Tilt back chair and control

• US 5,318,345 A
• Filed: 06/07/1991
• Issued: 06/07/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: HNI Technologies Inc. (HNI Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hon Industries Incorporated (HNI Corporation)
• Inventors: Olson, Ogden R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Peter R.
• Application Number:
  US07/712,085
• Time in Patent Office: 1,096 Days
• Field of Search: 297/301, 297/300, 297/304
• US Class Current: 297/300.5
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 1/03255 with a central column, e.g. rocking office chairs
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 1/03261 characterised by elastic means
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 1/03266 with adjustable elasticity
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 1/03272 with coil springs
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 1/03274 of torsion type
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 7/004 for chairs or stools with central column, e.g. office chairs
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 7/14 of adjustable shape; elastically mounted ; adaptable to a user contour or ergonomic seating positions movably-coupled seat and backrests with elastic adjustment means A47C1/03261; elastically-mounted back-rests or backrest-seat units in the base frame A47C7/44

Abstract

A tiltable chair has a base, a vertical post, a seat, a back and a chair control. The chair control comprises a housing attached to the vertical post, a resilient biasing means mounted in the stationary housing for biasing the chair in an upright position, a seat support structure, a back support structure and a back frame member. The seat support structure is pivotally connected to the housing at a pivot axis aligned over the vertical post. The back support structure is pivotally connected to the seat support structure at an axis forward of the vertical post. One end of the back frame member supports the back support structure while a mid-portion is interconnected to the seat support structure and the opposite end is pivotally attached to the housing to provide both differential tilting of the seat and back and correlated differential vertical movement for ergonomic comfort and to avoid "shirt pull." A spring mount assembly comprising compression springs compressed between the front portion of the seat and the seat support structure provides resilient but flexible seat support. A base cover assembly comprises top and bottom fairings which form a friction fit with the base and which also snap fit together to provide a smooth, attractive appearance.

Claims

1. A chair control for a chair having a tiltable seat and a tiltable back supported on a substantially vertical pedestal, said control comprising:

a plurality of supports, including a base support, a movable back support, a movable seat support and a movable interconnection support,

said base support having a forward portion corresponding to the front portion of a seat to be mounted thereon and a rear portion where a chair back is to be disposed and means for mounting said base support on such a pedestal in a predetermined orientation to horizontal,

said movable back support being mounted on at least one other of said supports for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse first pivot axis located forward of said mounting means, whereby said first pivot axis is disposed approximately beneath the location of the hip joint of a user when in a normal seated position on such chair, said back support including a rear portion for providing vertical support of a chair back,

said movable seat support being mounted on at least one other of said supports for pivotal movement relative to said base support about a second generally horizontal transverse pivot axis, said movable seat support having a rear portion, and

said movable interconnection support being mounted on said base support for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse third pivot axis, said interconnection support supportably engaging said back support and said seat support and thereby effecting simultaneous coordinated angular pivotal movement of said back support and said seat support about their respective pivot axes, such engagement of said interconnection support with said back support being spaced from said first and third axes and said engagement of said interconnection support with said seat support being spaced from said second and third axes such that said angular movement of said back support significantly exceeds said angular movement of said seat support and the concomitant vertical movement of said rear portion of said back support during such angular movement substantially exceeds the vertical movement of the rear portion of a seat on said seat support during such angular movement; and

a spring mounted on said supports and engaging at least one of said movable back support, said movable seat support and said movable interconnection support at a location spaced from the respective pivot axis of said one of said movable supports and thereby biasing said movable back and seat supports to the upright seating position of a back and seat when attached thereto.

2. The invention as in claim 1 wherein said movable back support is pivotally joined to said movable seat support.

3. The invention as in claim 2 wherein said second pivot axis is disposed over said mounting means to be directly over such a vertical pedestal on which said control is mounted.

4. The invention as in claim 3 wherein said movable interconnection support engages a first engagement portion of said movable back support and a second engagement portion of said movable seat support, said first engagement portion being spaced from said first axis a distance which substantially exceeds the spacing of said second engagement portion from said second pivot axis.

5. The invention as in claim 4 wherein said third pivot axis is spaced rearwardly from said second pivot axis.

6. The invention as in claim 5 wherein said spring is a torsion spring disposed about said third pivot axis and which engages said movable interconnection support in an area spaced rearwardly from said third pivot axis for the application thereto of biasing forces for biasing said movable supports to said upright position.

