Adjustable Chair Groove Locking for Synchronized Seat and Tray Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing adjustable chairs for children require significant time and effort to adjust seat depth and height, and the height of food trays or grab rails, often leading to improper seating and safety hazards as children grow, due to reliance on friction and tools for adjustments and lack of synchronized grooves on outer panels.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of an interlocking system using grooves with holes on both inner and outer upright panels allows for quick and tool-free adjustments of seat and foot plates, ensuring proper alignment and safety by synchronizing the positions of the food tray or grab rail with the seat, adhering to ASTM safety standards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If smooth-surfaced horizontal grooves with screws and nuts are used on inner upright panels, then the chair plates can be held in place with tension and friction force, but significant time and effort are required for adjustment and tools are needed to loosen and tighten screws
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the screws and nuts from the adjustment mechanism, extracting the fastening function to a simple insertion motion. The grooves are redesigned to accept chair plates directly through friction and geometry alone, eliminating the need for separate fastening components and tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The chair plate itself serves as both the adjusting element and the fastening mechanism. By inserting the plate into the groove, the system automatically creates friction-based retention without requiring separate fastening actions or tools, making the adjustment self-sufficient.
2Device complexity
If grooves are only applied to inner upright panels, then the adjustment mechanism is simpler, but the food tray or grab rail cannot be synchronized with the seat position, causing improper seating
Solution Approach 1:
The groove design is made universal by applying the same groove pattern to both inner and outer upright panels. This allows different components (seat plates, foot plates, food trays, grab rails) to all use the same adjustment mechanism, enabling synchronized positioning across all components.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustment system is segmented into independent but coordinated components. Each component (seat, footrest, tray, rail) has its own adjustable position controlled by identical groove systems, allowing individual optimization while maintaining overall coordination through the shared groove design.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the seat position is adjusted to different levels without corresponding outer groove adjustments, then the chair accommodates different heights, but excess gaps appear between the food tray and seat, causing safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The synchronized groove systems provide visual and physical feedback about relative positions. When the seat and tray are at corresponding groove levels, they align properly; any mismatch is immediately apparent, preventing unsafe configurations through obvious visual indication and mechanical constraint.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove patterns on inner and outer panels are deliberately asymmetrically positioned relative to each other, creating a specific geometric relationship that ensures proper alignment. This asymmetric design guarantees that when both systems are at their respective groove levels, the components are correctly positioned relative to each other.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention consists of modification to the groove of the side panels and integration of locking system on seat and foot plates of the adjustable chair for children. The upright panel of the adjustable high chair has grooves with a single or plurality of holes along the top and bottom surfaces of the groove to catch a comparable interlocking device, for locking desired object at various positions. The modification to the groove allows more versatility to adjustment of height, and exchanging the usability of the adjustable chair to other types of fixtures. In addition to the modification, similar groove system is to be added to the outer surface of the side panels to accommodate changing positions of the food tray or grab rail in accordance to the changing positions of the seat plates. This groove system can also be applied to other adjustable chairs.