Swivel Chair With Adjustable Back Rest

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view of a swivel chair which embodies the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the support and of the coupling means in the swivel chair of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view of the support and coupling means shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the support and of modified coupling means; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the support and coupling means shown in FIG. 4.

Referring first to FIG. 1, there is shown a swivel chair 1 which includes a leg having an upright column 5 and a support 4 which is carried by the upper end of the column. The column 5 forms part of or contains customary means for raising or lowering the seat 2 and the back rest or back support 3 of the chair 1. In accordance with a feature of the invention, the support 4 includes a forwardly extending portion or carrier 6 whose front end is articulately connected with the front portion of the seat 2, and a rearwardly extending portion or carrier 8 which is rigidly connected with the back rest 3. The back rest 3 and the seat 2 can be constructed, movably secured to each other and mounted on the respective carriers in a manner as disclosed in the aforementioned copending patent application for "Swivel Chair". The carrier 6 has a rear portion which is secured to the main portion of the support 4 and which is further connected to the front portion of the carrier 8 by a coupling 7 of the type shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The coupling 7 is designed in such a way that it enables the carriers 6, 8 (and hence the seat 2 and back rest 3) to perform translatory as well as pivotal movements relative to each other.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the coupling 7 comprises a portion of the carrier 6 which can be said to constitute the rear part of the carrier 6 and has an elongated slot 9 extending in the longitudinal direction of the carrier 6, i.e., from the front toward the rear end of the seat 2. The coupling 7 further comprises a slide portion 10 which is provided on and can be said to form part of the carrier 8 and is slidable in the slot 9 in directions indicated by a double-headed arrow A. Still further, the coupling 7 comprises or cooperates with a novel detent device including a first detent element 11 which comprises a toothed rack 32, and a second detent element 12 including a holder 30 which is movably mounted on the carrier 6 by a horizontal shaft 16. The illustrated holder 30 is a bell crank lever having a first arm 31 which overlies the rack 32 of the first detent element 11 and a second arm 19 which is biased in a clockwise direction by a torsion spring 17 serving as a means for yieldably urging the first arm 31 of the lever 30 away from engagement with the rack 32. One leg of the torsion spring 17 reacts against a stop 18 in the carrier 6 and the other leg of this spring bears against the arm 19 of the lever 30.

The means for releasably holding the detent elements 11, 12 in engagement with each other includes teeth 15 on the rack 32 of the detent element 11 and one or more complementary teeth 13 on the arm 31 of the lever 30. The teeth 15 alternate with tooth spaces 14 for the teeth 13, and each tooth 15 has a flank 15a which extends substantially at right angles to the direction of arrow A and is located in a plane extending at right angles to the plane of FIG. 2. The number of tooth spaces 14 at least equals the number of selected (intermediate) positions in which the carrier 8 can be held with reference to the carrier 6 by the detent elements 11 and 12 so that each tooth 13 of the arm 31 enters a different tooth space 14 in each selected position of the carrier 8. FIG. 2 shows the detent element 12 in engagement with the detent element 11, i.e., each of the teeth 13 extends into the adjacent tooth space 14 and abuts the corresponding flank 15a of the adjacent tooth 15.

The chair 1 further comprises means for moving (pivoting) the lever 30 about the axis of the shaft 16 against the opposition of the torsion spring 17. Such moving means comprises an elongated motion transmitting member 20 in the form of a rod one end portion of which is articulately connected to the free end portion of the arm 19 of the lever 30 and the other end portion of which has a retainer 24 in the form of a collar which is acted upon by an elastic cushion in the form of a coil spring 23. The latter reacts against the actuator 22 of a mechanism which further includes a pawl 21 and serves to move the rod 20 forwardly (arrow B in FIG. 2) in order to engage the teeth 13 with the adjacent teeth 15 against the opposition of the torsion spring 17. The pawl 21 can be pivoted by a handle 51 (FIG. 1) to a position in which the rod 20 is free to yield to the bias of the torsion spring 17 so that the latter can act upon the lever 30 in a clockwise direction (as seen in FIG. 2), i.e., in a direction to expel the teeth 13 from the adjacent tooth spaces 14. Nevertheless, the arm 31 continues to engage the rack 32 because the rather strong spring 50 (FIG. 1) which serves to bias the back rest 3 forwardly urges the flanks 15a of the teeth 15 against the adjacent flanks of the teeth 13 with a force which ensures that frictional engagement between the teeth 13, 15 suffices to prevent the torsion spring 17 from expelling the teeth 13 from the respective tooth spaces 14 as long as no pressure is applied against the back rest 3 in a direction to pivot the back rest rearwardly against the opposition of the spring 50. Thus, the spring 50 for the back rest 3 urges the slide portion 10 to the left, as seen in FIG. 2, and thereby forces the tooth flanks 15a against the adjacent teeth 13 with a force which cannot be overcome by the torsion spring 17. Proper circumstances can be selected by the maker of the chair by the simple expedient of properly selecting the bias of the spring 17 and/or by properly selecting the orientation and dimensions of tooth flanks 15a so that frictional engagement between the flanks 15a and the adjacent teeth 13 suffices to resist the bias of the spring 17 when the spring 50 for the back rest 3 is free to urge the slide portion 10 forwardly toward the front end of the carrier 6 and seat 2.

