Chair with reclining back rest

[0002] This invention relates generally to chairs and, more particularly, to chairs having a reclining back rest.

[0003] Chairs having a back rest which is rearwardly reclinable when a user leans back against it are very popular. Such chairs are generally held to be more comfortable than chairs with rigid, non-deflectable back rests.

[0004] To date, however, chairs having reclinable back rest have required complex, cumbersome and expensive constructions. Such constructions are impractical for schools and other institutional entities providing large conference centers (e.g., hotels, convention centers, etc.) Reclinable chairs of the prior art are generally too large, too expensive and too difficult to store for such institutional entities.

[0005] Accordingly, there is a need for a chair with a reclinable back which is at once compact, inexpensive to manufacture and convenient to store.

[0006] The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a chair having a seat and a back rest. The back rest is attached to the seat via a back rest support element. The back rest support element comprises a flat spring disposed under pre-tension.

[0007] In one embodiment, the seat is disposed upon a seat support structure having four legs. Preferably, the legs are splayed outside the perimeter of the seat, so that the chair is stackable with chairs of like design.

[0008] In another embodiment, the back rest support element further comprises a full tilt stop tab for preventing the over-deflection of the back rest in a rearward direction and an at-rest stop tab for preventing the forward deflection of the back rest beyond a predetermined “at-rest” position.

[0009] In a typical embodiment, the seat and the backrest are made from a lightweight plastic material and the support structure is made from tubular steel.

[0010] It is also typical that the flat spring be made from a non-metallic material, such as from fiberglass.

[0011] These features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims and accompanying figures where:

[0012] FIG. 1 is a side view of a chair having features of the invention;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a bottom side view of the chair illustrated in FIG. 1;

[0014] FIG. 3 is an isometric detail view showing the back of the chair illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0015] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional detail view of the chair illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along line 4—4;

[0016] FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional detail view of the chair illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along line 5A—5A;

[0017] FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional detail view similar to that illustrated in FIG. 5A, except that the back rest of the chair is shown in a reclined position;

[0018] FIG. 6 is a isometric view of a back rest support element having features of the invention;

[0019] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the back rest support element illustrated in FIG. 6;

[0020] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional top view of the chair illustrated in FIG. 3, taken along line 8—8.

[0021] The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.

[0022] The invention is a chair 10 comprising a seat 12, a seat support structure 14, a back rest 16 and a back rest support element 18.

[0023] The seat 12 is supported upon the seat support structure 14 in a generally horizontal seat plane 20. The seat 12 is preferably contoured to conform to the hips and thighs of a person seated in the chair 10. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the seat 12 is contoured with upwardly sloping side portions 22. The seat 12 can be made from any suitable material. In one embodiment, the seat 12 is made from a lightweight, inexpensive plastic material.

[0024] The seat support structure 14 can be any suitable structure capable of providing a stable platform for the seat 12. In a typical embodiment, the seat support structure 14 comprises a plurality of tubular steel elements 24.

[0025] The seat support structure 14 illustrated in the drawings comprises four spaced-apart legs 26. In a preferred embodiment, the four legs 26 of the seat support structure 14 are splayed outwardly from outside the perimeter 28 of the seat 12, so that the chair 10 is stackable with chairs 10 of like design.

[0026] In another embodiment, the seat support structure 14 comprises a single vertical support post (not shown). Such an embodiment can be adapted to allow the seat to rotate about the seat support structure 14 and/or to be vertically adjustable within the support structure 14.

[0027] The seat 12 and the seat support structure 14 define a seat support combination 30.

[0028] The back rest support element 18 comprises an upper portion 32 and a lower portion 34. The lower portion 34 is attached to the seat support combination 30. The upper portion 32 is pivotally hinged to the lower portion 32 along a horizontal pivot axis 36.

[0029] In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the back rest support element 18 comprises a pair of opposed lateral flanges 38 disposed within corresponding lateral slots 40 formed into the rearward side 42 of the back rest 16. This is best seen in FIGS. 3 and 9.

