JP2001204582A - Armrest device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an armrest device capable of precisely providing support even if the positions of the user's arms and the posture of the user vary greatly. SOLUTION: A post 4 attached to the seat 1 of a chair comprises a fixed post 6 and a movable post 7, with a bolt 9 projecting from the top surface of the movable post 7. An armrest 5 is separated into an upper member 10 and a lower member 11 and an oblong hole 12 is formed in the lower member 11 in a position deviating from the longitudinal center thereof. A collar (spacer) 13 with a flange 13a is fitted into the oblong hole 12 and is fitted around the bolt 9 of the movable post 7 and fixed in place by means of a nut 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an armrest device provided on a chair or a desk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an armrest device for a chair, in order to properly support an arm in accordance with a user's physique or working posture, a structure in which an armrest can be moved in a horizontal direction has been used.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-313301
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-163,086 discloses a configuration in which the front-rear position and the planar posture of an armrest can be adjusted by a combination of a fixed support shaft, a movable support shaft, and a long hole.

[0004] That is, in the above-mentioned publication, an elbow rest support erected on the side of a seat portion of a chair, an upward fixed support shaft located at a rear portion, and an upward movable support located at a front portion and movable left and right. While the shafts are provided respectively, a bottom plate (slid) is fixed to the lower surface of the elbow rest, and the two support shafts are respectively inserted into this bottom plate so that they cannot be removed.

The insertion holes for the support shafts formed in the bottom plate of the elbow rest are oblong holes inclined in the same direction with respect to the longitudinal center line of the elbow rest in plan view. When it is slid to, it horizontally rotates about the fixed axis to swing right and left.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 10-117882 discloses an armrest device in which a fitting groove formed on the lower surface of an armrest is fitted to a support base, and the width of the fitting groove in the right and left direction is adjusted. There is disclosed an invention in which the plane posture and the left and right positions of the armrests can be arbitrarily adjusted by setting the dimension to be larger than the width dimension of the table.

[0007]

By the way, the position and posture of the arm not only differ depending on the physique of the person, but also vary greatly depending on the working posture and the like when used by the same person. Therefore, it is preferable that the elbow rest can largely change the position and the posture in accordance with the change in the position and the posture of the human arm.

However, in the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-313301, since the longitudinal movement of the armrest and the plane posture are fixed, it is difficult to accurately cope with a change in the position or posture of a human arm. Did not hear. In addition, the elbow rest can only be rotated horizontally around the fixed support, which is one of the reasons for the inflexibility.

On the other hand, according to the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-117882, the front and rear positions of the armrests cannot be adjusted, and the armrests can be horizontally rotated only at a slight angle. It was difficult to accurately respond to changes in the positions and postures of human arms.

The object of the present invention is to improve such a situation.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an armrest apparatus wherein an armrest for supporting a human arm is slidable in the front-rear direction with respect to a support member disposed below the armrest. And attached so that it can rotate more than 180 degrees horizontally,
Further, when the armrest is rotated horizontally by 180 degrees, the attachment position of the armrest to the support member is shifted so that the space between the armrest and the person is different.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the armrest device embodies the configuration of the first aspect. In the present invention, a portion of the lower surface portion of the armrest, which is formed longitudinally, is shifted from a longitudinal center line.
A front and rear longitudinal engaging portion such as a long hole is formed, and an upper end of the support member is slidably engaged with the engaging portion of the elbow pad while allowing the elbow rest to slide and rotate. A stop is provided.

[0013] The invention of claim 3 is claim 1 or claim 2.
Shows a configuration in which a chair or a desk is applied. That is, in claim 3, the support member is a support fixed to a chair seat or a support arm fixed to a table top, and the armrest is set so that it can be attached to any of the support or the support arm. Have been.

[0014]

In each of the embodiments of the present invention, since the elbow rest can be horizontally rotated by 180 degrees or more at an arbitrary position moved back and forth, even if a person greatly changes the front-rear position and posture of the arm, the arm can be moved. The armrest can be accurately supported, and the left and right positions of the armrest can be adjusted by rotating the elbowrest horizontally by 180 degrees.

