Process

Michael Schaff and 2 OthersIvan Carroll
Matthew Lapuck

Our design prompt was could we improve the folding chair that had been built in the previous Montessori furniture studio.

We were tasked to redesign our folding chair from the previous Montessori furniture studio. Our group began by brainstorming how to improve upon the previous folding chair. We were aspiring to allow the our next chair to be more space efficient, versatile, and dynamic. The apparent change that needed to be made from our previous chair was allow it to fully fold and become a flat surface. We planned 

We spent a lot of time brainstorming how we could improve the folding chair and make it more space efficient than the one that was previously built. We came up with the idea of building a chair that folds into a box that can be easily carried around and stacked on one another. Originally we also decided that we were going to build a separate folding table to accompany the chair but we ended up deciding to combine the two together to make a chable. Our final solution was a chable that folds up and fits in a box.

Our first iteration was a separate folding chable and chair. Our idea was that they would be easily portable and one could bring them with them on trips like camping and going to the beach. The table would have legs that swung down from the main body of the table and the table would fold into quarters to make it small and easy to transport. The chair consisted of three pieces that would come out of the box which would act as the back leg. The three pieces were the back rest which would just come straight out of the box. The seat and front legs which would be attached to one another by a hinge. One problem with this was the table was not really any different from various existing folding tables. Also we were having trouble putting the chair together since we hadn't designed any locking methods and tracks for it. We decided that we should combine the two ideas into one making a chable

Our second iteration combined the easily portable chair and table into one design. We designed it so that the chair would still come out of the box and it was still very similar to our previous design for the chair. The big change was the table portion of our design. As previously stated it was combined into the box. The legs were cut into the bottom part of the box and swung down from the box. The legs by them self were too short so we had a piece in each of the legs that slid down to extend the legs and make them longer. The problem with this design is it didn't look very good or work so well. The legs weren't stable and the leg extenders didn't work, they would just bend and the table would fall over. We decided that for our next iteration the table legs will be inside the box as well and it would use the same pieces to be a table and a chair.

Our third and final iteration was the best of the three and the only one that actually worked well. for the design we took what we previously had and continued working on it. We designed it so that in the sides there were little cuts that could be used to lock the seat in place and prevent in from bending. For the back rest we cut holes into the seat that would hold the back rest. Additionally we had decided that we were going to use the seat as the table so we designed another piece that would fit over the seat and act as both the seat and the table top. Our final iteration worked pretty well and looked cool as well. 

Our final product is a chable that folds in on itself and fits into a box for easy space efficient storage. It can act as both a chair and a table by just manipulating the pieces in it. It is made by cutting pieces of wood using the laser cutter and putting them together. Very little construction is needed besides gluing the box together and adding hinges to the legs and a wire to act as a locking device for the