However, if the occupant of the seat 2 leans backwardly and thereby exerts upon the back rest 3 a pressure which counteracts a portion of the bias of the spring 50 for the back rest 3, the torsion spring 17 is free to pivot the lever 30 in a clockwise direction (as seen in FIG. 2) and to disengage the teeth 13 from the adjacent teeth 15. Thus, the detent means including the elements 11 and 12 is then inactive and the angular position of the back rest 3 with reference to the seat 2 and/or vice versa can be changed at will. It will be seen that the spring 50 for the back rest 3 performs the additional important and useful function of normally maintaining the detent element 12 in engagement with the detent element 11 against the opposition of the torsion spring 17.

The aforediscussed orientation of the tooth flanks 15a (so that they extend at right angles to the direction of arrow A and are disposed in planes extending at right angles to the plane of FIG. 2) ensures that the spring 50 for the back rest 3 cannot expel the teeth 13 from their tooth spaces 14 while the spring 50 tends to move the slide portion 10 forwardly.

The positions of the detent elements 11, 12 can be reversed without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, the number of selected positions can be increased or reduced by the simple expedient of increasing the number of teeth 15 on the rack 32 of the detent element 11. Mutual spacing of the teeth 15, too, can be altered and the length of the slot 9 for the slide portion 10 can be increased or reduced, depending on the desired extent of adjustability of the back rest 3 and seat 2. It is even possible to provide some means (such as one or more pawls or the like) to more or less positively retain the teeth 13 in the selected tooth spaces 14, i.e., to enhance the aforediscussed frictional mating engagement of teeth 13 with the adjacent teeth 15 by a more positive engagement between the detent elements 11, 12 when such elements are called upon to maintain the slide portion 10 in a selected portion of the slot 9, i.e., to hold the back rest 3 in a selected angular position with reference to the seat 2. By way of example, the tooth flanks 15a can be provided with sockets for protuberances on the adjacent flanks of the teeth 13 to establish a more reliable engagement between the teeth 13 and the adjacent teeth 15 in each selected position of the slide portion 10 with reference to the slotted portion of the carrier 6.

In order to return the arm 31 of the lever 30 into engagement with the detent element 11, i.e., to fix the back rest 3 in a selected position, the occupant of the chair 1 actuates the mechanism 21, 22 to cause the actuator 22 of such mechanism to stress the coil spring 23 which acts upon the retainer 24 and shifts the motion transmitting rod 20 in the direction of arrow B so as to pivot the lever 30 against the opposition of the spring 17 and to cause the teeth 13 to penetrate into the adjacent tooth spaces 14. The mechanism including the parts 21, 22 is or can be identical with or analogous to that disclosed in the patent to Stucki. The spring 23 ensures that the top lands of the teeth 13 bear against the top lands of the adjacent teeth 15 if the mechanism 21, 22 is actuated at a time when the teeth 13 are not in exact register with a pair of tooth spaces 14. The spring 23 is free to dissipate energy as soon as the slide portion 10 is shifted in its slot 9 to a relatively small extent which is just sufficient to ensure that the spring 23 can propel the teeth 13 into the adjacent tooth spaces 14. It will be seen that the spring 23 renders it possible to ensure automatic engagement of the detent element 12 with the detent element 11 in response to actuation of the mechanism 21, 22 even if such actuation does not result in immediate penetration of teeth 13 into the adjacent tooth spaces 14. At any rate, such actuation of the mechanism 21, 22 ensures that the back rest 3 is thereupon capable of performing only a minute angular movement relative to the seat 2 because such minute movement suffices to enable the stressed spring 23 to propel the teeth 13 into the adjacent tooth spaces 14.

