GB2462706A

GB2462706A - A detachable seat arrangement with a guide to facilitate correct connection

Info

Publication number: GB2462706A
Application number: GB0913149A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Rosser
Original assignee: Mountway Ltd
Current assignee: Mountway Ltd
Priority date: 2008-08-22
Filing date: 2009-07-29
Publication date: 2010-02-24
Also published as: GB0815410D0; GB0913149D0

Abstract

An adjustable seat including separate seat 1 and back portions 2 which can be connected to form hinge joints. The connection is formed from cooperating pairs of projections and recesses and guide means 8 are provided to inhibit the connection of one pair of connecting elements whilst another remains unconnected. The guide means 8 can take the form of guide fingers attached to the seat or back portion which provide an abutment surface for guiding the relevant portions into the correct position. The chair arrangement may be used as part of a system for lowering disabled or elderly people into a bath.

Description

Improvements in and relating to adjustable seats This invention relates to adjustable seats of the type which may, for example, be used to lower people into or out of baths, such as invalid people including the disabled and elderly.

Adjustable seats of the type aforesaid usually include a seat portion upon which a seated person can lean back and rest i.e. the backrest portion but a common problem with such seating arrangements is the misalignment of part of the backrest portion with part of the seat portion such that when they are connected together one or other side of the backrest portion is not properly engaged and when the weight of the person using the seat is fully applied, which may be substantial, failure of the properly engaged connection joint may follow, leading to injury of the occupant or at least damage to the chair itself.

The present invention is derived from the realisation that it would be preferable for both sides of the backrest portion to be connectable to the seat portion together or not at all, as the case may be.

According to the invention there is provided an adjustable chair comprising or including a seat portion and a separable backrest portion, the backrest portion being releasably connectable to the seat portion by means of respective pair sets of projections or recesses co-operable with corresponding sets of pairs of recesses or projections in or on the seat to form hinged joints CHARACTERISED IN THAT guide means are provided acting on the seat and the backrest portion for preventing or inhibiting connection of a respective one of said pair sets without the other pair set being connected together, thereby ensuring that at least two pair sets are connected.

With this arrangement, for example, guide means in the form of guide fingers can be positioned on both sides of a seat portion, each guide finger being adapted to receive and guide a shaped projection or recess co-operable with a correspondingly shaped recess or projection such that when so connected it is ensured that a corresponding hinged connection has been made.

with a corresponding but separate part of the seat portion and backrest portion and any stresses and strains caused by occupancy of the chair is shared between each hinged joint, thereby eliminating or obviating the prior art problem of connection of one hinged joint without the other.

Conveniently, where the guide means are in the form of guide fingers they may be formed integrally with the seat portion or the backrest portion, or both. Alternatively, such guide means may be retrofitted to adjustable chairs of the type described which did not originally have means for ensuring one hinged connection or joint cannot be made without the other also being made. Such retrofit guide means may therefore simply be fixed by any suitable means to a suitable part of the seat portion or backrest portion and be suitably shaped to ensure that they collectively act as guide means ensuring a positive connection of both or all hinge joints.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a prior art adjustable chair, Figure 2 is a rear' view of a feed portion for an adjustable chair in accordance with the invention, and Figure 3 is a perspective side view of the seat portion of Figure 2 to which has been fitted a back rest.

Turning firstly to Figure 1, there is shown the rear part of a seat portion 1 which is removably connectable to a backrest portion I via respective pair sets 3, 4 of locking projections 5a, 5b and slotted recesses 6a, 6b on or in the rear part of the seat portion I and the lower end of the backrest portion 2.

A support shoulder 7 (only one of which is shown) is provided on the upper end of the seat portion I and serves to provide mechanical support for the backrest 2 when it has been correctly fitted to the seat portion I. However, as can be seen from Figure 1, the backrest portion 2 has been incorrectly fitted to the seat portion 1 such that only the locking pair set 4 are fully engaged, whereas the pair set 3 rests with the locking recess 6a still disengaged from the locking formation 5a such that if this is not noticed by a user of the seat breakage of the locking pair set 4 is likely to happen, leading to possible injury to the occupant of the seat.

In Figure 2 there is shown a rear perspective view of the seat portion of an adjustable chair according to the invention in which like parts to those shown in Figure 1 are numbered identically. As will be seen, mounted upon the support shoulders 7 are a pair of fingers 8 which act as guide means for the backrest portion 2 in the manner as shown in Figure 3. These guide fingers 8 only allow for both respective sets of projections or recesses 3, 4 to be joined together to make respective hinged joints, thereby ensuring that one hinged joint 3 or 4 cannot be made without the other. This elegantly simple solution to what has been found to be a serious problem when backrests for adjustable seats are improperly connected to the seat portion therefore ensures that both hinged joints are always made together or not at all, therefore eliminating or obviating the risk of one of the hinged joints 3 or 4 from being made without the other, with the potentially catastrophic consequences where the adjustable seat is then occupied.

The guides 8 stop the lower portion of the back rest 2 from falling backwards during assembly with the seat portion I and guide the pair sets 3 and 4 into alignment as those parts come together. The guides provide a pair of spaced abutment faces on the seat 2 which act as stops to bring the backrest 2 into position as it is pivoted upwardly into engagement with the seat 1.

Although the invention has been described with reference to guide means in the form of a pair of fingers, it will be understood that other shapes may be used and instead of the fingers being on the seat portion 1 they may instead be on the backrest portion 2. Other combinations of formations and/or recesses as between the seat portion I and back portion 2 which act as guide means to ensure proper connection or engagement of both hinged joints, or all hinged joints where there are more than two, are also intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims 1. An adjustable chair comprising or including a seat portion and a separable backrest portion, the backrest portion being releasably connectable to the seat portion by means of respective pair sets of projections or recesses co-operable with corresponding sets of pairs of recesses or projections in or on the seat to form hinged joints CHARACTERISED IN THAT guide means are provided acting on the seat and the backrest portion for preventing or inhibiting connection of a respective one of said pair sets without the other pair set being connected together, thereby ensuring that at least two pair sets are connected.
2. A chair as claimed in claim 1, wherein the guide means are in the form of guide fingers either formed integrally with or attached to the seat portion or the backrest portion, or both.
3. A chair as claimed in claim 2, wherein said guide means are suitably shaped to ensure that they collectively act as guide means ensuring a positive connection of both or all hinge joints.
4. A chair as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said guide means comprises a pair of spaced fingers formed with or attached to the seat portion including abutment surfaces for guiding the backrest portion into hinged connection with the seat portion.