EP0263323B1 - Sitting furniture - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to seating, with a front part of the seat which is pivotally attached to the housing in its front region about a transverse axis relative to the housing, and a rear part of the seat which is arranged pivotably relative to the front seat and which extends upwards to a rear one-piece seat-pelvic support is formed, and an angled lever which is pivotally mounted about a pivot bearing arranged below the front seat part surface.

Such a chair is known from EP-A-0185388. In this known chair, the rear seat part is connected at its front edge via a joint directly to the rear edge of the front seat part surface, while the rear upper end of the rear seat part is connected to the backrest via a joint, which in turn is articulated to the angled lever is. In this known chair, the inclination of the rear seat surface can only be pivoted in connection with an inclination of the backrest relative to the rear seat part surface.

Such a chair is also known from DE-OS 28 22 574. In this known chair, the angle between the backrest and the rear seat part surface changes when the seat inclination is adjusted, with the result that the back support relative to the pelvis is different with each inclination adjustment of the seat surface. A desired angular position between the rear partial seat surface on the one hand and the backrest on the other hand is only possible at a certain inclination of the seat surface, and therefore is only in a certain inclination adjustment of the rear seat part surface, the desired support of the back is possible.

Efforts are being made to design seating furniture and, in particular, office seating furniture in such a way that sitting in a shape appropriate to the body is made possible, on the one hand to avoid physical damage due to incorrect sitting posture and on the other hand to increase the seating comfort. It should be borne in mind that people do not remain in the same position all the time, but rather change their sitting position from time to time.

The object of the present invention is to provide seating furniture which enables ergonomic adjustment of the sitting position and at the same time active support of the body in every sitting position.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the rear end section of the lever is designed as a support for the rear seat part surface and is rigidly connected to it, and in that on this lever, in the region below the rear seat part surface, a rigid arm of the rear section of the front seat part surface is articulated.

The fact that the rear section of the seat is shaped as a one-piece buttock-pelvic support provides constant support for the pelvis, regardless of in which angular position the rear part of the seat and thus the buttocks and pelvic support is pivoted. It is therefore possible according to the invention not only to provide the body with a feeling of security in all movement sequences, but also to provide support that prevents tension and cramping of the back muscles and thus rapid fatigue. This pelvic support also avoids the postural damage that would otherwise occur in the long term.

This seating is adjusted in the following way:
If the lever, which can be designed as a wide-area plate in the direction of the pivot bearing, is pivoted, the rear seat part surface, and thus also the buttocks and pelvic support, is pivoted at the same time by the same angular amount.

The inclination of the front seat part surface is also adjusted by pivoting the lever. However, this inclination adjustment of the front seat part surface takes place by a smaller angular amount than the inclination of the rear seat part surface, because the front seat part surface is not rigidly connected to the lever. Rather, only the boom rigidly connected to the rear section of the front seat part surface is articulated on the lever. When the lever is pivoted, this articulated boom is therefore moved downwards or upwards in accordance with the lever movement. However, the front part of the seat pivots about its front area. Since the pivot bearing below the is arranged front, the pivoting of the rear arm of the front seat part surface acts downwards or upwards, only an adjustment of the inclination of the front seat part surface by a relatively small angular amount, since this articulation point is further away from the front pivot axis of the front seat part surface than from the pivot bearing.

The desired effect is thus achieved, namely that the rear part of the seat and thus the buttocks and pelvic support is pivoted by a different, larger angle than the front part of the seat when the lever is pivoted.

When adjusting the inclination of the seat, the change in inclination of the rear seat part surface is coupled with the less pronounced change in inclination of the front seat part surface. There is thus a synchronous adjustment of the two seat part surfaces and the backrest connected to the rear seat part surface to one another. So it is e.g. possible to align both parts of the seat horizontally, or also to adjust the front part of the seat by e.g. -5 ° and the rear seat area by e.g. To tilt -15 °.

The further the pivot bearing arranged under the front seat part surface is arranged in the rear part area of the front seat part surface, and the closer the rear arm of the front seat part surface is articulated to the pivot bearing of the lever, the greater the relative inclination change ratio between the rear seat surface and the front seat surface. By appropriate The desired relative change in seat inclination can be adjusted by designing these length ratios.

According to the invention, the seating furniture can be designed such that the rear edge of the front seating part surface forms a gap running across the seating furniture with the front edge of the rear seating part surface; this is expediently covered by padding.

According to a development of the invention, the backrest is connected to the upper section of the buttocks and pelvic support, optionally rigidly or pivotable relative thereto.

The invention also has the advantage that it enables a continuous adjustment of the front and rear seat inclination and the back connected to the rear seat part surface. At the same time, it has the advantage that it enables the production of seating with few components and in an economical manner.