[0015] Therefore, the structure of each claim can improve the usability as compared with the prior art.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the armrest is directly attached to the support member, there is an advantage that the structure can be simplified in addition to the above-mentioned effects.

On the other hand, according to the third aspect, the members can be shared by the armrest device of the chair and the armrest device of the desk, so that there is an advantage that the manufacturing cost and the labor of managing the members can be reduced accordingly.

[0018]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1) First Embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 6) FIGS. 1 to 6 show a first embodiment applied to a chair. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a chair, which comprises a seat 1 supported by pillars, a backrest 2 disposed behind the seat 1,
Armrest devices 3 arranged on both left and right sides of the seat 1.

Hereinafter, the armrest device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 is a plan view of the armrest device 3, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the armrest device 3, FIG. 4 is a sectional view (A) of FIG. Sectional view,
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are views showing a use state.

For example, as can be easily understood from FIG.
The armrest device 3 includes a support 4 as an example of a support member, and an armrest 5 attached to the support 4. Post 4
A fixed strut 6 formed substantially in an L-shape when viewed from the front;
And a movable column 7 which is mounted on the lower surface of the fixed column 6 so as to be adjustable in height. The horizontal portion 6a is fixed to the lower surface of the seat 1 by screws (not shown).

The vertical portion of the fixed support 6 and the movable support 7 are formed in a circular shape in plan view, and the movable support 7 is provided with a button 8 for switching between a vertically movable state and a non-liftable state. .

The movable column 7 is formed in a circular shape in a plan view, and a bolt 9 is protruded at the center of the upper end thereof.
The bolt 9 may be formed integrally with the movable column 7 or may be formed separately and welded (when the movable column 7 is made of metal) or insert-molded (when the movable column 7 is made of synthetic resin). ), Fastening with nuts or embedding,
It may be fixed by various means.

The elbow pad 5 is provided with an upper member 10 opened downward.
And the lower member 1 having an upward opening overlapping the upper member 10 from below.
Consists of one and one. The bottom plate 11 a of the lower member 11 is provided as an example of the engaging portion described in claim 2.
Are formed in the elongated hole 12 extending in the longitudinal direction. Slot 1
2 is shifted by a certain dimension E to one side from the longitudinal center line O of the armrest 5 (see FIG. 6).

Then, a hollow cylindrical collar (spacer) 13 provided with a flange 13 a at the upper end is fitted into the bolt 9 of the fixed column 6 through the elongated hole 12, and the nut 14 is screwed into the bolt 9. In this case, the bottom plate 11 of the lower member 11
The lower member 11 is allowed to slide and rotate with respect to the fixed support column 6 by providing a very small gap between the lower member 11 and the collar 13 or by closely adhering with some friction. ing.

In the present embodiment, the bolt 9, the collar 13, and the nut 14 constitute a locking portion according to the second aspect.

It should be noted that instead of providing the fixing post 6 with the bolt 9, a female screw hole having an upward opening is formed in the fixing post 6, and the lower member 11 is attached to the fixing post 6 with the bolt 9 screwed into the female screw hole. May be. Further, instead of forming the flange 13a on the collar 13, a washer may be stacked.

The bottom plate 11a of the lower member 11 is thickened at the location of the elongated hole 12 to increase the strength.
a is an enclosure wall 1 in which the flange 13a of the collar 13 fits.
5 are provided. The surrounding wall 15 is integrally continuous with the side plate of the lower member 11.

The upper member 10 and the lower member 11 are fitted to each other in such a manner that they cannot be shifted laterally.
As shown in (1), it is fixed with a screw 16 at one or a plurality of places. The claw provided on one member may be fixed by another means, such as being fitted into a slot formed on the other member.

In the above configuration, the elbow pad 5 is
Can be freely moved along the longitudinal direction within the range of the stroke, and can be horizontally rotated around the bolt 9.

