Adjustable seating
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a base;
a seating surface,a back-supporting surface,a rotational mechanism to enable the back-supporting surface to rotate about an axis that is higher from a floor than is the seating surface,the rotational mechanism comprising a first element and a second element, the back-supporting surface and the first element being coupled for rotation about the axis relative to the second element in response to motion of a person sitting on the seating surface,the seating surface being movable relative to the base toward and away from a vertical plane that contains the axis, andan axis-transferring mechanism having a first element and a second element that are both together coupled between the second element of the rotational mechanism and the base and are movable relative to one another to transfer the axis toward and away from a floor,the first and second elements of the axis-transferring mechanism having at least one mode of operation in which they are movable relative to one another separately from the rotation of the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism relative to the second element of the rotational mechanism,the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the second element of the rotational mechanism, and the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the base, the axis being transferred, by motion of the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism relative to the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism, the axis being transferred toward the floor in response to an amount of force applied by the back of a person sitting on the seating surface and away from the floor in response to a lesser amount of force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface.
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Abstract
Among other things, a seat includes a base; a back-supporting surface coupled to the base; and a seating surface movable relative to the base in a direction of motion toward and away from the back-supporting surface. The back-supporting surface has a lower portion nearer the seating surface that is movable, relative to an upper portion of the back-supporting surface that is farther from the seating surface, in the direction of motion as the seating surface moves in the direction of motion.
44 Citations
100 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a base; a seating surface, a back-supporting surface, a rotational mechanism to enable the back-supporting surface to rotate about an axis that is higher from a floor than is the seating surface, the rotational mechanism comprising a first element and a second element, the back-supporting surface and the first element being coupled for rotation about the axis relative to the second element in response to motion of a person sitting on the seating surface, the seating surface being movable relative to the base toward and away from a vertical plane that contains the axis, and an axis-transferring mechanism having a first element and a second element that are both together coupled between the second element of the rotational mechanism and the base and are movable relative to one another to transfer the axis toward and away from a floor, the first and second elements of the axis-transferring mechanism having at least one mode of operation in which they are movable relative to one another separately from the rotation of the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism relative to the second element of the rotational mechanism, the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the second element of the rotational mechanism, and the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the base, the axis being transferred, by motion of the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism relative to the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism, the axis being transferred toward the floor in response to an amount of force applied by the back of a person sitting on the seating surface and away from the floor in response to a lesser amount of force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89)
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90. A method of supporting a user above a floor, the method comprising:
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rotating a back-supporting surface and a first element of a rotational mechanism about an axis that is higher from the floor than is a seating surface, in response to motion of a person sitting on the seating surface; moving a seating surface toward and away from a vertical plane that contains the axis; transferring the axis toward the floor in response to a force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface and away from the floor in response to a lesser amount of force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface, by moving (a) a first element of an axis-transferring mechanism that is coupled to a second element of the rotational mechanism, relative to (b) a second element of the transferring mechanism that is coupled to a base, the first and second elements of the axis-transferring mechanism having at least one mode of operation in which they are movable relative to one another separately from the rotation of the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism relative to the second element of the rotational mechanism, the first element and the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled together between the second element of the rotational mechanism and the base. - View Dependent Claims (91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97)
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98. An apparatus comprising:
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a seating surface, a back-supporting surface; a rotational mechanism to enable the back-supporting surface to rotate about an axis that is higher than is the seating surface, the rotational mechanism comprising a first element and a second element, the back-supporting surface and the first element being coupled for rotation about the axis relative to the second element in response to motion of a person sitting on the seating surface, the seating surface being movable toward and away from a vertical plane that contains the axis, and an axis-transferring mechanism to enable motion of the axis toward and away from the floor, the axis-transferring mechanism comprising a first element and a second element movable relative to one another, the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the second element of the rotational mechanism, and the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the base, the axis being transferable, by operation of the axis-transferring mechanism, toward the floor in response to a force applied by the back of a person sitting on the seating surface and away from the floor in response to a lesser amount of force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface, the axis-transferring mechanism being configured so that the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism moves with and transfers the axis, the first and second elements of the axis-transferring mechanism having at least one mode of operation in which they are movable relative to one another separately from the rotation of the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism relative to the second element of the rotational mechanism.
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99. An apparatus comprising:
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a seating surface, a back-supporting surface, a rotational mechanism to enable the back-supporting surface to rotate about an axis that is higher from the floor than is the seating surface, the rotational mechanism comprising a first element and a second element, the back-supporting surface and the first element being coupled for rotation about the axis relative to the second element in response to motion of a person sitting on the seating surface, the seating surface being movable relative to a base toward and away from a vertical plane that contains the axis, and an axis-transferring mechanism to enable motion of the axis toward and away from the floor, the axis-transferring mechanism comprising a first element and a second element movable relative to one another, the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the second element of the rotational mechanism, and the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the base, the axis being transferable, by operation of the axis-transferring mechanism, toward the floor in response to a force applied by the back of a person sitting on the seat seating surface and away from the floor in response to a lesser amount of force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface, the axis-transferring mechanism being configured so that the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism transfers the axis during at least a part of the operation of the axis-transferring mechanism, the first and second elements of the axis-transferring mechanism having at least one mode of operation in which they are movable relative to one another separately from the rotation of the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism relative to the second element of the rotational mechanism.
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100. An apparatus comprising:
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a seating surface, a back-supporting surface, a rotational mechanism to enable the back-supporting surface to rotate about an axis that is higher from the floor than is the seating surface, the rotational mechanism comprising a first element and a second element, the back-supporting surface and the first element being coupled for rotation about the axis relative to the second element in response to motion of a person sitting on the seating surface, the seating surface being movable relative to a base toward and away from a vertical plane that contains the axis, and an axis-transferring mechanism to enable motion of the axis toward and away from the floor, the axis-transferring mechanism comprising a first element and a second element movable relative to one another, the first element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the second element of the rotational mechanism, and the second element of the axis-transferring mechanism being coupled to the base, the axis being transferable, by operation of the axis-transferring mechanism, toward the floor in response to a force applied by the back of a person sitting on the seat seating surface and away from the floor in response to a lesser amount of force applied by the back of the person sitting on the seating surface, the first and second elements of the axis-transferring mechanism having at least one mode of operation in which they are movable relative to one another separately from the rotation of the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism relative to the second element of the rotational mechanism, the first element and the second element of the rotational mechanism defining two substructures of the seat, one of the substructures including the back-supporting surface and the first element of the rotational mechanism, the other of the substructures including the elements of the axis-transferring mechanism.
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Specification