According to a preferred development of the invention, the adjustment mechanism is essentially arranged in a support tube. A support shoe is fastened in the support tube, on which the lever is rotatably mounted. The design of the seating with such a carrier has a number of advantages:
On the one hand, the seating furniture can only be mounted on the support tube, so that no pillar is required is. Furthermore, it is also possible to arrange several such pieces of seating on a continuous tube. It is also possible in this way to easily arrange entire benches or several rows of seats with seating furniture according to the invention on these tubes. Such training has the advantage that the floor is freely accessible for cleaning. Another advantage is the considerable material savings, because not every single chair requires one or even more legs.

Another advantage of this arrangement of the adjustment mechanism in a tube is the fact that on the one hand the adjustment mechanism is protected and on the other hand persons are also protected from accidentally pinching fingers or the hand in the adjustment mechanism.

The lever can extend within the support tube substantially over the width of the Stizteilfläche, whereby a firm support of the rear seat part surface is facilitated.

The seating can be biased into desired positions by spring devices. According to another development of the invention, one or more compression springs are arranged below the lever arm running from the pivot bearing to the rear end of the rear seat part surface. By means of this compression spring, the seating furniture can be pretensioned into its one end position, in which the rear end of the front seat part surface and also the rear end of the rear seat part surface assume their uppermost position. By relocating the Body weight, the inclination of the part of the arm and the back can be changed in a synchronized sequence of movements. In this embodiment, the seating furniture according to the invention can be used as a rocking chair.

An adjusting screw is expediently provided, which enables the pressure force of the compression spring mentioned to be changed. In this way, the spring force can be adjusted in the desired manner to the weight of the person using the seating.

According to a preferred development of the invention, the lever is designed as a two-armed lever, the second arm of which extends essentially downward from the pivot bearing. This development of the invention has the advantage that two ends of the lever can be acted upon by desired adjusting forces, so that larger adjusting forces can be exerted on the lever even with a compact design.

According to another development of the invention, a spring is arranged in the housing, between the front part of the same and the lower end section of the second lever arm. If this spring is a compression spring, it acts in the same sense as the compression spring described above, which is arranged under the first, ie the rear lever arm within the support tube.

The spring arranged in the housing between the front housing section and the lower end of the second lever arm can be the only spring or in addition to that be provided before described, arranged under the first rear lever arm compression spring.

The spring arranged in the housing is expediently a gas spring. As long as the release lever of this gas spring cartridge is pressed in, it acts like a normal spring. In this position the chair can be used as a rocking chair.

However, if the trigger lever of the gas spring cartridge is extended, it will lock the seating.

It is also possible to use a gas spring that acts only as a block (without thrust). This development of the invention enables the use of inexpensive gas springs.
According to another development of the invention, a trigger mechanism for actuating the trigger lever of the gas cartridge is provided. By actuating this trigger mechanism, the trigger lever of the gas cartridge is actuated, thereby allowing the seat inclinations to be adjusted. If this release mechanism is released again, the now locked gas spring locks the seat in the set position.

According to another development of the invention, a pivotable spring clip is provided, which is able to lock the free end of the release mechanism in its release position. In this way it is possible to use the chair as a kind of rocking chair.

Fig. 1

eine perspektivische Ansicht eines erfindungsgemäßen Stuhls,

Fig. 2

eine Seitenansicht eines erfindungsgemäß ausgebildeten Bürostuhls. Ein Ständer 10 mit fünf Füßen 12 trägt ein Gehäuse 14, das fest mit einem Tragrohr 16 verbunden ist.

Fig. 3

eine Draufsicht auf den Stuhl der Figur ,

Fig. 4

eine Draufsicht auf einen zweiarmigen Hebel, im folgenden auch Schuh genannt,

Fig. 5

einen Schnitt längs der Linie 5-5 der Figur 4,

Fig. 6

einen Schnitt längs der Linie 6-6 der Figur 4,

Fig. 7

eine Seitenansicht der Verbindung zwischen dem hinteren Ende der vorderen Sitzteilfläche und dem Hebel,

Fig. 8

eine Draufsicht die Verbindung der Figur 7

The invention is described below with reference to an embodiment and in connection with the drawing. In detail show:

Fig. 1

a perspective view of a chair according to the invention,

Fig. 2

a side view of an office chair designed according to the invention. A stand 10 with five feet 12 carries a housing 14 which is fixedly connected to a support tube 16.