Therefore, as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 2, in the state of being largely moved in the front-rear direction while maintaining the posture extending in the front-rear direction, or in the state of being moved to an arbitrary front-rear position as shown in FIG. 5. The front and rear position and the horizontal angle can be arbitrarily adjusted, for example, in a state of being horizontally rotated at an arbitrary angle.

Further, since the long hole 12 of the lower member 11 in the elbow pad 5 is displaced from the longitudinal center line O, the left and right positions of the elbow pad 5 are fixed by the horizontal turning by 180 degrees as shown in FIG. The position can be adjusted in two stages: an outer position overhanging outside of the fixed post 6 and an inner position overhanging inside the fixed column 6 as shown in FIG.

As in the present embodiment, the lower member 1 of the armrest 5
When the elbow pad 5 is allowed to slide and rotate by using the elongated hole 12 formed in 1, there is an advantage that the number of members is reduced and the structure is simplified.

Further, when the movable strut 7 is formed in a circular shape as in this embodiment, the movable strut 7 is not exposed to the outside of the elbow rest 5 in plan view regardless of the posture of the elbow rest 5 rotated. Therefore, there is an advantage that the appearance is good (the movable column 7 only needs to be formed in a circular shape at its upper end portion only).

(2) Second Embodiment (FIGS. 7 to 9) FIGS. 7 to 9 show a second embodiment applied to the armrest device 3 of the desk 18, FIG. 7 being a perspective view and FIG. 9 is a partial plan view, and FIG. 9 is a sectional side view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

The second embodiment has almost the same structure as the first embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that the support member according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that The only difference is that the support arm 20 fixed to the lower surface is used.

The armrest device 3 of the desk 18 as in this embodiment
When applied to, for example, personal computers and word processing OA equipment 2
By using the arm 1 on the elbow pad 5, the keyboard 21 'can be operated in a comfortable state for a long time. Of course, it can be used for other operations other than the operation of the keyboard 21 '.

In this embodiment, the support arm 20 is
Although it is fixed to the top plate 19 by 2, a U-shaped clamp portion that fits into the top plate 19 from the front is formed on the support arm 20,
A screw screwed into the clamp from below may be brought into contact with the lower surface of the top plate 19. This way,
Since the mounting position of the armrest 5 can be freely adjusted, it is possible to more appropriately cope with a difference in the user's physique and a difference in the working posture.

(3) Third Embodiment (FIGS. 10 to 11) FIGS. 10 to 11 show a third embodiment.
FIG. 11 is a partially broken plan view of a main part, and FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI of FIG.

In the present embodiment, the armrest 5 is composed of a main body 5a opened downward and a pad 5b provided on the upper surface of the main body 5a, and the main body 5a is formed in a shape opened downward. The pad 5b is made of a material having cushioning properties, such as rubber, and is attached to the main body 5a by an appropriate means such as adhesion or integral molding.

The main body 5a of the armrest 5 is provided with a long groove 24 having a downward opening which is slidably fitted from above into a support member 23 such as the column 4 or the support arm 20.
The long hole 12 is formed in the bottom plate 24 a of the long groove 24.

A screw 25 having a flange (or a head) 25a and a spacer 25b is screwed into the support member 23 through the elongated hole 12. The top surface of the screw 25 is configured to be flush with the upper surface of the main body 5 a in the armrest 5.

In the present embodiment, since the armrest 5 is covered with the movable column 7, there is an advantage that the stability of the armrest 5 can be improved.

(4) Fourth Embodiment (FIG. 12) FIG. 12 shows a fourth embodiment, wherein (A) is a partially cutaway plan view of a main part, and (B) is a BB view of (A). It is sectional drawing.

In this example, the armrest device 3 includes a support member 23 having at least an upper portion formed in a circular cross section, an intermediate member 26 fitted to the support member 23 so as to be horizontally rotatable, and an armrest mounted on the intermediate member 26. 5 is comprised.

The intermediate member 26 is formed in a rectangular block shape in a plan view extending in the same direction as the elbow pad 5 in a plan view.
The longitudinal center portion is fitted in the support member 23. Although not shown in detail in the figure, the intermediate member 26 is held undetachably with respect to the support member 23.

