US2192577A - Rearwardly inclined seat chair - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1940. A. J. JUNGERMAN 2,192,577

REARWARDLY INCLINED SEAT CHAIR Filed Nov. 18, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 3rmentor Qttorneg Arthur J Jungerman March 5, 1940. A. J. JUNGERMAN 2,192,577

REARWARDLY IN CLINED SEAT CHAIR Filed Nov. 18, 1936 I 4 Sheets-Sheet -2 ZSnnentor Arthur J. Jungerman (Ittorneg March 5, 1940. A. J. JUNGERMAN REARWARDLY INCLINED' SEAT CHAIR Filed Nov. 1a, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet s Fig. 10

Snventor Arthur J Jungermari March 1940. JUING'ER MAN 2,192,577 R ARWABDH INCLiNED SEAT CHAIR Filed Ndv. 18. 19:56

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVIENTOR. Ari/21th! Jurzgerman BY A TTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 5, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT FFiCE REARWARDLY INCLINED SEAT CHAIR Arthur J. Jungerman, Louisville, Ky.

Application November 18, 1936, Serial No. 111,416

5 Claims.

its rear end moves vertically and its front end.

horizontally.

An object of the invention is to provide a chair of this character with a movable backrest which enables an occupant to move to a semi-standing position while resting against it.

Another object is to improve the seat supporting means to the end of preventing accidental movement of an occupied seat toward its raised position.

Another object is to provide a novel arrangement for moving the seat automatically-to its raised position and for cushioning its return movement to the lowered position which insures easy and quiet operation.

A further feature of the invention resides in the provision of means for indicating vacant seats.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a top plan view partially broken away and showing the chair in its normal unoccupied position,

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the chair taken on line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the carriage element and the supporting plate,

Figure 4 is an elevation of the carriage element and the supporting plate,

Figure 5 is a section on line 55 of Figure 4,

Figure 6 is a sectional elevation of the chair in its seating position with the right side standard removed,

Figure '7 is a section on line 11 of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a section on line 8-8 of Figure 6,

Figure 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Figure 6 showing the relative positions of the rollers in the guide rail,

Figure 10 is a rear elevation partially broken away and showing the chair in its normal unoccupied position,

Figure 11 is a side elevation partially broken away and showing the chair with the backrest in the upward extended position,

Figure 12 is a detail view of the light means,

Figure 13 is a front elevation of an alternative chair structure,

Figures 14 and 15 are central vertical sections .showing the seats supporting and moving mechanism, especially in chair occupied and unoccupied positions.

The chair design illustrated in Figures 1 to 12 inclusive of the drawings includes a frame work, backrest, seat and seat indicating means.

Framework loosely upon a suitable base or fioor to be fixed thereto in any suitable manner.

Backrest The backrest, which is indicated generally by the numeral 5, is positioned adjacent to, but in advance of, the framework tie members. It may be fixedly mounted thereon in the conventional manner, but, in accordance with my invention, preferably is slidably mounted for movement in a vertically inclined plane. To this end a pair of laterally spaced, vertically inclined guide rails 6 are positioned between the framework and backrest and fixedly secured to both upper and lower tie members. Each guide rail 6 has, in its outer side face, an outwardly facing U-shaped channel or groove 6a which is open from top to bottom except for a short covered'section at the bottom. The upper or open section of the U- shaped channels to provides spaced trackways on which the backrest 5 may be mounted and along which it may be moved. Accordingly the latter is slidably mounted thereon by means of a pair of upper brackets l and lower brackets 8, all of which are fixedly secured to the backrest and slidably secured to the trackways. The upper brackets I extend rearwardly from opposite sides of the backrest directly to the trackways while the lower brackets 8 extend from opposite sides of the backrest downwardly for a suitable .distance and thence rearwardly to the trackways. Both upper and lower brackets are preferably provided with rollers 9 to facilitate movement along the trackway.

