The foot stools now generally used in combination with arm chairs are usually constituted by separate units, which in some cases can also be pushed in under the front portion of the arm chair. When not in use, a foot stool of this type may often obstruct the user and it could also be difficult to put it in the position in front of the arm chair yielding the best comfort. Pre- viously known are also foot stools, which are rigidly attached to an arm chair and which offer an acceptable support for the legs of the user when seated in the arm chair but those foot stools, or foot supports, often form an obstacle when the user wishes to rise from the arm chair. To avoid a too large space requirement for the arm chair when not in use foot stools of that type are usually designed so that they project from the front portion of the arm chair as little as possible.

However, this has the drawback that, when the arm chair is used, the support of the legs of the user will be inferior, meaning that the comfort of the arm chair as a whole is inferior to what would be the case if the foot stool had a greater extension in front of the arm chair.

The object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of a foot stool of the type above referred to, in which the foot stool can, by simple manipula- tions, be moved from a storing position under the arm chair to a use position in front of the arm chair. The

features characterizing the invention appear in the accompanying claims.

Thanks to the invention there has now been provided an arrangement of a foot stool for an arm chair, at which the drawbacks present in the prior art foot stools are eliminated. Due to the fact that the foot stool, when not used, is stored in a position below the front portion of the arm chair the user can, when seated in the arm chair, very conveniently swing the foot stool forwards and up to the use position in front of the arm chair, in which position the foot stool is automatic- ally retained.

Since the foot stool is supported by arms swingably connected at the front portion of the arm chair and exhibiting a special shape, the foot stool can easily be swung out from its storing position and downwards to a lower position at a short distance above the floor, in which intermediate position the foot stool, if desired, can also serve as a temporary support for the user's feet. When the foot stool is swung up from that position to its normal position of use, it is automa- tically fixed in the latter position by means of a special locking device and, in this normal use posi- tion, the legs and feet of the user are offered a comfortable support. When the user wishes to rise from the arm chair or no longer make use of the foot stool, its locking is disengaged by a simple manipulation releasing one or more locking pins located on the outer sides of the supporting arms and intended, in the use position of the foot stool, to hold the supporting arms in a fixed position relatively each other. Upon said release of the locking device the foot stool can be swung down and then turned up to a storing position under the front portion of the arm chair following the swinging movement of the supporting arms.

A preferred embodiment exemplifying the invention will now be described in greater detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side view illustrating a foot stool according to the present invention, when in a storing position under the front portion of the arm chair, Fig. 2 shows the foot stool illustrated in Fig. 1 in a lower position, in which it is suspended by the supporting arms and which precedes the foot stool being swung up in a forward direc- tion to its use position, Fig. 3 shows the foot stool according to Figs. 1 and 2 when it has, by means of the supporting arms, been swung up to its use position in front of the front portion of the arm chair, the foot stool being automatically fixed in this position by the locking means on the supporting arms, and Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic, lateral view of the suppor- ting arm structure and its mounting means, the arm chair being not shown for the sake of sur- veyability, the supporting arms being in the position they assume when the foot stool is either in its use position or its storing position.

As appears from the drawings, there is shown an arm chair 1 having a foot stool 2, which foot stool 2 is movable between a storing position below the arm chair 1 and a use position in front of the arm chair 1. The foot stool 2 is swingably connected to the front por- tion of the arm chair 1 by means of at least two sup-

porting arms 3-6, which are journalled at the foot stool 2 and at the arm chair 1 and can be locked rela- tively each other, at least in the use position of the foot stool 2. As appears from the preferred exemplify- ing embodiment, the supporting arms 3-6 for swingable mounting of the foot stool 2 on the arm chair 1 are constituted by two pairs of such arms, each pair com- prising two cooperating supporting arms 3, 4; 5, 6, which are arranged substantially parallel to each other. The supporting arms 3-6 arranged in two pairs have their end portions 7-10 swingably connected to at least one mounting plate 11-14 at a short distance from each other as counted in their longitudinal direction.

The mounting plates 11-14 are attached to the foot stool 2 and to the arm chair 1.

Each mounting plate 11-14 exhibits at least one mount- ing flange 15-18, respectively, for the journalled mounting of each end portion 7-10 of the supporting arms 3-6, respectively. The mounting plates 11, 13 on the foot stool 2 have U-form and are shaped like a triangle, the apex 19 of which projects in a direction obliquely to the rear towards the front portion of the arm chair 1 and carries the end portions 7, 9 of the supporting arms 3 and 5. The U-formation of the flange has a distance between the shanks or mounting flanges 15-18 essentially corresponding to the thickness of the supporting arms 3-6. At least one 3 of the supporting arms has at least one locking device 20 biased by a spring 24. In the use position of the foot stool 2 it can lockably snap into a cooperating locking means 21 located on the other adjacent supporting arm 3. The spring-biased locking device 20 is constituted by a pin 22 mounted on the one supporting arm 4 and arranged, in the use position of the foot stool 2, automatically to snap into a locking cone 25 cooperating with the free

end of the pin 22 and having an opening 23 on the other supporting arm 3.

The supporting arms 3, 4; 5, 6 forming the respective pairs are, as seen in the use position of the foot stool, constituted by a front arm 3; 5 and a rear arm 4; 6, the front arm 3; 5 being substantially shaped like a fish hook while the rear supporting arm 4; 6 is approximately shaped like an S.

The mounting plates 11-14 for the supporting arms 3-6 are demountably secured to the front portion of the underside of the arm chair 1 and to the underside of the foot stool 2 at the rear portion thereof facing the front surface of the arm chair 1, respectively.

As shown in the drawings, the foot stool 2 can, from its storing position shown in Fig. 1, conveniently be moved to its use position shown in Fig. 3, in which the foot stool 2 is automatically locked by means of the locking device 20. The foot stool 2 can, when no longer to be used, easily be swung back to its storing posi- tion in a way that the interlocked supporting arms are first released by lateral extraction of the pins 22 with the aid of conveniently handled knobs 26, where- upon the foot stool 2 is swung down and tilted up to its storing position under the arm chair 1. In order to make the foot stool 2 according to the invention to offer maximum comfort it can, in its use position, be reciprocated from and to the front portion of the arm chair 1 by means of rails 27 and 28 located under the foot stool 2 and slidably receiving the mounting plates 11 and 13 of the foot stool 2.