Center-Rotating Leg Rest Assembly for Easier Chair Egress
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional leg rest assemblies in furniture do not allow easy egress from the chair while in the extended position, requiring occupants to retract the leg rest before exiting.
Innovation Solution
A leg rest assembly that is extensible and retractable, connected to a base frame via a pin allowing manual rotation clockwise or counterclockwise, enabling egress while maintaining the extended position, and featuring an electric motor with a detent assembly for controlled extension and retraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the leg rest assembly is extended directly outward along the lateral centerline and retained in the extended position, then the leg rest provides stable support for the occupant, but the occupant cannot easily egress from the furniture member
Solution Approach 1:
The leg rest assembly is designed to be dynamically adjustable in orientation while extended. The pin connection allows the leg rest to be rotated manually from the centerline position to create egress space, enabling the system to transition between stable support mode and egress facilitation mode without requiring retraction
2Device complexity
If the leg rest assembly is designed to extend and retract along the lateral centerline, then the mechanism is simple and reliable, but the occupant must retract the leg rest before exiting the furniture member
Solution Approach 1:
The egress function is separated from the extension/retraction mechanism. The pin connection provides an independent rotational degree of freedom that allows the leg rest to be oriented independently of its extended/retracted state, enabling egress without compromising mechanism simplicity
Data Source
AI summary
A furniture member leg rest assembly includes a leg rest mechanism connected to a furniture member base frame. A leg rest mount board is connected to the leg rest mechanism and is extensible by actuation of the leg rest mechanism away from a stowed position by movement in a direction coincident with a lateral centerline of the furniture member to a fully extended and a center position of the leg rest mount board. A pin rotatably connects the leg rest mechanism to the base frame such that the leg rest mount board when positioned in the fully extended and the center position is further manually rotatable with respect to a leg rest axis of rotation defined by the pin in at least one of a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction of rotation creating a furniture member occupant egress space.