On the other hand, a long groove 24 is formed in the armrest 5 so as to slidably fit in the intermediate member 26. A long hole 12 is formed in a bottom plate 24a of the long groove 24, and a flange 25a is provided through the long hole 12. The screw 25 is screwed into the intermediate member 26 to hold the elbow pad 5 so as not to be detached.

According to this embodiment, the intermediate member 26 is fitted to the support member 23 so as not to fall down, and the armrest 5 is supported by the intermediate member 26 over a wide area. Stability can be improved.

(5) Fifth Embodiment (FIG. 13) FIG. 13 shows a fifth embodiment which is a modification of the fourth embodiment.

In this embodiment, the intermediate member 26 is a cylindrical portion 2 rotatably fitted to the circular portion of the support member 23 from the outside.
6a and a rectangular block 2 integrally provided at the upper end thereof
6b, and a dovetail groove 27 extending in the longitudinal direction is formed in the block portion 26b.

In the embodiment, the cylindrical portion 26a of the intermediate member 26
Is fitted into the circular portion of the support member from the outside, but when the support member 23 is formed in a cylindrical shape, the cylindrical portion (or column portion) 26a of the intermediate member 26 is rotatable inside the support member 23. It may be inserted in.

On the lower surface of the armrest 5, a long groove 24 slidably fitted to the block portion 26b of the intermediate member 26 and an inverted T-shaped cross-section fitted slidably in the dovetail groove 27 of the block portion 26b. A ridge 28 is formed. Accordingly, the ridge 28 and the dovetail groove 27 constitute a guide means and a slip-off prevention means.

In this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a long hole in the armrest 5, so that the supporting strength of the armrest 5 can be further improved as compared with the case of FIG.

(6) Others The present invention can be variously embodied in addition to the above embodiment.

For example, when the present invention is applied to a device for supporting and supporting a chair, an elbow pad is attached to a support arm extending forward from the side of the backrest instead of attaching an elbow pad to a column fixed to a seat. You can also.

Further, the form of the support members such as the columns and the support arms can be variously embodied as required. Also, the plane shape and the cross-sectional shape of the armrest can be set to various shapes based on a request such as a design. Further, an elastic urging means for preventing the elbow pad 5 from sliding and rotating unless a certain amount of force is applied, or a lock means for enabling the elbow pad 5 to be slidable and rotatable by button operation may be provided.

Further, the present invention can be applied not only to armrest devices for chairs and desks, but also to armrest devices for other furniture and devices.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the armrest device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the armrest device of the first embodiment.

4A is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2, and FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a use state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a use state of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway plan view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a partially broken plan view of the third embodiment.

11 is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a view showing the fourth embodiment, (A) is a partially cutaway plan view, and (B) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of (A).

FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 armrest device 4 post as an example of support member 5 armrest 6 fixed post 7 movable post 9 bolt 10 upper member of elbowrest 11 lower member of elbowrest 12 long hole as an example of engagement portion 13 collar 14 nut 21 support Support arm 23 as an example of a member 23 Support member 26 Intermediate member

Claims (3)

[Claims] An armrest for supporting a human arm is attached to a support member disposed below the armrest so as to be slidable in the front-rear direction and capable of rotating horizontally by 180 degrees or more;
Further, the armrest device shifts the mounting position of the armrest to the support member such that when the armrest is rotated horizontally by 180 degrees, the space between the armrest and the person is different. 2. A front and rear longitudinal engagement portion such as a long hole is formed at a position shifted from a longitudinal center line in a lower surface portion of an elbow pad formed longitudinally and longitudinally, while an upper end of the support member is provided at an upper end of the support member. 2. An engaging portion which is irremovably engaged with the engaging portion of the elbow pad while allowing sliding and rotation of the elbow pad.
The armrest device described in the above. 3. The support member is a column fixed to a chair seat or a support arm fixed to a table top, and an armrest is set so that it can be attached to either of the column or the support arm. The armrest device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein