KR20140051095A - Chair arm rest device - Google Patents

Abstract

An armrest assembly for a chair (2) having armrests (10a, 10b) arranged on laterally opposite sides of a seat (4). A collective actuation and support member (14) is configured to be connected to each arm rest and is supported by a bearing unit (19) connected to the chair to be moved. The bearing unit is arranged such that the armrests are movable by a translational motion between a forward position (F) and a rear position (R). The collective actuation and support member (14) is arranged transversely below the seat and provides a rigid connection between the armrests (10a, 10b), whereby one armrest (10a) is movable by operation of the other armrest (10b) and vice versa.

Description

{CHAIR ARM REST DEVICE}

The present invention relates to an armrest, particularly an armrest for an office chair. More specifically, the present invention relates to an adjustable armrest assembly as specified in the preamble of claim 1.

The prior art includes a number of mechanisms for adjusting the armrest of the chair.

WO 2006/094260 describes an office chair with two arm support assemblies. Each arm assembly includes a latching assembly that can adjust the height of the arm cap while holding the arm cap at a selected height. The latch assembly may engage an inner liner provided within the support post. Furthermore, the armrest assembly has a plurality of interconnected and relatively movable plates that allow adjustment of the angular orientation of the arm cap in accordance with the adjustment of the arm cap in the anteroposterior and lateral directions.

NO 20010459 and corresponding DE 101 03 569 A1 discloses an office chair in which each armrest is arranged to rotate about a vertical axis so that each armrest can rotate independently in a horizontal plane.

The invention is described in the main claim and in the main claim, while in the dependent claims other features of the invention are described.

Accordingly, the present invention is an armrest assembly for a chair having an armrest disposed on laterally opposed sides of the seat, wherein each armrest includes a respective support structure, and the armrest assembly is mounted to a respective support structure The bearing means being movable by translational motion between a forward position and a rearward position on the chair, the bearing means being movable between a forward position and a backward position on the chair, The armrest assembly comprising:

In one embodiment, the cavity actuation and the support member are movably supported by the bearing means through respective connecting means and carriage means, and the connecting means and carriage means are structurally connected through the fastener.

In one embodiment, the carriage means is translatably supported by the bearing means and is movable between the end stops connected to the bearing means.

In one embodiment, the carriage means includes a roller for rotatably supporting the carriage means within the bearing means, the body and the inner body being movably connected to the body through locking means, and at least one resilient element Wherein the elastic element is configured to provide a biasing force between the body and the inner body.

In one embodiment, the bearing means comprises an indexed element having a groove configured to receive at least a portion of the roller, the biasing force acting to force a portion of the roller into at least one of the grooves.

In one embodiment, the cavity actuation and support members are cross-wise disposed transverse to the underside of the seat, and provide a rigid connection between the armrests, whereby one armrest is engaged in the actuation of the other armrest And the opposite case is also possible.

In one embodiment, the bearing means comprises a pair of bearing assemblies, each comprising a carriage.

Therefore, both armrests can be moved / adjusted using only one hand (pushing / pulling action). The armrest assembly of the present invention facilitates the user pushing the armrest without being easily and intuitively disturbed.

These and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments given as non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a side view of a chair having an embodiment of an adjustable armrest assembly according to the present invention showing the armrests in the forward and rearward positions;
Figure 2 is a perspective view showing that the individual armrests are joined by a crossbar in the cavity and the armrest is connected to the chair through the crossbar;
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing how the crossbar is connected to the chair through the connecting member and the support frame;
Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views showing the connection between the crossbar, the connecting member and the support frame;
Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a pair of bearing assemblies of the support frame and how the cross bars are connected to the bearing assembly;
7a is a perspective view of an embodiment of a bearing assembly according to the present invention, particularly showing an embodiment of a carriage inside the bearing assembly;
Figure 7b is a longitudinal section perspective view of the bearing assembly shown in Figure 7a;
Figure 7c is a longitudinal side elevational view of the bearing assembly shown in Figures 7a and 7b;
Figures 8A and 8B are another perspective view of the carriage shown in Figure 7A;
FIG. 8C is a vertical sectional perspective view of the carriage shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B; FIG.
Figure 8d is a cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of the carriage cut along the cut line as shown in Figure 8c;
9 is an exploded view of the carriage.

The following description uses terms such as "horizontal "," vertical ", "lateral "," fore and aft ", & This term generally refers to the viewpoint and orientation as shown in the figure associated with the normal use of the chair. This term is used for convenience only and has no limited meaning.

