Chair

a chair and seat technology, applied in the field of chairs, can solve the problems of prone to repetitive strain injury (rsi), the chair is typically not particularly comfortable and supportive, and the mechanism is relatively complex to manufacture, so as to prevent the seat from tilting

US20010005094A1Inactive Publication Date: 2001-06-28ASHFIELD ENG WEXFORD
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
US · United States
Current Assignee / Owner
Publication Date
2001-06-28
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

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Abstract

A chair has a seat (4) and a backrest (5) which are independently pivotable within limits at extremities. The seat is biassed upwardly at the front and the backrest is biassed forwardly. The seat and the backrest have a common pivot joint (8), under the centre of gravity of the occupant. There are no occupant-operated controls as the chair responds automatically to the posture of the occupant, providing full support at all relative positions of the seat and the backrest in a balanced manner for occupants of a wide range of weights.
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Description

[0001] The invention relates to a chair of the type which allows movement of its backrest and seat.PRIOR ART DISCUSSION

[0002] Typically, chairs have been designed with functional details of the chair parts and the mechanism in mind rather than response to health or supportive movement of the occupant. While this approach tends to provide a chair which is reasonably reliable and conforms to safety standards, the chair is typically not particularly comfortable and supportive. Also, this approach does little to reduce the risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI) caused by a mainly static support system.

[0003] European Patent Specification No. 22933 (Grammer) describes a chair having a seat and a backrest which are set to positions to provide static support. The gas struts appear to act as dampers which are set to positions according to occupant movement of an actuating lever. Forward movement of the lever adjust the seat gas strut and rearward movement adjusts the backrest gas strut. Uni...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0037] Referring to the drawings, there is shown a chair 1 having a mechanism 2. The chair 1 comprises a pedestal 3, a seat 4, and a backrest 5. The mechanism 2 comprises a fixed support 6 having a socket 7 for receiving the chair pedestal 3.

[0038] A pivot pin 8 extends through the fixed support 6. The pivot pin 8 is part of a backrest support of the backrest 5. The backrest support also comprises a cross-bar 9 which extends through the fixed support 6. A pair of laterally spaced-apart arms 5(a) at the sides of the mechanism are interconnected by the pivot pin 8 and the cross bar 9. These arms extend upwardly at the back to support a backrest pad 5(b).

[0039] The mechanism 2 also comprises a seat support 10 which rotates about the pivot pin 8. The seat support 10 comprises an arcuate slot 11 through which the cross-bar 9 of the backrest support extends. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the seat support 10 comprises upper lateral fixing brackets 12 connected to a seat pad.

[0040] Nylon stops...