7. A chair control for a chair having tiltable seat and a tiltable back supported on a substantially vertical pedestal, said control comprising:

a plurality of supports, including a base support, a movable back support, a movable seat support and a movable interconnection support,

said base support having a forward portion corresponding to the front portion of a seat to be mounted thereon and a rear portion where a chair back is to be disposed and means for mounting said base support on such a pedestal in a predetermined orientation to horizontal,

said movable back support being mounted on at least one other of said supports for pivotal movement about a first generally horizontal transverse pivot axis located forward of said mounting means, whereby said first pivot axis is disposed approximately beneath the location of the hip joint of a user when in a normal seated position on such chair, said back support extending rearward from said first pivot axis and including a rear portion for providing vertical support of a chair back,

said movable seat support being mounted on at least one other of said supports for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse second pivot axis, said movable seat support extending rearward from said second pivot axis and having a rear portion, and

said further movable support being pivotally mounted on said base support and supportably engaging a first engagement portion of said movable back support and a second engagement portion of said movable seat support, said first engagement portion being spaced from said first axis a distance which substantially exceeds the spacing of said second engagement portion from said second pivot axis, whereby movement of said further movable support effects simultaneous coordinated pivotal movement of said back support and said seat support about their respective pivot axes such that the angular movement of said back support significantly exceeds the angular movement of said seat support and the concomitant vertical movement of said rear portion of said back support during such angular movement substantially exceeds the vertical movement of the rear portion of a seat on said seat support during such angular movement; and

a resilient biasing member mounted on said supports and engaging one of said movable back support, said movable seat support and said movable interconnection support at a location spaced from the respective pivot axis of said one of said movable supports and thereby biasing said further movable support and said back support and seat support to the upright seating position of a back and seat when attached thereto.

8. The invention as is claim 7 wherein said further movable support is connected to said base support for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse third pivot axis which is spaced rearwardly from said second pivot axis.

9. The invention as in claim 8 wherein said further movable support is slidably engaged with each of said back support and said seat support and permits automatic adjustment of the point of engagement therealong as said supports pivot about their respective pivot axes.

10. The invention as in claim 9 wherein said engagement of said back support with said further movable support is adjacent one end of said further movable support.

11. The invention as in claim 10 wherein said engagement of said seat support with said further movable support is intermediate the engagement thereof with said back support and said second pivot axis.

12. The invention as in claim 8 wherein said resilient biasing member is a torsion spring disposed about said third pivot axis and which engages said further movable support in an area spaced rearwardly from said third pivot axis for the application thereto of biasing force for biasing said movable supports to said upright position.

13. In a tiltable chair having a base, a vertical pedestal supported by the base, a chair seat having a rear portion and a front portion, and a chair back, a chair control comprising:

a housing attached to said vertical pedestal in a predetermined orientation to horizontal;

a seat support structure connected to and supporting said chair seat, said seat support structure pivotally mounted on said housing for pivotal movement about a first generally horizontal transverse axis disposed over said vertical pedestal;

a back support structure connected to and supporting said chair back, said back support structure pivotally mounted on one of said housing and said seat support structure for pivotal movement about a second generally horizontal transverse axis located forward of said vertical pedestal;

a back frame member having one end portion supportably engaging said back support structure at a point spaced from said first axis, a mid-portion supportably engaging said seat support structure at a point spaced from said second axis and the other end pivotally attached to said housing for pivotal movement about a third generally horizontal transverse axis; and

a resilient biasing means mounted in said housing for biasing said seat support structure, said back support structure and said back frame member to position said chair in an upright position.

14. The invention according to claim 13 further comprising means for supporting said back support structure on said back frame member, including a bearing means attached to said back support structure and engaged with said back frame member for sliding motion thereon.

15. The invention according to claim 14 wherein said back support structure comprises a pair of substantially parallel vertical members, a horizontal member interposed between said vertical members with said bearing means attached thereto, and a pair of substantially parallel horizontal extension arms fixedly attached to one end of said substantially parallel vertical members.

