Chair Having a Pelvis-Hip Support Adjustable Relative to a Front Seat Portion

The invention relates to a chair having a seat and a back whose inclination can be adjusted.

In a prior art chair of this type (European Pat. No. 0,185,388), corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,730 change of a chair from the working position to a reclining position causes an adjustment device to effect a simultaneous, synchronous displacement of a front seat portion (reference numeral 2 thereof) as well as a backrest and a pelvis-hip support, the initial section of which extends at least over the entire hip region of the chair user's spine. If the prior art chair is in the working position, the seat surface extends approximately horizontally. The adjustment device includes an adjustment lever which is curved about approximately 90.degree. and is articulated to the seat support and engages in an articulated manner at the backrest. The adjustment lever is pivotable by means of a pneumatic cylinder. The pelvis-hip support is supported on the adjustment lever by way of an approximately vertically disposed spring "ressort mecanique" (page 3, paragraph 5).

It is also known to divide the chair contour supporting the chair user into a section forming the seat surface, a pelvis supporting section and a section forming the backrest and to make the pelvis support adjustable. The latter may also be done in such a manner that the user has no influence on the adjustment (German Pat. No. 1,256,840, column 3, lines 39-47).

In a prior art chair of a comparable type, the rocker can be fixed in a set position by means of a friction locking multiple disc clutch through which passes a clamping rod, and a positive and synchronous adjustment of the inclination of the seat section and the backrest is provided approximately in a ratio of 1:2 (Embodiment of FIGS. 6, 6a), for example see U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,514 and Canadian Application No. 486,589.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved a chair of the above-mentioned type such that its shell elements, which divide the chair shell contour into stable supporting zones and flexible elastic zones, adapt themselves automatically infinitely, and much better to the motion sequences of a human body occurring as a result of such change, i.e. to the active movements of the body, when the chair user changes his sitting position, while continuously supporting the pelvis-hip area of the chair user's body.

This is accomplished by the present invention having a seat and adjustable back which are articulated by a mechanism having first, second, and third pivot axes. In this device, approximately one third of the seat surface is formed by the pelvis-hip support. The third hinge axis is so low that it is still disposed within the chair user's hip region (.apprxeq.the statistical mean of body sizes). The enforced pivot ratio between a pelvis-hip support and a front seat portion (S) brings about the result that, in the working position of the chair, the seat surface is bent, so to speak, in that the supporting area of the entrance section of the pelvis-hip section forms an obtuse angle (.beta. in FIG. 2) with the adjacent supporting face of the front seat portion. It is possible to use body movement to pivot the backrest portion, which is articulated by way of the third pivot axis, backward against the force of a spring, thereby meeting a frequent desire, particularly of young persons, to stretch their backs toward the rear. Such backward pivoting is possible in the working position of the chair, in the reclining position of the chair, and in intermediate positions of the chair.

The rocker which accommodates the seat shell of the chair is provided with a suspension to support the user's weight and ensures, in conjunction with harmoniously graduated upholstering of the various supporting areas of its seat shells, pleasant seat and back contact, thanks to the large-area accommodation of the weight of the body. The synchronous adjustment of the seat surface, the rear transition zone and the backrest profile produces low-fatigue balancing of the torso, while providing optimum mobility, and prevents excess tilting of the pelvis area in any position of the seat.

The invention will be described below with reference to embodiments which are illustrated in the drawing figures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of the chair of the present invention in the working position, with other positions of use down to its extreme reclining position being indicated in dashed outlines.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side sectional view of the chair as seen from the rear of FIG. 1, as taken along the vertical plane of symmetry, with its rest position being indicated in dashed outline, for a seat rocker and a pelvis-hip support.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the chair as seen in FIG. 2 with its upholstery and seat shell shown in section, with the chair in the reclining position.

FIG. 4 is a top elevational view of the chair of FIG. 3, with the shell elements of the seat and the pelvis-hip support shell removed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevational representation of the mechanism connecting the rocker and the pelvis-hip support, and including a control lever, used for the synchronous adjustment of the pelvis-hip support, when the chair is in the working position (solid outline) in the reclining position (dashed outline).

