Importance

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Abstract

This chair folds flat for storage and shipment, or unfolds and sets up for use, in only a few (e.g., three to five) seconds. Even though it is strong and stable, the chair can be made from one simple blank of five rectangular panels, two smaller panels and a glue tab, using only two glue joints. Its lower part, a rectangular glued tube, has a vertical seat-support panel across the inside, parallel to two of the outer walls--so the support panel, though preglued in place, folds and unfolds with the tube. The upper part of the chair is an extension of the tube, but the front panel folds inward, backward, and downward to form a seat that spans the tube, supported by the front and seat-support panels. Refinements in support-panel detail facilitate assembly and disassembly while enhancing both support of the seat and controlled deformation of the seat and support for best comfort. The upper part of each side also folds inward and downward, but only above a diagonal fold from the upper rear corner of the chair downward and forward to meet the fold line of the front-and-seat panel. The sides double over along this diagonal fold, so the seat is in effect hung from the diagonal folds, receiving slight additional support. The back is scored to allow deformation of the tube in a buckling mode, for added comfort.

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First Claim