chair

Abstract

To provide a chair that reduces the burden of sitting or standing. [Solution] The chair comprises a seat plate whose front end is pivotally supported by a hinge fixed relative to the legs, a backrest pivotally supported by the seat plate so as to be rotatable within a predetermined angular range, a support arm whose one end is fixed to the backrest and whose other end is connected to a support fixed relative to the legs so as to be vertically movable, and which is formed to be extendable and retractable in the front-rear direction of the backrest while maintaining a constant angle with respect to the support, and a lifting device that raises and lowers the seat plate so as to rotate around the hinge.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a chair.

Background Art

[0002] Chairs for assisting the standing and sitting movements of the elderly and the like have been proposed. The standing-assist chair of Patent Document 1 is configured such that front air bags and rear air bags with different heights when inflated are arranged below the seat surface, and these are inflated and deflated so that air does not flow back between them, and as the seat surface is raised, it is tilted forward. The front part of the seat surface moves up and down over a predetermined width by a slide body, and the seat surface has a structure that is rotatable about the front end as a fulcrum by a hinge provided between the seat surface and the slide body.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, since only the seat plate portion of the standing-assist chair of Patent Document 1 moves up and down, it is assumed that the support of the body becomes unstable when shifting to the standing state or the sitting state.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a chair that reduces the burden of sitting or standing.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve at least a part of the above problems, and can be realized as the following aspects or application examples.

[0007] The chair according to this application example comprises a seat plate whose front end is pivotally supported by a hinge fixed relative to the legs, a backrest pivotally supported by the seat plate so as to be rotatable within a predetermined angular range, a support arm whose one end is fixed to the backrest and whose other end is connected to a support fixed relative to the legs so as to be vertically movable, and which is formed to be extendable and retractable in the front-rear direction of the backrest while maintaining a constant angle with respect to the support, and a lifting device that raises and lowers the seat plate so as to rotate around the hinge.

[0008] In this application example, the chair allows the backrest to maintain a constant angle with respect to the support when the seat is raised or lowered, thus providing stable support for the body and assisting the user in sitting. Therefore, this chair can reduce the burden of sitting or standing. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a side view of the chair in its lowered position. [Figure 2] This is an explanatory diagram of the hinges for the seat and backrest. [Figure 3] This is an enlarged perspective view of the area around the support arm. [Figure 4] This is a side view of the chair in its raised position. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Figure 1 is a side view of chair 1 according to this embodiment. Chair 1 is a chair with standing, sitting, or both assist functions that can be used by unspecified users in vehicles such as buses or trains, or in public facilities. Chair 1 according to this embodiment is installed as a priority seat inside the cabin of a bus.

[0011] The chair 1 is mounted on a mounting surface G, such as the floor, by its legs 5. Supports 7 are provided around the chair 1 and are fixed to the mounting surface G. The supports 7 are approximately cylindrical in shape, extending from the mounting surface G of the vehicle compartment to the ceiling (not shown), with both ends fixed. The backrest 3, which is part of the chair 1, is connected to the supports 7. Therefore, the supports 7 in this embodiment have the function of supporting the backrest 3 of the chair 1 and the function of a handrail for the passenger.

[0012] The chair 1 comprises a seat plate 2, a backrest 3 pivotally supported on the seat plate 2, a support arm 4 with one end fixed to the backrest 3 and the other end fixed to a support 7, legs 5 that support the seat plate 2, and a lifting device 6 that raises and lowers the seat plate 2.

[0013] The seat plate portion 2 is a movable part formed in the shape of a roughly rectangular thick plate. The seat plate portion 2 is connected to the fixed portion 81 (base) which is connected to the leg portion 5, via a hinge 21 (first hinge) so that it can rotate relative to it. In other words, the seat plate portion 2 is pivotally supported at its front side by the hinge 21 which is fixed relative to the leg portion 5.

[0014] The backrest portion 3 is pivotally supported on the seat portion 2 via a hinge 9 (second hinge) so as to be rotatable within a predetermined angular range. Figure 2 is an explanatory diagram of the hinge 9 on the seat portion 2 and the backrest portion 3.

[0015] The hinge 9 comprises a substantially cylindrical bearing 91 and a shaft 92 rotatably housed inside the bearing 91. The bearing 91 has an opening 911 on its side surface around the axis P within a preset angular range. The opening 911 extends in the direction of the axis P and is formed in a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the side.