[0030] In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the upper surface 44 of the back rest support element 18 forms a dove tail fit with a shoulder element 46 defined within the rearward side 42 of the back rest 16. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, shoulder elements 18 are provided by a plurality of rearwardly extending ribs 48. Such ribs 48 also provide structural support to the back rest 16. Also in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the back rest support element 18 has a like number of similar ribs 50, each of which is aligned with a corresponding rib 48 on the rearward side 42 of the back rest 16. This design provides the chair 10 with an aesthetically pleasing appearance.

[0031] In a typical embodiment, the back rest support element 18 is made from a metal, such an aluminum alloy or steel.

[0032] In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the back rest support element 18 is clamped to a generally elongate connection element 52 in the seat support structure 14. To minimize the rotation of the back rest support element 18 about the elongate connection element 52, both the clamp portion of the back rest support element 18 and the elongate connection element 52 are curved. Most preferably, the elongate connection element 52 is provided with a compound radius of curvature, that is, the elongate connection element 52 is curved in at least two different planes.

[0033] The back rest 16 is attached to the upper portion 32 of the back rest support element 18 and is disposed in a generally vertical orientation. Because the upper portion 32 of the back rest support element 18 is pivotally hinged to the lower portion 34 of the back rest support element 18, the back rest 16 is alternatively deflectable between a forward-most position, wherein the back rest 16 is disposed in an at-rest plane 54, and a rearward most-position, wherein the back rest 16 is disposed in a full tilt plane 56. The back rest 16 is typically made from the same material from which the seat 12 is made. Like the seat 12, therefore, the back rest 16 can be made from a light, inexpensive plastic material. Also like the seat 12, the back rest 16 is preferably contoured to conform to the back of a user seated in the chair 10.

[0034] It is important that the pivot axis 36 be disposed below the chair seat plane 20 and that the intersection of the at-rest plane 54 and the seat plane 20 be rearward of the pivot axis 36. It has been found that by such a design, the back rest 16 exerts minimum shear forces against the back of an individual sitting in the chair 10. Therefore, when an individual sits in the chair 10 and leans back on the back rest 16, there is little or no upward shear force exerted on the individual's back (which would tend to pull the individuals shirt out of his or her trousers). In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the disposition of the pivot axis 36 below the seat plane 20 and the intersection of the at-rest plane 54 and the seat plane 20 being rearward of the pivot axis 36 are conveniently accomplished by providing a back rest support structure 18 which is arcuate in shape.

[0035] The back rest support element 18 further comprises a spring 58 installed under sufficient pre-tension to urge the back rest 16 to the forward-most position when the chair 10 is not occupied by a user. The spring 58 is chosen with suitable resilience, depending upon the size and weight of the typical user of the chair 10 and depending upon how high the back rest 16 is disposed above the seat 12. For example, for a chair 10 suitable for a typical adult, wherein the uppermost portion of the back rest 16 is disposed about 13½ inches above the pivot axis 36, a spring 58 exerting about 75 pounds of force can be used.

[0036] In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the spring 58 is a flat spring, made from a suitable resilient material. The flat spring 58 can be made from spring steel. However, to minimize the cost of manufacture, the flat spring 58 can be made from a non-metallic material, such as from a cross ply fiberglass. Such springs 58 typically are rectangular in structure having a width of about 2¾ inches, a length of about 3⅛ inches and a thickness of about 0.15 inches. Such flat springs 58 are commonly available in the market, such as the flat spring marketed by the 3M Company of St. Paul, Minn. as spring product SP1002.

[0037] In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the flat spring 58 is secured within the back rest support element 18 by a pair of spring support plates 60 and four spring attachment screws 62.

[0038] Preferably, the back rest support element 18 further comprises an at-rest stop tab 64 and a full tilt stop tab 66. Such stop tabs 64 and 66 are best seen in FIGS. 5A and 5B. The at-rest stop tab 64 is adapted to prevent the deflection of the back rest 16 in the forward direction beyond the forward-most position. Conversely, the full tilt stop tab 66 is adapted to prevent the deflection of the back rest 16 in the rearward direction beyond the rearward-most position.

[0039] The invention has been found to provide a chair which is considerably more comfortable to sit in than chairs having a rigid back rest. The invention allows such chairs to be made by a compact design, using lightweight and inexpensive materials.

[0040] Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims.