JPS6338410A - Chair - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a chair in which a gas spring is provided on the main shaft located at the center of one leg.

[Prior Art] In an office chair, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, a gas spring 03 is provided on the main shaft 02 of the leg O1, and the gas spring 03 allows the seat 04 to be raised and lowered. A device with elastic support has been developed. In such a structure, the seat height can generally be adjusted by opening the lock valve of the gas spring 03.

To explain specifically, the gas spring 03 has a first
As shown in FIG. 7, an inner cylinder 013 whose upper and lower ends are sealed with lids 011 and 012 is loosely fitted into an outer cylinder 014. And each of these lid bodies 011.012 and the outer cylinder 01
A fluid passage 016 is formed between the inner cylinder 013 and the outer fi 014 by sealing between the inner cylinder 013 and the outer fi 014. A piston O17 is slidably fitted into the inner cylinder 013, and its piston rod 018 slidably passes through the lower lid 012 and projects downward. Oil O and gas G are injected into a space 019.021 in the inner cylinder 013 divided by this piston 017, and each of these spaces 019.021
is the communication passage 022.02 provided in the lid body O11,012.
3 to communicate with the fluid passage O16. A normally closed lock valve 024 for opening and closing the communication passage 022 is interposed in the upper lid body O1l. And outer cylinder 0
An operation input end 0 fitted retractably into the inner periphery of the upper end of 14
By pressing 25 downward, this lock valve 0
24 can be opened.

Therefore, this gas spring 03 has its outer cylinder 014
A guide tube 0 is installed in the center of the base part 01a of the leg O1.
The piston rod 018 is slidably fitted into the bush 027 of 26, and is disposed on the main shaft 02 of the leg 01 with the lower end of the piston rod 018 fixed to the base portion 01a.
The outer cylinder 014 and the inner cylinder 013 can be moved up and down with respect to the guide cylinder 026 in a telescopic manner. Then, a mounting bracket 0 is attached to the upper end of this outer cylinder 014.
The seat 04 is attached via 28.

An operating lever 029 is pivotally attached to the mounting bracket 028 via a support shaft 031, and by pulling up the distal end 029a of the operating lever 029, the proximal end 029a of the operating lever 029 is pulled up.
29b presses the operation input end 025 of the gas spring 03 to open the lock valve 024.

In such a configuration, when the lock valve 024 is closed, the gas spring 03 is disconnected from the spaces 019 and 021 formed above and below the piston 017. The outer cylinder 013,014 and the piston 017 are balanced at a constant relative position. When a load is applied to the seat 04, the internal gas G expands and contracts accordingly, causing the inner and outer cylinders 013 and 014 and the piston 01 to
7, an elastic relative displacement is induced between the spring and the spring, thereby acting as a spring.

On the other hand, press the operation input end 025 to open the lock valve 0.
When 24 is opened, the spaces 019.021 formed above and below the piston 017 are brought into communication via the fluid passage 016. At this time, if a load above a certain level is not acting on the dust 04, the volume of the gas G will increase due to the internal gas pressure. That is, while reducing the volume of the piston loft 018 submerged into the inner cylinder 013, the inner and outer portions 013.014 rise and the sitting height becomes higher. On the other hand, if the lock valve 024 is opened while a load above a certain level is applied to the dust 04,
The load causes the gas G to be compressed. That is, the inner and outer cylinders 013 and 014 descend while increasing the volume of the piston loft 01g immersed in the inner cylinder 013, lowering the sitting height. As a result, the gas pressure within the gas spring 03 increases, and repulsive force is accumulated.

Therefore, the person P using this chair can adjust the sitting height to a desired value by adjusting the fI weight applied to the seat 04 while operating the operating lever 029.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] However, in the conventional device, as shown in FIG. 16, since the operating lever 029 is located below the seat 04, there is not only a problem in operability. However, there is a problem in that an uneven load acts on the main shaft 02 during operation, which tends to impede the operation of the gas spring 03.

That is, as described above, this type of chair utilizes the weight of the person P sitting on the chair to compress the gas spring 03 and adjust the sitting height to the lower side. Therefore, it is desirable to set the gas pressure as low as possible so that it can be used even by women with a small body weight.

However, when increasing the sitting height, it is necessary to lift the chair body including the seat 04 upward by the repulsive force of the gas spring 03. Moreover, such a chair requires 1 maintenance.
Since they are normally used for long periods of time without being inspected, there is a possibility that the sliding resistance of the moving parts will increase significantly compared to when they are new due to deterioration of the oil. Therefore, when taking such circumstances into consideration, it is necessary to set the gas pressure as high as possible.

Therefore, in this type of chair, the gas pressure of the gas spring is currently set to a value within a restricted comfortable range in order to satisfy both of the above preconditions.

By the way, in the conventional model, the operating lever 0 is located under the seat o4.
24 is provided, in order for the seated person P to operate this operating lever 029, the person P must tilt his or her body, and an unbalanced load is forced to act on the seat 04. However,
In a chair in which a gas spring 03 is provided on the main shaft 02, when an unbalanced load acts on the seat o4, a falling moment acts on the gas spring 03. Frictional resistance will increase at the IIF portion. Therefore, even if a person with a small body weight tries to lower the sitting height, the user is likely to be unable to lower the seat 03, which is an inconvenience.

The present invention aims to effectively solve such problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.

That is, the chair according to the present invention is configured such that the seat is elastically supported so as to be raised and lowered by gas springs provided on the main shafts of the legs, and the seat height can be raised and lowered by opening the lock valve of the gas spring. and includes an operating section provided inside the frame of the armrest, and an operating force transmission mechanism that transmits operating force applied to the operating section to an operating input end for opening the lock valve of the gas spring. It is characterized by:

[Function] The armrest exists in a position that a seated person can reach without changing his or her posture. Therefore, if the operating section is provided on the armrest, the seated person can operate the operating section without leaning his/her body. Moreover, since the operation section is provided inside the frame of the armrest, it is easy to operate the operation section with the arm or hand supported on any part of the armrest, and the body is not affected during operation. Shaking can be effectively suppressed.

Therefore, it is possible to effectively eliminate the problem of unbalanced load acting on the seat, and to prevent as much as possible the inconvenience of not being able to lower the seat due to the unbalanced load and increased sliding resistance of the gas spring. Can be done.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be shown in Figs. 1 to 4v! This will be explained with reference to J.

The chair shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a gas spring 3 on the main shaft 2 of the leg 1, and the gas spring 3 elastically supports the seat 4 so that it can be raised and lowered. The gas spring 3 has the same structure as the conventional one shown in FIG. 17, and by pressing the operation input end 25 of the gas spring 3, a lock valve provided inside can be opened. The seat 4 is supported on the upper end of the outer cylinder 14 of the gas spring 3 via a fitting 5. A backrest 6 is provided at the rear edge of the seat 4, and armrests 7.8 are provided on both sides of the seat 4.
Elbow support portions 7b and 8b are formed on the upper side portions.

In such a chair, an operating section 31 is provided inside the pipe frame 7a of one armrest 7, and an operating force transmission mechanism 41 is interposed between this operating section 31 and the operating input end 25 of the gas spring 3. are doing.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the operating section 31 has an operating lever 32 pivotally attached to a fixed bracket 34 via a support shaft 33, and the operating section 31 is configured such that the operating lever 32 is pivoted to a fixed bracket 34 so that the tip 32a side of the operating lever 32 is pulled up. It is designed to be operated. Operation lever 3
2 is located approximately horizontally below the elbow support part 7b of the armrest 7, and this operating lever 32 and the elbow support part 7b
It is possible to grasp both at the same time. The fixed bracket 34 includes a horizontal piece 34a attached to the lower surface of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7, and a horizontal piece 34a attached to the lower surface of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7.
It is made of sheet metal and includes a vertical piece 34b hanging from one side edge of the &, and the operating lever 3Z is pivotally attached to the vertical piece 34b.

The operating force transmission mechanism 41 is connected to the operating lever 3 of the operating section 31.
It is for transmitting the operating force applied to the gas spring 2 to the operating input end 25 of the gas spring 3, and has a configuration as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, this operating force transmission mechanism 41 has an arm 42 protruding from the base end 32b of the operating lever 32, and also has an arm 42 projecting from the base end 32b of the operating lever 32.
A mounting piece 34c is integrally provided on the front edge of the horizontal piece 34a. Also, the bracket 4 fixed to the mounting bracket 5
A rotary lever 44 is pivotally attached to the gas spring 3 via a support shaft 45, and a tip 44a of the rotary lever 44 is engaged with the operation input end 25 of the gas spring 3. A base end 44b of this rotating lever 44 is connected to the operating lever 32 via a wire type transmission element 46. That is, the wire-type transmission element 46 has a wire 48 slidably inserted into a protective tube 47, and one end 47a of the protective tube 47 is fixed to the mounting piece 34c of the fixed bracket 34, and the wire 48 is slidably inserted into the protective tube 47. One end 48a of the arm 48 is connected to the tip of the arm 42. Further, the other end 47h of the protective tube 47 is fixed to the bracket 43, and the other end 48b of the wire 48 is connected to the base end 44b of the rotating lever 44. Note that the middle portion of the wire type transmission element 46 is connected to the frame pipe 7 of the armrest 7.
Insert it into A.

With such a configuration, when a seated person simultaneously grasps the elbow support portion 7b of the armrest 7 and the operating lever 32, and uses the grip force to pull up the operating lever 32 in the direction of the arrow X, The operating lever 32 rotates around the support shaft 33, and a wire 48 connected to the tip of the arm 42 is pulled.

As a result, the base end 44b of the rotating lever 44 connected to the wire 48 is urged outward, and this rotating lever 4
4 rotates around the support shaft 45 and presses the operation input end 25 of the gas spring 3 with its tip 44a. Therefore, the mouth of the gas spring 3 and the valve are opened, and it becomes possible to raise and lower the sitting height. Then, when the operation lever 32 is released, the operation-saving input terminal 25
is projected by the gas pressure, the lock valve is closed, and the gas spring 3 regains its spring function.

Although the sitting height can be adjusted as described above, the armrests 7.8 are located within the reach of the seated person without changing his/her posture.

Therefore, if the operating lever 32 is provided on the armrest 7, the seated person can grasp the operating lever 32 without leaning his/her body. Furthermore, since the operating lever 32 is disposed inside the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7, the operating lever 32 can be operated with one hand hooked to the pipe frame 7a. Therefore, there is no inconvenience that the user's body sways during operation, and therefore, the user can comfortably operate the operating lever 32 while maintaining a normal posture.

Therefore, the disadvantage that an uneven load acts on the seat 4 can be completely eliminated, and the disadvantage that the seat 4 cannot be lowered due to an increase in the sliding resistance of the gas spring 3 portion due to the uneven load can be effectively eliminated. can do.

Note that the present invention also includes the following examples.

Examples of modifications of the operating section include those shown in FIGS. 5 to 15, for example. Here, the same parts as in the embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

First, the operating unit 131 shown in No. 554 is a device in which a flexibly deformable grip cover 132 is attached to the outside of the operating lever according to the above embodiment, and by pressing the lower end surface of the grip cover 132, the inner operating lever can be controlled. It is designed so that it can be rotated.

The operating section 231 shown in FIG. 6 has a push button 232 held in a holder 233 provided on the lower surface of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7 so as to be projectable and retractable.

The operating section 331 shown in FIG. 7 has an operating claw 332 provided on the inner surface of the bent part of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7. After grasping the elbow support section 7b, pull the operating claw 332 toward you with your fingers. It is designed to be operated in such a way as to raise it.

The operating section 431 shown in FIG. 8 is the pipe frame 7 of the armrest 7.
An operating claw 432 is provided on the inner surface of the bent portion of a in a protrusive and retractable manner, and by grasping this operating claw 432 together with the pipe frame 7a, an operation for unlocking can be performed.

The operating section 531 shown in FIG. 9 is provided with an operating lever 532 on the inner surface of the lower side of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7. A lock release operation is performed by grasping this operating lever 532 and the pipe frame 7a at the same time. I'm starting to get it.

The operating part 631 shown in FIG. 10 has a long operating lever 632 pivoted on the inner surface of the lower side of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7, and the tip 632a of the operating lever 632 can be pulled upward. It has become. In this case as well, with the arm in contact with the armrest 7 and stabilized, the operation lever 6
32 can be operated.

The operating section 731 shown in FIG. 11 includes a guide row 2 door 33 provided between the upper and lower sides of the pipe frame 7& of the armrest 7, and a T-shaped operating body 732 slidably supported on the guide rod 733. The upper end 732a of the operating body 732 and the pipe frame 7a are held simultaneously to operate the operating body 732.

The operating section 831 shown in 12th r54 has an operating body 832 slidably provided on the lower surface side of the upper side of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7. For example, by sliding this operating body 832 forward, the gas spring 3 The lock valve can be opened.

The operating section 931 shown in FIG. 13 is provided on the inner surface of the front side of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7 with a U-shaped operating body 932 that is similar to the shape of the pipe frame 7&, and is slidable up and down. The operating body 932 is operated by grasping the upper end 932a and the elbow support part 7b at the same time.

The operating unit 1031 shown in FIG. 14 has a guide tube 1033 provided on the inner surface of the lower side of the pipe frame 7a of the armrest 7, and a single-shaped operating body 1032 is slidably held therein, and the upper end of the operating body 1032 The portion 1032a can be pulled upward.

The operating section 1131 shown in FIG.
4, and a rotary operating lever 1132 is disposed within the concave portion 1134.

Further, the operating force transmission mechanism is limited to a wire type, but may be one using a rod or link. For example,
In the devices shown in FIGS. 11, 13, and 14, the movement of the operating portion 731.931.1031 is controlled by the rod 9.
33 or the like, it becomes possible to easily operate the operation input end 25 of the gas spring 3 without using a wire.

Further, the armrest may have a U-shape or an inverted-shape.

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention has the above-described configuration, the operation for opening the lock valve of the gas spring can be performed without applying an unbalanced load to the main shaft portion of the leg. Therefore, it is possible to reasonably and reliably prevent the inconvenience that large frictional resistance based on uneven load acts on the sliding portion of the gas spring when raising and lowering the sitting height. Therefore, even though the gas pressure of the gas spring is specified within a relatively narrow range of values as mentioned above, it is possible to operate this gas spring smoothly and reliably over a long period of time, and it is possible to prevent sliding due to aging. This can effectively eliminate the problem that the seat cannot be lowered even if a relatively light weight person tries to lower the sitting height due to increased dynamic friction.

In particular, in the present invention, since the operating section is disposed inside the frame of the armrest, it is easy to operate the operating section with the arm or hand supported on any part of the armrest. This can effectively prevent the body from shaking during operation. Therefore, it is possible to very effectively prevent the aforementioned problem of unbalanced loads acting on the gas spring. Furthermore, if the operating section is placed inside the frame, it is less likely that unexpected external force will be applied to the operating section, causing malfunction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a side view, and FIG. 13 is an enlarged view of main parts showing the operating section and one end side of the operating force transmission mechanism. , FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the main part showing the other end side of the operating force transmission mechanism. Figures 5 to 15
The figures are schematic side views showing other embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the conventional disadvantages,
FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing the inside of the gas spring. 1... Leg 2... Main shaft 3... Gas spring 4... Seat 7... Armrest 25... Operation input end 31.
131.231.331.431.531.631.7
31,831.931.1031.1131...Operation unit 41...Operating force transmission mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] This chair is configured such that the seat is elastically supported so that it can be raised and lowered by gas springs installed on the main shafts of the legs, and the seat height can be raised and lowered by opening the lock valve of the gas spring, and the seat height is raised and lowered by opening the lock valve of the gas spring. 1. A chair comprising: an operating section provided in the operating section; and an operating force transmission mechanism that transmits an operating force applied to the operating section to an operating input end for opening a lock valve of the gas spring.