Chair with hinged backrest

• US 4,796,952 A
• Filed: 05/18/1987
• Issued: 01/10/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1986
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Pro-Cord SpA
• Original Assignee: Giancarlo Piretti
• Inventors: Piretti, Giancarlo
• Primary Examiner(s): Dorner, Kenneth J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brown, Peter R.
• Application Number:
  US07/050,862
• Time in Patent Office: 603 Days
• Field of Search: 297/300, 297/316, 297/320, 297/321, 297/340, 297/341, 248/157, 248/421
• US Class Current: 297/300.5
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 1/03272 with coil springs

Abstract

The chair is provided with a seat connected to a support structure of the chair by means of one or more hinged parallelograms consisting of pairs of tie-rods hinged to the seat and to the support structure. The structure of the chair backrest is integral with at least one of the tie-rods so as to allow the seat to be raised when the backrest is pushed backwards. Provision is also made for elastic means which are designed to counteract the backwards movement of the backrest.

Claims

1. A chair comprising a support structure;

a seat connected to the support structure by means of a pair of first and second levers having respective first ends hinged to the seat and respective second ends hinged to the support structure, so that the support structure, first and second levers, and seat define a parallelogram system that is able to move the seat between a lowered position and a raised position; and

a backrest hinged to the support structure and operationally connected to the seat so as to be able to pivot between an upright position corresponding to the lowered position of the seat and a reclined position corresponding to the raised position of the seat,

characterized in that;

a. the backrest (20) is integral with at least one of the second levers (27);

b. elastic means (42) are associated with the parallelogram system (18, 19, 25,

     27) and are designed to hold the backrest (20) elastically in the upright position (A);

c. at least one of the levers (27) has, on the end hinged to the support structure (12), an arm (27b) such that the arm defines with the lever (27) a right-angled lever pivotally mounted on the support structure (12), the elastic means (42) being inserted between the arm (27b) and the support structure (12);

d. a rod (31) is hinged to the arm (27b) of the right-angled lever, which rod is provided with an annular shoulder (31a) facing an associated projection (40) integral with the support structure (12), the elastic means comprises a helical spring (42) coaxial with the rod (31) being arranged between the shoulder (31a) and the projection (40) to render the parallelogram system adjustable.

2. The chair according to claim 1, characterized in that each lever of the adjustable parallelogram system comprises an arm to form first and second right-angled levers (25, 27), to the respective arms (25b, 27b) of the right-angled levers the ends of the rod (31) are hinged.

3. The chair according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the support structure (12) comprises a pair of longitudinal braces (18) in the vicinity of the seat (19), and

characterized in that:

a. the pairs of first and second levers comprise a first pair (25) and a second pair (27) of right-angled levers hinged on the braces (18), the second pair of right-angled levers being hinged close to the backrest (20);

b. the backrest (20) includes an internal tubular structure (21);

c. the second pair of levers are provided with portions (27c) to which the backrest internal structure is fixed;

d. each lever of the first and second pairs of right-angled levers has a respective first arm (25a, 27a) hinged to the seat (19) and a respective second arm (25b, 27b); and

e. the rid is hinged to the second arms of the respective levers.

4. The chair according to claim 3, characterized in that the longitudinal braces (18) comprise U-shaped metal sections inside which the rods (31) and the helical springs (42) are contained.

5. The chair of claim 4 characterized in that:

a. the rod comprises a center section and two end sections;

b. the annular shoulder is formed on the rod center section;

c. the support structure projection is fabricated with a fork shape that defines a space adapted to accept the rod center section for reciprocation within the forked space; and

d. the helical spring is coaxial with the rod center section.

6. The chair according to claim 5 characterized in that the rod end sections are hinged to the second arms of the respective right angled levers at locations proximate the longitudinal braces (18) to thereby enable the parallelogram system to achieve a low vertical profile.

7. A chair comprising:

a support structure,

a seat,

at least one front and one rear lever having respective opposed ends that are pivotally connected to the support structure and the seat, respectively, so as to define with the seat and support structure a parallelogram linkage connecting the seat to the support structure and allowing the seat to be moved between a lowered position and a raised position,

a backrest support structure which is rigidly and non-pivotally connected to said rear lever so as to be movable together with said rear lever between an upright position corresponding to the lowered position of the seat and the reclined position corresponding to the raised position of the seat, and

spring means associated with at least one of said front and rear levers for biasing the backrest support structure towards its upright position corresponding to the lowered position of the seat.

8. A chair as set forth in claim 7 wherein at least one of said front and rear levers includes an arm, said spring means being interposed between said arm and the support structure.

9. A chair as set forth in claim 8 wherein a rod is hinged to said arm, said rod being provided with a shoulder facing an associated projection integral with the support structure, and wherein a helical spring coaxial with the rod is arranged between the shoulder and the projection.

10. A chair as set forth in claim 9 wherein each of said front and rear levers includes a respective arm, said rod having its ends pivotally connected to said respective arms.

11. A chair as set forth in claim 10 wherein the support structure includes a pair of longitudinal side braces adjacent the seat, each of said braces pivotally supporting a front and a rear pair of right-angled levers adjacent the front and the rear ends of the longitudinal brace, respectively, each right-angled lever including a first portion constituting the respective front and rear levers and a second portion constituting the associated arm, the right-angled levers of the rear pair further including portions that are rigidly fixed to the backrest support structure.

12. A chair as set forth in claim 11 wherein said longitudinal braces comprise U-shaped sections wherein said rod and said spring means are located.

13. A chair as set forth in claim 12 wherein the seat is provided with two longitudinal bars, each bar having two inverted U-shaped brackets rigidly fixed to the front and the rear ends thereof, each bracket being pivotally connected to a corresponding pair of said right-angled levers.