EP2887834B1 - Chair, in particular office chair - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a chair, in particular office chair, with a seat plate which is arranged on a base frame, and a backrest, which permit a synchronous movement of seat plate and backrest in the manner of a so-called synchronous mechanism.

Such chairs are known in numerous embodiments (see, eg US 2008/169693 A1 ). They have a coordinated movement of the backrest and seat plate. This means that when the user leans back against the seat back, they and the seat panel assume a position corresponding to a substantially recumbent or reclined seating position. Such synchronous mobility results in the user being able to sit upright while working in a prone position while in the reclined position assuming the rest position.

Such a movement coupling of seat plate and backrest is generally referred to as synchronous mechanism. Chairs equipped with such a mechanism have the advantage that they are essentially self-adjusting to the weight of the user without manual adjustment being necessary. The interaction of seat and backrest in the sense described takes place regardless of the weight of the user.

The previously known chairs with synchronous mechanism provide a relatively high level of comfort. However, the previously known chair designs can not be adjusted to load shifts from one side of the seat to the other, and on one side acting against the backrest forces. When using office chairs, however, such unequal loads often occur. For ergonomic reasons, it would be desirable to absorb corresponding loads, so that the chair can adapt to a laterally changed posture of the user. The previous chairs offer this, however, no possibilities.

Object of the present invention is therefore to provide a chair with a synchronous mechanism of the type mentioned, which can adapt to different loads on both sides of the chair and in this way further increases the comfort.

This object is achieved by a chair with the features of claim 1.

The seat plate of the chair according to the invention is tilted sideways, d. H. it can be tilted about a longitudinal axis of the chair, which extends substantially from the backrest forward. This tilting can be superimposed with a tilting movement about a transverse axis of the chair in the sense of the previously known synchronizing mechanism. The seat plate is coupled to two backrest supports whose lower ends are pivotally mounted on the base frame, such that they can be pivoted independently of each other and can assume different inclinations. By the movement coupling between the seat plate and the supports, the seat plate is depressed by a backward pivoting of the support on the same side, while their opposite side is raised.

This motion coupling represents a significant extension of the previously known principle of synchronous mechanism and corresponds to a greater extent an ergonomic sitting position, as over cross-acting loads on the seat plate and the backrest can be compensated by the mechanics of the chair.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the lower ends of the backrest supports are pivotally connected about a common horizontal axis to a base of the underframe, and the tilting axis for laterally tilting the seat plate lies in a vertical plane between the backrest supports. This base may be a part at the upper end of the central column of the undercarriage which is height-adjustable mounted on the column and is stationary with respect to the mobility of the backrest and the seat plate.

According to a further preferred embodiment, bearings are provided on both sides under the seat plate, which receive the lower ends of the backrest supports in an area behind the pivot axis. These bearings may, for example, engage around the lower ends of the supports laterally and from below, for example so that the support ends in the bearings rest on damping buffers. If one of the two backrest supports is pivoted backwards about its horizontal axis, a downward pressure is exerted on the bearing device, which presses the seat plate down on the corresponding side. This leads to the desired lateral tilting of the seat plate.

Preferably, the seat plate is pivotable together with the lower ends of the backrest supports about the horizontal pivot axis. The seat plate can thus not only tilt laterally in this case, but can also perform a pivoting movement about a transverse axis of the chair, so that they can tip over at a uniform load on the two backrest supports to the rear.

In the rear region of the undercarriage, a bearing element is preferably further attached, which is tiltable about the pivot axis of the backrest supports and supports the tilting axis of the seat plate. This bearing element is thus tilted together with the backrest supports and the seat plate about a transverse axis.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the seat plate is arranged in the rear region of the seat, and in the front region of the seat a front seat plate is arranged, extending from this front seat plate to both sides of the chair leg springs rearwardly, the rear Support tiltable seat plate on both sides from below. The rear seat plate can then stir the tilting movement only against the resistance of the torsion springs, which hold the seat plate when not loaded in a balanced position.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the front seat plate is supported by a front bearing part whose rear end is pivotally connected to a front end of the bearing element and the front end via a connecting member to the front end of the underlying base of the undercarriage is articulated, which receives at its rear end, the pivot axis of the supports. The front bearing member, the bearing member for supporting the rear support plate and the front link disposed behind and hinged thereto are then connected to the base into a quadrangle whose vertices are formed by joints that allow the front bearing member, the rear bearing member and the Adjust link against each other so that they can take different angles to each other.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the lower ends of the backrest supports are formed by L-shaped forwardly angled legs whose front portions are pivotally connected about approximately perpendicular axes of rotation with the rest of the respective support and whose front ends receive the horizontal pivot axes of the supports , The backrest supports are in this case not only pivotable about a common horizontal axis relative to the underframe, but the distance between their vertical legs can be adjusted by pivoting the same relative to the front sections of the horizontal legs mounted on the underframe.

