JP6964487B2 - Chair - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a chair provided with a body support in which the surface of a cushioning material is coated with a skin material.

For example, chairs that are often used in offices have a backrest and a seat as essential elements. Body supports such as the backrest and seat are provided with cushioning materials such as sponge and urethane foam at the parts that come into contact with the body in order to ensure fit and cushioning. Usually, the cushion material is covered with a skin material such as cloth or vinyl leather.

Further, Patent Document 1 discloses a chair in which the shape of the backrest changes depending on the neutral state in which the user's body is not in contact and the locking state in which the user's body pressure is greatly applied. In Patent Document 1, the backrest is divided into a plurality of areas, and the elements constituting the adjacent areas are connected via a hinge portion so that they can rotate relative to each other. Further, on the body support surface of the backrest, a groove for partitioning adjacent elements is formed. Then, the element (side element) located in the side area rotates (bends) along the groove in conjunction with locking, so that the comfort of the seated person is improved.

JP-A-2017-86372

Generally, a body support in a chair is provided with a cushioning material coated with a skin material, but when the body support is repeatedly bent along a groove formed on the body support surface, at the end of the groove. There was a possibility that the skin material and the cushion material would peel off, and there was room for improvement. It should be noted that such peeling is of particular concern when the skin material is made of leather having low elasticity such as vinyl leather.

The present invention has been made to improve such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to suppress peeling between the skin material and the cushion material in a chair in which the body support is configured to be deformable.

The chair of the present invention includes a body support whose surface is coated with a skin material, and the body support is configured to be deformable along a groove formed on the body support surface on the side where the human body hits. In this chair, a wall portion that closes the end portion of the groove is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the body support. Here, the "deformation along the groove" includes not only "bending" but also "curving" and other deformations.

In the prior art, the peeling of the skin material and the cushion material is likely to occur from the groove end portion opened in the outer peripheral portion of the body support as a base point. Therefore, in the chair of the present invention, a wall portion that closes the end portion of the groove is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the body support so that the end portion of the groove does not open to the outer peripheral portion of the body support. It is possible to suppress the peeling of the skin material and the cushion material at the groove end portion, and thus to suppress the peeling of the skin material and the cushion material in the entire body support.

Further, as a measure against peeling of the skin material and the cushion material, it is conceivable to fill all the above grooves, but in this case, the influence on the design surface is large. In the chair of the present invention, by providing a wall portion that closes the end portion of the groove without filling the entire groove, peeling of the skin material and the cushion material can be suppressed, so that the design by the groove can be realized with good quality.

In the chair of the present invention, for example, the wall top of the wall may be formed flush with the body support surface.

According to this aspect, since the wall top of the wall portion is formed flush with the body support surface, it is possible to form an appearance without a step on the outer peripheral portion of the body support in the vicinity of the groove end portion, and a good aesthetic appearance can be obtained. can get.

Further, in the chair of the present invention, for example, the end portion of the groove may be formed gradually shallower toward the wall portion.

According to this aspect, at the end of the groove, it is possible to eliminate a place where stress is concentrated due to the deformation operation of the body support along the groove, and the peeling of the skin material and the cushion material is satisfactorily suppressed. can. Further, since the stress concentration portion at the groove end portion can be eliminated, the peeling at the groove end portion can be suppressed even if the groove is deepened, and the degree of freedom in design regarding the groove depth is improved.

Further, in the chair of the present invention, for example, the skin material may be made of leather. Here, the leather includes synthetic leather such as vinyl leather, artificial leather, natural leather and the like. However, in the present invention, the material of the skin material is not limited to leather, and may be a cloth such as a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, or a non-woven fabric.

According to this aspect, even when leather such as vinyl leather, which has higher elasticity than cloth, is used as the skin material, a place (body support) that tends to be a base point for peeling between the skin material and the cushion material. Since there is no groove end portion that opens on the outer peripheral portion of the material, peeling between the skin material and the cushion material can be suppressed. In addition, since the peeling of the skin material and the cushion material can be suppressed without filling the entire groove, the skin material of the body holder can be formed to have the same appearance between the cloth material and the leather material, and the design is unified. It is possible to increase the variation of the same model without damaging it.

Further, in the chair of the present invention, for example, the cushion material and the skin material may be bonded by insert molding.

