Few objects have a job as obvious as a chair: support a person while they sit. Patent drawings show how quickly that simple definition falls apart. One invention straps the supporting structure directly to the legs; another folds the seat into a backpack.
Indoors, chairs become desks, ironing boards, stepladders and beds. Add wheels and the same structure starts acting like a cart or stroller. More recent designs turn the familiar seated frame into exercise equipment.
These ten proposals appear in US patent publications. From Patents did not find public evidence tying any of them one-to-one to a specific commercial product.
Wear the chair on your legs
What is it?
“Wearable chair” attaches a support unit to each leg and locks the links into a triangular structure when the wearer wants support.
Instead of moving toward a chair, the user carries the chair's load path on the body.
- ASSIGNEE
- Individual
- PRIORITY
- 1977-09-06
- PUBLISHED
- 1979-02-06
- PUBLICATION
- US4138156A
- INVENTORS
- Darcy R. Bonner
Fold a seat out of the backpack
What is it?
This backpack uses its rigid frame as a backrest and rotates a flat cushion outward to create a floor chair.
The bag can keep carrying its contents while the seating function is deployed.
- ASSIGNEE
- Individual
- PRIORITY
- 2017-10-10
- PUBLISHED
- 2019-04-11
- PUBLICATION
- US20190104829A1
- INVENTORS
- Michael W. Clary
Hide a desk inside the chair
What is it?
“Combination desk and chair” packs a work surface and its supports into the chair frame so the furniture can change roles without requiring a second piece beside it.
FIG. 7 exposes how much mechanism is hidden inside what still looks like a conventional chair.
- ASSIGNEE
- Individual
- PRIORITY
- 1962-01-03
- PUBLISHED
- 1963-10-15
- PUBLICATION
- US3107119A
- INVENTORS
- Ray L. Watts
Make one frame a chair, ironing board and stepladder
What is it?
This 1934 patent combines three household objects in a single movable frame. Boards and supports change position depending on whether the user wants to sit, iron clothes, or climb.
The same load-bearing frame supports three different tasks.
- ASSIGNEE
- Individual
- PRIORITY
- 1932-11-22
- PUBLISHED
- 1934-11-27
- PUBLICATION
- US1982111A
- INVENTORS
- Dewey H. King
Open the chair into a bed
What is it?
“Chair convertible into a bed” links the seat, backrest and support members so the compact sitting geometry can extend into a sleeping surface.
The same floor area is used at different times for two different pieces of furniture.
- ASSIGNEE
- SSI Medical Services Inc
- PRIORITY
- 1976-01-12
- PUBLISHED
- 1978-07-11
- PUBLICATION
- US4099275A
- INVENTORS
- Erwin Pallan
Expand a central deck and position chairs at both ends
What is it?
This design moves a central deck while rotating two chair units at the ends. FIG. 4 looks less like one folding chair and more like a small furniture arrangement changing configuration.
The mechanism rearranges surfaces and seats as a group rather than merely collapsing them for storage.
- ASSIGNEE
- Keysheen Industry Shanghai Co Ltd
- PRIORITY
- 2012-08-09
- PUBLISHED
- 2013-10-08
- PUBLICATION
- US8550547B1
- INVENTORS
- Lausan Chung-Hsin Liu / Shopo Hsin Tsu Liu / Fibro Tsu Kun Liu
Turn the chair into a cargo cart
What is it?
“Combination chair and cart” repositions the same frame so it can support a person while stationary or support cargo while being moved.
The chair's load-bearing structure is reused; only the thing being supported changes.
- ASSIGNEE
- Individual
- PRIORITY
- 1987-04-20
- PUBLISHED
- 1988-03-29
- PUBLICATION
- US4733905A
- INVENTORS
- Kenneth N. Buickerood / Edgar J. Garroni
Use one frame as a high chair and stroller
What is it?
This 1961 design combines a high chair, stroller and toddler seat in one adjustable wheeled structure.
Instead of treating feeding and transport as separate products, the frame changes its relationship to the floor and wheels.
- ASSIGNEE
- Individual
- PRIORITY
- 1958-02-03
- PUBLISHED
- 1961-03-28
- PUBLICATION
- US2976912A
- INVENTORS
- Virgil F. Dias
Put a Pilates machine under the seat
What is it?
“Chair exercise apparatus” combines a seat-like frame with spring resistance and moving pedals or arms for Pilates-style exercises.
The chair shape becomes a stable reference for movement rather than a place to remain still.
- ASSIGNEE
- Balanced Body Inc
- PRIORITY
- 2022-07-07
- PUBLISHED
- 2024-01-11
- PUBLICATION
- US20240009507A1
- INVENTORS
- Ken Endelman / Salim Dogan Sekercioglu / Melissa Mahmutovic / Justin Chang / Yunhui Liu / Harbir Singh
Turn rocking into the workout
What is it?
“Exercise rocking chair” uses the familiar rocking motion as part of a workout rather than merely a comfort feature.
The seat angle, frame and rocker geometry guide the user through repeated motion.
- ASSIGNEE
- Tilt Active Corp
- PRIORITY
- 2015-01-15
- PUBLISHED
- 2016-07-21
- PUBLICATION
- US20160206910A1
- INVENTORS
- John Hincks Duke
AFTER THE FIGURES
A chair is a support structure, which makes it unusually easy to give it another job
The inventions look unrelated at first, but they all begin with the same useful property: a chair already has a frame that can carry weight. Put that structure against the legs and it becomes wearable. Fold it onto the back and it becomes luggage.
Reconfigure the furniture frame and it can become a desk, ladder or bed. Add wheels and it begins carrying cargo or children. Add springs and moving joints and it turns into exercise equipment.
A chair is a structure between a body and the ground. Once that structure exists, inventors keep finding other jobs for it.
SOURCES
Primary sources
- US4138156A — Wearable chair
- US20190104829A1 — Backpack with deployable chair
- US3107119A — Combination desk and chair
- US1982111A — Combination chair, ironing board, and stepladder
- US4099275A — Chair convertible into a bed
- US8550547B1 — Transformable chair equipped with a movable deck
- US4733905A — Combination chair and cart
- US2976912A — Combination high chair, stroller and toddler
- US20240009507A1 — Chair exercise apparatus
- US20160206910A1 — Exercise rocking chair