Normally the backrest is yieldingly or resiliently supported, in the intermediate position shown'in Figure 2, by a pair of springs ll], one spring being arranged in each of the grooves 6a underneath the lower backrest bracket 8. Each spring. H1 is mounted in the covered section of the groove and normally projects upwardly into the open section thereof sufl'lciently to cause the buffer elements II, at its upper end, to bear against the bracket 8. Consequently while the backrest is arranged for movement along the trackway, from its intermediate or normal Figure 2 position, both downwardly to the low or seating Figure 6 position and upwardly to the high Figure 11 position, its movement, below the normal position, is opposed by the springs H3, and, above such position, by gravity. In passing it may be noted that such bufier elements as are heretofore or hereafter mentioned may, and preferably are composed of some suitable material, such as rubber, felt etc., to facilitate the quiet operation of the chair.

Seat

The seat which is indicated generally by the numeral l2 normally occupies the tilted or rearwardly inclined position shown in Figure 2 but is arranged for movement to the horizontal seating position shown in Figure 6 during which its rear end moves vertically downward and its front end horizontally forward. The rear end and the front end of the seat are cut away or slanted respectively, to permit the continuous retention of the upper edge closely adjacent the backrest, and particularly during vertical movement, without interfering with such movement, and to reduce interference of the front end with the leg movement of an occupant so as to give the occupant greater leg freedom underneath the seat.

Suitable means should be provided to guide the rear end of the seat during its vertical movement in either direction. To this end a bracket I3 is arranged to extend from each side of the seat to the adjacent trackway, each bracket being fixedly secured to the seat and slidably secured, through the agency of roller M on the bracket, to the trackway. It will be observed that the seat bracket I3 is bent around the downwardly extended portion of the lower backrest bracket 8 so as to engage the trackway between upper and lower backrest brackets. Normally the backrest brackets 8 are spaced from the seat brackets 53, but, as the seat is lowered, each seat bracket buffer elements l5 engages each backrest buffer element 16 and moves it downwardly to the seating position, thus lowering the backrest and compressing springs l0.

To support the front end of the seat and to guide it during horizontal movement, a movable carriage I1 is provided on each side standard of the chair below the seat. The forward end of each carriage is pivotally connected to the adjacent side of the seat by a laterally projecting pin I8 on each side of the seat. The pins l8 are located adjacent the front end of the seat so as to prevent the accidental raising of an occupied seat as a result of downward pressure centered along its front edge thereof. Each carriage is supported, for limited horizontal movement in a fixed path, by and between spaced upper rollers I9 and spaced lower rollers 20,, on aplate 21 which is fixedly secured to the side standard I. The rear end of each plate 2| is provided with a buffer element 22 which functions as a cushioning stop to limit the rearward movement of the carriage. The forward movement of the carriage is limited by providing, on its rear end, a buffer element 23 which is too large to pass between l9 and 20.

In further accordance with my invention, the seat, when vacated, is automatically moved from lowered to raised position and resiliently held in raised position. This may be accomplished by springs or other yieldable or resilient means positioned to urge either the front end of the seat rearwardly or the rear end thereof upwardly. In either event it is desirable to secure, with minimum spring strength, a maximum upwardly directed force at the rear end of the seat when it is in its lowered position, so as to produce easy and quiet operation of the seat in both directions. With this in mind it will be observed that the angle between a rearwardly directed force and the trackways is but slightly obtuse in the lowered position of the seat while greatly obtuse in the raised position thereof; hence the upwardly directed component of that force is relatively weak in the lowered position of the seat. This may necessitate the use of an excessively strong spring at the front end, in order to provide a sufficient, upwardly directed component, and may therefore produce a stronger operating action than is desired. On the other hand a force, vertically directed on the rear end of the seat throughout its full raised and lowered movement, requires a spring capable of acting through a considerable distance. A spring of this character may. interfere with the space freedom desired underneath the seat. All of the foregoing difficulties, however, may be readily avoided and quiet and easy operation insured, by using both front and rear springs and by arranging them so that the rear springs operate only to supplement the action of the front springs in the lower ranges of seat movement. Accordingly a pair of front springs 24 and a pair of rear springs 25 are provided.