[0016] The shaft 92 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape. A restricting projection 921 is formed on a part of the outer surface of the shaft 92, as shown in the II-II cross section of Figure 2, having a width at a predetermined angle around the axis P and extending in the direction of the axis P. The restricting projection 921 is positioned within the opening 911.

[0017] The rotation of the shaft core 92 in one direction is restricted when one end 921a of the restricting projection 921 abuts against one inner edge 911a of the opening 911. Also, the rotation of the shaft core 92 in the other direction is restricted when the other end 921b of the restricting projection 921 abuts against the other inner edge 911b of the opening 911. In the present embodiment, the shaft core 92 is set to be rotatable within a range of 30 degrees because the rotation range of the restricting projection 921 is restricted by the opening 911.

[0018] Further, one of the bearing 91 and the shaft core 92 is fixed to the seat plate portion 2, and the other one is fixed to the backrest portion 3. For example, the outer peripheral surface of the bearing 91 and the backrest portion 3 are connected. Also, the shaft core 92 is connected to the seat plate portion 2. The seat plate portion 2 is, for example, configured to be connected to the restricting projection 921 of the shaft core 92, configured to have a separate opening (not shown) provided on the side opposite to the opening 911 of the bearing 91 and be connected to the shaft core 92 through the opening, or configured to have separate openings (not shown) provided at both ends in the direction of the axis P of the bearing 91 and be connected to the shaft core 92 through the openings, or any combination of these, and is connected to the shaft core 92.

[0019] FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view around the support arm 4. The support arm 4 has a fixing portion 41 and a telescopic portion 42 that extends substantially at a right angle to the fixing portion 41 and is formed to be telescopic. Both the fixing portion 41 and the telescopic portion 42 are formed to have a substantially cylindrical outer shape.

[0020] The support arm 4 is formed in a substantially L shape as a whole by the fixing portion 41 and the telescopic portion 42, and one end 41a on the fixing portion 41 side is fixed to the backrest portion 3. Also, the support arm 4 is connected to a support body 7, which is relatively fixed to the leg portion 5, so as to be vertically movable at the other end 42a on the telescopic portion 42 side.

[0021] The telescopic part 42 is formed in a telescopic pipe shape. The telescopic part 42 of the present embodiment includes a first cylinder part 421 located outermost, a second cylinder part 422 accommodated inside the first cylinder part 421 and relatively movable in the axial direction Q with respect to the first cylinder part 421, a third cylinder part 423 accommodated inside the second cylinder part 422 and relatively movable in the axial direction Q with respect to the second cylinder part 422, and a core member 424 accommodated inside the third cylinder part 423 and relatively movable in the axial direction Q with respect to the third cylinder part 423.

[0022] The second cylinder part 422 is connected to the first cylinder part 421, the third cylinder part 423 is connected to the second cylinder part 422, and the core member 424 is connected to the third cylinder part 423 by spline connection with the engagement of the guide projections 422a, 423a, 424a and the guide groove parts 421b, 422b, 423b respectively (see the cross-sectional view III-III in FIG. 3).

[0023] Further, the core member 424 has a spherical guide part 43 at the end. Also, the support arm 4 is slidably connected to the support body 7 in the vertical direction with the guide part 43 engaged with the internal space of the cylindrical support body 7 which is the guide part 71. Therefore, the support arm 4 is formed to be telescopic in the front-rear direction of the backrest part 3 while maintaining a certain angle with respect to the support body 7. In the present embodiment, the telescopic part 42 of the support arm 4 is connected to the support body 7 at approximately 90 degrees.

[0024] The lifting device 6 includes a pneumatic compressor 61 (compressor) that takes in and supplies air from the outside, and a swelling and shrinking part 62 that expands and contracts by the air supplied from the pneumatic compressor 61. The pneumatic compressor 61 is provided in the space S between the chair 1 and the installation surface G.

[0025] The swelling and shrinking part 62 has an air storage chamber 621 formed by surrounding the outer peripheral sides of the fixed part 81 and the seat part 2 with a bellows-shaped surrounding wall.

[0026] An armrest 82 of the chair 1 is provided on the side of the fixed part 81. The armrest 82 is formed in a trapezoidal frame shape in a side view.

[0027] Furthermore, the lifting device 6 has a lifting switch 83 for operating the expansion and contraction of the expansion and contraction section 62. In this embodiment, the lifting switch 83 is shown as being provided on the armrest 82, but it can be provided in any location within the range of operation of a user seated in the chair 1, such as the wall of the vehicle near the chair 1, the back of another chair in front (not shown), or the support 7.