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of a seat support as viewed in the opposite direction from that of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a top elevational view of the seat support of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the seat support seen on line VIII--VIII of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the rocker as viewed in the opposite direction from that of FIG. 2, which together with the seat shell and its associated upholstery forms the seat section.

FIG. 10 is a top elevational view of the rocker of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the rocker of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the supporting plate of FIG.4 which together with its supporting shell and associated upholstery forms the pelvis-hip support.

FIG. 13 is a lower elevational view of the supporting plate as seen from the left of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a sectional side view taken along line XIV--XIV of FIG. 13.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are schematic side elevational views, of two different operational positions, respectively showing a working position and a reclining position, of a device for horizontally shifting the body-supporting shell contour as a function of the swinging motion of the pelvis-hip support according to the invention.

The schematic illustration of FIG. 1 shows a convertible chair structure and the conversion of the chair (for example, by movement of the user's body) from an optimum position shown in solid outline for the posture of the working user to an extremely rearward reclining position (shown in dashed lines).

A foot rest 10 includes a variable height supporting spindle 10a. As shown in FIG. 2, it rotatably accommodates a seat support 11 which is shown in detail in FIGS. 6 to 8. In the region of a receptacle 11a which is provided with a receiving bore, the seat support 11 is pushed onto the upper end of the supporting spindle 10. The seat support 11 extends forward (toward the front of the chair) and becomes wider to end in a bearing section 11b (as seen in FIG. 4) which is and elongated is oriented transversely to the plane of symmetry indicated by line b--b in FIG. 4. Bearing eyes 11c' for receiving coaxial swivel pins 32 of a pair of synchronizing levers 25 are disposed on the bearing section 11b, and bearing eyes 11c' are also provided for receiving swivel pins 12 having an axis 12', referred to hereafter as the first pivot axis 12', as can be seen in particular in FIGS. 6 to 8 in conjunction with FIG. 4. As can be seen particularly in FIG. 7, the vertical parallel projection of the seat support 11 corresponds approximately to an isosceles triangle. A seat S as seen in FIG. 2, includes a rocker 14, an associated seat shell 18 and upholstery 18a, and is articulated by the swivel pins 12, about the first pivot axis 12', to the seat support 11 by way of the rocker 14 in a region adjacent the front edge of seat S. By way of swivel pins 17 disposed along a second horizontal pivot axis 17' (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2), the rear of the rocker 14 is connected with a pelvis-hip support B which ends in the region of the seat user's hip. The pelvis-hip support B has upholstery 15a which is attached to and supported by a pelvis-hip support shell 15'. The pivoting of the seat S and the pelvis-hip support B caused by the movement of the body is synchronized by the pair of synchronizing levers 25 in such a manner that pivoting of the seat S enforces pivoting of the pelvis-hip support B about a pivot angle which is 2.5 times greater than the pivot angle of the seat S. A backrest R is connected directly to the upper edge of the pelvis-hip support B swivel pins 36 having a third pivot axis 36'. Backward pivoting of the backrest R due to movement of the body takes place against the force of a spring. This spring is preferably formed by leg springs 42 (FIG. 2) which are received by the swivel pins 36 which have the third pivot axis 36' and whose legs lie, on the one hand, against the pelvis-hip support B and, on the other hand, against the backrest R.

