JPH08214982A - Chair - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a chair with improved maneuverability for the aged and the helper. CONSTITUTION: This chair is provided with front legs 1 and rear legs 2. A cap 4 with a caster 3 is fitted onto the lower end 1a of the front leg 1. The lower end 3a of the caster 3, in a state the lower end 2a of the rear leg 2 is in contact with the floor face F, is in contact with the floor face F and the lower end 4a of the cap 4, in a state slightly lifted up from the floor face F, is to be set in front of the caster 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a chair which is particularly suitable for elderly people, sick people, disabled people and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one type of chair, there is one having casters at the lower ends of its legs. Since such a chair with casters slides on the floor surface with extremely small resistance, it is extremely convenient when pulling the chair to sit, change the posture, move the chair, etc. It is widely and commonly used in offices and homes.

[0003]

By the way, as for chairs used in offices and the like, the type in which casters are attached to the lower ends of radially extending leg blades is increasing, whereas chairs used at home are Most of the traditional type has casters attached to the lower ends of the front and rear legs. In such a chair, it is easy to cause the chair to tilt in the front-rear direction based on the ground contact structure of the legs. Therefore, when the user moves the center of gravity in the seated state in the front-rear direction, after the front leg or the rear leg floats, the slidability of the casters causes damage and the center of gravity is directly above the front leg or the rear leg. There is a problem that the entire chair may suddenly turn to a position beyond the point, and that the chair and the user easily fall in the front-back direction. In particular, elderly people, sick people, people with disabilities, etc. can sit on a chair
Since there is a tendency to sit deeper or shallower than necessary on the chair, it is easy to apply a load to the position deviated from the center of the chair in the front-back direction, and the risk of the above-mentioned fall is much higher than that of a normal person. .

In order to avoid such a danger, it is conceivable to project a sled-shaped fall prevention member from the vicinity of the lower end of the front leg toward the front or from the vicinity of the lower end of the rear leg toward the rear. However, when such a configuration is adopted, it is dangerous for the user and caregiver to take a foot, and in addition, the fall prevention member collides with the heel of the user when the user pulls the chair. May be harmful.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a chair in which the risk of falling can be safely and effectively avoided without impairing the convenience of casters. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.

That is, the chair according to the present invention is a chair having front and rear legs, in which the lower end of the front leg is fitted with a cap provided with casters, and the lower end of the rear leg is grounded on the floor surface. , The lower end of the caster touches the floor, and
It is characterized in that the lower end of the cap is arranged in the front part of the caster while being slightly above the floor surface.

As a specific embodiment, the lower end of the cap is positioned substantially directly below the lower end of the front leg and the front surface of the cap is substantially flush with the front surface of the front leg, or the front surface of the cap is connected to the front leg. An example is one in which the casters are smoothly bulged to a position projecting forward from the front surface and the horizontal support shaft of the caster is arranged close to the lower end of the front leg.

Particularly, the latter configuration is applied to a chair that is stacked with the casters attached to the front legs of the upper-tier chair interposed between the front legs of the lower-tier chair and the front legs of the upper-tier chair. It will be useful.

[0010]

With such a structure, the chair is grounded to the floor through the lower end of the caster attached to the front leg and the lower end of the rear leg. Next, from this state, when the user applies a load to a position deviated forward from the center of the chair,
The frictional force between the lower end of the rear leg and the floor surface is reduced, and at least most of the load is supported by the caster of the front leg, so that the chair can easily slide in the front-rear direction. At this time, even if the load deviation is large and an attempt is made to induce more tilting than necessary, the lower end of the cap waiting in front of the casters of the front legs comes into contact with the floor to prevent further tilting of the chair. It will prevent it and prevent it from falling. In addition, since the rear legs of this chair do not have casters or the like and directly contact the floor, the center of gravity is right above the rear legs against load deviation to the rear of the chair. There is no danger of the entire chair turning suddenly until it passes, and the risk of falling is much lower.

In the above construction, no special member for preventing fall is projected to the rear of the rear leg, and the smooth front surface of the cap is bulged to the front of the front leg. , The heel is not injured when the user takes a foot or pulls a chair, which is useful for safety design.