Fig. 3

a plan view of the figure's chair,

Fig. 4

a plan view of a two-armed lever, hereinafter also called a shoe,

Fig. 5

4 shows a section along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4,

Fig. 6

4 shows a section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4,

Fig. 7

a side view of the connection between the rear end of the front seat portion and the lever,

Fig. 8

a plan view of the connection of Figure 7

The seat of this chair is subdivided; it consists of a front seat part 18 and a rear seat part 20, which are not directly connected to one another, but rather form a narrow, continuous gap 22 with one another. The rear part of the seat is bent upwards in its rear area and thus forms a one-piece seat and pelvic support. The rear upper section 24 of this buttock-pelvic support supports the pelvis in particular at the level of the pelvic crest. The backrest is attached to the upper end section 24 of the buttocks and pelvic support.

A cushion 26 is attached to the seat surfaces and the backrest.

The sectional view in FIG. 1 also shows the essential elements of the adjustment mechanism:
A two-armed lever, which is also referred to below as a support shoe and which is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 3, is rotatably mounted about an axis of rotation 30. The first, rear lever arm 32 is initially formed obliquely upwards from the axis of rotation 30, then angled downwards. The second lever arm 34 he extends essentially downward from the axis of rotation 30 and somewhat to the front.

The rear, angled section of the first lever arm 32 is formed parallel to the rear seat part surface 20 and rigidly connected to it. By pivoting the lever 32, 34, the rear partial seat surface 20, and thus the entire seat and pelvic support 20, 24, is pivoted by the same angle as the lever 32, 34.

A compression spring 38 is arranged inside the support tube 16 under the first, rear lever arm 32, which compensates for the weight load of the person sitting on the chair.

The front seat part surface 18 is rotatably mounted on an axis 50. A rigid boom 78 is attached to the rear end section of the front seat part surface 18 and is articulated at 44 to the first, rear lever arm 32.

As can be seen from this figure, the distance of the articulation point 44 to the axis of rotation 30 is considerably shorter than the distance between the articulation point 44 and the axis 50 by which the front seat part surface is pivoted when the lever 32, 34 is pivoted. Therefore, when the lever 32, 34 is pivoted clockwise in the illustration in FIG. 2, the front seat part surface is pivoted by a smaller change in angle than the rear seat part surface and the backrest 25.

At the same time it can be seen that the pivoting or change in inclination of the two seat part surfaces 18 and 20 take place synchronously, in a fixed relationship to one another.

In this embodiment, a gas cartridge 48 is also provided, which is articulated with its rear end at 36 on the front lever arm 34 and is articulated with its front end on the axis 50, which is arranged parallel to the axis of rotation 30 and right and left at 52 on the Housing is attached.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of the tubular base support of the chair. This main body essentially consists of the tube 16, which merges into a boom 14 in its central region, on the left in FIG. 3, in the front region of which the axis 50 is arranged at 52. In this figure you can also see the gas spring 48 which is rotatably connected to the front lever 34 at its rear end at 36 and which is fastened to the axle 50 at its front end.

Furthermore, part of the triggering or releasing mechanism of the gas spring 48 can clearly be seen in FIG. 3. This mechanism essentially consists of an angled deflection lever 58, the angle of which, in FIG 60 pushes the release plug 56 into the gas spring 48 or releases it. At the right end of the bell crank 58 you can see the operating lever 62 with which the right end of the lever 58 can be pressed down or released.

In the upper part of FIG. 3, one can see a bearing 64 in which the shoe 13, which will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 4, is pivoted.

To the right of the bearing 64, a seat 66 is indicated by dashed lines and is provided for receiving a compression spring which is located between the underside of the support tube 16 and the shoe to be described.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a shoe 13 which essentially consists of the lever arms 32 and 34 described. The part of this shoe designated in connection with FIG. 2 as the first lever 32 consists of a plate which is pivotally connected to the support tube 16 via two bearings 64. On the underside of this shoe, four compression spring receptacles 68 are provided, which bear with their lower ends against the corresponding counter-receptacle 66 in the support tube 16 and urge the shoe 13 counterclockwise around the pivot bearing 64. The shoe has a plurality of reinforcing ribs 70, which need not be discussed in detail.

Figure 5 shows a section along the line 5-5 of Figure 4. In this figure it can be seen that the receiving assembly 36 is formed in the front lever 34 as a slot into which a transverse axis of the rear end of the gas spring is inserted. The shoe is rotatably attached to the support tube 16 at 64.

To the right of the support surface 68 for the compression spring, the rear end of the rigid arm 78, which is rigidly connected to the rear end of the front seat part surface 18, is pivotally attached at 74.

FIG. 6 shows a section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4. This part of the rear lever 32 of the shoe is rotatably connected to the support tube 16 in the bearing 64, which defines the axis of rotation 30. To the right of the receptacle 68 for a compression spring, another joint with an eye 74 is provided for articulating a rigid arm 78, which is rigidly connected to the rear end of the front seat part surface 18.