According to this aspect, since the skin material enters the inside of the groove and is adhered to the cushion material in a stretched state as a whole, the skin material and the cushion material are firmly adhered to each other, and the body has a good appearance. A retainer is obtained.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can suppress peeling between the skin material and the cushion material in a chair that is deformably configured along a groove formed on the body support surface.

It is a figure which shows the appearance of the chair which concerns on embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows the appearance of the chair which concerns on embodiment, (A) is a front view, (B) is a rear view, (C) is a side view, (D) is a front view of only a backrest. It is a figure which shows the backrest, (A) is the perspective view which showed the back outer shell, (B) is the perspective view which omitted the back outer shell. (A) is a separated perspective view of the backrest, and (B) is a perspective view of the back cushion body viewed from behind. It is a separation perspective view of the component of the backrest. (A) is a front view of the back cushion body, and (B) is a sectional view taken along line BB of (A). 6A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6A. It is a figure which shows the modification, and is the cross-sectional view corresponding to the AA position of FIG. 6A.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is applied to a swivel chair that is often used for offices. In the following explanation, the wording of front, back, left and right is used to specify the direction, but this is defined as the state seen from a person who normally sits on a chair. The front view is the posture facing the seated person of the chair.

First, the outline of the chair will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The basic configuration of the chair is the same as that of the conventional chair, and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the chair includes a leg device 1, a seat 2, and a backrest 3 as main components. Although not shown, the chair of this embodiment can be equipped with an armrest device, a hanger, a headrest, or the like as optional items.

The leg device 1 has a leg support 7 made of a gas cylinder. The leg support 7 is supported by a plurality of branch arms 8 that extend radially. A caster is provided at the tip of each branch arm 8. As shown in FIG. 2, a fixed base 9 is attached to the upper end of the leg support 7, and the tilt base 10 is attached to a portion of the fixed base 9 on the front side of the leg support 7 by a horizontally long support shaft 11. It is connected. The fixed base 9 and the tilting base 10 are used as main members to form a base portion to which the seat 2 and the backrest 3 are attached.

A seat receiving member (not shown) to which the seat 2 is attached is supported by the fixed base 9 and the tilting base 10. Further, a back support frame 13 to which the backrest 3 is attached is fixed to the tilt base 10. Therefore, the backrest 3 locks together with the tilt base 10. Although not shown, a locking spring that imparts resistance to locking is arranged inside the fixed base 9.

Further, the seat 2 has a structure in which a seat cushion body 17 is stretched on the upper surface of a seat inner shell (not shown) made of synthetic resin. The seat cushion body 17 includes a seat cushion material 18 such as sponge or urethane foam, and a seat skin material 19 such as vinyl leather that covers the surface of the seat cushion material 18.

The backrest 3 includes a back outer shell 23 and a back cushion body 24 arranged in front of the back outer shell 23 as main elements. The backrest 3 is an example of a body support. As is clearly shown in FIG. 2D, the backrest 3 (or the back outer shell 23 and the back cushion body 24 are divided into three areas, a center area 25 and left and right side areas 26, in the left-right direction. In the vertical direction, the upper area 27, the middle area 28, and the lower area 29 are divided into three areas.

Therefore, the backrest 3 is divided into nine elements: an upper center element a, a middle center element b, a lower center element c, left and right upper side elements d, left and right middle side elements e, and left and right lower side elements f. .. The elements a to f are common to the back outer shell 23 and the back cushion body 24, and when the backrest 3 is displayed as an element as a whole, the codes a to f are simply quoted. On the other hand, when it is necessary to individually display the elements as the elements of the back outer shell 23 and the back cushion body 24, reference numerals a to f are added to 23 and 24.

That is, the back outer shell 23 is divided into an upper center element 23a, a middle center element 23b, a lower center element 23c, an upper side element 23d, a middle side element 23e, and a lower side element 23f. Similarly, the back cushion body 24 is divided into an upper center element 24a, a middle center element 24b, a lower center element 24c, an upper side element 24d, a middle side element 24e, and a lower side element 24f.

