Versatile support for dynamically fractional gross loads

A foldable article of furniture in the form of a chair, table, or other such load-support device, comprising an upper load-bearing structure and a lower load-bearing structure, each having a plurality of load-sharing portions thereof defined by the pivotally articulated integration of said upper and lower load-bearing structures with intersecting front and rear leg frames so as to move through a desired range of operating positions in response to changing load conditions when in use, so as to apportion and redistribute loads between said upper and lower load-bearing structures, said load-sharing portions thereof, and said integrating front and rear leg frames, so as to balance and counterbalance dynamic fractional loads among said structures, said portions thereof, and said leg frames and in so doing to conform implicitly and spontaneously to the specific and dynamic postures, proportions, purposes, and actions of a user and thereby to provide comprehensively adaptable support for all dynamic fractional and gross loads bearing on said load-bearing structures and said integrating leg frames;

• said article being characterized by:
• said front leg frame comprising spaced side elements and at least one cross-member, said front leg frame defining a first imaginary plane inclined with respect to the horizontal when the article is in use;
• said rear leg frame comprising spaced side elements and at least one cross-member, said rear leg frame defining a second imaginary plane oppositely inclined with respect to the horizontal and intersecting said first imaginary plane between said front leg frame side elements when said article is in use;
• said upper load-bearing structure comprising spaced side elements, at least one cross-member, and at least one surface element, said upper load-bearing structure being pivotally connected to said rear leg frame above said intersection of said first and second imaginary planes by aligned pivotal connecting means at a first pair of pivot points rearward of the forward end of said upper load-bearing structure, so as to define a boundary between an intermediate upper load-sharing portion and a front upper load-sharing portion of said upper load-bearing structure, and being pivotally connected to said front leg frame above said intersection of said first and second imaginary planes by aligned pivotal connecting means at a second pair of pivot points rearward of said first pair of pivot points, so as to define a boundary between a rear upper load-sharing portion and said intermediate upper load-sharing portion of said upper load-bearing structure, the outer lateral surfaces of said upper load-bearing structure side elements being generally adjacent the inner lateral surfaces of said front leg frame side elements at said second pair of pivot points and the inner lateral surfaces of said upper load-bearing structure side elements being generally adjacent the outer lateral surfaces of said rear leg frame side elements at said first pair of pivot points;
• said lower load-bearing structure comprising spaced side elements and at least one cross-member, said lower load-bearing structure being pivotally connected to said front leg frame below said intersection of said first and second imaginary planes by aligned pivotal connecting means at a third pair of pivot points rearward of the forward end of said lower load-bearing structure, so as to define a boundary between an intermediate lower load-sharing portion and a front lower load-sharing portion of said lower load-bearing structure, and being pivotally connected to said rear leg frame below said intersection of said first and second imaginary planes by aligned pivotal connecting means at a fourth pair of pivot points rearward of said third pair of pivotal points, so as to define a boundary between a rear lower load-sharing portion and said intermediate lower load-sharing portion of said lower load-bearing structure, the outer lateral surfaces of said lower load-bearing structure side elements being generally adjacent the inner lateral surfaces of said front leg frame side elements at said third pair of pivot points and the inner lateral surfaces of said lower load-bearing structure side elements being generally adjacent the outer lateral surfaces of said rear leg frame side elements at said fourth pair of pivot points;
• the relative distances between said first, second, third, and fourth pairs of pivot points and the relative dimensions of said upper and lower load-bearing structures and of said integrating front and rear leg frames being proportioned to afford optimum versatility, adaptability, and utility in said article when said article is in use and when appropriate to allow said article to be folded to a substantially flat disposition when not in use;
• and
• motion governing means, by which at least one of said upper and lower load-bearing structures cooperates with at least one of said integrating front and rear leg frames, so as to govern the relative pivotal movements of said upper and lower load-bearing structures and of said front and rear leg frames of said article through said desired range of operating positions when said article is in use;
• whereby said article is an integrated assemblage of reciprocally interactive load-bearing structures, of co-responsive, load-distributing, balancing, implicity load-reapportioning, and mutually counterbalancing load-sharing portions thereof, and of cooperating supportive leg frames.