Chair. DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a chair. It is known that chairs feature a support structure with a plurality of legs, a back and a seat. The seat, which has a basically rectangular or square shape, can produce a localized compression or crushing effect of the femoral biceps or of the semi-tendinous muscle, due to the weight of the legs of the person who sits on the chair, in relation to the height of the seat itself with respect to the ground. This effect is caused by the reaction of the front edge of the seat, that is to say the edge which is opposite the back, on the anatomical parts mentioned above. This leads to bothersome tingling sensations and pain, especially when the chair is used for a long period of time, and, especially for those who suffer from particular circulatory system pathologies or from inflammations or from other alterations of the thigh muscular zones, to worsening of the existing pathologies.

The main aim of the present invention is to eliminate, or at least to remarkably reduce, the above mentioned inconveniences . These result has been achieved, according to the present invention, by providing a chair having the features described in claim 1. Further features of the present invention are the subject of the dependent claims. Thanks to the present invention, it is possible to sit comfortably, avoiding compression or crushing of the rear parts of one's thighs, even when sitting for relatively long periods. Moreover, a chair according to the present invention is easy to build, can be manufactured in various ways and is economical and reliable.

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following description

and drawings, given by way of non-limiting examples, in which :

Fig.l shows a schematic perspective view of a chair according to a possible embodiment of the present invention;

Fig.2-4 show three orthogonal views of the chair shown in Fig.1;

Fig.5 shows two chairs manufactured according to the example of Fig.l, which are stacked on each other; - Fig. 6 shows a schematic perspective view of a chair according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 7 shows an exploded view of the chair of Fig. 6

- Fig. 8 shows a schematic perspective view of a chair according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 9 shows a schematic perspective view of a chair according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 10 shoes a top plan view of the chair of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 and 12 show two schematic perspective views of a chair according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention:

Fig. 13 shows a process step concerning the manufacturing of the chair shown in Figs 11 and 12; Fig. 14 shows the chair of Figs 11 and 12 with a cushion (C) positioned on the seat and a stabilization tie rod (TG) for the chair legs.

Seen in its essential structure and with reference to the figures of the enclosed drawings, a chair according to the present invention comprises a seat (1), a back (2) and a support base. In the example shown in Fig. 9 and in

Fig.10, the support base consists of a leg (3) in a central position under seat (1) and of a footrest platform (4) on pivoting wheels (5) . In the other examples, the support base is defined by a triad of legs (3) . Seat (3) shows a trapezoidal shape, and its major base (10) is on the side of back (1), whilst minor base (11) is on the opposite side.

The length of minor base (11) of seat (1) is much inferior to the length of major base (109) so, in plan view, seat (1) features a basically triangular shape.

With reference to the example shown in Figs 1-5 of the enclosed drawings, the chair is a single piece of injection moulded plastic material. Legs (3) are suitably parted so they can easily be stacked on one another, as shown in Fig. 5.

With reference to the example shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the support structure of the chair consists of a metal framework with three tubular pieces. Two pieces (30) are identical to each other, are reverse-U-shaped and define two sides of the seat. The third piece (31) defines the back (2) of the chair. The three pieces are joined to one another by screw means (3V) and by a metal plate triangle

(3T) which connects their lower parts (3G) . These define the three legs of the chair. Therefore, each of the three legs of the chair is defined by two elements (3G) of the framework.

The chair shown in Fig.8 shows a structure which is analogous to that of the previous example, but it is manufactured using wood pieces instead of being manufactured using metal pieces.

The chair shown in Figs. 9 and 10 features the same shape as seat (1) but it features one central leg instead of three, which joins seat (1) to a footrest platform (4) on pivoting wheels (5). The chair shown in Figs 11 and 12 of the enclosed drawings

is made of polycarbonate.

More particularly, a plurality of shapes (SL) are obtained from a polycarbonate plate (LP) by laser cutting in a continuous succession as shown in Fig. 13. Each shape (SL) detached from plate (LP) is then submitted to hot bending in predetermined zones (ZP) so as to determine the structure of Figs. 11 and 12.

As shown in Fig. 14, legs (3) of the chair of Figs 11-13 can be stabilized by means of a rod (TG) consisting of a metal thread disposed as a triangular ring which passes through holes provided in the legs (3) of the chair. The chair shown in Figs 11-14 can also be made of metacrilate or of another transparent material. In each of the explained cases, the trapezoidal structure, that is to say the basically triangular structure of seat (1) prevents any interference of the posterior parts of the thighs of the person sitting on the chair with the seat itself, which, in this way, are not subjected to any crushing or compression. In order to satisfy contingent and specific requirements, a person skilled in the art may apply to the above- described embodiments many modifications, adaptations and replacement of elements with other functionally equivalent elements without, however, departing from the scope of the appended claims .