JP2008110172A - Chair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the comfortableness in sitting in a chair by a simple method relating to the chair used in a conference room, a meeting room, or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The backrest of the chair is configured so that a through opening 12 is provided on a support body 11, and an elastically deformable projection member 2 projecting from the surface of the support body 11 is attached to the opening 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a chair used particularly in a conference room or a meeting place.

This type of chair is often configured by supporting a backrest or seat mainly composed of a hard resin plate material on a metal pipe leg (for example, refer to the following patent document).
JP 2006-158745 A

  As a technique for improving the sitting comfort of the chair, for example, an adjustable lumbar support mechanism for appropriately pressing the waist of the seated person may be incorporated. Actually, various adjustment mechanisms are mounted on high-end class chairs used in office spaces and the like. However, mounting a lumbar support mechanism or the like on a chair used in a conference room or the like as in the above example is not necessarily preferable because it increases weight and costs.

  An object of the present invention made in view of the above is to improve the sitting comfort of a chair by a simple method.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, an opening that penetrates the support body is provided, and an elastically deformable protruding member that protrudes from the surface of the support body is attached to the opening to constitute the backrest of the chair. I did it. If it is such, the seating comfort of a chair can be improved without incorporating an adjustment mechanism which is heavy and disadvantageous in terms of cost.

  In addition, in the backrest of the chair according to the present invention, the protruding member that receives the load of the seated person's body is allowed to deform toward the opening of the support body. Accordingly, it is possible to increase the deformation margin of the projecting member without increasing the thickness of the projecting member. As a result, it is possible to provide the seated person with a flexible and comfortable sitting comfort. If the cushion is affixed to the surface of a hard back shell like an off-the-shelf chair, it can only be deformed with a compression width that reduces the thickness of the cushion. When it is not used, the cushion becomes so thick that it appears to be inflated. In the present invention, such inconvenience can be avoided.

  If the protruding member can be attached to and detached from the support body, the variation of the product can be achieved by preparing variations of the protruding member (for example, dimensions, shape, degree of elasticity, hue, etc.) while making the support body common. Can be increased. It is also possible to replace the protruding member according to the preference of the seated person, or to remove the protruding member and use it if unnecessary.

  In order to attach the projecting member to the support body, a recess is provided in one of the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body and the outer peripheral edge of the projecting member, and the other is fitted with the recess. It is preferable to provide a projecting portion and attach the projecting member to the support main body by fitting both the concave and convex portions.

  If the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body is made thicker than the vicinity thereof, the rigidity of the support body can be reinforced, and it becomes easy to form a concave or convex portion having appropriate strength on the inner peripheral edge of the opening.

  If the outer peripheral edge portion of the protruding member is made thicker than the vicinity thereof, it becomes easy to form a convex portion or a concave portion having appropriate strength on the outer peripheral edge portion of the protruding member.

  If the thickness of the inner peripheral edge portion of the opening of the support body is substantially equal to the thickness of the outer peripheral edge portion of the projecting member, no conspicuous step occurs at the boundary between the projecting member and the support body. This contributes to improving the appearance and improving the sitting comfort.

  Further, if the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body and the outer peripheral edge of the protruding member are joined over substantially the entire circumference, no gap is generated between them, improving the appearance, improving the attachment strength, and sitting. Contributes to improved comfort.

  If the protruding member attached to the support body is located in the vicinity of the seated person's waist, a lumbar support function by the protruding member is realized.

  According to the present invention, the sitting comfort of a chair can be improved by a simple method.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The chair of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 has a back seat supported on a leg frame 4 mainly made of a metal pipe material, for example, and is used particularly in a conference room or a meeting place.

  The backrest of the chair according to the present embodiment mainly includes a shell 1 as a support body and a lumbar support body 2 as a protruding member attached to the shell 1.

  The shell 1 is made of, for example, a hard resin. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, a back shell 11 that forms a general shape of a backrest and a seat shell 15 that forms a general shape of a seat are integrally formed, and a seat cushion is formed on the seat shell 15. 3 is mounted and fixed. As shown in FIG. 3, the side cross-sectional shape of the back shell 11 gently protrudes forward as it goes downward from the upper edge, and the vicinity of the height position corresponding to the waist of the seated person is located at the forefront, and from there It recedes slightly as it goes downward, and is curved forward to continue to the seat shell 15 at the bottom. As shown in FIG. 4, the flat cross-sectional shape of the back shell 11 is a concave shape in which the left and right sides are forward and the center is rearward. Generally, the back surface of the back shell 11 wraps around the back of the seated person.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, the lumbar support body 2 is attached so that the opening 12 penetrating the front and back is provided at the height position corresponding to the waist of the seated person in the back shell 11 and the opening 12 is closed. is doing.

