GB2183150A

GB2183150A - Chair

Info

Publication number: GB2183150A
Application number: GB08523786A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Douglas Cluney
Original assignee: CLUNEY UPHOLSTERY Ltd
Current assignee: CLUNEY UPHOLSTERY Ltd
Priority date: 1985-09-26
Filing date: 1985-09-26
Publication date: 1987-06-03
Also published as: GB8523786D0

Abstract

A chair for use by an old or infirm occupant has a seat member (12) which can be tilted about its front edge to slope downwardly and forwardly connected by a linkage (45) to an arm rest (16, 18) which is similarly pivoted but which has a manually engageable portion (26) extending beyond the pivot axis. The tilting means is operable by the occupant to effect the movement of the seat member to the tilted position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Chair Description This invention relates to chairs of the kind which are used primarily by old or infirm people.

A known chair of this type has a seat cushion which is spring-biassed from a normal position towards a position in which it slopes forwardly and downwardly. Movement under the influence of the spring bias assists an occupant of the chair, usually an old or infirm person, onto his or her feet when leaving the chair, an initial rising movement of the occupant relieving the load on the cushion and the force maintaining the spring or springs in compression or tension. This known chair has the disadvantage that the rate of the springs must be closely matched to the weight of the person who is to sit in the chair.If this is not done and the springs are too strong for the occupant, the dangerous consequence results that the user may be thrown abruptly from the chair by the action of the springs when attempting to leave the chair or when he or she leans to one side when sitting in the chair, for example to pick something up from a nearby table. On the other hand, if the springs are too weak for the person's weight, the spring force is insufficient to help the person onto his or her feet. As a result of this disadvantageous feature, these known chairs have to have their springs matched closely to the weight of the person who is going to use the chair.The chairs cannot therefore be used by a wide range of people, such as all the residents of an old persons' home, and the authorities who run such homes are either reluctant to purchase the chairs or are put to considerable time or expense by having to alter the spring rates of the chairs or in buying a range of chairs of different rates.

A further disadvantage of this type of chair is that the occupant has to push on the floor with his or her legs to relieve the contribution of his or her own weight on the seat cushion and allow the springs to take effect. It is often difficult for an elderly person to execute this pushing action.

The present invention provides a chair having a seat cushion which is movable, to assist an occupant in leaving the chair, between a normal, in use position and a position in which it is tilted downwardly and forwardly relative to its normal position, the chair having tilting means operatively connected to the cushion and operable to move the cushion from its normal to its tilted position, the tilting means including an actuating portion which can be contacted by an occupant of the chair to cause operation of the tilting means.

With such an arrangement, the tilting means can be actuated by the occupant when sitting normally in the chair and the consequent movement of the seat cushion can take place progressively and without undue force irrespective of the weight of the occupant.

Preferably, the actuating portion of the can be contacted manually by the occupant. More preferably, the actuating portion is adjacent an arm of the chair. In these arrangements only manual actuation of the tilting means is necessary: there is no need for the occupant to press downwards through his or her legs as with the known chair mentioned above.

When the chair has arms, these are advantageously also operatively connected to the tilting means to move from a normal position to a position in which they slope downwardly and forwardly relative to their normal position upon operation of the tilting means.

Conveniently, the tilting means comprise a member which is pivotally-attached to the structure of the chair and has a first portion extending forwardly from the pivot for contact with the hand of the occupant and a second portion extending rearwardly, the second portion being linked, rearwardly of the pivot, to the squab rearwardly of an axis of pivotation thereof.

Advantageously, the chair has two such pivotable members, one at each side, the or both members being preferably incorporated in a respective arm of the chair and the or each first portion extending forwardly from its chair arm for manual actuation.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair with its seat cushion in its normal, in use position, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the chair of Fig. 1 with its seat cushion in a forwardlyand downwardly-tilting position, the tilting mechanism of the cushion being shown in dashed lines, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tilting mechanism of the chair of Fig. 2.

The chair shown in Fig. 1 has a backrest 10, a seat cushion 12 having a frame (not shown), the usual side structures and left-hand and right-hand arms 14, 16. In Fig. 1, the chair is shown with its seat cushion 12 in its normal position in which it lies during normal occupancy of the chair.