As can be seen particularly well in FIGS. 2 and 3, the entrance section b of the pelvis-hip support B following the seat S extends approximately perpendicularly to an exit section b' following the backrest R. This exit section b' is approximately half as long, as the entrance section b. Entrance section and the exit section b' are connected to one another by an arcuate curved section k (FIG. 2). The synchronizing levers 25 engage at the seat support 11 by way of the coaxial swivel pins 32 for pivotable movement about a synchronizing lever pivot axis 32'. The swivel pins 32 are disposed approximately in a vertical plane a--a passing through the pivot axis 32' (FIG. 2) of the rocker 14 (FIGS. 2 and 3). At their other ends, the synchronizing levers 25 are articulated by way of a support plate 15 disposed at the pelvis-hip support B by swivel pins 30 having a transverse lever pivot axis 30'. The transverse axis 30' is arranged offset toward the rear and the bottom with respect to the second pivot axis 17' of formed by the rocker 14 and the support plate 15 the swivel pins 17 so that a pivot ratio of about 1:5 results between the rocker 14 and the pelvis-hip support B. To arrest the set inclinations of the seat S and the pelvis-hip support B, two friction locking multiple disc clutches 24, 33 are provided which are symmetrical with respect to a plane of symmetry passing through line b--b (FIG. 4) and are penetrated by a clamping rod 22 which is manually controllable by means of an eccentric member, such as a rotatable cylindrical member having a side cam face for urging the clutches 24 and 33 together into frictional engagement. The friction locking multiple disc clutch 24 arresting the pelvis-hip support B is rigidly connected with the pelvis-hip support B by the swivel pins 30 having the a transverse axis 30' and by a transverse pin 31 parallel to transverse axis 30' and extending forward to below the seat S. At its frontal, broader end, the friction locking multiple disc clutch 24 is provided with an arcuate longitudinal slot 22a through which passes the clamping rod 22. A friction locking multiple disc clutch 33 having a slot 33a for arresting the rocker 14 is pivotally mounted on swivel pins 23 having a stationary bearing axis 23' of the seat support 11 and extends in an approximately vertical direction. The slot 33a slideably receives the clamping rod 22 which is fixed to the rocker 14. The length of the arcuate longitudinal slot 33a determines the potential pivot angle of the rocker 14 and thus of the seat S. In the region of the clamping rod 22, the friction locking discs of the friction locking multiple disc clutch 24 for the pelvis-hip support B and the friction locking multiple discs of the friction locking multiple disc clutch 33 for the rocker 14 lie alternatingly against one another, thus resulting in a space saving arrangement of the arresting means. A coil spring 13d providing for the suspension of the rocker 14 is arranged symmetrically to the plane of symmetry b--b (FIG. 4) between the supporting spindle 10a and the front edge of the seat S and is caught in a supporting bearing 41 of the rocker 14 and in a lower bearing plate 13e. The coil spring 13d is provided with a device 13 to change its initial tension. The device 13 includes a screw bolt 13b equipped with a hand wheel 13a, the bolt 13b being in engagement with the internal thread of a screw nut 13c fixed to the seat support 11, as can be seen particularly in FIG. 2. The bearing plate 13e is seated on the screw bolt 13b and is thus able to transfer the axial motion component of the revolving screw bolt 13b to the coil spring 13d. Two further coil springs 42 (shown in FIG. 4) disposed at both sides of the plane of symmetry b--b are provided as suspension means for the rocker 14. Their arrangement in the area between a bore 10a' and the coil spring 13d is evident in FIG. 7 where abutments 11f for these further coil springs 42 are indicated. FIG. 7 also shows the position of the coil spring 13d in which a support face 11e' can be seen thereon on which the bearing plate 13e rests when the coil spring 13d is slightly pretensioned. The reference numeral 11i identifies a recess corresponding to the screw nut 13c in which this screw nut 13c is form-lockingly accommodated.

The swivel pins 17 (FIGS. 2, 3) forming the second pivot axis 17' pass through bearing eyes 14b of the rocker 14 which in turn is supported by bearing eyes 14a (seen in FIGS. 4,10 and 11) on the swivel pins 12. As can be seen, in particular, in FIG. 10, the rocker 14 has two arms 14c which extend between the bearing eyes 14a and 14b and are connected together by a bridge 14f. Reference numeral 14d identifies shaped portions which form a bearing for the clamping device to arrest the inclination of the seat S and pelvis-hip support B. If the chair is in a working position, namely with the backrest R and the pelvis-hip support B in their uppermost positions, the third pivot axis 36 of the backrest R is approximately 14 cm above the pivot axis 17' of the pelvis-hip support B. If the chair is in the extreme reclining position, namely with the backrest R and the pelvis-hip support B in their lowermost positions, the supporting face of the entrance section b of the pelvis-hip support B and the supporting face of the seat S lie in a common plane c--c which is slightly downwardly inclined toward the rear of the chair (FIG. 3).

In special cases, it may be advisable to support the synchronous pivoting of the pelvis-hip support B from its lower pivot position (FIG. 3) into its upper pivot position (FIG. 2) by the force of a spring, preferably by leg springs 37 (FIGS 2, 3).