An advantage of the improved chair is that the spring 50 which normally urges the back rest 3 to its foremost position also serves as a means for preventing abrupt forward pivoting of the back rest when the occupant of the chair rises or leans forwardly so that the application of a force upon the back rest (in a direction to pivot the back rest rearwardly) is terminated. The relieved spring 50 then urges the back rest 3 forwardly but such movement is prevented by the slide portion 10 which is connected to the carrier 8 for the back rest and is held by the arm 31 of the lever 30 because the tooth flanks 15a in the tooth spaces 14 which receive the teeth 13 bear against the respective teeth 13 with a force which cannot be overcome by the torsion spring 17 until and unless the occupant of the chair again leans backwards and thereby overcomes a predetermined portion of or the entire force of the spring 50 for the back rest 3. The arrangement is preferably such that the torsion spring 17 is free to disengage the arm 31 of the lever 30 from the slide 10 when the occupant of the chair stresses the central portion of the seat 2 and/or leans against the back rest 3. A mere stressing of the front portion of the seat 2 does not suffice to counteract the force of the spring 50 to an extent which is required to enable the torsion spring 17 to disengage the teeth 13 from the adjacent teeth 15. This constitutes a desirable feature of the improved chair because the person applying pressure against the front portion of the seat 2 is not in the danger of being struck by the back rest 3 since the spring 50 is then used to urge the flanks 15a against the adjacent teeth 13 and to thus prevent the torsion spring 17 from disengaging the detent element 12 from the detent element 11.

The support 4 (note the carrier 6 of this support in FIGS. 2 and 3) is preferably hollow so that it can accommodate the entire adjusting apparatus including the slide portion 10 and the entire detent means. This is due to the fact that the adjusting apparatus is surprisingly compact. Reference may also be had to FIG. 1 which shows only the handle 51 of the adjusting apparatus beneath the carrier 6; all of the parts of such apparatus are confined in the interior of or are thus shielded by the support 4.

As mentioned above, an important advantage of the improved chair is that the spring 50 can act to urge the back rest 3 forwardly as well as to prevent abrupt forward propulsion of the back rest in response to the application of pressure to the foremost portion of the seat 2 and/or in response to the application of a relatively small pressure against the back rest 3 in a direction to pivot the back rest rearwardly. The occupant of the chair 1 must overcome a predetermined portion of the bias of the spring 50 before the torsion spring 17 is free to disengage the detent element 12 from the detent element 11 on the slide portion 10 and to thus allow for a forward pivoting of the back rest under the action of the spring 50. The occupant of the chair can readily control the extent of forward pivoting of the back rest 3 by bending forwardly once the bias of the spring 50 has been overcome to the extent which is necessary to allow disengagement of the lever 30 from the slide portion 10. Movements of the assembly of parts 2, 3 and 8 are effectively blocked by the spring 50 when the chair is not occupied or when only the front end portion of the seat 2 is acted upon by the weight of the occupant or otherwise. The arrangement may be such that the force which is to be applied to the seat 2 in order to enable the torsion spring 17 to disengage the lever 30 from the slide portion 10 is much greater than the force which must be applied to the back rest 3 in order to allow forward pivoting of the back rest under the action of the spring 50 in deactivated condition of the detent means including the elements 11 and 12.

The spring 50 can be replaced with a gas spring. Moreover, the spring 50 can be used jointly with one or more additional springs. An advantage of simple mechanical springs is their reliability, even after extensive wear, and their lower cost.

Another important advantage of the improved chair is that the disengagement of the detent element 12 from the detent element 11 is smooth and hardly noticeable. This is in contrast to the teaching of the aforementioned European Pat. No. 0 001 846 B1 wherein the locking elements must be moved past hook-shaped complementary components in order to allow an adjustment of the inclination of the back rest. The detent means including the elements 11 and 12 is reliable in that it is not likely to jam and thus prevent disengagement of the lever 30 from the slide portion 10 when such disengagement is desired by the occupant of the chair in order to change the inclination of the back rest.