Although the details will be described later, in the back cushion body 24, a groove 30 that opens forward is formed at the boundary portion between the adjacent elements 24a to 24f. The groove 30 is a thin hinge portion. Therefore, while the back cushion body 24 is manufactured as a single member, adjacent elements 24a to 24f are separated by a groove 30.

The upper center element a and the lower center element c are slightly horizontally long trapezoids, and the middle center element b is an inverted trapezoid having the same vertical and horizontal directions. Further, the upper side element d is substantially an inverted trapezoid, the middle side element e is a vertically long trapezoid, and the lower side element f is an inverted triangle. Therefore, the backrest 3 is narrowed by the upper area 27 and the middle area 28 when viewed from the front, and is swollen by the middle area 28 and the lower area 29. The backrest 3 can be formed into a vertically long rectangular shape, an inverted trapezoidal shape, or the like as a whole when viewed from the front.

Further, the side elements d to f are tilted toward the front with respect to the center elements a to c. That is, the side elements d to f are inclined so as to wrap the seated person's body. Therefore, the backrest 3 has a forward concave shape in a plan view. On the other hand, in the side view, the backrest 3 has a forward convex chevron formed by the middle area 28 and the lower area 29. Therefore, the back cushion material middle center element 24b and the back cushion material lower center element 24c form a convex portion L that supports the lumbar region (lumbar vertebrae) of the seated person.

On the other hand, the upper area 27 and the middle area 28 are slightly bent forward in a concave shape in a side view. The upper center element a and the middle center element b can be formed in a flat shape, or conversely, can be bent in a forward convex shape in a side view.

In both the back outer shell 23 and the back cushion body 24, the upper center elements 23a and 24a and the middle center elements 23b and 24b are integrated so as not to rotate relative to each other. Therefore, in the back cushion body 24, the groove 30 formed at the boundary between the upper center element 24a and the middle center element 24b has a design meaning and does not bend at this portion. Other adjacent elements of the back outer shell 23 and the back cushion body 24 are connected so as to be relatively rotatable.

The back support frame 13 is a metal die-cast product or a resin molded product, and has a back support column 13a extending upward behind the backrest 3. Then, the back outer shell middle stage center element 23b is connected to the upper end of the back support column 13a by left and right horizontally long pins. Therefore, at the time of locking, the back support 13a rotates relative to the backrest 3.

In the present embodiment, when the seated person puts his / her waist only on the convex portion L including the middle center element b and the lower center element c based on the neutral state in which the person is not leaning on the backrest 3, the middle center element b and the lower center element c expand and deform so as to extend in a flat state in a side view, and the side elements d, e, and f rotate in a direction of wrapping the seated person's body.

On the other hand, in the locking state in which the seated person leans against the middle center element b and the upper center element a, the side elements d, e, and f rotate so as to widen the angle with respect to the center elements a, b, and c. That is, the backrest 3 expands and deforms toward a flat state in a plan view. At the time of locking, the middle center element b and the lower center element c rotate relative to each other so as to approach a flat state. Therefore, at the time of locking, the backrest 3 is deformed in a flat direction as a whole.

The backrest 3 includes a resin back inner shell 42 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The back inner shell 42 has a frame structure that opens back and forth, and the back cushion body 24 is fixed (adhered) to the back inner shell 42 by insert molding. Further, the back cushion body 24 is divided into elements 24a to 24f by the groove 30 described above. In other words, the thin portion of the groove 30 is a hinge portion that allows mutual bending of the elements 24a to 24f. However, since the upper center element 24a and the middle center element 24b do not bend, the horizontally long grooves 30 located between the upper center element 24a and the middle center element 24b are provided for design purposes.

The back inner shell 42 includes a loop-shaped peripheral frame portion 43 that overlaps the back surface of the outer peripheral portion of the back cushion body 24, a horizontally long joint portion 44 that overlaps the upper ends of the middle elements 24b and 24e, and a peripheral frame portion 43. It is composed of a forehead portion 45 connected to an upper end portion and a horizontally long joint portion 44. Further, in order to allow the adjacent elements 24a to 24f to rotate relative to each other in the groove 30 (hinge portion) of the back inner shell 42, a front view zigzag shape hinge portion 46 is provided in the side view waveform. Is forming.

As described above, the back cushion body 24 is insert-molded into the back inner shell 42. The back inner shell 42 is connected to the back outer shell 23 by a clip (not shown). For example, in FIG. 5, a large number of through holes 47 are displayed on the back inner shell 42, and the through holes 47 are for attaching clips. On the other hand, in the same FIG. 5, a large number of forward-protruding rib-shaped protrusions are indicated by reference numerals 49 on the back outer shell 23, and a clip is attached to the rib-shaped protrusions 49.

As can be understood from FIG. 5, in the back outer shell 23, each element 23a to 23f has a separate structure except that the upper center element 23a and the middle center element 23b are integrated. The adjacent elements 23a to 23f are integrally connected by a band hinge 55 made of an elastomer. The band hinge 55 is formed by a two-color molding method or an insert molding method. Further, the band hinge 55 overlaps the front surface of the elements 23a to 23f, and the band hinge 55 is slightly exposed on the back side. Therefore, on the back surface of the back outer shell 23, the portion of the band hinge 55 appears in a grooved state.

The lower end of the lower center element 23c constituting the back outer shell 23 is connected to the rear end of the seat outer shell 20 (see FIG. 2C) to which the seat 2 is attached so as to be relatively rotatable. By connecting the backrest 3 and the seat 2 in this way, the posture of the backrest 3 is maintained. Further, since the backrest 3 and the seat 2 are connected, the center elements a to c are pulled in the vertical direction at the time of locking, and the side elements d to f rotate accordingly. A configuration similar to this is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-511111.

Explaining with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, as described above, the back cushion body 24 is composed of nine elements 24a to 24f. The back cushion body 24 includes a back cushion material 31 made of an elastic material such as sponge or urethane foam, and a back skin material 32 that covers the surface of the back cushion material 31. Although the above-mentioned back inner shell 42 is integrated by insert molding on the back side of the back cushion material 31, the back inner shell 42 is not shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Of the back cushion material 31, the body support surface 33 and the outer peripheral portion 34 are covered with the back skin material 32. Here, the body support surface 33 is a surface (front surface) on the side where the seated person's body touches. In this embodiment, the back skin material 32 is formed of vinyl leather as an example of leather, and is integrally adhered to the back cushion material 31 by insert molding. Therefore, the back skin material 32 is adhered to the entire body support surface 33 and the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion material 31 in a stretched state. The spine skin material 32 is not limited to vinyl leather, but may be other synthetic leather, artificial leather, natural leather, or cloth such as woven fabric, knitted fabric, or non-woven fabric.

As is clearly shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the body support surface 33 and the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24 are made of the back skin material 32 in a wrinkle-free and stretched state. Further, each element 24a to 24f is divided by a groove 30 formed in the body support surface 33. The back skin material 32 also enters the groove 30. As described above, the back cushion body 24 is configured to be bendable or bendable (deformable) along the groove 30 formed in the body support surface 33.

The groove 30 is roughly V-shaped with a rounded bottom, and the width of the bottom is smaller than the width of the opening edge. Further, the depth dimension is set to be slightly shorter than about half of the thickness dimension of the back cushion body 24. It can be said that the depth dimension may be roughly 1/4 to 1/2 of the thickness dimension of the back cushion body 24. The same applies to the seat cushion body 17.

Each element 24a to 24f of the back cushion body 24 has a flat surface and a peripheral hem portion, and has a substantially trapezoidal shape (or plateau shape) in which the upper side is longer than the lower side. Therefore, the part that hits the seated person's body is basically flat. This point is the same for the seat cushion body 17. The outer peripheral portions of the elements 24a to 24f may be angular or rounded.

As is clearly shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a wall portion 35 that closes the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is formed on the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24. The wall portion 35 closes the end portion 30a of the groove 30 so that the end portion 30a of the groove 30 does not open to the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24.

When the end portion of the groove 30 is opened in the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24, the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 are likely to be peeled off from the opening portion as a base point. Therefore, in this embodiment, the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24 is provided with the wall portion 35 that closes the end portion 30a of the groove 30, so that the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is opened to the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24. I try not to. As a result, the peeling of the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 at the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is suppressed, and thus the peeling of the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 in the entire back cushion body 24 is suppressed. ..

