GB1583872A

GB1583872A - Chair

Info

Publication number: GB1583872A
Application number: GB4540576A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: BIDDULPH IND Ltd
Current assignee: BIDDULPH IND Ltd
Priority date: 1977-09-26
Filing date: 1977-09-26
Publication date: 1981-02-04

Description

(54) CHAIR (71) We, BIDDULPH INDUSTRIES LIMITED, a British Company, of Rhyl Road, Denbigh, Clwyd, LL16 5SU, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement : This invention concerns chairs of the kind comprising a backrest supported by an upright at a location above a seat. Such chairs (which will hereinafter be referred to as "of the kind referred to") are used, for example, in commercial and like establishments as typist's chairs and in industrial establishment for operative requiring to work whilst sitting, although it will be understood that they may be used for other purposes.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement whereby the backrest is mounted on the upright in such a manner that it will readily adapt itself, in its disposition, to the back of a user sitting on the chair.

With this object in view, the present invention provides a chair of the kind referred to characterised in that the upper end of the upright projects by a tonguelike part into a housing secured to the backrest, the tongue-like part being held captive in the housing and being closely surrounded by a resilient body which in turn is closely surrounded by the housing thereby resiliently mounting the backrest upon the upright.

The upright preferably comprises a metal strap or strip of which the upper end provides the said tongue-like part.

Slots may be provided in the upright, adjacent said upper end, to define a narrow neck by which the said tongue-like part is connected to the rest of the upright, this neck extending through a corresponding gap in the housing, which gap will not permit the tongue-like part to pass, whereby the tongue-like part is held captive in the housing.

The resilient body may simply comprise a thick rubber ring fitted onto the tonguelike part to extend therearound, and remaining thereon by its resilience.

The housing is preferably of sheet metal, shaped to provide a recessed portion accommodating the tongue-like part and the resilient body, and a flange or flanges around said recessed portion by which flange or flanges the housing is secured to the backrest.

The lower end of the upright may be connected to a substructure of the seat so as to be adjustable in height and/or its angle for permitting relative forward and rearward movement of the backrest in relation to the seat.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, it will be described further.

by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of the chair of the invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective detail illustrating the manner in which the backrest is mounted at the top of the upright in the chair of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

The preferred embodiment of the chair of the invention comprises a padded seat 10 carried upon a substantially-horizontal substructure 11 including a central horizontal inverted-channel sectioned support member 12 which projects slightly rearwardly beyond the rear edge of the seat 10. Connected to this support member adjacent its lower end is an upright 13 by which a backrest 14 of the chair is mounted in place at a level above the level of the seat 10. This upright 13 is in the form of a metal strip or strap 15, for instance resembling a conventionaal spring leaf, and its connection to the substructure 11 of the seat 10, as at 16, may conveniently be so that adjustment can be made of (a) the height by which the upright 13 projects above the seat 10 and (b) the angle of the upright 13 so as to permit forward and rearward adjustment of the backrest 14 relative to the seat 10.

The seat substructure 11 is mounted upon the upper end of a substantially vertical column 17 the lower end of which has a plurality of substantially horizontal radial spokes or arms 18, each fitted with a respective castor, 19, whereby the chair rests upon the ground. These castors 19 are, of course, not essential.

At its upper end, the upright 13 is formed with a tongue-like part 20, this being defined by a pair of aligned slots 21 extending substantially horizontally into the material of the upright 13 from its two opposite sides, which slots 21 form between them a relatively narraow neck 22 connecting the tongue-like part 20 to the rest of the upright 13.

The backrest 14 is connected to the upright 13 by the tongue-like part 20 of the latter projecting into a sheet metal housing 23 fastened to the rear surface of the backrest 14, and being held captive therein.

The housing 23 is shaped to provide a recessed portion 24 surrounded by a flange 25 by which the housing is secured to the backrest using screws 26, a gap 27 in the recessed portion 24 and the flange 25, at the lower part of the housing 23 (see Fig.

2), permitting the tongue-like part 20 to project up into the recessed portion 24.

This gap 27 is of width slightly wider than the width of the neck 22 connecting the tongue-like part 20 to the rest of the upright 13 and narrower than the tonguelike part 20, so that the latter cannot pass through the gap 27. Accordingly, the neck 22 registering with the gap 27, the housing 23, and therefore the backrest 14, is held captive on the top of the upright 13.

Within the housing 23, the tongue-like part 20 of the upright 13 is surrounded by a resilient body 28 which is snugly accommodated within the recess 24 and therefore permits movement of the backrest 14 relative to the upright 13 and seat 10, to enable it to correlate itself to the back of a person occupying the chair. This resilient body 28 is i n the form of a relatively thick endless rubber band fitted to the tongue-like part 20 to surround the latter and be held in place under slight tension so that it will remain in its desired position during assembly of the chair components.

It will readily be understood that this manner of connecting the backrest 14 to the upright 13 provides for the backrest 14 to be movable to adapt itself to the user's back in a very simple and economic manner, involving, in addition to the upright 13 and the backrest 14, only two further parts, namely the housing 23 and the resilient band 28. Neither of these has to be manu factured to very close tolerances, and of course assembly thereof is very easy, reunderstood, also, that the invention is not quiring no special skills. It will readily be confined to the precise details of the foregoing example and variations may be maade thereto. Thus, the resilient body 28, instead of being provided by an endless band, could be provided by a block of rubber or other resilient material, slotted to fit onto the tongue-like part.The latter can, of course, be retained captive in the housing by means other than what has been described. For instance use could simply be through the upright 13 near its upper end, made of a peg or the like (not shown), which peg will not pass through the gap 27 by which the upper tongue-like end 20 of the upright 13 projects into the housing 23.