This rigid boom 78 is shown in FIG. 7 in a side view and in FIG. 8 in a top view.

The boom 78 has an elongated hole 76 at one end, while it is fastened at its other end via a plate 80 and by means of two screws 82 to the rear end of the front seat part surface 18; see. also FIG. 3. A bolt 84, which extends through the eye 74 as well as through the elongated hole 76, connects the arm 78 to the shoe 13.

The hole 76 in the bracket 78 must be designed as an elongated hole, because when the inclination of the seat part surfaces 18 and 20 moves relative to each other and the distance between them changes.

According to the present invention, however, the adjustment of the seat depth is also possible. This seat depth ver position takes place by shifting the front seat part surface 18 relative to the rear seat part surface 20th

For this purpose, on the one hand, the elongated hole 76 in the arm 78 is dimensioned accordingly long.

On the other hand, the front fastening of the front seat part surface 18 can also be displaced for this purpose, which is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

At the outer ends of the axis 50, which can be designed as a sleeve, an aluminum part 86 is fastened with its claws 88 projecting towards the housing 14. This aluminum part 86, which forms, as it were, an extension of the housing 14, has slots 90 which serve to hold and guide a slide 92, which in turn has downwardly projecting bolts which are guided in the slots 90. This slide plate 92 is rigidly screwed to the front seat surface 18.

When the slide plate 92 is shifted to the left, the front seat part surface 18 is shifted from the rear seat part surface 20 to the left, the elongated hole 76 also shifting to the left relative to the eye 74. This increases the seat depth.

When the slide plate 92 is shifted to the right, the front seat part surface 18 also shifts to the right and thus to the rear seat partial area 20 towards, the gap between the front seat portion and the rear seat portion is reduced and thus the seat depth is reduced.

The clamping screw 94 is used to lock the chair in the desired seat depth setting.

Claims (20)

1. Chair comprising a front seat subarea (18) which in its front region is secured to the housing pivotal relatively thereto about a transversely extending axis,
   and a rear seat subarea (20) which is pivotally arranged relatively to the front seat area and is rearwardly upwardly extended to form an integral buttocks-pelvis support (20, 24)
   and an angled lever (32, 34) which is pivotally mounted about a pivot bearing (64) arranged beneath the front seat subarea (18),
   characterized in that the rear end portion of the lever (32) is formed as support of the rear seat subarea (20) and is rigidly connected to the latter and that in the region beneath the rear seat subarea (20) a rigid cantilever member (78) of the rear portion of the front seat area (18) is articulately connected to said lever (32).
2. Chair according to claim 1, characterized in that the pivot bearing (64) is arranged beneath the rear region of the front seat subarea (18).
3. Chair according to claim 1, characterized in that the rear edge of the front seat subarea (18) forms with the front edge of the rear seat subarea (20) a gap (22) extending transversely through the chair.
4. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the backrest (25) is connected to the upper part of the buttocks-pelvis support (20, 24).
5. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that as main body a support tube (16) is provided which has a cantilever member (14) to which the levers (32, 34) are articulately connected.
6. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that behind the axis of the pivot bearing (64) a pressure spring (38) is arranged beneath the lever (32).
7. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that screws are provided for adjusting the pressure force of the pressure spring.
8. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lever is formed as two-armed lever (32, 34), the front arm of which extends from the pivot bearing (64) substantially downwardly and/or forwardly.
9. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the region between the forwardly projecting cantilever member (14) of the support body (16) and the lower end region of the second lever arm (34) a spring (48) is arranged.
10. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spring arranged between the front region of the cantilever member (14) of the support body (16) and the end region of the second lever arm (34) is a gas pressure spring (48).
11. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spring arranged between the front region of the front cantilever member (14) and the end region of the second lever arm (34) is a gas spring acting only as blocking means.
12. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a release mechanism (62, 58) is provided for actuating the trip plug (56) of the gas cartridge (48).
13. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lever means (62) is made arrestable for activation of the gas cartridge in its activation position.
14. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is formed as single seat (10) or individual seat unit on a support tube (16).
15. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plurality of individual seats (10) are arranged adjacent each other on a support tube (16).
16. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is formed as individual chair (10) with its support tube (16) on a stand.
17. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the front region of the front seat subarea (18) a means is provided for adjusting the seat depth (50, 76, 80, 82, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92).
18. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for adjusting the seat depth includes a slide plate (92) which is rigidly connected to the front seat subarea (18) and is arranged displaceably relatively to the housing (14).
19. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that to the front part of the housing (14) a plate (86) is secured which comprises guide slots (90) for the displaceable and pivotal holding means of the front seat subarea (18).
20. Chair according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the backrest (25) is pivotally secured to the buttocks-pelvis support (20, 24).

Images