Rotatable seat

• US 5,441,329 A
• Filed: 03/02/1994
• Issued: 08/15/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Schmidt & Lenhardt GmbH & Company OHG
• Original Assignee: Schmidt & Lenhardt GmbH & Company OHG
• Inventors: Janisch, Klaus
• Primary Examiner(s): Cranmer, Laurie K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BARFIELD, ANTHONY DERRELL
• Application Number:
  US08/205,943
• Time in Patent Office: 531 Days
• Field of Search: 297/344.21, 297/240, 297/256.12, 297/337, 248/345.1, 248/349
• US Class Current: 297/344.21
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 3/18 Chairs or stools with rotatable seat adjustable in height by rotation A47C3/24
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2200/34 sitting
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 7/1076 Means for rotating around a vertical axis

Abstract

Pivot-mounted on a bottom plate (12) is a top plate (14) which supports an upholstery pad (16), the latter being secured by a retaining ring (18) around the circumference of said top plate (14). The top plate (14) has an outer rim with a polygonal contour so that the retaining ring (18) only engages under said top plate (14) at the polygon corners. This gives rise to a number of clamping zones arranged at intervals around the circumference, between which there are permanent cavities. The retaining ring (18) can thus be easily removed, by local deformation, from the top plate (14) to enable the rotatable seat (10) to be cleaned.

Claims

1. Rotatable disc arrangement as a seating surface for physically handicapped people, with a bottom plate, a top plate with an outer rim, the top plate being pivotally mounted to the bottom plate, an upholstery pad with a circumferential rim, centrally arrayed on said top plate, and a removable, circular-contoured retaining ring which is attached to the top plate and engages over both the circumferential rim of the upholstery pad and the outer rim of the top plate, characterized in that the outer rim of the top plate has a regular polygonal circumferential contour with a plurality of rim elements of the same length which are substantially straight-lined in nature, and with a transition between each pair of adjacent rim elements, and that the retaining ring is manufactured as a single piece having an outer annulus which, in it axial section, is hook-shaped and elastically deformable, which retaining ring engages around the top plate at least at each transition between each pair of adjacent rim elements, and at these transitions is securely located against the outer rim of the top plate.

2. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterised in that the transitions are corners (22) formed between each pair of rim elements (24) of the top plate (14) the corners being rounded.

3. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterised in that the outer annulus (28) of the retaining ring (18) is in contact with a number of areas (22) arranged at intervals around the outer rim of the top plate (14), and that between each pair of such contact areas (22) is formed a gap (26) between the retaining ring (18) and the top plate (14).

4. Rotatable seat according to claim 3, characterised in that the width of the gap (26) changes continuously in a circumferential direction around the outer rim.

5. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterised in that the contour of an axial cross section of the outer rim (46) of the top plate (14) is shaped in to be substantially the form of a semicircle.

6. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterised in that the outer annulus (28) of the retaining ring (18) has a clamping surface (42) tapering towards the bottom plane of the retaining ring (18).

7. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterised in that the outer annulus (28) of the retaining ring (18), having an axial cross section in the shape of a hook, exhibits a circumferential lip (44) which engages under the outer rim (46) of the top plate (14), said outer rim (46) having a convex rounded cross section, which lip (44) being located under preload against said top plate (14) in substantially linear contact pattern.

8. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterized in that the retaining ring (18), has an inner annulus (30) overlapping the upholstery pad (16), the retaining ring having an inner support surface (48) which is supported on an upper complementary mating surface of the top plate (14).

9. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterized in that the retaining ring (18) has an inner annulus (30) overlapping the upholstery pad (16) and having an inner surface with circumferential rib (34) which penetrates into said upholstery pad (16).

10. Rotatable seat according to claim 1, characterized in that the retaining ring (18) has an inner annulus with a cross section which continuously tapers radially inwardly of the outer rim of the top plate.