FR2734461A1 - CHAIR FOR CHILDREN AT AGE, ESPECIALLY FOR SELF-SERVICE CATERING, WITH TWO SUPPORTS OF MEAL TRAYS - Google Patents

Abstract

The high chair has a seat (110) and a back (19) and a support (111) for a plate which is placed in front of a seated child. A second support (113), for a plate for an accompanying adult, slides under the seat. It slides out behind the seat or is retracted under the seat. The sliding support has two side bars and these cooperate with folded bars under the frame of the chair to limit the backwards movement of the support. Anti-vibration pads are fixed to the top of the side bars.

Description

 Chair for young children, especially for self-service catering, with two meal tray supports.

 The field of the invention is that of self-service catering, also called "self service". More specifically, the invention relates to chairs for young children used in self-service restaurants and similar establishments.

 For a long time, special chairs have been used for young children, making it possible to raise the child so that it is approximately at the same height as the adults seated at the table. Often, these chairs are equipped with a tablet placed in front of the seated child and designed to carry the child's food.

 In self-service restaurants, we thought of equipping these chairs with casters, which allows them to be easily moved to a free place, when a child is already installed and the food intended for him is placed on a tray placed on the shelf.

 We know that the general principle of self-service restaurants consists of letting the customer take the dishes they want from shelves themselves, and placing them on a tray. After having paid for his meal at a cash register provided for this purpose, the customer takes his tray to the table where he will eat his meal.

 There may be various variations to this principle, but the customer must always transport a tray from one place to another. This is not a particular problem as long as each consumer has the ability to carry their own tray. On the other hand, when one is accompanied by a young child, not yet able to carry his tray, the transfer from the box to the table becomes an awkward operation.

 Consider for example the case of a mother accompanied by a child who is not yet walking. When she arrives at the restaurant, she places the child in the wheeled chair intended for her, then goes to the shelves for the distribution of dishes, pushing her child's chair. She takes two trays, places one, that of the child, on the shelf of the chair and pushes the other, hers, on the supports provided for this purpose along the shelves. Gradually, she selects the desired dishes and places them on the corresponding trays. After paying, she has to find a table.

 She must then simultaneously push the child's chair and carry her own tray, as well as, most of the time, one or more other items, such as a handbag. It appears clearly that this operation quickly becomes a balancing act, and that it is likely that its tray will end its journey on the restaurant floor.

 To avoid this situation, the mother will generally choose to make the transfer in two stages: the chair and the child, then its tray, or vice-versa. However, in addition to the fact that this requires two trips, and therefore a loss of time, this technique has the major drawback of temporarily separating the mother and the child. The latter risks believing that his mother abandons him, and will start to cry or cry. Furthermore, the risk of theft of all or part of the contents of the tray while the child is being moved is not negligible.

 In any case, it is likely that such an experience will not be retried. This problem therefore leads to self-service restaurants a significant loss of customers, anyone accompanied by a young child being dissuaded from going to such a restaurant.

 The invention particularly aims to overcome these drawbacks of the state of the art.

 More specifically, an objective of the invention is to solve the problem of easy movement of a child's chair and a meal tray at one time. It should be noted that the formulation of this problem is, in itself, new and not obvious to those skilled in the art of children's chairs. Indeed, this is a problem specific to self-service restaurants, unrelated to the usual functionality of chairs, and which has never been explicitly raised although it has been encountered for a very long time.

 The invention therefore aims to provide a safe, simple and ergonomic means to ensure the movement of several trays and a child's chair.

 Another objective of the invention is to increase the safety of transport, in particular by limiting the risks of overturning the tray of the child and the tray of the person accompanying him.

Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a solution to the problem of
Space due to children's chairs, especially when they are stored awaiting use.

 These objectives, as well as others which will appear subsequently, are achieved according to the invention by a mobile chair for young children, intended in particular for self-service catering, comprising a seat having a seat and a backrest, and a first support for a meal tray, placed in front of a child seated in said seat, said chair further comprising a second support for another meal tray.

 In this way, it is possible for a single person to push with both hands, therefore with greater safety and better precision, the chair, while carrying its own tray. More precisely, the transport of his tray becomes a "transparent" operation: the person must not indeed carry or maintain any particular load, but only push the chair, in the same way as a traditional chair.

 Advantageously, said second support is located at least partially in the rear portion of said chair.

 This location of the second support has several advantages. In particular, the meal tray is then in a "protected" area, between the back of the chair and the person pushing it. The risk of the table overturning or jostling is therefore greatly reduced. In addition, the general balance of the chair is respected. Finally, the tray is not within the reach of the child, which prevents him from any risk of overturning it.

