Office Chair Armrest Locking Mechanism for Flat Multi-Axis Adjustment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing armrests for office chairs have structurally expensive adjustment mechanisms that require significant installation space and project out of the armrest, making them costly and ergonomically undesirable.
Innovation Solution
A compact armrest design featuring a bearing head with a stationary base platform, a movable carrier platform, and a locking device with a transfer element and actuating element that allows for simultaneous blocking and releasing of adjustments, reducing component count and space requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional adjustment mechanisms are used in the bearing head, then longitudinal and transverse adjustment of the arm support is achieved, but the structure becomes expensive and requires large installation space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the longitudinal and transverse adjustment mechanisms into a single integrated bearing head structure. The actuating element simultaneously controls both adjustment directions through a unified locking device, eliminating the need for separate complex mechanisms for each adjustment direction.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing head is designed as a multi-functional component that combines support, longitudinal adjustment, and transverse adjustment capabilities in one structure. The locking device serves multiple functions by simultaneously securing both adjustment directions, reducing overall device complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional adjustment mechanisms are used in the bearing head, then adjustment functionality is provided, but production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
By combining multiple adjustment functions into a single bearing head assembly with integrated locking mechanisms, the patent reduces the total number of components that need to be manufactured and assembled, thereby lowering production costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The universal bearing head design that performs multiple functions (support, longitudinal adjustment, transverse adjustment) through integrated components reduces manufacturing complexity and cost compared to using separate specialized mechanisms for each function.
3Ease of operation
If actuating devices are added for the adjustment mechanisms, then adjustment control is enabled, but the armrest structure becomes more complex and projects outward
Solution Approach 1:
The actuating element and locking device are nested within the bearing head structure, with components arranged concentrically and in overlapping configurations. This nesting allows the actuating mechanisms to be contained within the existing structural envelope without projecting outward.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes three-dimensional space efficiently by arranging adjustment mechanisms in vertical and radial dimensions rather than only horizontal extension. The actuating element operates within the bearing head's volumetric space, maintaining a compact external profile.
Data Source
AI summary
In order to provide an adjustment mechanism for the arm support of an armrest, which is particularly simple structurally and which also enables a particularly flat style of construction, a locking device is proposed for releasably locking the base platform and the carrier platform in different positions with respect to each other, said locking device comprising a transfer element, which is arranged between carrier platform and arm support and is connected to the base platform and which has first blocking elements for blocking the longitudinal adjustment of the arm support and second blocking elements for blocking the transverse adjustment of the arm support, and an actuating element, which is arranged between carrier platform and arm support and is provided with a control button for manual actuation and which has elements for simultaneously blocking or releasing the first and second blocking elements of the transfer element.