The front springs 24 are connected, at the rear of the chair, to opposite side standards I, and adjacent the front of the seat, to the lower end of a single lug 26 which projects downwardly from the center of a U-shaped bar 21. The bar 21 is fixedly anchored to the seat and arranged to extend around the underside thereof from one pin l8 to the other. The rear springs 25 are mounted underneath the rear end of the seat on a cross bar 28 which is secured to opposite side standards. The bar 28 holds the rear springs 25 in position to engage seat buffer elements 29 during the lower ranges of seat movement, that is to say between the lowered position and an intermediate position represented by the upper ends of the rear springs 25 when they are freely extended. In this connection it may be noted that, in the embodiment illustrated, the action of the rear springs 25 is supplemented by the backrest springs l0.

Operation With the seat and backrest in the normal or raised position, both may be lowered simply by sitting upon the seat. In lowering, from the raised to the intermediate position, the seat is resiliently opposed only by the front springs 24, but, from the intermediate to the lowered positions of the seat, it is opposed by all springs. When the seat is vacated after being lowered, the front springs 24 and rear springs 25 operate to retract the seat and to raise the rear end thereof upwardly to the intermediate position, from which position the front springs 24 continue the seat raising movement until it is fully raised. The backrest, of course, moves between normal and lowered positions only during corresponding movement of the seat in its lower range of movement or more or less between intermediate and lowered positions.

In theaters and the like, it is often necessary for chair occupants to rise in order to permit or facilitate the passage of a person in front of the chair. With the chair illustrated, an occupant may, in such case, simply rise to a standing position and, as the seat is automatically raised, step backwardly into the space made available by the rearward movement of the seat. Or, instead of this, the occupant may rise to and rest in a comfortable semi-standing position simply by holding his back against the backrest during rising movement so as to cause it to move upwardly along the trackways towards its high figure H position. In this latte-r event, it will be understood, of course, that, as the occupant rises, the seat will rise with the backrest or in advance of it.

Seat indicating means In darkened theaters it is sometimes quite difficult to locate unoccupied or vacant seats. To avoid this difficulty, it is desirable to provide readily visible means for indicating a vacant seat and means for shutting off the indicator when the seat is occupied. While such means may take a variety of forms and may be controlled remotely, a light emitting indicator located on the chair and controlled through the movement of either backrest or seat is preferred. Accordingly, in the chair above described, a light emitting device 38, preferably in the form of an incandescent lamp, is mounted on the upper face of the backrest and electrically connected by wires 3|, which pass downwardly between the backrest and cover and through a conduit 32, to a suitable source of current. Naturally the lamp 3!) may be controlled through a suitable switch connected either to the backrest or seat so as to cause the lamp to be illuminated in the raised and darkened in the lowered positions of the seat. However, in the arrangement illustrated, it is controlled by positioning it on the backrest so that it is exposed above the cover t in the normal backrest position and concealed behind the cover l in the lowered backrest position.

Alternative chair structure An alternative chair structure is illustrated in Figures 13 to 15 inclusive. This chair includes a conventional frame work having side standards I and a backrest 5, which may be movably mounted on the frame work but which, as illustrated, is immovably secured thereto. The chair also includes a seat l2 mounted on the framework for movement between a rearwardly inclined raised position and a horizontal seating position, such movement being of the same general character as is obtained in the other structure.

The front end of the seat is supported on the framework by means of a pair of arms 33. One front arm extends downwardly from each front corner of the seat to the lower end of the adjacent side standard and is pivotally connected at opposite ends respectively to the seat and standard. The pivotal connection of the seat to the arm permits its angular movement relatively thereto, while the pivotal connection of the arm to the standard permits movement of the front end of the seat in an arcuate but substantially horizontal fixed path. If desired, the arm 33 may be connected together by a brace member 3B. Before passing, it may be noted that the forward location of the supporting arms prevents an occupied seat from being unintentionally moved toward its raised position when an occupant canters his weight adjacent the front of the seat.

front end, it is connected to the standard by means of a pair of rear arms 35 which are connected together by a brace member 36. These arms are located on each side of the chair and slightly to the rearof arms 33. Their upper ends are pivotally connected to the seat and their lower ends similarly connected to the standards but the latter pivotal connection is offset toward the rear of the chair and if necessary elevated so as to place thearc of movement of its seat connection along a plane of such vertical inclination as will cause the rear end to move in the desired vertical path.