Figs. 1 and 2 show an office chair 2 having a back 3 and a seat 4. Fig. The chair is traditionally supported by a base (not shown) having a plurality of wheels, preferably through a height-adjustable column 5 with a shock absorber. Such chair-support means are well known in the art. The levers 6, 7 can be operated to adjust the seat back and seat vertically (up and down), respectively. Such levers and mechanisms are well known and need not be described in detail here.

The two armrests 10a and 10b are disposed on the side portions which are laterally opposite to each other. The armrests may be individually height-adjustable through known means (and thus not shown). The armrest can be moved back and forth as shown in Fig. The front position is "F" and the rear position is "R" (virtual figure). Double arrows represent this movement. The armrest can be seen to provide support for the elbow when it is in the rearward position.

Fig. 2 shows that each armrest 10a, 10b is connected to a common crossbar 14 via a respective support bar 12. The crossbar 14 is connected via a pair of connecting members 17 extending into the chair body through the slits 16 in the cover 13 under the seat.

In Fig. 3, the seat, back and cover have been removed to better illustrate the present invention. Figure 3 also shows that the column 5 is connected to the interface element 15, which is connected to the seat and back (not shown in Figure 3). The cross bar connecting member 17 is connected to the support frame 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the support frame is connected to the seat (not shown in Figure 3) through the interface element 15. 4 and 5, the support frame 18 generally comprises a plurality of support frames 18a interconnected via spars 20a and 20b (one for each connection member 17) to provide the required rigidity A pair of bearing assemblies 19. The support frame 18 (i.e., bearing assembly 19 and spars 20a and 20b) has a plurality of apertures 27 that can secure the support frame to the seat and / or interface element.

Figure 6 shows how the crossbar connecting member 17 is connected to its respective bearing assembly 19. It is convenient for the arm rest and the support bar (not shown in Fig. 6) to be connected to the opposite end of the crossbar 14 via a respective receptacle 31. [ 7a, each bearing assembly 19 includes a elongate housing 28 having an interior longitudinal race groove 29 and a longitudinal opening 30. The bearing housing assembly 19 is shown in FIG. The carriage 23 is disposed inside the bearing assembly housing and is configured to travel back and forth along the race groove 29. An end stop (for a carriage) 33 is provided at both ends of the race groove. The carriage 23 includes support projections 21a, 21b projecting outwardly through the longitudinal openings 30. The support projections 21a, The crossbar connecting member 17 is connected to the carriage 23 via the support protrusions 21a and 21b and also by the screw 22a (Figure 6) in the corresponding screw hole 22b (Figure 7a) And is fixed to the carriage. Thus, the crossbar connecting member 17 (and thus the crossbar, and thus the armrest) can move back and forth in the longitudinal race groove 29 in the bearing assembly 19.

Figure 7b shows the various parts of the carriage 23, in particular the upper vertical bearing wheels 44a, 44b and the lower vertical bearing wheels 45a, 45b. The lower bearing wheels 45a and 45b and the transverse bearing wheels 46a and 46b are supported by the race grooves 29 and in the illustrated embodiment the race grooves 29 are formed by the noise generated by the moving carriage And a lower U-shaped insert (insert) 24 which acts to reduce the thickness of the lower U-shaped insert. 7c, the bearing assembly housing 19 also includes an upper insert 25 disposed in contact with the upper bearing wheels 44a, 44b. The upper insert 25 includes a series of grooves 32 that perform an indexing action for the carriage. As the upper bearing wheels 44a and 44b are pressed into the grooves (as described below), they provide some resistance to the user moving the carriage (when moving the armrest) and also give a feed-back. The inserts 24 and 25 are made of a rigid, durable plastic material such as polyamide (PA) or polyoxymethylene (POM).

8A-8D and 9, the carriage 23 includes a body 40 having a generally elongated shape corresponding to the shape of the interior of the bearing assembly. The body 40 is configured to be supported relative to the race groove by the aforementioned lower vertical bearing wheels 45a, 45b which are rotatably connected to the body through respective axles 47a and axle supports 47b. The lateral support for the carriage 23 is provided by transverse bearing wheels 46a, 46b which are rotatably connected to the body 40 by respective axles 47c and axle supports 47d. The locking plate 43 is configured to lock engagement with the body 40, thus securing the transverse bearing wheel to the body.

The body 40 includes a cavity 48 having a region 49 configured to support each elastic element 42. In the embodiment shown, four such elastic elements are disposed in the cavity, two of which are provided at each end of the body and have a portion that protrudes beyond the end of the body. Thus, these two resilient elements disposed at each end of the body serve as a shock absorber for the carriage when it abuts the end stop 33 (Fig. 7C). Elastic elements include elastic materials such as natural rubber or synthetic rubber, microcellular urethane (MCU), and / or spring elements.