  The lumbar support body 2 is made of a material that is elastically deformable and has translucency, for example, urethane rubber (urethane elastomer). The lumbar support body 2 has an outer peripheral shape substantially corresponding to the opening 12 formed in the shell 1 when viewed from the front. The outer peripheral edge portion 21 is relatively thick and the inner portion 22 surrounded by the outer peripheral edge portion 21 is compared. It is molded thinly. The inner portion 22 is gradually thinner than the outer peripheral edge portion 21 and protrudes toward the body side of the seated person, that is, forward from the outer peripheral edge portion 21, and is recessed when viewed from the rear.

  In the lumbar support body 2, the thick part 21, that is, the hard part, is visually recognized with a thick hue of the material. On the other hand, the thin portion 23, that is, the soft portion, is higher in translucency than the thick portion 21, so that not only the hue of the material but also the light color of the ambient light that passes through this portion is visible. The Therefore, in a bright room, the outer peripheral edge portion 21 of the lumbar support body 2 looks dark in material hue, and the interior 22 looks thin in material hue, in other words, it looks bright (whiter). Incidentally, in this embodiment, the hue of the material of the lumbar support body 2 and the hue of the seat cushion 3 are the same color.

  In the present embodiment, a concave portion 14 is provided in the inner peripheral edge portion 13 of the opening 12 in the shell 1, and a convex portion 22 is provided in the outer peripheral edge portion 21 of the lumbar support body 2. As a result, the lumbar support body 2 is attached to the shell 1. More specifically, a concave groove 14 is formed on the inner peripheral end surface of the opening 12 of the shell 1 over substantially the entire circumference, and the convex fitting fits into the concave groove 14 over the entire outer peripheral end surface of the lumbar support body 2. A strip 22 is formed, and the inner peripheral edge 13 of the opening 12 of the shell 1 and the outer peripheral edge 21 of the lumbar support body 2 are joined over substantially the entire circumference. A portion of the ridge 22 (in the illustrated example, the tip portion) protrudes in a direction (that is, forward and / or rearward) intersecting the direction penetrating the concave groove 14 and has a hook shape. The part is designed to accept this plight. This is to prevent the ridge 22 from being pulled out of the groove 14 when a load is applied to the lumbar support body 2. In principle, the lumbar support body 2 is formed integrally with the shell 1. However, the lumbar support body 2 may be detachable from the shell 1.

  In a state where the lumbar support body 2 is attached to the back shell 11, the lumbar support body 2 protrudes from the surface of the back shell 11. Further, the inner peripheral edge 13 of the opening 12 of the shell 1 is bulged rearward so that the thickness of the inner peripheral edge 13 is substantially equal to the thickness of the outer peripheral edge 21 of the lumbar support body 2. There are no conspicuous steps or gaps at the boundary with the lumbar support body 2 on both sides.

  According to the present embodiment, an opening 12 penetrating the rigid support body 11 is provided, and the elastically deformable projecting member 2 projecting from the surface of the support body 11 is attached to the opening 12 so that the backrest of the chair is attached. Therefore, the sitting comfort of the chair can be improved without incorporating an adjustment mechanism that is heavy and disadvantageous in terms of cost. The projecting member 2 is deformed toward the opening 12 of the support body 11 when receiving a load on the body of the seated person. Thus, the protrusion member 2 can be made large in deformation without making the protrusion member 2 heavy, and as a result, it is possible to provide the seated person with a flexible and comfortable sitting comfort.

  If the protruding member 2 can be attached to and detached from the support main body 11, variations in the product can be increased by arranging variations of the protruding member 2 while making the support main body 11 common. It is also possible to replace the protruding member 2 according to the preference of the seated person, or to remove the protruding member 2 and use it if unnecessary.

  A concave portion 14 is provided in the inner peripheral edge portion 13 of the opening 12 of the support body, and a convex portion 22 that is fitted to the concave portion 14 is provided in the outer peripheral edge portion 21 of the protruding member 2. Is attached to the support body 11, so that the protruding member 2 is appropriately held by the support body 11.