In this embodiment, in a configuration in which the end of the groove 30 opens to the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24, a portion (outer circumference of the back cushion body 24) that tends to be a base point for peeling between the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31. Since there is no groove end portion that opens in the portion 34, peeling of the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 can be suppressed. Further, since the peeling of the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 can be suppressed without filling the entire groove 30, the design by the groove 30 can be realized with good quality. Further, while suppressing the peeling of the back surface skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31, the back surface skin material 32 of the back cushion body 24 can be formed to have the same appearance between the cloth material and the leather material, and the design is unified. It is possible to increase the variation of the same model without impairing.

Further, in this embodiment, vinyl leather (an example of leather) having higher elasticity than cloth is used as the back skin material 32, and the vinyl leather is in a straight state in the groove 30 (body support surface 33 side). To) The power to return is relatively strong. For example, in a configuration in which the end of the groove 30 opens to the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24, if vinyl leather is used as the back skin material 32, the concern about the occurrence of the peeling further increases. In response to this concern, in this embodiment, by eliminating the portion that tends to be the base point for the occurrence of peeling, even if vinyl leather is adopted as the back skin material 32, the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 are peeled off. Can be suppressed. That is, this embodiment is more suitable when a highly elastic material such as vinyl leather is used as the back skin material 32. As the spine skin material 32, synthetic leather, artificial leather, or natural leather having the same or lower elasticity than cloth may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, the wall top portion 35a of the wall portion 35 is formed flush with the body support surface 33. As a result, it is possible to form an appearance without a step on the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24 in the vicinity of the end portion 30a of the groove 30, and a good aesthetic appearance can be obtained.

Further, in this embodiment, as is clearly shown in FIG. 7, the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is formed gradually shallower toward the wall portion 35. That is, the bottom surface of the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is inclined so as to approach the body support surface 33 toward the wall portion 35 side. For example, in a configuration in which the end of the groove 30 opens to the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24, the end of the groove 30 is adjacent to the straight portion of the outer peripheral portion 34, so that the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material Peeling from 31 is likely to occur. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the bottom surface of the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is inclined so as to be closer to the body support surface 33 toward the wall portion 35 side, so that the end portion 30a of the groove 30 becomes the groove 30. It is possible to eliminate the place where stress is concentrated due to the bending operation of the back cushion body 24 along the line, and it is possible to satisfactorily suppress the peeling of the back surface skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31. Further, since the stress concentration portion at the end portion 30a of the groove 30 can be eliminated, the peeling at the end portion 30a can be suppressed even if the groove 30 is deepened, and the degree of freedom in design regarding the depth of the groove 30 is improved. ..

As shown in FIG. 8, at the end 30a of the groove 30, a wall surface intersecting the longitudinal direction of the groove 30 is formed in a substantially vertical direction with respect to the body support surface 33, and the entire groove 30 has substantially the same depth. It may be formed. Also in this modification, the wall portion 35 closes the end portion 30a of the groove 30 so that the end portion 30a of the groove 30 does not open to the outer peripheral portion 34 of the back cushion body 24. Therefore, the peeling of the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 at the end portion 30a of the groove 30 is suppressed, and the peeling of the back skin material 32 and the back cushion material 31 in the entire back cushion body 24 is suppressed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be embodied in various ways, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

For example, the present invention includes a body support whose surface is coated with a skin material, and the body support is configured to be bendable along a groove formed on the body support surface on the side where the human body hits. It is related to the chair that is used, but here, the chair is a general term for the chair on which a person sits. Therefore, benches and wheelchairs are also included. In addition to the backrest, the body support includes a seat, an optional headrest, an elbow rest, a shoulder rest, and the like.

24 Back cushion body (body support)
30 Groove 30a End 31 Back cushion material (cushion material)
32 Back skin material (skin material)
33 Body support surface 34 Perimeter 35 Wall 35a Wall top

Claims (5)

The chair is provided with a body support whose surface is coated with a skin material, and the body support is deformably configured along a groove formed on the body support surface on the side where the human body hits. hand,
A chair in which a wall portion that closes the end of the groove is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the body support. The chair according to claim 1, wherein the wall top of the wall portion is formed flush with the body support surface. The chair according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the end portion of the groove is formed gradually shallower toward the wall portion. The chair according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the skin material is made of leather. The chair according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cushion material and the skin material are bonded by insert molding.

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