It will be appreciated that the seat can be raised and lowered simply by swinging the upper ends of both the supporting arms 33 and the guide arms 35 rearwardly and forwardly. While such movement can, as before, be effected either by front springs 24 or rear springs 25, both preferably are utilized. The front springs, which can be variously arranged, are shown as connecting the supporting arm 33 above its standard pivot to an extension 35a of the guide arm 35 below its pivot so as to urge the upper ends of both arms rearwardly. The rear spring 25, as before, is mounted on a cross bar Ziland functions only to supplement the action of the front springs. In thisconnection it'may be noted that the location of the'cross bar 28 is such as to necessitate the bending of the upper ends of the guide members 35 sufficiently to avoid interference.

In this structure it may be advisable to limit the movement of the seat in either or both directions, but particularly in the forward or seatthe occupied position, is horizontally extended at a substantial distance below the arm rest with its front end projecting substantially beyond the front end of the framework and with its rear end extending adjacent the backrest, and, in the unoccupied position, is rearwardly inclined with its front end horizontally retracted to extend adjacent the front end. of the framework and its rear and substantially elevated to extend adjacent both the backrest and the arm rest. It will be appreciated that the horizontal retraction of the front end of the seat from its substantially projecting position relatively to the framework to a relatively nonprojecting position has the vadvantage of maximizing the available corridor space in front of the seat. It will also be appreciated that the horizontal retraction of the front end of the seat coupled with the elevation of the rear end, to a position wherein it extends adjacent both backrest and the arm rest minimizes the elevation of the seat as a whole. This is advantageous because the seat, when unoccupied, is held in a position which enables a prosubject matter represented by Figures 13 to 15 inclusive. For the subject matter represented by Figures 1 to 12 inclusive, it is a continuation of an application filed December 4, 1933 and serially numbered 700,768, (allowed August 13, 1935 and renewed August'lO, 1936) which, in turn, is a continuation of an original application filed December 19, 1932 and serially numbered 647,867.

I claim:

1. A chair of the character having a backrest, an armrest, and a supporting framework, comprising: a seat adapted for pivotal movement about an axis adjacent its front end; means supporting the seat for, and guiding it during, movement between a horizontal occupied position, wherein it extends substantially below the armrest with its rear end adjacent the backrest and its front end projecting substantially beyond the front end of the framework, and a rearwardly inclined unoccupied position, wherein its rear end is substantially elevated to extend adjacent both the backrest and the armrest, while its front end is substantially retracted to extend adjacent the front end of the framework;-said means including: a member supported on said framework and pivotally engaging the seat at its front end axis to support the front end of the seat and to confine its axis to and guide it in a substantially horizontal path of movement between occupied and unoccupied positions, the seat-engaging portion of said member moving with the axis substantially horizontally forward and rearward between said occupied and unoccupied positions in which it respectively projects substantially beyond, and extends behind, the front end of the framework; and guide means supported on said framework and connected to the seat to direct the rear end of the seat along a substantially vertical path of movement between occupied and unoccupied positions-; and means to prevent the rear end of the seat from moving downwardly beyond its occupied position.

2. The chair of claim 1 wherein yieldable means are provided to oppose the movement of the seat to its occupied position and to effect its movement from such position to its unoccupied position automatically when it becomes unoccupied.

3. The chair of claim 1, wherein the front-end support and guide means comprise an arm pivotally secured to the seat at the front-end axis thereof and to the framework adjacent the front end thereof.

4. The chair of claim 1, wherein the rear-end guide means comprises an arm pivotally secured to the seat at a point intermediate the front-end axis of the seat and the rear end thereof, and to the framework at a point between, but substantially spaced from, the front and rear ends thereof.

j 5. The chair of claim 1, wherein the front-end support and guide means and the rear-end guide means respectively comprise: a front arm pivvotally secured to the seat at the front-end axis thereof, and to the lower part of the framework adjacent its front end; and a rear arm pivotally secured to the seat at a point between its frontend axis and its rear end, and to the lower part of the framework at a point between but substantially spaced from the front and rear ends of the framework; the pivotal connection of the rear arm to the framework being elevated with respect to the pivotal connection of the front arm to the framework.

ARTHUR J. JUNGERMAN.

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