In particular, in a chair in which the front legs of the lower-side chair and the front legs of the upper-side chair are stacked through casters attached to the front legs of the upper-side chair, the front of the front legs is bulged, By locating the horizontal axis of the caster close to the lower end of the front leg, it is possible to prevent the caster from becoming large and bulky between the front leg of the lower-side chair and the front leg of the upper-side chair, and to improve the stack pitch. It can be made smaller. Moreover, the front legs of the upper chairs are guided while the casters roll on the upper surfaces of the front legs of the lower chairs during stacking, so that the stacking work can be facilitated.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

<First Embodiment> The chair of this embodiment is, for example, a wooden chair, and as shown in FIG. 1, a steel cap 4 having casters 3 is attached to the lower ends 1a of the left and right front legs 1 as shown in FIG. The lower ends 2a of the left and right rear legs 2 are directly grounded to the floor surface F.

The left and right front legs 1 and rear legs 2 are made of square timber, and are assembled at positions where the load applied to the seat 5 and the backrest 6 can be stably supported, and the lower ends 2a of the rear legs 2 are placed on the floor. The lower end 1a of the front leg 1 is set to float from the floor surface F when the surface F is grounded. A cap 4 having casters 3 is attached to the lower end 1a of the front leg 1. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the cap 4 has a bottomed pipe portion 41 whose inner circumference substantially corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the front leg 1, and extends rearward from the facing wall surface of the pipe portion 41. The caster 3 is formed by integrally molding a pair of vertical wall portions 42, and the casters 3 are axially mounted between the vertical wall portions 42 via the horizontal support shaft 31. Then, the pipe portion 41 of the cap 4 is externally fitted to the lower end 1a of the front leg 1, and a screw (not shown) is inserted into a hole 4c formed in the wall surface of the cap 4 so as to be fixed to the inner surface of the front leg 1. . In such an attached state, as shown in FIG. 7, the cap 4 has its lower end 4a positioned directly below the lower end 1a of the front leg 1 and its front surface 4b continuous to a position substantially flush with the front surface 1b of the front leg 1. Are arranged in a specific manner. The lower end 3 of the caster 3 in the use state shown in FIG.
a and the lower end 2a of the rear leg 2 are grounded to the floor surface F, and the lower end 4a of the cap 4 is slightly floated above the floor surface F at the front part of the caster 3.

In such a structure, when the user applies a load to a position deviated from the center of the chair to the front by moving the center of gravity from the state of use of FIG. 7, the lower end 2a of the rear leg 2 will be described.
The frictional force between the floor and the floor F is reduced, or the lower end 2a of the rear leg 2 is completely lifted from the floor F as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. Supported by No. 3, the chair is ready to slide back and forth. Therefore, it is possible to extremely easily perform operations such as pulling the chair and changing the direction. At this time, when the load deviation is large and the chair tries to tilt more than necessary, the lower end 4a of the cap 4 standing by in front of the caster 3 is placed on the floor surface F as shown by the solid line in the figure. Ground to prevent further forward tilting of the chair. For this reason, it is possible to reliably prevent the situation in which the chair and the user fall down. The fall prevention angle is determined by the horizontal distance and the vertical distance between the lower end 3a of the caster 3 and the lower end 4a of the cap 4, and is set to an appropriate value in advance. Further, since the rear legs 2 of this chair do not have casters or the like and are directly grounded to the floor surface F, the user leans heavily on the backrest 5, and the load on the rear of the chair is biased. Even if the number of positions increases, there is no danger of the entire chair turning suddenly until the center of gravity of the entire chair passes the thought point just above the rear leg 2, so there is a risk of falling backward. It can be kept much lower.
Further, in the above-described configuration, since no special member for fall prevention is projected to the front of the front leg 1 and the rear of the rear leg 2, the user is caught in the foot and falls, or the heel is injured. It is possible to reliably prevent an unexpected situation.

Therefore, this chair can surely improve the stability and safety in use without impairing the usability due to the slidability of the casters.

