Reclining chair with back and footrest adjustable in position at the same time

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a reclining chair, more particularly one whose back and footrest can be angularly displaced relative to the seat at the same time for suiting the sitter's need.

[0003] 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional reclining chair 1 includes a frame 12, and a footrest. The footrest is comprised of a footrest part 11, and a control mechanism, which includes a pivotal shaft 13 supported with the frame 12, a control pedal 14 joined to one end of the pivotal shaft 13, a co-moving block 15 fixed on the pivotal shaft 13, a first connecting rod 17 securely joined to one lateral side of the co-moving block 15, a second connecting rod 18 pivoted to the first connecting rod 17 at one end, and a third connecting rod 19, which is respectively pivoted to the footrest part 11, and the other end of the second connecting rod 18 at two ends thereof. In addition, the co-moving block 15 has a first rod 151 projecting out from it. And, a second rod 16 is securely connected with the frame 12 at one end, and connected with the first rod 151 at the other end. Thus, the footrest part 11 can be pivoted down to a substantially upright not-in-use position and raised to a stretched in-use one by means of operating the control pedal 14.

[0005] The above reclining chair is found to have disadvantages as followings:

• [0006] 1. The footrest part can only be held in the upright not-in-use position and the stretched in-use one, but cannot be adjusted in between for suiting the sitter's need in different situations. Therefore, the reclining chair is not ideal from ergonomic viewpoint.
• [0007] 2. The back of the reclining chair cannot be adjusted in position to suit the sitter's need, either. In other words, the reclining chair is not ideal from ergonomic viewpoint.

[0008] It is a main object of the present invention to provide a reclining chair to overcome the above disadvantages.

[0009] The reclining chair is equipped with an adjusting mechanism usable for adjusting a back and a footrest, which can be simultaneously angularly displaced relative to a seat supported on a frame. The adjusting mechanism includes a shaft on the frame, a pedal secured to one end of the shaft, a pushing member secured to the other end of the shaft, a fixed pin, and a locking rod for holding the back in position with. The locking rod is pivoted to the back at an upper end, and is right opposite a front side of the pushing member at a lower end. The locking rod has several spaced engaging gaps on a rear edge thereof for selective engagement with the pin. A spring is connected with the back and the locking rod at two ends for biasing the locking rod in such a way that the rod can normally engage the pin at the engaging gaps thereof. Thus, the back and the footrest are secured when the engaging pin is engaged with one of the engaging gaps, and the footrest can be adjusted together with the back when the pedal is depressed such that the pushing member pushes the locking rod forwards, and the locking rod disengages the pin.

[0017] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, a preferred embodiment of a reclining chair in the present invention includes a support frame 2, a back 4, a footrest 6, a pair of connecting rods 5, and an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the back 4 as well as the footrest 6 with.

[0018] The support frame 2 has a first transverse rod 21 at a rear end, and a second transverse rod 24 a suitable distance from the first one 21.

[0019] The back 4 is pivoted to rear ends of two lateral parts of a fixed seat (not numbered) at substantially middle portions of two lateral parts thereof. The back 4 has a transverse support rod 41 connected with both of the lateral parts thereof.

[0020] The footrest 6 is pivoted to front ends of the lateral parts of the seat at upper ends of lateral portions thereof.

[0021] The connecting rods 5 are pivoted to the footrest 6 at front ends, and pivoted to the lower ends of the lateral parts of the back 4 at rear ends thereof, as shown in FIG. 5. Furthermore, the connecting rods 5 are respectively passed through, and displaceable relative to short tubes 25, which are fixed on the second transverse rod 24 of the support frame 2. Thus, the footrest 6 will move together with the back 4; when the back 4 is moved towards a more reclined position, the footrest 6 will stretch towards the front at the same time, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 according to the present embodiment.

[0022] The adjusting mechanism is comprised of a rotary shaft 3 supported with the first transverse rod 21 of the support frame 2, a pedal 31 securely joined to one end of the rotary shaft 3, a pushing member 32 securely joined to the other end of the shaft 3, two separate plates 22 securely positioned right opposite each other on a front side of the first transverse rod 21 of the support frame 2, an engaging pin 23 joined to rear ends of the opposing plates 22 at two ends thereof, and a locking rod 7, which is pivoted to the transverse support rod 41 of the back 4 at an upper end thereof and passed through a space between the separate fixed plates 22 to be right opposite a front side of the pushing member 32 at a lower end thereof. The locking rod 7 is formed with several spaced engaging gaps 71 on a rear edge thereof. An elastic element 8 is connected with the transverse support rod 41 and the locking rod 7 at two ends thereof for biasing the locking rod 7 in such a way that the same can normally come into contact with the engaging pin 23 to engage the same 23 at the engaging gaps 71 thereof. The engaging pin 23 normally engage one of the gaps 71 of the locking rod 7, and in turns, both the back 4 and the footrest 6 are secured in position with the help of the locking rod 7 and the engaging pin 23. In addition, the pushing member 32 is preferably shaped to be like a half circle.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 6, to adjust the back 4 and the footrest 6, first the pedal 31 is depressed such that the pushing member 32 pushes the locking rod 7 forwards to make the same 7 disengage the engaging pin 23. Then, the back 4 is angularly displaced relative to the seat to an intended position, and the pedal 31 released such that the elastic element 8 makes the locking rod 7 engage the engaging pin 23 at another one of the engaging gaps 71 to secure the back 4 in position; when the back 4 is being adjusted, the footrest 6 will move at the same time in the way described above. In other words, the footrest 6 can be adjusted together with the back 4.

[0024] From the above description, it can be understood that the reclining chair of the present invention has advantages as followings:

• [0025] 1. The back can be moved to a selected one of several different positions thereof, and the footrest can, too. Therefore, the present reclining chair can satisfy different sitters' needs as well as satisfy one sitter in different situations.
• [0026] 2. When the back is being adjusted, the footrest will at the same time move to an appropriate position therefore the present reclining chair is better than the conventional one from ergonomic viewpoint.