 A preferred embodiment of the invention thus consists in locating said second support substantially in the extension of the seat of said chair.

 He is then in the direct field of vision of the person pushing the chair, which allows him simultaneously to watch where he pushes the chair, and to monitor the child's tray and his.

 Preferably, said second support is at least partially retractable.

This reduces the size of the chair, both for storage and when users are seated at the table.

 In particular, said second support can be slidably mounted, so that it can be at least partially slid under said seat.

 Advantageously, such a chair comprises front and / or rear abutment means limiting the travel of said second sliding support, which make it possible to avoid any untimely dislocation.

 Preferably, the chair of the invention comprises vibration damping elements interposed between said second support and a meal tray, such as plastic pads.

 This in particular makes it possible to dampen the vibrations due to the passage of the rollers on the tile joints or on the threshold bars placed on the periphery of the carpeted areas.

 According to an advantageous embodiment, said first support and / or said second support comprise two sliding elements provided so as to cooperate with the edges of a meal tray to maintain it.

 Preferably, said first support and / or said second support cooperate with locking means to secure the maintenance of a meal tray.

 This further secures the maintenance of the trays during movement, especially in the event of unexpected shocks.

 According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the seat and said two supports are integral and form a fixed assembly pivotally mounted between a position of use and a storage position.

 Thus, the overall size of the chair, in the storage position, is reduced.

 Advantageously, in this case, the storage position brings the seat substantially in contact with the backrest.

 Preferably, the chair is carried by four wheels, the path between the rear wheels being different from that of the front wheels, and the chassis is designed so as to allow at least partial interlocking of at least two chairs, one in the other.

 Such a structure, combined with the folding of the chair, allows a very significant gain of the floor space during storage, which can reach 70%.

 Finally, advantageously, the chair of the invention further comprises a locker intended to receive hand luggage, located at least in the front part of said chair.

 Thus, the freedom of movement of the person accompanying the child is further improved, without harming the possibility of nesting.

Other characteristics and advantages will appear on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, given by way of illustration and not limitation, and the appended drawings in which
- Figure 1 shows a side view of a chair for a young child
according to the invention, in the position of use;
- Figure 2 is a front view of the chair of Figure 1;
- Figure 3 shows the fixed assembly pivotally mounted on said chair and
comprising the two meal tray supports;
- Figures 3a and 3b show details of Figure 3
- Figure 4 shows the chair of Figure 1 in the storage position;
- Figure 5 illustrates the principle of the nesting of two chairs in position
storage as shown in Figure 4.

 Figures 1 and 2 therefore present a particular example of the invention which, in addition to the aspects mentioned above, has various additional advantages, in terms of design, ergonomics, cost and ease of manufacture.

 The structure of the chair consists of chromed steel tubes, with diameters of 30, 25 and 20 mm depending on the case.

 The frame of the chair is formed by a large rear tube 11 carrying at each of these ends the rear wheels 121 and 122 and by two smaller front tubes 13 1 and 132 fixed to the rear tube 11 and each carrying one of the two front wheels 141 and 142.

 Advantageously, at least two wheels, and preferably the four, are swivel casters.

The rear tube 11 is designed to perform many roles, including fixing and maintaining the seat, the armrests preventing the child from falling and the handle for pushing or pulling the chair. For this, it is symmetrical with respect to the axis
AA, and presents successively, starting from a wheel 121 and going upwards:
- A first part 1 1A substantially vertical carrying the wheel;
a second part 11B inclined towards the front, on which is fitted and / or
welded the front tube 131;
- uncoudellC;
- a third part 11D inclined backwards forming, in its first
portion and in cooperation with the elbow 11C, an armrest;
- a fourth part 11E, horizontal and 900 relative to the defined plane
by the previous parts, forming a handle.

 Referring to Figure 2, there is also an "S" 11F at the junction between the first and second parts 11A and 11B, so as to increase the track V1 between the rear wheels, relative to the average spacing EM at seat level.

The front tubes 131 and 132 have
- A first part 13A substantially vertical and carrying the wheel;
a second part 13B inclined towards the rear, and
- a third part 13C retaining the same inclination, but deviating
outwards to join the rear tube 11.

 In this way, the track V2 between the front wheels is reduced, still relative to the average spacing EM.

 Two tubes 17 and 18, parallel to the handle 11E, reinforce the assembly formed by the rear tube 11 and respectively secure the backrest 19, and keep the seat 110 in a horizontal position.

 The back 19 and the seat 110 are formed by a tubular structure on which is screwed a plywood board covered with foam and dressed, for example, with skai.

 A first meal tray support 111 carried by tubes 112 integral with the seat 110 extends parallel to this seat, above and offset forwards relative to the latter.

 As can be seen in FIG. 3, this support 111 has two slides 311 and 312 in which the child's meal tray can be easily slid. Means 1 1a, more specifically shown in Figure 3a and comprising a square stop 11 lob, are also advantageously provided to block the travel of this meal tray.

 It will be noted that in other embodiments this support may be constituted by a simple tablet.

 According to the invention, the chair also comprises a second meal tray support 113, placed at the rear of the chair, just under the seat 110. n can receive the tray of the person accompanying the child. Advantageously, it is removable (15), in particular to limit the bulk both when the chair is stored and when it is in place, in front of a table.

This support 113 may for example consist of a tubular element 1 13a cooperating with two slides 114 placed under the seat 110 and integral with the latter. The meal tray of the person pushing the chair can be placed on this tubular element
113a. Means 113b, more precisely shown in FIG. 3b are also advantageously provided for blocking the travel of this meal tray. In order to limit the movements of the plate once it has been placed on the support 113, anti-vibration pads 113C are provided on the tubular element 113a. These stop means may also include front stop means comprising two spacers integral with the second support 113 and cooperating with at least one folded plate formed on the chassis of the chair, and rear stop means comprising two lateral pins formed on the second support and coming into abutment against the chassis of the chair.

 According to another embodiment, the support 113 can be pivotally mounted relative to an axis placed substantially at the bottom of the backrest 19, so that the second support can be brought along this same folder.

 A basket 115, made for example of wire, extends in the lower part of the chair. It is fixed to the first parts 12A of the front tubes 12l and 122. This basket 115 makes it possible to receive the luggage or provisions of the person pushing the chair, thus facilitating this operation.

 Advantageously, the assembly formed by the seat 110, the first support 111 and the second support 113 is fixed, and movable about an axis 116 corresponding substantially to the bottom of the backrest 109. Elbows 117 connecting the seat 110 to the axis 116 are provided so that the assembly can be tilted from its position of use (FIG. 1) to a storage position (FIG. 4) in which the seat 110 comes into contact with the backrest 109 and finds himself in contact with it.

It is clear that in this way the overall size of the chair is very greatly reduced. Otherwise,
- the specific structure of the chassis, providing in particular for V1 and
V2 of different widths at the front and rear and presenting no
transverse element below the seat,
the specific shape of the rear tube 11, and
- The fact that the basket 115 extends only over the front part of the chair, makes it possible, as illustrated in FIG. 5, to easily fit the chairs 61, 62 one inside the other, when these are in the storage position. The space between them is then of the order of 200 mm.

 This technique allows a gain of around 70% of floor space.

Claims (16)

1. Mobile chair for young children, intended in particular for self-service catering, comprising a seat with a seat and a backrest, and a first support of a meal tray (111), placed in front of a child seated in said seat, characterized in that it comprises a second support (113) for another meal tray. 2. Chair according to claim 1, characterized in that said second support is located at least partially in the rear portion of said chair. 3. Chair according to claim 2, characterized in that said second support is located substantially in the extension of the seat (110) of said chair. 4. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said second support (113) is at least partially retractable. 5. Chair according to claim 4, characterized in that said second support is slidably mounted, so that it can be at least partially slid under said seat (110). 6. Chair according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises stop means (113b) front and / or rear limiting the stroke of said second sliding support (113). 7. Chair according to claim 6, characterized in that said front stop means comprise two spacers integral with said second support and cooperating with at least one folded plate formed on the chassis of said chair. 8. Chair according to any one of claims 6 and 7, characterized in that said rear stop means comprise two lateral pins formed on said second support and abutting against the frame of said chair. 9. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises vibration damping elements interposed between said second support and a meal tray. 10. Chair according to claim 9, characterized in that said damping elements comprise plastic pads (113c). 11. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that said first support (111) and / or said second support (113) are formed by a tubular element provided so as to cooperate with a meal tray for the maintain. 12. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said first support (111) and / or said second support (113) cooperate with locking means to secure the maintenance of a meal tray. 13. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the seat (110) and said two supports (111,113) are integral and form a fixed assembly pivotally mounted between a position of use and a position of storage. 14. Chair according to claim 13, characterized in that the storage position brings the seat (110) substantially in contact with the backrest (19). 15. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that it is carried by four wheels (121,122,141,142), the track between the rear wheels being different from that of the front wheels, and in that the chassis is designed to allow at least partial interlocking of at least two chairs one inside the other. 16. Chair according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that it further comprises a locker intended (115) for receiving hand luggage, located in the front part of said chair.