AU703883B2 - Furniture support device - Google Patents

Description

APPLICATION NO:

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RELATED ART: o o NAME OF APPLICANT: ACTUAL INVENTOR(S): ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: INVENTION TITLE: KEMPRIDE PTY LTD WALTER JOSEF ETZ LEONARD JOSEPH LAYTON KELVIN LORD AND COMPANY.

Patent and Trade Mark At of 4 Douro Place, West Pe ch, Western Australia, 6005, AUSTRALIA "FURNITURE SUPPORT DEVICE" DETAILS OF ASSOCIATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION NOS: PN1414 filed FEBRUARY 28, 1995 PN4690 filed AUGUST 8, 1995 The following Statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me:

TITLE

FURNITURE SUPPORT DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a support means. In particular the present invention relates to at least one support device fitted within the framework of furniture. Furniture includes chairs, settees, vehicle seats, bus seats, train seats, aeroplane seats and the like.

FIELD OF INVENTION Conventionally, standard furniture such as chairs and the like do not provide good lumbarsacral and/or head and neck support which can be adjusted to suit the postural S 15 requirements of individual people. The present invention seeks to address this problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a support devle arranged to be fited within the framework of furniture (as hereinbefore defined) including an elongated member, a shaft and an adjustment means provided for selectively rotating the support device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS SThe present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a front perspective partly broken away view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing a lumbar-sacral support device and a head-neck support device fitted to a chair frame; Figure 2 is a front perspective view of Figure 1 with the upholstery completely removed.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a support device arranged to be fitted as in Figures 1 or 2; and Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 with the support device rotated from the position shown in Figure 3.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described hereinafter with particular reference to a chair.

It is envisaged however that the invention is of applicability in relation to other furniture.

Referring to Fig 1 which shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is shown an upper section of a chair frame 11 forming part of a chair 13 (not shown). The chair frame 11 has two substantially upright sides 12 one of which can be seen in Figure 1. Extending between the upright sides 12 are a plurality of horizontal bracing members 16 The frame i 1 is arranged to be covered with a material 18. Typically the material 18 may be cloth or leather or any other upholstery material. As seen in Fig 2 the upholstery has been removed completely to show the internal structure of the chair frame 11 S Mounted longitudinally between the upright sides 12 of the frame II are two support S* devices 20 and 22. The support device 20 is positioned at the lower end of the chair frame I 11 and typically corresponds with the lumbar sacral region ofa person seated in the chair 13 The support device 22 is positioned at the upper end of the chair frame 11 and typically corresponds with the head-neck region of a person seated in the chair 13.

The support device 20 includes an elongated generally cylindrical member 24.

Preferably, the member 24 is contoured with a respective concave longitudinal surface best shown in Figure 3. It is envisaged that the member 24 be formed of metal or plastics material however other suitable materials may be utilized.

A shall 26 extends longitudinally through the member 24. The shaft 26 is non-circular in cross-section The shaft 26 is inserted within the device 24 and respective ends 28 and of the shaft 26 are external to the member 24. The shaft 26 is fixed within the member 24 by any convenient means such as brackets 32. The brackets 32 extend across the internal width of the member 24. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the shaft 26 is fixed to the brackets 32 in an eccentric manner and is therefore positioned eccentrically within the member 24, this is best seen in Figure 3.

Further, the ends 28 and 30 of the shaft 26 include a locking means 33. The locking means 33 includes a collar 35 and a pin 37. The collar 35 is fitted around the shaft 26 and is provided with an aperture arranged to receive the pin 37.

Connected to the ends 28 and 30 of the shaft 26 are respective shafts 34 and 36 which 4 extend longitudinally away from shaft 26. The shafts 34 and 36 are non-circular in crosssection. The shafts 34 and 36 comprise a respective inner end 38 and outer end 40 and are preferably at least each half the length of the shaft 26. The shafts 34 and 36 are telescopically moveable within the shaft 26, thus allowing adjustment of the width of the device 20. In a further embodiment the device 20 may be of a fixed length.

