells 2 and 3, representing the spacer for keeping the seat shells 2 and 3 at the desired distance from one another. This middle arm may consist of a material different from the other material of the profile, such as an elastic plastic in the case of an aluminum profile.

[0051] There is furthermore shown a support strip 16 at the top end of the backrest, which support strip is fastened to the side connecting strips 15, in the present example by screwing. This serves for the easier handling of the seating furniture 1.

[0052] Additional strips 18 are also arranged on the horizontally extending bottom limbs of the connecting strips 15, forming the connection to the substructure 13. This has the advantage that these regions where gravity forces bearing on the item of seating furniture are particularly active are placed not in the plastic of the seat shell 3, but rather in the connecting strips 15, made of metal for example, which on the one hand improves the durability of the item of seating furniture 1 and on the other hand assists the assembly, disassembly, and replacement of these structural parts.

[0053] FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the arrangement of the side connecting strip 15 in section. This is an E-profile 17, where the middle arm of the profile 17 produces the required gap space 5 between the seat shells 2 and 3. Furthermore, it can be seen that a recess 19 runs along the peripheral side edges of the seat shells 2 and 3 such that the top and bottom arms of the E-profile 17 engage into it and thus a smooth transition to the surface of the seat shells 2 and 3 is produced.

[0054] FIG. 9 furthermore illustrates one possible fastening of a substructure 13 of the item of seating furniture 1 to the seat shells 2 and 3 by means of the side connecting strips 15. In this design, this is accomplished by a material recess in the bottom seat shell 3, into which an angled end of a fastening strip 19 for fastening to the substructure 13 engages and is screwed together with the side connecting strip 15. This fastening strip, in turn, is screwed together with the substructure 13, for example a skid frame.