Folding table with locking hinge
AssigneeSico Incorporated
InventorCasey L. Carlson
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSico Incorporated
InventorCasey L. Carlson
Estimating the term…
An improved lockable hinge for a folding table of the type having table surface members which fold to a vertical storage position and to a horizontal usable position. The table is locked at an intermediate position when moving towards the usable position from the storage position by a pivoting lock bar which swings by gravity into a recess formed in a hinge plate on one half of the table and is jammed between the recess and a tab formed in the mating hinge plate on the other half of the table. A handle provided for the locking bar is bent away from the adjacent edges of the two table surface members and can be pivoted to withdraw the bar from the recess and around the tab as the table moves to the usable position. Release of the handle allows the locking bar to fall back into the recess engaging the other side of the tab to lock the table in the down position. A preferred embodiment allows the same hinge plate design to be used in both table halves.
An improved lockable hinge for a folding table which includes a pair of table surface members, legs pivotally attached to the table surface members and hinge means connecting the table surface members along adjacent edges thereof for permitting folding of the table between a storage position in which the table surface members are generally vertically oriented, and a usable position in which the table surface members are generally horizontally positioned adjacent each other to define a table surface, with the hinge means comprising at least a pair of hinge plates attached respectively to the table surface members beneath their adjacent edges, means pivotally connecting said hinge plates, and a lock bar for selectively engaging the hinge plates to lock the table in intermediate and usable positions, wherein the improvement comprises means for suspending said lock bar beneath one of said table surface members with the lock bar positioned so that the hinge plate is between the lock bar and the adjacent edge of the table surface member and said lock bar is spaced from said adjacent edge and for permitting movement of said bar toward said hinge plate as the table is moved from its storage position, the hinge plate on said one table surface member having a recess formed in its edge for receiving said locking bar, the hinge plate on the other of said table surface members having a tab with a first edge positioned to engage said lock bar when the table reaches said intermediate position short of said usable position and a second edge positioned for engaging the lock bar when the table is in its usable position, said lock bar being spaced from said adjacent edge in all said table positions, and a handle attached to said lock bar extending away from said adjacent edges, whereby said handle can be actuated to remove the lock bar from the hinge plate recess to release the lock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.