The detent means of FIGS. 2 and 3 exhibits the advantage that the arm 31 of the lever 30 need not carry a relatively large number of teeth 13. A single tooth 13 or a small number of such teeth suffices to establish the required frictional engagement with the adjacent tooth flank or flanks 15a so as to prevent the torsion spring 17 from disengaging the lever 30 from the slide portion 10 when such disengagement is not desired. This contributes to simplicity and lower cost of the detent means. The cost of the chair is further reduced due to the fact that the spring 50 serves as a means for urging the tooth flank or flanks 14 against the adjacent tooth or teeth 13, i.e., it is not necessary to provide discrete springs or other means for maintaining the detent elements 11 and 12 in required and reliable engagement with each other until and unless the occupant of the chair selects to apply the required force to the median or rear portion of the seat 2 and/or to the back rest 3 so as to counteract the force of the spring 50 to an extent which is needed to enable the torsion spring 17 to disengage the arm 31 of the lever 30 from the slide portion 10. It will be seen that frictional engagement between detent elements which is normally undesirable and is sought to be avoided in most instances is used in the improved chair with advantage to allow reliable retention of detent elements 11 and 12 in requisite engagement with each other until and unless the user of the chair decides to overcome such frictional engagement by reducing the bias of the spring 50 upon the slide portion 10 and detent element 11. The spring 50 acts upon the slide portion 10 in the longitudinal direction of the slot 9 and, since the tooth flanks 15a of the teeth 15 are disposed in planes which extend at right angles to such direction, the spring 17 is merely called upon to overcome simple friction between the abutting flanks of the teeth 13 and 15 without the need for shifting the slide 10 along the slot 9 in order to disengage the detent element 12 from the detent element 11. Moreover, such configuration and orientation of the flanks 15a renders the spring 50 more effective in normally preventing a disengagement of teeth 13 from the teeth 15 under the action of the torsion spring 17. Thus, practically the entire bias of the spring 50 can be used to establish friction between the teeth 13 and 15.

The moving means 20-24 can shift its rod 20 to at least one position in which the bias of the torsion spring 17 suffices (after adequate reduction of the bias of the spring 50 upon the slide portion 10) to disengage the teeth 13 from the teeth 15. The handle 51 which is shown in FIG. 1 can be used to urge the rod 20 forwardly (through the medium of the spring 23) until the slide portion 10 reaches a position in which two tooth spaces 14 register with the teeth 13 so that the rod 20 is then free to pivot the lever 30 in a counterclockwise direction (as seen in FIG. 2) and to effect penetration of the teeth 13 into the adjacent tooth spaces 14 so as to enable the spring 50 to thereupon oppose the bias of the spring 17 and ensure that frictional engagement between the tooth flanks 15a and the adjacent teeth 13 suffices to maintain the back rest 3 in the newly selected position of inclination.

The spring 23 of the moving means 20-24 constitutes an optional but desirable feature of the improved seat. As explained above, this spring ensures that the teeth 13 find their way into the adjacent tooth spaces 14 even if the initially selected angular position of the back rest 3 is such that the the lands of the teeth 13 abut the top lands of neighboring teeth 15, i.e., if the teeth 13 cannot immediately engage the flanks 15a of two neighboring teeth 15. The occupant then simply changes the inclination of the back rest 3 to a negligible extent so as to reach the nearest selected position in which the teeth 13 are free to enter the adjacent tooth spaces 14.

An additional important advantage of the improved chair is the compactness of its adjusting apparatus. Such apparatus need not employ a gas spring and it can be confined in the support 4 so that it does not detract from the appearance of the chair.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a portion of a modified chair wherein the detent element 11 on the slide portion 10 in the slot 9 of the carrier 6 for the seat 2 includes a plate-like toothed rack 25 with an opening 26 in the form of a window flanked by two rows of teeth 27 with each row extending in the longitudinal direction of the slot 9 and seat 2.

The lever 30 forms part of a second detent element 12 and its arm 31 has two sets of teeth 28 with each set movable into mesh with the teeth 27 of the adjacent row when the arm 31 is caused to enter the opening 26 of the plate-like rack 25. The thickness of the rack 25 is preferably less than one centimeter, e.g., in the range of two, three or four millimeters, and the depth of penetration of teeth 28 into the opening 26 (i.e., into the tooth spaces between the teeth 27 of the respective rows) equals or approximates the thickness of the rack 25. An advantage of such design is that a relatively small angular displacement of the lever 30 suffices to ensure the establishment of a predictable and reliable frictional engagement between the teeth 27 and the adjacent teeth 28 in order to hold the slide portion 10 and the back rest on selected positions with reference to the seat and carrier 6. Thus, the back rest retains its angular position when it is not actuated upon by a force which tends to pivot it rearwardly.

The number of teeth 28 on the arm 31 of the lever 30 can be reduced to less than or increased above the illustrated number. It has been found that two sets of five teeth 28 each will ensure a highly satisfactory retention of the slide portion 10 on a selected position with reference to the slot 9. By increasing or reducing the number of teeth 28 in each of the two sets, the maker of the improved chair can select in advance the force which is required to enable the torsion spring 17 to disengage the arm 31 from the rack 25 in response to the application of a given pressure against the back rest. The just discussed force is also dependent upon the orientation of those flanks of the teeth 27 which are engaged by the respective teeth 28.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of my contribution to the art and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the appended claims.