JP7408046B2 - Chair - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a chair suitable for use in offices and the like.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a chair of this kind is known that includes a seat support having casters and a seat supported by the seat support so as to be horizontally rotatable (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

By the way, conventional models are designed so that large frictional resistance does not occur when the seat rotates relative to the seat support, so if an external force is applied to the seat to change its orientation regardless of whether the seat is seated or not, the seat will will pivot relative to the seat support. Therefore, if it is desired to change the orientation of the seat support due to the relationship between the casters and an obstacle on the floor, it is necessary to lower the posture and apply operating force directly to the seat support itself.

Such troublesomeness has been pointed out in so-called stools, rotating office chairs, etc., and some kind of improvement is desired.

Utility Model Publication No. 06-009537

The present invention has been made in view of this situation, and it is necessary to apply force to different objects to be operated when changing the orientation of the seat and when changing the orientation of the seat support. The purpose is to eliminate the hassle.

The chair according to the invention according to claim 1 is provided with a lower swing support mechanism that allows the seat support to horizontally swing together with the seat at the lower part of the seat support that supports the seat, An upward rotation support mechanism for horizontally rotating the seat with respect to the seat support is provided between the seat and the support body, and when a seating load is applied to the seat, the upward rotation support mechanism has priority. The lower rotation support mechanism is set to be able to operate preferentially when the seat load is not applied, and when the seat is not seated, the seat support is moved to the floor. If the rotational moment required to rotate the seat support horizontally with respect to the floor surface is M1, and the rotational moment required to rotate the seat support horizontally with respect to the floor surface while seated is M2, then the downward rotation The support mechanism has a characteristic such that the relationship M1<M2 holds true, and the upward rotation support mechanism has a rotational moment where Mx is the rotational moment required to horizontally rotate the seat with respect to the seat support. , is set so that the relationship M1<Mx<M2 holds true regardless of whether the seat is seated, and by applying a turning force to the seat in a state where the seat is not seated, where the relationship M1<Mx holds, it is possible to rotate only the seat. First, the seat support is configured so that the orientation thereof can also be changed.

The chair according to the invention set forth in claim 2 is the chair set forth in claim 1, wherein the lower swing support mechanism includes casters configured such that rolling resistance increases as the applied load increases. be.

The chair according to the invention set forth in claim 3 is the chair set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein the upper swing support mechanism includes a base plate provided on the seat support, and a base plate that is pivotally connected to the base plate and supports the seat. It is equipped with a seat plate for support.

According to the present invention, when a person is seated, the direction of only the seat can be changed by applying a turning force to the seat, and when a person is not seated, the direction of only the seat can be changed by applying a turning force to the seat. Since the direction of the seat support can also be changed, the above-mentioned problem can be solved.

1 is an overall perspective view showing a stool according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the stool according to the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing the stool according to the same embodiment. 3 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the stool according to the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the stool according to the embodiment with the seat removed. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation of the stool upward swing support mechanism according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a central front cross-sectional view showing the upward swing support mechanism of the stool according to the same embodiment.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