  Since the inner peripheral edge portion 13 of the opening 12 of the support body is thicker than the vicinity thereof, the rigidity of the support body 11 can be reinforced, and the concave portion 14 having appropriate strength is formed in the inner peripheral edge portion 13 of the opening 12. It becomes easy.

  Since the outer peripheral edge portion 21 of the protruding member 2 is thicker than the vicinity thereof, it is easy to form the convex portion 22 having an appropriate strength on the outer peripheral edge portion 21 of the protruding member 2.

  Since the thickness of the inner peripheral edge 13 of the opening 12 of the support main body 11 and the thickness of the outer peripheral edge 21 of the protruding member 2 are substantially equal, when the protruding member 2 is attached to the support main body 11, It is possible to prevent a conspicuous step at the boundary portion from occurring, which contributes to an improvement in appearance and a better sitting comfort.

  Moreover, since the inner peripheral edge 13 of the opening 12 of the support body 11 and the outer peripheral edge 21 of the protruding member 2 are joined over substantially the entire circumference, no gap is generated between them, and the appearance is improved. Contributes to improved attachment strength and better sitting comfort.

  The protruding member 2 attached to the support body 11 is located near the waist of the seated person, and the lumbar support function by the protruding member 2 is realized.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in detail above. For example, a convex or convex strip may be provided on the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body, and a concave or concave groove may be provided on the outer peripheral edge of the projecting member to construct a concave / convex fitting structure between them. Further, the method of attaching the protruding member to the support body is not limited to the above-described uneven fitting, and it is allowed to adopt various known attachment / fixing methods. In addition, the aspect which makes a protrusion member detachable with respect to a support main body is not prevented.

  In the above embodiment, the peripheral edge of the opening of the support body is closed, but the peripheral edge of the opening may not be completely closed. In addition, it is not necessary to join the entire inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body and the entire outer peripheral edge of the protruding member. The protruding member does not necessarily block the entire opening of the support body.

  The shape of the projecting member is not limited to the above embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, it is conceivable to thicken a portion to be joined to the support body 11, that is, a portion 24 other than the outer peripheral edge portion 21. In the illustrated example, a thick portion 24 is formed in an interior 23 surrounded by the outer peripheral edge 21. This part 24 has a convex shape that protrudes further forward than the other parts 21 and 23, and becomes a so-called massage ball that massages the body of the seated person when the seated person leans back greatly. .

  The function of the protruding member is not limited to the lumbar support. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the support body 11 may be provided with an opening 16 extending up and down substantially parallel to the back muscle of the seated person, and the protruding member 5 may be attached to the opening 16. This protruding member 5 realizes a function of pressing the seated person's back muscles or the vicinity of the shoulder ribs. As in the illustrated example, the support body 11 is provided with a plurality of openings 16 so as not to prevent the plurality of protruding members 5 from being attached. The opening 16 and the protruding member 5 can be the same as the opening 12 and the protruding member 2 in the above embodiment.

  Other specific configurations of the respective parts are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The perspective view which shows the chair of one Embodiment of this invention. The front view of the chair. The principal part sectional side view which shows the backrest of the chair. The principal part plane sectional view seen from the lower part which shows the backrest of the chair. The front view which shows one of the modifications of this invention. The principal part sectional side view which shows the backrest of the chair. The front view which shows one of the modifications of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1/11 ... Supporting body (shell / back shell)
12, 16 ... Opening 13 ... Inner peripheral edge 14 ... Recess (concave groove)
2, 5 ... Projection member (lumbar support body)
21 ... Outer peripheral edge 22 ... Convex part (projection)
23 ... Inside

Claims (8)

A chair characterized in that an opening penetrating the support body is provided, and an elastically deformable protruding member protruding from the surface of the support body is attached to the opening to constitute a backrest. The chair according to claim 1, wherein the projecting member is detachable from the support body. The chair according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a concave portion is provided on one of an inner peripheral edge portion of the opening of the support body and an outer peripheral edge portion of the protruding member, and a convex portion that fits the concave portion is provided on the other. The chair according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body is thicker than its vicinity. The chair according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the outer peripheral edge of the protruding member is thicker than its vicinity. The chair according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the thickness of the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body is substantially equal to the thickness of the outer peripheral edge of the protruding member. The chair according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, wherein the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the support body and the outer peripheral edge of the protruding member are joined over substantially the entire circumference. The chair according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, wherein the projecting member attached to the support body is located in the vicinity of the waist of the seated person.

Images