<Second Embodiment> Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the chair of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the front leg 101 is made of steel having a rectangular pipe shape, and the upper end protruding portion of the cap 104 having the caster 103 at the lower end 101a thereof. 141 is inserted.
Then, the lower end 103a of the caster 103 is grounded to the floor surface F while the lower ends of the rear legs (not shown) are grounded to the floor surface,
Moreover, the lower end 104a of the cap 104 is arranged in the front portion of the caster 103 in a state of slightly floating above the floor surface F. Therefore, as in the above-described embodiment, this one also has the basic effects of the ease of use due to the slidability of the casters 103 and the effect of preventing the chair from falling in the front-back direction.

In addition to the above structure, the chair of this embodiment is, as shown in FIG. 12, provided between the front leg 101 of the lower side chair and the front leg 101 of the upper side chair, and It also has a function of stacking with casters 103 attached to the front legs 101 interposed. And FIG.
As shown in FIG. 0, the horizontal support shaft 103b of the caster 103 is set far more forward than that in the above-described embodiment (see FIG. 4) and brought closer to the lower end 101a of the front leg 101, and the front surface 104b of the cap 104 is set to the front surface 101b of the front leg 101. It bulges out smoothly to a position that is slightly more protruding than the front.

In other words, the structure of this embodiment is the cap 10
4 of the lower end 104a and the horizontal support shaft 103b of the caster 103
The front surface 104b of the cap 104 is bulged forward in order to secure a horizontal separation distance required to prevent falling. Therefore, nothing can be made to protrude in front of the front leg unlike the above-mentioned embodiment.
However, this also conforms to the above embodiment in that the sharp fall prevention member does not project to the front of the front leg, and it is possible to effectively avoid the presence of a projecting object that hinders the user or the caregiver. . Then, by arranging the horizontal axis 103b of the caster 103 close to the lower end 101a of the front leg 101, the caster 103 is separated from the front leg 101 of the lower-side chair and the front leg 101 of the upper-side chair as shown in FIG. Since it can be compactly interposed between them, the stack pitch can be made as small as possible to effectively improve the storage efficiency of the chair. Moreover, when stacking, the upper surface of the front leg 101 of the lower chair is caster 103
Since the front legs 101 of the upper chairs are guided while rolling, the stacking work can be facilitated, and the work efficiency can be effectively improved.

The specific structure and sectional shape of each part are as follows.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, although the cap made of steel is used in the above embodiment, it may be molded of resin.

[0023]

As described above, the chair of the present invention has the following features.
With the lower end of the rear leg grounded to the floor surface, the lower end of the caster is grounded to the floor surface, and the lower end of the cap is arranged in the front portion of the caster with a little floating from the floor surface. It is a thing. For this reason, it becomes possible to effectively prevent slipping in the same direction while ensuring a certain degree of slidability in the front-back direction, and especially when applied to the elderly, sick, and physically handicapped, the operating force is small. It is extremely convenient and can be used with confidence. Also,
It is easy for a caregiver who operates from behind to operate it.

Despite the proper fall prevention function as described above, no sharp protrusions are present in front of the front leg or behind the rear leg, so that the user's safety is secured in this respect as well. It will be useful for you.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a cap with casters of the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the same.

FIG. 7 is a schematic side view showing a usage state of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view corresponding to FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a caster cap according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the same side.

FIG. 11 is a front sectional view of the same.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing a stacking state of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 101 ... Front leg 1a, 101a ... Lower end 1b, 101b ... Front face 2 ... Rear leg 2a ... Lower end 3, 103 ... Caster 3a, 103a ... Lower end 103b ... Horizontal support shaft 4, 104 ... Cap 4a, 104a ... Lower end 4b, 104b … Front F… Floor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A chair having front and rear legs, wherein a cap having casters is attached to a lower end of the front leg,
The lower end of the rear leg is in contact with the floor, the lower end of the caster is in contact with the floor, and the lower end of the cap is slightly above the floor and is located in the front of the caster. Chair to 2. The chair according to claim 1, wherein the lower end of the cap is positioned substantially directly below the lower end of the front leg, and the front surface of the cap is substantially flush with the front surface of the front leg. 3. A front surface of the cap is smoothly bulged to a position projecting forward from the front surface of the front leg, and a horizontal support shaft of the caster is arranged close to the lower end of the front leg. The listed chair. 4. The stacking method according to claim 3, wherein the casters attached to the front legs of the upper chair are interposed between the front legs of the lower chair and the front legs of the upper chair. Chair.