Further preferably, the backrest supports are connected in an upper region by a cross-member, the ends of which are pivotally connected to the supports, such that the distance between the connection points is kept constant at the supports, without any relative movement of the supports against each other is hindered , This Traverse causes a movement coupling of the upper parts of the backrest supports together. If one of the supports is tilted, this automatically leads to a coupled tilting movement of the other support. A one-sided acting against the backrest pressure load thus causes a back pressure on the other side of the backrest.

According to a further preferred embodiment, this traverse is designed as a rod with variable length for adjusting the distance between the connection points, to which the rod is connected by ball joints with the supports. The length of the traverse can thus be adjusted by the user to adapt to their own body dimensions.

Fig. 1

ist eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Bürostuhls, der eine bevorzugte Ausführungsform der vorliegenden Erfindung darstellt;

Fig. 2 und 3

zeigen den Bürostuhl aus Fig. 1 in veränderten Stellungen;

Fig. 4

ist eine Seitenansicht des Bürostuhls gemäß der vorliegenden Ausführungsform, gemäß einer Position entsprechend Fig. 1;

Fig. 5

zeigt den Bürostuhl in einer Seitenansicht, der eine Stellung entsprechend Fig. 2 einnimmt;

Fig. 6, 7 und 8

sind Rückansichten des Bürostuhls aus den vorhergehenden Figuren;

Fig. 9

ist eine Detailansicht der Mechanik der vorliegenden bevorzugten Ausführungsform des erfindungsgemäßen Bürostuhls; und

Fig. 10

ist eine Explosionsdarstellung eines Teils der mechanischen Komponenten, die in Fig. 9 näher dargestellt ist.

In the following a preferred embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing.

Fig. 1

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of an office chair which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3

show the office chair Fig. 1 in altered positions;

Fig. 4

FIG. 10 is a side view of the office chair according to the present embodiment, according to a position. FIG Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 5

shows the office chair in a side view, corresponding to a position Fig. 2 occupies;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8

are rear views of the office chair from the previous figures;

Fig. 9

Fig. 11 is a detail view of the mechanism of the present preferred embodiment of the office chair according to the invention; and

Fig. 10

is an exploded view of a portion of the mechanical components incorporated in Fig. 9 is shown in more detail.

At the in Fig. 1 to 7 The chair shown is an office chair 10 which conventionally has a base 12 supporting a seat surface and a seat back 14 attached to the rear of the chair 10. The terms "front" and "rear" and "lateral" are intended to refer to the ordinary position of use of the chair Respectively. The base 12 is conventionally provided with a ring of rollers 16 mounted on arms extending from a height-adjustable central column 18. These components of the undercarriage 12 are known and not the subject of the present invention.

At the upper end of the central column 18, an approximately plate-shaped base 20 of the undercarriage 12 is attached, which is connected to other movable components of the chair 10. The backrest 14 is pivotally connected to the rear end of the base 20, so that the backrest 14 can be pivoted backwards relative to the base 20, as it is in FIG Fig. 2 and 5 is shown. The pivot axis of the backrest 14 is marked in the drawings with the letter A. The axis A extends horizontally in the transverse direction of the chair 10.

The backrest 14 comprises in detail two backrest supports 22, 24, which are connected by a common backrest surface 26. This surface 26 has a certain elasticity, which does not fundamentally hinder the pivoting of the two backrest supports 22, 24 on the two sides of the chair 10, but merely limits the pivoting range somewhat. The inventive function of the chair 10 is not hindered by this.

The backrest supports 22,24 on the two sides of the chair 10 are held in separate pivot bearings on the horizontal pivot axis A. These pivot bearings are located at the back of the base 20 directly next to each other, as will be explained in more detail below, however, on the common axis A. The supports 22,24 can thus assume different angles of inclination. Each of the supports 22,24 is approximately L-shaped and has a rear vertical leg 28, and a lower, in Fig. 1 and 4 horizontal leg 30 whose front end leads to the respective pivot bearing. The length of the horizontal leg 30 provides for a displacement of the backrest surface 26 relative to the seat surface and the axis A to the rear and thus for a sufficiently comfortable seating position. It is understood, moreover, that the backrest surface 26 may be padded or any other Fashion can be designed to ensure adequate seating comfort.

The seat surface of the chair 10 is formed by two seat panels, namely a front seat panel 32 disposed at the front edge of the chair 10, and a rear seat panel 34 disposed between the front seat panel 32 and the seat back 14. While the front seat panel 32 is substantially stationary, the rear seat panel 34 is movable to a large extent, as will be explained in more detail below. It is located above the horizontal pivot axis A and bridges the entire width of the seat.

The rear seat panel 34 is tilted backwards and downwards at a backward inclination of the backrest 14, as in FIGS Fig. 2 and 5 can be clearly seen. The seat plate 34 thus follows the movement of the backrest supports 22,24 and is coupled with these movement. The seat plate 34 is thus pivoted as the backrest 14 about the horizontal pivot axis A.

The perspective rear view in Fig. 9 and the exploded view in Fig. 10 show how the seat plate 34 is motion coupled to the backrest supports 22,24. The seat plate 34 is mounted laterally about a tilt axis B, ie tiltable in the left-right direction. This tilting axis B extends directly below the actual seat and lies in a vertical plane of symmetry of the chair 10, which in turn is perpendicular to the horizontal pivot axis A of the backrest 14. In the resting position of the chair in the Fig. 1 . 4 and 7 the tilting axis B is horizontal.

The seat plate 34 is tiltably mounted about the axis B on a bearing member 36 which is itself tiltable about the pivot axis A. In detail, this bearing element 36 is in Fig. 9 to see. The seat plate 34 is thus pivotable both about the horizontal axis A and about the tilt axis B. The tilting axis B is tilted even when pivoting the bearing member 36 about the pivot axis A from the horizontal position out.

The articulation between the backrest supports 22,24 and the stationary part 20 of the undercarriage 12 via front portions 38 of the angled leg 30 of the supports 22,24. These front portions 38 are in the form of pairs of parallel superimposed plates 40, 42 (see FIG Fig. 10 ) formed from above and below the forward facing ends of the remaining parts of the horizontal leg 30. As in particular in Fig. 7 can be seen, the front portions 38 are pivotally connected to the remaining part of the respective support 22,24, via vertical axes of rotation C. In particular, the vertical legs 28 of the supports 22,24 are thus pivotally mounted on the back of the chair 10. Through the front ends of the sections 38, the horizontal pivot axis A of the backrest 14 extends.

Under the seat plate 34 bearings 44 are provided on both sides, which are formed as L-shaped on the underside of the seat plate 34 molded elements. The horizontal legs of these elements face each other and engage laterally in the sections 38 between the upper and lower plates 40 and 42. The upper plates 42 are thus in the bearings 44, on buffers 46 provided there for damping.

Since the sections 38 can be pivoted about the axis A independently of one another, a different pressure can be transmitted to the seat plate 34 on both sides of the chair 10 via the bearing devices 44, which causes the seat plate 34 to move sideways due to this one-sided loading the tilting axis B is tilted. For example, according to Fig. 3 and 7 the right backrest support 22 pivoted backwards, her horizontal leg 30 is pressed down. At this time, the front portion 38 of the leg 30 exerts pressure on the right support member 44 of the seat plate 34 via the top plate 42, so that the seat plate 34 is depressed at that side while the opposite left side of the seat plate 34 lifts. In other words, the pivoting back of a support 22,24 on one side of the chair 10 is connected to a depression of the rear seat plate 34 on the same side and with an elevation of the opposite end of the seat plate 34 on the other side. The backrest supports 22,24 take this different inclination positions. Fig. 8 shows the situation when pressure on the left side of the seat plate 34th

The one-sided lowering of the seat plate 34 is done against the pressure of one end of a leg spring 48, which extends laterally from the front seat plate 34 to the rear and on which the respective end of the rear seat plate 34 is mounted. The seat plate 34 thus has the tendency to return to its horizontal starting position upon release of pressure from above.

A central part of the leg spring 48 is according to Fig. 10 mounted in a front bearing part 50 which also carries the front seat plate 32 and is formed integrally therewith. The rear end of this front bearing part 50 is pivotally connected about a horizontal pivot axis D to a front end of the bearing member 36 which supports the rear seat plate 34. At its front end, the front bearing part 50 is articulated via a connecting member 52 to the front end of the underlying base 20 of the undercarriage 12. The hinge axis for connecting the front upper end of the connecting member 52 with the front bearing part 50 is marked with the letter E, while the hinge axis between the connecting member 52 and the base 20 is denoted by F. The axes A, D, E and F define a quadrilateral that approximately forms a parallelogram. This construction ensures that upon tilting of the bearing member 36 together with the rear seat plate 34, a tensile force on the front bearing member 50 is transmitted to the front seat plate 32 and the latter is slightly raised, as in the comparison of Fig. 4 and 5 obviously. However, the front seat plate 32 retains its horizontal position.