In Fig. 2, the seat cushion 12 is shown in a forwardly- and downwardly-tilted position in which it has pivoted relative to the normal position about a transverse axis adjacent its front edge and into which it moves to assist the occupant of the chair in leaving the chair and moving from a sitting position to a standing position. In Fig. 2, the arms 14, 16 of the chair have also each been tilted upwardly at their rear ends so that they too occupy forwardly- and downwardly-tilted positions.

Each arm 14, 16 of the chair has a saddle shape which provides the arm with an upholstered upper surface 18 and inner and outer side flaps 22, 24 which extend respectively to the inside and outside of the side structures of the chair. A downwardly-curving portion 26 extends from the forward end of each arm 14, 16 and provides a convenient surface on which the occupant of the chair can place his or her hands and apply a downwardly-directed force to the arms 14, 16.

Each arm 14, 16 of the chair incorporates a tilting mechanism as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This includes a first channel member 30 which has a base 31 which is secured to the respective side structure of the frame of the chair by a pair of downwardly-extending rods 32 which are threaded at their lower ends and are engaged by respective nuts 33 to secure the channel member 30 to the seat structure. The first channel member 30 has a pair of upstanding side walls 34 which have adjacent their upper edges respective ones of a pair of aligned apertues 35 through which a rod 36 passes. The rod 36 also passes through respective aligned apertues (not shown) in downwardly-depending side walls 37 of a second channel member 38, the side walls 37 lying inside the side walls 34 of the first channel member 30. Each end of the rod 36 has a nut 39 secured on a threaded end portion of the rod.The second channel member 38, in addition to its side walls 37, has a top portion 40 which is wider than the spacing between the side walls 37 and extends forwardly of the front edges of the side walls to form a downwardly-curving arm portion 26.

At its rear end, the top portion 40 extends beyond the rear edges of the side walls 37 and is connected to a rearwardly-extending bar 42.

The rear end of the bar 42 is secured to a pair of downwardly-depending brackets 43 which have aligned apertures through which a bolt 44 passes to secure a drop-arm 45 pivotally to the bar 42. A nut 47 attached to a threaded end of the bolt 44 and the head (not shown) of the bolt secure the bolt 44. The lower end of the drop arm 45 has an aperture 48 through which a rod 49 passes, the rod extending- transversely of the frame of the seat cushion 12 adjacent its rear edge and passing at its opposte end through a similar aperture in the drop arm of the tilting mechanism of the other chair arm.

In normal use, the seat cushion 12 of the chair is in the position shown in Fig. 1, in which the seat cushion 1 extends in a substantially horizontal plane. When the occupant of the chair wishes to leave the chair, he or she presses downwardly on the end portions 26 of the left- and right-hand arms 16, 18 simultaneously and thereby causes the second channel members 38 to pivot about the axes of their rods 35 relative to the first channel members 30. This pivoting movement of the second channel members 38 causes an upward movement of the rear ends of the arms 42 and consequently the drop arms 45 are lifted. Upon such lifting, the cushion pivots about its axis adjacent its front edge and the rear edge of the seat cushion 12 is therefore raised and the occupant of the chair is assisted onto his or her feet.

Claims

1. A chair having a seat member or cushion movable between a normal in-use position and a tilted position in which the seat member is tilted downwardly in the forward direction to assist an occupant in leaving the chair, and tilting means operable by the occupant to effect the movement of the seat member to the tilted position.

2. A chair as claimed in claim 1 having arm rests, the tilting means being operable from the region of at least one of the arm rests.

3. A chair as claimed in claim 2 wherein the tilting means comprises a manually engageable portion projecting forwardly of one or each of the arm rests.

4. A chair as claimed in claim 3 wherein the or each manually engageable portion is arranged to be tilted downwardly in the forward direction to effect the tilting of the seat member.

5. A chair as claimed in claim 4 wherein the or each manually engageable portion is connected to the seat portion by a linkage within the arm rest.

6. A chair as claimed in claim 4 wherein the upper portion of the or each arm rest is secured to the manually engageable portion to tilt therewith.

7. A chair as claimed in claim 6 having a link pivotably connected to the seat member and to the arm rest, whereby the seat member tilts together with the arm rest.

8. A chair as claimed in claim 6 or 7 wherein the or each movable upper rest portion has an adjoining downwardly extending portion on at least one side thereof.

9. A chair as claimed in claim 2 wherein the tilting means comprises a member pivotably mounted on the chair frame and having a portion extending forwardly from the pivot for manual engagement by an occupant of the chair and a rearwardly extending position which is linked to the rear of the seat member.

10. A chair substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.