This embodiment is a case where the present invention is applied to a stool A, which is a chair used in an office or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, the stool A has a seat 2 placed on a seat plate 51 that is horizontally pivotable on the stool body 1. It is fixed to the seat support plate 51 using the screw 3 which is a fastener attached from the lower surface 51a side of the seat support plate 51. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, the stool main body 1, which is a seat support, has a top wall 11 facing the bottom surface of the seat 2, and has an outer wall on the bottom side of the top wall 11. The space 12 is open to the space 12, and the top wall 11 thereof is provided with a fastening communication hole 13 for mounting the screw 3, which is a fastening device, to the seat 2 from the space 12 side. In other words, this stool A is provided with a lower swing support mechanism 4 that enables horizontal rotation of the stool main body 1 together with the seat 2 at the lower part of the stool main body 1 that supports the seat 2, and also has a lower swing support mechanism 4 that enables the stool main body 1 to horizontally swing together with the seat 2. 1 is provided with an upward rotation support mechanism 5 for horizontally rotating the seat 2 with respect to the stool body 1, and when a seating load is applied to the seat 2, the upper rotation support mechanism 5 has priority. The lower swing support mechanism 4 is configured to be able to operate preferentially when no seating load is applied. The seat support plate 51 is one component of the upper swing support mechanism 5, as will be described later.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5, the stool body 1 includes a bottom wall 14 having a circular shape in plan view, and upstanding walls radially erected on the bottom wall 14. 15, and a ceiling wall 11 which is circular in plan view and supported by the upper ends of these upright walls 15, and a space 12 corresponding to a communication hole 13 for fixing is provided between certain adjacent upright walls 15. It is formed. A plurality of nuts (not shown) are embedded in the top wall 11 so as to surround the pivot axis c, and an upper pivot support mechanism 5, which will be described later, is attached using these nuts.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, the seat 2 is a disc-shaped member having a circular shape in plan view, and nuts m are embedded in a plurality of locations equidistant from the pivot axis c on the lower surface of the seat 2. There is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower swing support mechanism 4 has a plurality of casters 41, five in this embodiment, arranged on the lower surface of the bottom wall 14 of the stool main body 1 at the apex positions of a pentagon. The casters 41 are so-called flat casters, and due to the fact that the outer diameter of the wheels 41a is set relatively smaller than the outer diameter of the axle 41b, the wheels 41 It has the characteristic of increasing rolling resistance against the floor surface. That is, M1 is the rotational moment required to rotate the stool body 1 horizontally with respect to the floor surface when the stool A is not seated, and the rotation moment required to rotate the stool body 1 horizontally with respect to the floor surface when the stool A is seated. Assuming that the rotational moment required for this is M2, the lower swing support mechanism 4 has a characteristic such that the relationship M1<M2 holds true.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 to 8, the upper swing support mechanism 5 includes a base plate 52 provided on the top wall 11 of the stool body 1, and the above-mentioned base plate 52 which is pivotally connected to this base plate 52 and supports the seat 2. It is equipped with a seat support plate 51. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the substrate 52 has a substantially square shape in plan view, and has a shaft hole 52a at a portion corresponding to the rotation center axis c. A screw insertion hole 52b is provided in a corner portion of this board 52. That is, this board 52 is fixed to the stool main body 1 by screwing screws 52c inserted into each screw insertion hole 52b into nuts (not shown) embedded in the top wall 11. Note that this substrate 52 includes a circular bulge 52d centered on the shaft hole 52a. The bulging portion 52d has a substantially trapezoidal cross section that bulges upward.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the seat support plate 51 has a substantially square shape in plan view, and has a shaft hole 51b at a portion corresponding to the pivot axis c. A screw insertion hole 51c is provided near the corner of the seat support plate 51. That is, the seat support plate 51 is fixed to the seat 2 by screwing the screws 3, which are fasteners, inserted into the respective screw insertion holes 51c from below into the nuts m of the seat 2. Note that the seat support plate 51 includes a circular bulge 51d centered on the shaft hole 51b. The bulging portion 51d has a substantially trapezoidal cross section that bulges downward, and the bulging portion 51d and the bulging portion 52d of the substrate 52 are butted together with the axes aligned with each other via the spacer element 53. There is. The connection between the base plate 52 and the seat support plate 51 is achieved by, for example, as shown in FIG. 52a, 53a, and 51b from below, and a flanged screw 55 is screwed onto the penetrating end of the shaft nut 54 from above. This upper rotation support mechanism 5 is designed so that, where Mx is the rotational moment required to horizontally rotate the seat 2 with respect to the stool body 1, the relationship M1<Mx<M2 holds regardless of whether or not the seat is seated. The friction coefficient and dimensions of each part are set. Note that the spacer element 53 may be of any type as long as it allows the seat support plate 51 to rotate relative to the stool body 1 with frictional resistance. Various types of bearings are conceivable, such as a roller bearing or a combination of a thrust bearing and a friction plate.

The seat 2 can be attached to the stool body 1 in the following manner. First, the base plate 52 of the upper swing support mechanism 5 is screwed onto the top wall 11 of the stool body 1. When the seat support plate 51 is rotated in this state from the state shown in FIG. 6 to the state shown in FIG. It selectively matches the fixing communication hole 13 provided in the. Therefore, the screw 3 led from the space 12 opened to the outside of the stool body 1 to the ceiling wall 11 through the fixing communication hole 13 is screwed into the nut m of the seat 2 through the corresponding screw insertion hole 51c of the seat support plate 51. can be worn. At this time, not only the screw 3 passes through the fixing communication hole 13, but also a tool such as a driver for screwing and tightening the screw 3 into the nut m is inserted. Then, by repeating this screw fixing operation each time the plurality of screw insertion holes 51c of the seat plate 51 selectively align with the fixing communication holes 13, all the screws 3 are fixed in the common fixing communication holes 13. The nut m of the seat 2 can be screwed onto the nut m of the seat 2, and the attachment of the seat 2 to the seat support plate 51 can be completed.