16. The invention according to claim 13 wherein the resilient biasing means comprises a torsion spring.

17. The invention according to claim 16 wherein said torsion spring comprises a rear portion extending substantially perpendicular to the torsional axis, said rear portion being in contact with and exerting an upward force on said back frame member.

18. The chair according to claim 13 wherein said seat support structure comprises a pair of substantially parallel horizontal members, each having a front portion and a rear portion, a U-shaped member extending between and connecting the front portions of said horizontal members, and a flat rigid horizontal cross member fixedly attached to the rear portions of said horizontal members, said horizontal cross member having holes for receiving bolts.

19. The invention according to claim 16 wherein each of said horizontal members includes a slot, said slots being located substantially laterally from one another and oriented substantially parallel to one another, said chair control further comprising an axle extending through said slots and fixedly attached to said back frame member, such that said back frame member is slidingly engaged to said seat support structure.

20. The invention according to claim 19 further comprising a spring mount assembly mounted in said U-shaped member.

21. The invention according to claim 20 wherein said spring mount assembly comprises a pair of compression springs engaged under compression between the underside of said chair seat and said U-shaped member for resiliently supporting said front portion of said chair seat.

22. The invention according to claim 13 further comprising a lower back assembly interposed between said chair back and said chair seat and attached to said back support structure.

23. The invention according to claim 14 wherein said vertical pedestal comprises a pneumatic gas cylinder for enabling the adjustment of said chair seat, said chair further comprising a lever assembly mounted on said chair control and operably engaged at one end to said pneumatic gas cylinder, and having an opposite end extending substantially radially from said pedestal, said lever assembly being of such a configuration that, when said lever assembly is in one position, said pneumatic gas cylinder is free to adjust vertically, thereby allowing the height of said chair seat to be adjusted, and when said lever assembly is in a second position, said pneumatic gas cylinder is not free to adjust vertically, thereby maintaining said chair seat at a fixed height.

24. A chair control for a chair having a tiltable seat and a tiltable back supported on a substantially vertical pedestal, said control comprising:

a plurality of supports, including a base support, a movable back support, a movable seat support and a movable interconnection support,

said base support having a forward portion corresponding to the front portion of a seat to be mounted thereon and a rear portion where a chair back is to be disposed and means for mounting said base support on such a pedestal in a predetermined orientation to horizontal,

said movable back support being mounted on at least one other of said supports for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse first pivot axis located forward of said mounting means, whereby said first pivot axis is disposed approximately beneath the location of the hip joint of a user when in a normal seated position on such chair, said back support including a rear portion for providing vertical support of a chair back,

said movable seat support being mounted on at least one other of said supports for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse second pivot axis, said movable seat support having a rear portion, and

said movable interconnection support being mounted on said base support for pivotal movement about a generally horizontal transverse third axis, said interconnection support supportably engaging said back support at a first distance from said third axis and engaging said seat support at a second distance from said third axis which is substantially less than said first distance and effecting simultaneous coordinated pivotal movement of said back support and said seat support about their respective pivot axes such that the angular movement of said back support significantly exceeds the angular movement of said seat support and the concomitant vertical movement of said rear portion of said back support during such angular movement substantially exceeds the vertical movement of the rear portion of a seat on said seat portion during such angular movement; and

yieldable biasing means mounted on said supports and engaging at least one of said movable back support, said movable seat support and said movable interconnection support at a location spaced from the respective pivot axis of said one of said movable supports and thereby biasing said movable supports to the upright position of a back and seat when attached thereto.

25. The invention as in claim 24 and wherein said movable interconnection support extends rearward from said third axis.

26. The invention as in claim 25 and wherein said movable interconnection support slidably engages said rearward portions of said back support and said seat support.

27. The invention as in claim 24 and wherein the ratio of said first distance to the distance between said first pivot axis and the engagement of said interengagement support with said back support exceeds the ratio of said second distance to the distance between said second pivot axis and the engagement of said interengagement support with said seat support.

28. The invention as in claim 27 and wherein said movable interconnection support extends rearward from said third axis.

29. The invention as in claim 28 and wherein said movable interconnection support slidably engages said rearward portions of said back support and said seat support.

30. The invention as in claim 24 and wherein said yieldable biasing means is a coil spring.

31. The invention as in claim 30 wherein said coil spring is disposed about said third axis.