The inner body 41 is configured to be partially inserted into the cavity 48 and to be in engagement engagement with the body 40 via a detent 34a and a corresponding ledge 34b. 8C, the length of the detent arm is determined by the dimension having a play (P) between the detent and the ledge, which causes the inner body 41 to be still positioned relative to the body 40 It can be moved up and down while being fixed to the main body. The dimensions of the inner body 41 and the elastic element 42 are determined so that the elastic element is held in a pressurized state between the inner body 41 and the body 40. Therefore, it is effective that the elastic element 42 is an elastic buffer or elastic shock absorber between the inner body and the main body.

The inner body 41 includes upper vertical bearing wheels 44a and 44b rotatably supported through respective axles 47a and a support 47b. The wheel partially extends outside the inner body. When the carriage 23 is in the assembled state and is disposed inside the bearing assembly 19 (for example, Figs. 7A to 7C), the carriage is supported by the lower vertical bearing wheels 45a and 45b, And is rotatably supported by the insert 24 in the race groove 29 through the raceways 46a, 46b. The resilient element 42 acts to push the inner body upward, thus pushing the upper bearing wheels 44a, 44b against the upper insert 25. Thus, the upper bearing wheels 44a, 44b are urged into the grooves 32, which provides some movement resistance and feed-back to the user moving the carriage.

The transverse bearing wheels 46a, 46b, which are supported on the sides of the U-shaped race groove 29, cancel any misalignment between the bearing assemblies and thus prevent jamming. For example, the lateral impact force caused by the armrest being pulled by the user or hitting the desk is also received by the transverse bearing wheel.

When the assembled chair 2 is used and the user is applying a load to one or both of the armrests 10a and 10b, this load is transmitted through the common crossbar 14 and the crossbar connecting member 17 And is transmitted to the carriage 23. Due to the moments induced by the application of a load to one armrest, opposing forces are generated in the two carriages and in the respective bearing assemblies. For example, the downward force F on one armrest causes a downward force of magnitude 2F on one bearing assembly and an upward force of magnitude F on the other bearing assembly. Thus, the pair of bearing assemblies 19 accommodate the moments generated by the asymmetric load on the armrest.

The armrest assembly of the present invention allows the user to easily move the armrest back and forth. With the common crossbar and dual bearing assembly configuration, the user can effectively move both armrests by actuating only one of the armrests.

Although the illustrated embodiment shows a crossbar connected to a seat through a support frame, it should be understood that the armrest assembly of the present invention may be connected to a seat, backrest, seat tilting mechanism, or any other structure of the chair.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the illustrated embodiments, modifications and / or additions to the armrest assembly may be practiced, but these modifications and / or additions are within the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims (7)

An armrest assembly for a chair (2) having an armrest (10a, 10b) disposed on laterally opposed sides of the seat (4), each armrest comprising a respective support structure (12) Said armrest assembly having a cavity actuating and supporting member (14) configured to be connected to said respective support structure (12) and being movably supported by bearing means (19) connected to said chair, Wherein the bearing means is arranged such that the armrest is movable by translational movement between a forward position (F) and a rearward position (R) on the chair. The method according to claim 1,
The operation of the cavity and the support member 14 are movably supported by the bearing means 19 via respective connecting means 17 and carriage means 23 and the connecting means and carriage means are supported by fasteners 21a, 21b, 22a, 22b. ≪ / RTI > 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein said carriage means is moveable between end stops translatively supported by said bearing means and connected to said bearing means. The method according to claim 2 or 3,
The carriage means 23 comprises rollers 44a, 44b, 45a, 45b, 46a and 46b for rotatably supporting the carriage means in the bearing means, a body 40 and locking means 34a, 34b), and at least one resilient element (42) disposed between the body and the inner body to provide a biasing force between the body and the inner body Wherein the armrest assembly comprises: 5. The method of claim 4,
Characterized in that the bearing means (19) comprises an indexed element (25) having a groove (32) configured to receive at least a portion of the rollers (44a, 44b) Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > least one < / RTI > 6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The operation of the cavity and the support member 14 are cross-over arranged transversely on the underside of the seat and provide a rigid connection between the armrests 10a and 10b so that one armrest 10a Can be moved by the operation of the other armrest 10b and vice versa. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Wherein the bearing means comprises a pair of bearing assemblies (19), each of the bearing assemblies (19) comprising a carriage (23).

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