Chair control with forward tilt
First Claim
1. In an office-type chair having a base, a cantilevered pedestal assembly projecting upwardly from substantially a center of said base, and a seat/back arrangement connected to an upper end of said pedestal assembly, said seat/back arrangement including a generally horizontally enlarged seat assembly and a back assembly projecting upwardly from and adjacent a rear edge of said seat assembly, said seat/back arrangement also including a main tilt control mechanism for permitting downwardly tilting of at least a rear portion of the seat assembly while simultaneously synchronously vertically tilting the back assembly rearwardly against the urging of a resilient biasing element, the improvement comprising a forward tilt mechanism cooperating between said pedestal assembly and said seat/back arrangement for permitting the entire seat/back arrangement to be vertically tilted forwardly away from a normal upright position into a selected one of a plurality of forward tilt positions so that said seat assembly declines in a forward direction, said forward tilt mechanism including locking means for maintaining the seat/back arrangement in the selected forward tilt position, said forward tilt mechanism being independent of said main tilt control mechanism so that the rear portion of said seat assembly and said back assembly can be synchronously downwardly and rearwardly tilted respectively away from said selected forward tilt position.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An office-type chair having a base, a cantilevered pedestal assembly projecting upwardly from substantially a center of the base, and a seat/back arrangement connected to an upper end of the pedestal assembly. The seat/back arrangement includes a generally horizontally enlarged seat assembly and a back assembly projecting upwardly from and adjacent a rear edge of the seat assembly. The seat/back arrangement also includes a rear tilt control mechanism for normally permitting the seat/back arrangement to be vertically tilted rearwardly against the urging of a resilient biasing element away from a normal upright position into a rearwardly tilted position. A front tilt mechanism cooperates between the pedestal assembly and the seat assembly for permitting the entire seat/back arrangement to be vertically tilted forwardly away from the normal upright position so that the seat assembly declines in a forward direction. The forward tilt mechanism is independent of the rear tilt control.
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Citations
20 Claims
- 1. In an office-type chair having a base, a cantilevered pedestal assembly projecting upwardly from substantially a center of said base, and a seat/back arrangement connected to an upper end of said pedestal assembly, said seat/back arrangement including a generally horizontally enlarged seat assembly and a back assembly projecting upwardly from and adjacent a rear edge of said seat assembly, said seat/back arrangement also including a main tilt control mechanism for permitting downwardly tilting of at least a rear portion of the seat assembly while simultaneously synchronously vertically tilting the back assembly rearwardly against the urging of a resilient biasing element, the improvement comprising a forward tilt mechanism cooperating between said pedestal assembly and said seat/back arrangement for permitting the entire seat/back arrangement to be vertically tilted forwardly away from a normal upright position into a selected one of a plurality of forward tilt positions so that said seat assembly declines in a forward direction, said forward tilt mechanism including locking means for maintaining the seat/back arrangement in the selected forward tilt position, said forward tilt mechanism being independent of said main tilt control mechanism so that the rear portion of said seat assembly and said back assembly can be synchronously downwardly and rearwardly tilted respectively away from said selected forward tilt position.
- 11. In an office-type chair having a base, a cantilevered pedestal assembly projecting upwardly from substantially a center of said base, and a seat/back arrangement connected to an upper end of said pedestal assembly, said seat/back arrangement including a generally horizontally enlarged seat assembly and a back assembly projecting upwardly from and adjacent a rear edge of said seat assembly, said seat/back arrangement also including a rear tilt control mechanism for normally permitting at least the back assembly to be vertically tilted rearwardly against the urging of a resilient biasing element away from a normal upright position into a rearwardly tilted position, the improvement comprising a forward tilt mechanisms cooperating between said pedestal assembly and said seat assembly for permitting the entire seat/back arrangement to be vertically tilted forwardly away from said normal upright position so that said seat assembly declines in a forward direction, said forward tilt mechanism being independent of said rear tilt control, said forward tilt mechanism including a generally cylindrical support fixedly secured to an upper end of said pedestal mechanism and being axially elongated generally sidewardly of said seat assembly, a generally cylindrical tube fixed to said seat assembly and being axially oriented generally sidewardly of said seat assembly, said cylindrical tube being disposed in rotatable surrounding relationship to said cylindrical support, cam means cooperating between said cylindrical support and said cylindrical tube including a first cam part movably supported on said cylindrical part and cooperating with a second cam part defined on said cylindrical tube for causing rotatable displacement of said cylindrical tube around said cylindrical support in response to movement of said first cam part, and a manually-moved actuator positioned below said seat assembly and connected to said first cam part for effecting selected movement thereof.
- 17. In an office-type chair having a base, a cantilevered pedestal assembly projecting upwardly from substantially a center of said base, and a seat/back arrangement connected to an upper end of said pedestal assembly, said seat/back arrangement including a generally horizontally enlarged seat assembly and a back assembly projecting upwardly from and adjacent a rear edge of said seat assembly, the improvement comprising a front tilt mechanism cooperating between said pedestal assembly and said seat assembly for permitting the entire seat/back arrangement to be vertically tilted forwardly away from a normal upright position so that said seat assembly declines in a forward direction, said forward tilt mechanism including a generally cylindrical support fixedly secured to an upper end of said pedestal mechanism and being axially elongated generally sidewardly of said seat assembly, a generally cylindrical tube fixed to said seat assembly and being axially oriented generally sidewardly of said seat assembly, said cylindrical tube being disposed in rotatable surrounding relationship to said cylindrical support, cam means cooperating between said cylindrical support and said cylindrical tube including a first cam part movably supported on said cylindrical part and cooperating with a second cam part defined on said cylindrical tube for causing rotatable displacement of said cylindrical tube around said cylindrical support in response to movement of said first cam part, a manually-moved actuator positioned below said seat assembly and connected to said first cam part for effecting selected movement thereof, said first cam part comprising a slide which is axially slidably supported on said cylindrical support, said second cam part comprising an inclined guide formed on said cylindrical tube, and said first cam part including means for adjusting the width thereof to substantially eliminate sideward clearance between said first cam part and the inclined guide.
Specification