Other variations are, of course, possible.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A chair of the kind referred to characterised in that the upper end of the upright projects by a tongue-like part into a housing secured to the backrest, the tongue-like part being held captive in the housing and being closely surrounded by a resilient body which in turn is closely surrounded by the housing thereby resiliently mounting the backrest upon the upright.

2. A chair as claimed in claim 1 wherein the upright comprises a metal strap or strip of which the upper end provides the said tongue-like part.

3. A chair as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein slots are provided in the upright, adjacent said upper end, to define a narrow neck by which the said tongue-like part is connected to the rest of the upright, this neck extending through a corresponding gap in the housing,, which gap will not permit the tongue-like part to pass, whereby the tongue-like part is held captive in the housing.

4. A chair as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the resilient body comprises a rubber ring fitted onto the tongue-like part to extend therearound.

5. A chair as claimed in claim 4 wherein the ring remains on the tongue-like part by its own resilience.

6. A chair as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the housing is shaped to provide a recessed portion accomodating the tongue-like part and the resilient body and a flange or flanges around said recessed portion, by which flange or flanges the housing is secured to the backrest.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **.

rearward adjustment of the backrest 14 relative to the seat 10.

The seat substructure 11 is mounted upon the upper end of a substantially vertical column 17 the lower end of which has a plurality of substantially horizontal radial spokes or arms 18, each fitted with a respective castor, 19, whereby the chair rests upon the ground. These castors 19 are, of course, not essential.

At its upper end, the upright 13 is formed with a tongue-like part 20, this being defined by a pair of aligned slots 21 extending substantially horizontally into the material of the upright 13 from its two opposite sides, which slots 21 form between them a relatively narraow neck 22 connecting the tongue-like part 20 to the rest of the upright 13.

The backrest 14 is connected to the upright 13 by the tongue-like part 20 of the latter projecting into a sheet metal housing 23 fastened to the rear surface of the backrest 14, and being held captive therein.

The housing 23 is shaped to provide a recessed portion 24 surrounded by a flange 25 by which the housing is secured to the backrest using screws 26, a gap 27 in the recessed portion 24 and the flange 25, at the lower part of the housing 23 (see Fig.

2), permitting the tongue-like part 20 to project up into the recessed portion 24.

This gap 27 is of width slightly wider than the width of the neck 22 connecting the tongue-like part 20 to the rest of the upright 13 and narrower than the tonguelike part 20, so that the latter cannot pass through the gap 27. Accordingly, the neck 22 registering with the gap 27, the housing 23, and therefore the backrest 14, is held captive on the top of the upright 13.

Within the housing 23, the tongue-like part 20 of the upright 13 is surrounded by a resilient body 28 which is snugly accommodated within the recess 24 and therefore permits movement of the backrest 14 relative to the upright 13 and seat 10, to enable it to correlate itself to the back of a person occupying the chair. This resilient body 28 is i n the form of a relatively thick endless rubber band fitted to the tongue-like part 20 to surround the latter and be held in place under slight tension so that it will remain in its desired position during assembly of the chair components.

It will readily be understood that this manner of connecting the backrest 14 to the upright 13 provides for the backrest 14 to be movable to adapt itself to the user's back in a very simple and economic manner, involving, in addition to the upright 13 and the backrest 14, only two further parts, namely the housing 23 and the resilient band 28. Neither of these has to be manu factured to very close tolerances, and of course assembly thereof is very easy, reunderstood, also, that the invention is not quiring no special skills. It will readily be confined to the precise details of the foregoing example and variations may be maade thereto. Thus, the resilient body 28, instead of being provided by an endless band, could be provided by a block of rubber or other resilient material, slotted to fit onto the tongue-like part.The latter can, of course, be retained captive in the housing by means other than what has been described. For instance use could simply be through the upright 13 near its upper end, made of a peg or the like (not shown), which peg will not pass through the gap 27 by which the upper tongue-like end 20 of the upright 13 projects into the housing 23.

Other variations are, of course, possible.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A chair of the kind referred to characterised in that the upper end of the upright projects by a tongue-like part into a housing secured to the backrest, the tongue-like part being held captive in the housing and being closely surrounded by a resilient body which in turn is closely surrounded by the housing thereby resiliently mounting the backrest upon the upright.
2. A chair as claimed in claim 1 wherein the upright comprises a metal strap or strip of which the upper end provides the said tongue-like part.
3. A chair as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein slots are provided in the upright, adjacent said upper end, to define a narrow neck by which the said tongue-like part is connected to the rest of the upright, this neck extending through a corresponding gap in the housing,, which gap will not permit the tongue-like part to pass, whereby the tongue-like part is held captive in the housing.
4. A chair as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the resilient body comprises a rubber ring fitted onto the tongue-like part to extend therearound.
5. A chair as claimed in claim 4 wherein the ring remains on the tongue-like part by its own resilience.
6. A chair as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the housing is shaped to provide a recessed portion accomodating the tongue-like part and the resilient body and a flange or flanges around said recessed portion, by which flange or flanges the housing is secured to the backrest.
7. A chair as claimed in any preceding

claim wherein the lower end of the upright is connected to a substructure of the seat so as to be adjustable in height and/or its angle for permitting relative forward and rearward movement of the backrest in relation to the seat.