If, after releasing the blockage of the set inclinations of the seat portion S and the pelvis-hip support B, the person seated in the chair leans backward, the chair moves, by virtue of the body motion, from a working position (FIGS. 2 and 15) into a position of rest (FIGS. 3 and 16). In the position of rest the seated person can rearwardly bend his/her back against the force of the springs 42 (as seen in FIG. 4). This results in an appreciable rearward shift of the center of gravity of the seated person so that the chair is in danger of a rearward toppling. This danger may be counteracted, for example, by a corresponding limitation of the rearward swinging motion of the backrest R.

In many cases, however, it is a desideratum to provide for a possibly substantial swinging path of the backrest R to achieve a desired stretch of the seated person's back. For such a case, in order to ensure reliably the elimination of the danger of a backward toppling of the seat, according to the invention a device is provided which effects a forward shift of the center of gravity of the body of the seated person when leaning backwardly until the backrest executes its maximum excursion. The construction and mode of operation of this device will now be described in conjunction with FIGS. 15 and 16. As schematically shown in FIG. 15, which is a side elevational view of a mechanism which is symmetrical about a central plane parallel to the plane of the figure, shaft pins 12 of the rocker 14 are horizontally displaceably supported in horizontal slots 50 of the stationary seat carrier 11. As seen in FIG. 16 the maximum path of displacement X corresponds to the length of the slots 50. As may be observed from a comparison of FIGS. 15 and 16, the body-supporting shell contour formed of the frontal seat portion S, the pelvis-hip support B and the backrest R is displaceable rearwardly to an extent X as the chair is moved from the working position (FIG. 15) into the position of rest (FIG. 16). The shift is effected with the aid of a linkage H jointed with the rocker 14 for the seat portion S, the support plate 15 for the pelvis-hip support B, and the stationary seat carrier 11. The linkage H includes two levers 51 which are each, at one end thereof, jointed to the stationary seat carrier 11 by means of a shaft pin 52 and at the other end thereof are each articulated to the rocker 14 by means of a shaft pin 53. By means of shaft pins 56 two further levers 54 are jointed to upper extension terminals 51' of the levers 51. The levers 54 are, at their respective rear portions, articulated by means of shaft pins 55 to the support plate 15 for the pelvis-hip support B. The rearward swing of the backrest R which may be effected by body motion against the force of the spring 42 (shown in FIG. 2) about the third pivot axis 36' is indicated by the rear pivoted position of the backrest shown in solid lines in FIGS. 15 and 16, while the forward swing effected by the spring 42 is shown by broken lines in FIGS. 15 and 16.

The horizontal shift of the body-supporting shell contour formed of the frontal seat part S with the rocker 14, the pelvis-hip support B with the support plate 15 and the backrest R, causes a for motion of the body-supporting shell contour, as a unit, through a distance X. As may be observed from a comparison between FIGS. 15 and 16, during this occurrence the levers 54, by virtue of a positive force transmitted thereto by the shaft pins 55 which travel about the second pivot axis 17 are shifted through an arcuate path k from a position shown in FIG. 15 substantially in a forward direction into a position according to FIG. 16. By virtue of this occurrence, the levers 51 are pivoted about the stationary shaft pins 52 from their position shown in FIG. 15 into the position shown in FIG. 16. Since the levers 51 are, in their upper half, articulated by shaft pins 53 to the rocker 14, by virtue of their pivotal motion the unit designated as the body-supporting shell contour is displaced forwardly through the distance X. In this manner there is obtained, upon the transition of the chair from the working position according to FIG. 15 into the position of rest according to FIG. 16, a shift of the center of gravity of the body of the seated person by the distance X in a forward direction. In this manner, the danger of a rearward toppling of the chair is reliably prevented even if, in the position of rest, the seated person leans backward such that the backrest executes its maximum rearward pivoting motion.

By virtue of the segmentation of the body-supporting shell contour determined by the pelvis-hip support B and based on principles of the anatomy of the sitting position, the specific synchronous shift of the seat portion S and the pelvis-hip support B, as well as the return-resiliency of the backrest R joined to the pelvis-hip support B, leads to a "dynamic sitting" posture with an upright position of the seated person's spinal column in the zone of the pelvis and hip.

It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.