According to the above configuration, when the person is seated, the orientation of only the seat 2 can be changed by applying a turning force to the seat 2, and when the person is not seated, a turning force is applied to the seat 2. By doing so, the orientation of not only the seat 2 but also the stool body 1 can be changed. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of having to apply force to different operating objects when changing the orientation of the seat 2 and when changing the orientation of the stool body 1. That is, by simply applying an operating force to the seat 2, it is possible to rotate only the seat 2 or change the orientation of the stool body 1 together with the seat 2, thereby improving usability.

Furthermore, if the lower swing support mechanism 4 is configured by the flat type casters 41 as described above, the relationship of M1<M2 described above can be easily realized.

If the upper swing support mechanism 5 is provided with a base plate 52 provided on the stool body 1 and a seat support plate 51 that is pivotally connected to this base plate 52 and supports the seat 2, the base plate 52 and the seat By appropriately selecting the spacer element 53 to be interposed between the support plate 51 and the receiving plate 51, the above-mentioned relationship M1<Mx<M2 can be easily realized.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above.

For example, the present invention is not limited to the stool as in the embodiment described above, but can be similarly applied to a rotary office chair and the like.

In addition, the lower rotation support mechanism is not limited to the one that utilizes the characteristics of the flat caster described above, but also actively increases the rotational moment required to horizontally rotate the seat support with respect to the floor surface while the user is seated. It may be something that is wet. As an example, the wheels of the casters can be elastically moved up and down, and when a person is seated, the wheels are relatively recessed and the friction body is in contact with the floor surface.

The upward rotation support mechanism is also not limited to that of the embodiment described above, and may be of any type as long as it has a configuration that satisfies the relationship of M1<Mx<M2 described above. As an example, a friction plate as a spacer element is interposed between the bulge of the base plate and the bulge of the seat support plate, and the frictional resistance between the friction plate and each bulge is adjusted. One possibility is to set the friction coefficient and dimensions of the friction plate. Another example is one in which a thrust bearing, which is a spacer element, and a resistance member that provides resistance to the balls of this thrust bearing are interposed between the bulge of the base plate and the bulge of the seat support plate. etc. are possible.

Moreover, the structure of the seat support may be arbitrary, such as omitting the top wall. However, by providing the top wall on the seat support (the stool body in the above embodiment) as in the embodiment described above, the upper rotation support mechanism including the base plate and the seat support plate is visible from below, which impairs the appearance. In addition, the area of the part where the seat support body (stool body) receives the load of the seated person via the seat support plate can be increased, and the stress per unit area in the part can be reduced, so the stress in the part concerned can be reduced. It is also possible to avoid excessive stress from occurring.

In addition, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

A...Chair (stool)
1...Seat support (stool body)
2... Seat 4... Lower swing support mechanism 41... Caster 5... Upper swing support mechanism 51... Seat support plate 52... Board

Claims (3)

A lower rotation support mechanism that enables the seat support to horizontally rotate together with the seat is provided at the lower part of the seat support that supports the seat, and a lower rotation support mechanism is provided between the seat and the seat support. It is provided with an upward rotation support mechanism for horizontal rotation with respect to the support body,
When a seating load is acting on the seat, the upper swing support mechanism is preferentially operable, and when the seat load is not applied, the lower swing support mechanism is preferentially operable. It is set,
Let M1 be the rotational moment required to rotate the seat support horizontally with respect to the floor surface in a non-seated state, and When the rotational moment is M2, the lower rotation support mechanism has a characteristic such that the relationship M1<M2 holds, and the upper rotation support mechanism rotates the seat horizontally with respect to the seat support. The setting is such that, where Mx is the rotational moment required for
A chair configured such that not only the direction of the seat but also the direction of the seat support can be changed by applying a turning force to the seat in a non-seated state where the relationship M1<Mx is established . 2. The chair according to claim 1, wherein the lower swing support mechanism includes casters configured such that rolling resistance increases as the applied load increases. 3. The chair according to claim 1, wherein the upper swing support mechanism includes a base plate provided on the seat support, and a seat support plate pivotally connected to the base plate and supporting the seat.

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