The outer end 40 of the shaft 36 is rotatably connected to a holding means 44 which is mounted to the upright side 12 of the frame 11 as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

The shaft 34 is joined to the upright side 12 of the frame 11 by way of a bearing 42 and the outer end 40 of the shaft 34 projects beyond the side 12 of the frame 11. Attached to the outer end 40 of the shaft 34 is an adjustment means. In this embodiment the adjustment means is a handle 46. It is envisaged however that a wheel handle or like device could be used A locking device (not shown) is further mounted between the upright side 12 and either shaft 34 or 36.

The support device 22 is arranged in like manner to the support device 20 and like reference numerals denote like parts.

In Figures 2 and 3 there is shown sectional views of the support device 20 in the movement range from about 90 to about 270 degrees. As shown in the drawings the S. member 24 has an elongated generally cylindrical shape with a concave surface located most eccentric relative to the shaft 26. It is envisaged that the surface of the member 24 may also be straight or convex.

In a further embodiment of the present invention the shaft 36 may also be connected to an adjustment means. It is also envisaged that the handle 46 or the like may be mounted internally between the bearing 42 and the upright side 12 of the frame 11.

In a yet further embodiment of the present invention at least one of the shafts 34 and 36 maybe connected to an electric motor (not shown). The electric motor maybe controlled by a suitable control mechanism (not shown).

Referring to the Figures, the manner of use and operation of the present invention will now be described.

will now be described.

Typically, for lumbar-sacral support and head-neck support the support devices 20 and 22 are fitted within the framework of a chair at the time of manufacture. It is however possible to fit the support devices to a chair post manufacture.

The locking means 33 is unlocked by removing the pinll 37 from the collar 35. The action of unlocking the locking means 33 of the shaft 26 allows the shafts 34 and 36 to move telescopically within the shaft 26. Moving the shafts 34 and 36 in an outward direction relative to the shaft 26 effectively increases the width of the support devices 20 and 22.

i Moving the shafts 34 and 36 inward relative to the shaft 26 effectively decreases the width of the support devices 20 and 22. The movement as described thus provides a means of adjustment of the width of the support devices 20 and 22 and therefore allows the devices 15 20 and 22 to be fitted within frames 11 of various widths. Once the desired width of the support device 20 and 22 is obtained the shafts 34 and 36 are secured relative to the shaft 26 by the locking means 33. The locking means 33 restricts the longitudinal movement of the shafts 34 and 36 within shaft 26.

In use, a person seated in a chair or the like fitted with the support devices 20 and 22 may S 20 be able to selectively adjust the support devices 20 and 22 to a desired position to provide optimal lumbar-sacral and head and neck support suitable to their individual body .00. postural requirements.

The adjustment of the support device 20 which typically corresponds with the lumbar sacral region of a person seated in the chair may be made in the following manner.

Rotation of the handle 46 causes the shafts 34, 36 and 26 to rotate up to 360 degrees.

The rotation of the shaft 26 causes the member 24 to rotate around the axis of the shaft 26. Further in a preferred embodiment of the present invention the eccentric mounting of the shaft 26 causes the device 24 to rotate in an eccentric manner around the axis of the shaft 26.

The handle 46 is rotated until a preferred position of the member 24 is obtained and this position can be fixed by the action of the locking device, The adjustment of the support device 22 which typically corresponds with the head-neck region of a person seated in the chair 13 is made in like manner to the support device and like reference numerals denote like parts.

Modifications and variations such as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (1)

1. 7. A support device according to any one of the preceding claims, provided with a locking means wherein the locking means limits the telescopic movement of at least one of the other shafts within the first shaft. 8 A support device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. I' 9 An item of furniture (as hereinbefore described) having mounted therein at least S one support device in accordance with any one of the preceding claims. *a 6 •6 DATEID THIS 4 1 DAY OF FEBRUARY 1999. KEMPRIDE PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys *Is1 LORD COMPANY PERfl TH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA a ABSTRACT A support device (20,22) arranged to be fitted within the framework of furniture including an elongated member a shaft (26) and an adjustment means (46) provided for selectively rotating the support device (20,22). The support device in use providing lumbar-sacral and/or head and neck support which can be adjusted to suit the postural requirements of individual people. *s a m e r. -I I