[0028] Furthermore, the lifting switch 83 in this embodiment is an upward switch that raises the seat plate 2. The lifting device 6 can lower the seat plate 2 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the operation of the lifting switch 83, or when a seating sensor separately provided on the seat plate 2 detects that the user has stood up. Note that the lifting switch 83 may also include an upward switch that raises the seat plate 2 and a downward switch that lowers the seat plate 2.

[0029] Next, the raising and lowering operation of chair 1 will be explained. When a user utilizes the standing assistance function of chair 1 as an auxiliary function, the user first operates the raising and lowering switch 83 while seated in chair 1 with the seat plate 2 in the lowered position (see Figure 1).

[0030] When the lifting switch 83 is activated, the lifting device 6 inflates the expansion / contraction section 62 by supplying air from the air compressor 61, causing the seat plate section 2 to rotate around the hinge 21 and move up and down.

[0031] At that time, the hinge 9 positioned at the rear end of the seat plate 2 rises while maintaining an equidistant distance from the hinge 21. As described above, the backrest 3 is connected to the support arm 4 and the support body 7 at a constant angle. The support arm 4 is also formed to be relatively movable with respect to the support body 7 in the front-to-back direction of the chair 1 (the direction of distance from the support body 7). Therefore, the backrest 3 rises together with the seat plate 2 while maintaining a constant inclination angle with respect to the installation surface G, and moves forward in the direction away from the support body 7 (see Figure 4).

[0032] The user's standing motion is assisted by the raising of the seat plate 2, reducing the physical strain associated with standing. The raised seat plate 2 lowers after a predetermined time has elapsed since the operation of the lifting switch 83, or when a seating sensor separately provided on the seat plate 2 detects the user standing up. If the lifting switch 83 includes a lowering switch for lowering the seat plate 2, the seat plate 2 lowers when the user operates the lowering switch (see Figure 1).

[0033] The chair 1 of this embodiment has been described above. The chair 1 has a support arm 4 which is fixed at one end to the backrest 3 and connected at the other end to a support 7 which is fixed relative to the leg portion 5 so as to be vertically movable, and is formed to be extendable and retractable in the front-rear direction of the backrest 3 while maintaining a constant angle with respect to the support 7. As a result, the backrest 3 can be raised and lowered while maintaining a constant angle along with the raising and lowering of the seat plate 2. Therefore, the chair 1 can reduce the burden of sitting or standing while stably supporting the user's standing or sitting movements.

[0034] Furthermore, since it reduces the effort required for seated users to stand up, applying chair 1 to a priority seat, for example, can reduce the likelihood of users hesitating to sit in a priority seat, thus reducing the rate of priority seat utilization.

[0035] This concludes the description of each embodiment. However, the specific configurations shown here are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those shown in each embodiment.

[0036] For example, in this embodiment, the armrest 82 is described as being provided on the fixed part 81, but it may also be provided on the seat plate 2. That is, the armrest 82 can be raised and lowered together with the raising and lowering of the seat plate 2. As a result, even when the seat plate 2 is raised by operating the lifting device 6, the user of the chair 1 can stand up or sit down while holding onto the armrest 82, thereby providing more stable support for the body. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1 chair 2 Seat plate part 3. Backrest 4 support arms 5 Legs 6. Lifting device 7 Support 8 Fixed part 9.21 Hinge 41 Fixed part 41a one end 42 Telescopic part 42a one end 43 Guided part 61 Air Compressor 62. Platform shrinkage section 71 Guide section 81 Fixed part 82 Armrest 83 Lifting switch 91 tactical 92 Axial center 421 First cylinder part 422 Second cylinder part 423 Third tube part 421b, 422b, 423b Guide groove section 422a, 423a, 424a Guided projection 424 Core component 621 Storage room 911 Aperture 911a Inner edge 911b Inner border 921 Restrictive protrusion 921a end 921b end G Installation surface P,Q axis S space

Claims

[Claim 1] The seat plate is pivotally supported at its front end by a hinge that is relatively fixed to the legs, A backrest portion is pivotally supported on the aforementioned seat plate portion so as to be rotatable within a predetermined angular range, A support arm is formed so as to be able to extend and retract in the front-rear direction of the backrest while maintaining a constant angle with respect to the support, with one end fixed to the backrest and the other end connected to a support that is fixed relative to the legs so as to be able to move up and down, A lifting device that raises and lowers the seat plate so that it rotates around the hinge, A chair equipped with [a specific feature / feature].

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