GB2151474A - Portable adjustable back support - Google Patents

Abstract

Shaped seat base 10 (which may be padded) has contoured lumbar support panel 12 (which may also be padded) connected thereto by connectors 22 in the form of hinge strips 24 having alternative holes 26 for engagement therethrough of fasteners 30 which enable the height of the support panel 12 to be adjusted relative to the base 10 for optimum relief of back pain or discomfort. Deformable retainer head 36 of the strip 24 is engaged with eyelet 18 by pressing it therethrough, and the support panel 12 can be used on its own, if desired. Seat base 10 and support panel 12 may be swung into a folded-up position for carrying by hand hole 44. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Portable adjustable back support This invention concerns a portable adjustable back support.

Lower back pain and discomfort are prevalent throughout the population. These symptoms can be associated with diagnosable spi nal conditions, but even in healthy individuals lack of proper lumbar support when sitting can cause pain due to increase in pressure within the lumbar discs. Known devices already available for improving lumbar support include, for example, inflatable cushions, contoured foam cushions and mesh frames. Contoured foam cushions and mesh frames are generally of a basic shape which cannot be varied. Accordingly, such devices may or may not provide relief for a user, and their efficiency is, therefore, a hit or miss matter. Only if they are custom made are they likely to be effective, but of course such constructions are expensive.Inflatable cushions are more susceptible to adjustment by increasing the pressure of the air therein or partially deflating them, but such adjustment may not always be effective to bring the cushion to the correct shape or configuration to achieve the desired relief.

An object of the present invention is to provide a construction of back support which is relatively inexpensive yet provides in a very simple and convenient way for adjustment to ensure that it is effective to provide relief for users of differing body size by alleviating back pain and/or discomfort whether in a sitting or semi-reclining posture.

With this object in view, the present invention provides a portable adjustable back support comprising a seat base suitable shaped for a user to sit on, and a contoured substantially rigid lumbar support panel for the user's back to rest against, the seat base and the lumbar panel being swingably connected to one another, at the rear of the base and the bottom of the panel, by connecting means providing for the height of the panel, in its upright position relative to the base, to be adjusted.

The seat base may conveniently be approximately square in plan, and the support panel is then conveniently substantially rectangular, being narrower than the seat base.

The connecting means preferably comprises, at each lower corner of the support panel, a hinge member, preferably of plastics, engaged with the corresponding region of the seat base, and extending upwardly on the support panel, fasteners through the hinge member and the support panel enabling the height of the latter to be adjusted.

Each hinge member may then comprise a strip, preferably moulded, having a plurality of holes spaced therealong, there being two fasteners through a pair of holes in the support panel and a selected pair of the holes in the strip. The fasteners preferably each comprise a sleeve nut which fits closely in the holes in the support panel and hinge strips, being retained in place by a respective large-headed bolt.

The lower end of each strip preferably comprises a deformable retainer part connected to the rest of the strip by a narrow neck, the retainer part being engageable with a respective eye through the seat base, near the rear edge thereof, by pressing the retainer part through said eye.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a preferred embodiment of the back support of the invention; Figure 2 is a part-sectional side elevation illustrating, diagrammatically, the back support of Fig. 1 in use on a chair; Figure 3 is a view comparable with Fig. 1 but showing the back support folded up to enable it conveniently to be carried; Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating the details of the part indicated approximately by the narrow IV of Fig. 1 of the back support of Figs. 1 to 3; Figure 5 is a detached section taken on the line V-V of Fig. 4;; Figure 6 is a diagramatic view, comparable with Fig. 2, but illustrating how the support panel, detached from the rest of the back support, may be used on its own when sitting on a chair; Figure 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but showing the support panel in use in a motor vehicle; and Figure 8 is a view similar to Figs. 6 and 7, but showing how the support panel may be used by a person in a semi-recumbent posture.

As shown in the drawings, a preferred embodiment of the portable adjustable back support of the invention comprises a seat base indicated generally by the reference numeral 10 and a lumbar support panel 12. Each of these components comprises a basic substantially rigid moulded panel, e.g. of a tough plastics material or of plyboard, which has bonded to its rear or under face a surface layer of fabric, imitation leather, plastics sheeting or like sheets material and which has, over its upper surface (in the case of the lumbar support panel 12) a similar surface layer of fabric or the like but with the interposition, between it and the rigid moulded panel, of a layer of padding such as plastics foam.The provision of these layers (which have not been specifically illustrated in the drawings) is, however, not essential to the invention and the seat base 10 and lumbar support panel 1 2 may, if desired, be of plain moulded plastics, polished plywood, or other suitable non-upholstered material.

The seat base 10 is appropriately contoured for comfortable sitting on, and when considered in plan approximates to a square configuration with its front corners 14 rounded quite sharply and its rear corners 1 6 rounded much more gently. A robust eye 1 8 is provided through the base 10 adjacent each of its rear corners 1 6 as can be seen in detail in Figs. 4 and 5, these eyes 1 8 being of tubular form and flayed over at each surface of the base 10.