Although the lower ends of the backrest supports 22,24 are mounted independently of each other about the pivot axis A, the supports 22,24 are coupled in their upper region, according to Fig. 6 to 9 by a traverse 54, whose ends 56,58 are pivotally connected to the vertical legs 28 of the supports 22,24 about halfway up the backrest 14. This articulation is done by ball joints 60. The traverse 54 ensures that the distance between the connection points 56,58 is held constant to the supports 22,24, without any relative movement of the supports 22,24 against each other is hindered. In particular, pivoting of the supports 22, 24 in opposite directions is possible. Here, the cross member 54 assumes an inclined position, and the vertical legs 24 of the supports 22,24 can approach each other. This is made possible by a slight pivoting of the rear parts of the supports 22, 24 about the vertical pivot axes C in relation to the front parts 38.

In the movement described above during the use of the chair 10, the distance between the articulation points 56,58 of the cross member 54 remains constant. However, the length of the cross member 54 can be adjusted by a suitable mechanism by the user, so that the voltage between the backrest supports 22,24 is changeable. This mechanism may include, for example, a spindle drive within the crosshead 54.

Claims (10)

1. Chair, in particular an office chair, comprising a seat plate (34), which is arranged on a pedestal (12), and a backrest (14) which allow a synchronous movement of the seat plate (34) and the backrest (14) in the manner of a synchronous mechanism, the seat plate (34) being mounted so as to be able to tilt laterally, and the backrest comprising two backrest supports (22, 24), the lower ends of which are mounted on the pedestal (12) so as to be independently pivotable and are coupled for movement to the seat plate (34), characterised in that a side of the seat plate (34) is pressed down, owing to rearward pivoting of the backrest supports (22, 24) on the same side, while the opposite side is raised.
2. Chair according to claim 1, characterised in that the lower ends of the backrest supports (22, 24) are connected to a base (20) of the pedestal (12) so as to be pivotable about a common horizontal axis (A), and the tilt axis (B) for laterally tilting the seat plate (34) is in a vertical plane between the backrest supports (22, 24).
3. Chair according to claim 2, characterised in that bearings (44) are provided on both sides under the seat plate (34), in which bearings the lower ends of the backrest supports (22, 24) are enclosed in a region behind the pivot axis (A) thereof.
4. Chair according to claim 3, characterised in that the seat plate (34) can be pivoted, together with the lower ends of the backrest supports (22, 24), about the horizontal pivot axis (A) thereof.
5. Chair according to claim 4, characterised in that a bearing element (36) is attached in the rear region of the pedestal (12), which bearing element can be tilted about the pivot axis (A) of the backrest supports (22, 24) and supports the tilt axis (B) of the seat plate (34).
6. Chair according to claim 5, characterised in that the seat plate (34) is arranged in the rear region of the seat surface and a front seat plate (32) is arranged in the front region of the seat surface, and in that leg springs (48) extend rearwards from the front seat plate (32) on both sides, which leg springs support the rear tiltable seat plate (34) on both sides from below.
7. Chair according to claim 6, characterised in that the front seat plate (32) is carried by a front bearing part (50), the rear end of which is connected in an articulated manner to a front end of the bearing element (36), and the front end of which is articulated by means of a connecting member (52) to the front end of the base (20) located therebelow, which base receives, in its rear end, the pivot axis (A) of the backrest supports (22, 24).
8. Chair according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the lower ends of the backrest supports (22, 24) are formed by L-shaped legs (30), angled towards the front, the front portions (38) of which legs are connected to the remainder of the respective supports (22, 24) so as to be pivotable about approximately vertical rotational axes (C), and the front ends of which legs receive the horizontal pivot axes (A) of the backrest supports (22, 24).
9. Chair according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the backrest supports (22, 24) are connected in an upper region by a crossbeam (54), the ends of which are connected in a hinged manner to the supports (22, 24) such that the distance between the connection points (58, 58) on the supports (22, 24) are kept constant without a relative movement of the backrest supports (22, 24) against one another being otherwise prevented.
10. Chair according to claim 9, characterised in that the crossbeam (54) is in the form of a rod having a variable length in order to adjust the distance between the connection points (58, 58) at which the rod (54) is connected to the backrest supports (22, 24) by ball and socket joints (60).

Images