The lumbar support panel 1 2 is generally rectangular in configuration with its lower short side presented to the rear edge of the seat base 10, and has its four corners sharply rounded. As will be seen from Figs. 2, 6, 7 and 8 in particular, this panel 1 2 is contoured so as to be generally forwardly curved in its lower half and rearwardly curved in its upper half so as to approximate to the curvature adopted by a person's spine 20 when disposed in a comfortable upright sitting position (Fig. 2).

Connecting means hingedly connecting the seat base 10 to the support panel 1 2 so that they can be swung relative to one another between an operative condition (shown in Fig.

1) and an inoperative or folded-up position for carrying (shown in Fig. 3) comprises, at each of the lower corners of the lumbar support panel 12, or respective hinge member, indicated generally by the reference numeral 22, which is illustrated in detail in Figs. 4 and 5.

As shown, each hinge member 22 comprises a moulded strip 24 having a row of holes 26 equispaced therealong. Provided through the lumbar support panel 1 2 are a pair of holes 28, the spacing between which corresponds precisely to twice the spacing between the holes 26 of the hinge strip 24. Fasteners 30 are provided for adjustably securing the strips 24 vertically to the respective corner portion of the panel 1 2 and these each comprise a respective sleeve nut 32 which is a snug fit in the registered holes 26, 28 and a complementry large-headed bolt 34. Obviously, the extent by which the hinge strip 24 projects downwards beyond the bottom edge of the panel 1 2 depends upon which pair of the holes 26 is selected to register with the holes 28.

As can be seen from Fig. 4, the lower end of the hinge strip 24 comprises a deformable retainer part 36, rendered deformable by the presence of an opening 38 therein, and shaped to provide shoulders 40, this retainer part 36 being connected with the rest of the strip 24 by way of a narrow neck 42. it will be appreciated that because the part 36 is deformable, it can be pressed through its respective eyelet 18, thereby hingedly to connect the panel 1 2 to the seat base 10, and that separation of such parts can be effected by squeezing the retainer part 36 to enabie it to be withdrawn through the eyelet 18.

A hand hole 44 through the lumbar support panel 1 2 near to the top edge thereof facilitates carrying the back support particularly when in its folded-up condition, as shown in Fig. 3, and for retaining the parts in this condition there is a band 46 of hooked pile fabric attached by one end to the panel 1 2 and a complementary patch 48 of looped pile fabric secured to the underside of the seat base 10 (these fabrics being known commercially under the Registered Trade Mark VEL CRO) which together constitute a rapidly releasable fastener.

As has already been touched upon, the back support is intended primarily for use on a chair or the like 50 (Fig. 2) when the user will sit substantially upright upon the seat base 10 and rest back against the support panel 1 2 to be retained in an appropriate configuration for relieving or reducing pain and/or discomfort. Naturally, the panel 1 2 can easily be raised or lowered, as desired, to achieve the best effect, and the entire device is relatively inexpensive, light and easy to use.

The support does not always have to be used with the panel 1 2 connected to the seat base 10, and Figs. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate how the lumbar support panel 1 2 may be employed on its own in combination with the chair 50, on a motor vehicle seat 52 or in a bed 54.

Naturally the invention is not confined to the pecise details of the foregoing example, and variations may be made thereto within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (9)

1. A portable adjustable back support comprising a seat base suitably shaped for a user to sit upon, and a contoured substantially rigid lumbar support panel for the user's back to rest against, the seat base and the lumbar support panel being swingably connected to one another, at the rear of the base and the bottom of the panel, by connecting means providing for the height of the panel, in its upright position relative to the base, to be adjusted.

2. A back support as claimed in claim 1 in which the seat base is approximately square in plan, the support panel being substantially rectangular and narrower than the seat base.

3. A back support as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the connecting means comprises, at each lower corner of the support panel, a hinge member engaged with the corresponding region of the seat base and extending upwardly on the support panel, fasteners through the hinge member and the support panel enabling the height of the latter to be adjusted.

4. A back support as claimed in claim 3 wherein the hinge member is of plastics ma terial.

5. A back support as claimed in claim 3 or 4 wherein each hinge member comprises a strip having a plurality of holes spaced therealong, there being two fasteners through a pair of holes in the support panel and a selected pair of the holes in the strip.

6. A back support as claimed in claim 5 wherein the fasteners each comprise a sleeve nut which fits- closely in the holes in the support panel and the hinge strip, being retained in place by a respective iarge-headed bolt.

7. A back support as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the lower end of each strip comprises a deformable retainer part connected to the rest of the strip by a narrow neck, the retainer part being engageable with a respective eye through the seat base, near the rear edge thereof, by pressing the retainer part through said eye.

8. A back support as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a hand hole is provided through the support panel near the upper edge thereof.

9. A back support as claimed in any preceding claim wherein fabric fastener is provided for holding the seat base and support panel closely together in an inoperative condition of the support.

1 0. A back support substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.