US2283062A - Tilting chair mounting - Google Patents

Description

w. F. HE ZROLD TILTING CHAIR MOUNTING 'May" 12, 1942.

Filed June 15, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Niay 1942. w. F. HEROLD 2,283,062

TIL'II NG CHAIR MOUNTING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 15, 1939 Patented May 12, 1942 greats;

TILTING CHAIR MOUNTING Walter F. Herold, Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to The Bassick Company, Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 15, 1939, Serial No. 279,318

16 Claims.

This invention relates to tilting chair mountings such as employed in cflice chairs, for example.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a mounting that operates very quietly, and in which, nevertheless, the construction is very simple and inexpensive.

It is also a purpose of my invention to furnish a tilting mechanism requiring a minimum amount of lubrication for silent operation, and in which the tension of the resilient means is under eifective and nice control, and in which also there are-relatively few parts, which parts, moreover, are easy to assemble and easy of access when in the assembled position.

It is also aimed to provide a novel and improved resilient control clevice for tiling chairs, operating with a minimum of metal-to-metal contact.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a tilting chair mounting embodying my invention, the chair seat being shown in the normal or untilted position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the tilting mechanism shown in Fig. 1, the chair seat being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; a

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4 but illustrating the positions of the parts when the chair is tilted to a substantial degree;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 'Y-and 8 are views similar to Figs. 4 and 5, illustrating a modified form, and

Fig. 9 is a somewhat diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view of a further modified form of mounting.-

In the drawings, a portion of the supporting base member of the chair is shown at In, and a portion of the chair seat is shown at H. The particular mounting shown for purposes of illustration is of the swivel type, and the screwthreaded spindle !2 screws up and down in the usual manner in the base 10, the vertical adjustment being accomplished by means such as a nut IS. The chair seat has on its under side the usual spider arms 14 fastened to the seat by screws 55. Extending across betweeen the spider arms 14 and interconnecting them is a spanner-member or spider horn l6, hereinafter more particularly described. This particular chair mounting is of the low-fulcrum type, and the member [6 is fulcrumed at its lower part by means of a cross-pin or axle-l1 to a body member 18, more particularly described hereinafter, said member l8 being rigidly fixed tothe spindle l2, and constituting the fixed or stationary element of the pivotal (in this case hinged) joint between the spindle on the one hand and the spider arms on the other hand. This pivotal joint is under the control of a resilient control device comprising a bolt or tie rod member I9 having mounted thereon resilient members 20, as hereinafter more particularly described.

Referring now .to the details of the mechanism, it will be noted that the fixed frame or body !8 is of composite construction, including an element 2| and an element 22. The element 2| is of U shape, and has in its lower connecting portion an opening 23 in which a portion of spindle I2, somewhat below the upper extremity of said spindle, isrigidly fixed in any appropriate manner. shaped member fitted within member 2| and riveted thereto by rivets 24, with the lower connecting portion 25 of member 22 spaced upwardly from the lower connecting portion of member 2|. The upper extremity of spindle I2 is reduced and shouldered so as to provide a portion 26 headed over and tightly clenched in an opening 21 in the lower connecting portion of member 22. By this construction the composite element l8 comprising the parts 2! and 22 is very rigidly secured to the upper end of spindle i2 so as to.

be in fixed or stationary relation wtih respect thereto.

The spider horn or spanner [6, previously referred to, is of U shape so as to provide side walls 28, and a connecting rear wall 28 At their upper portions the side walls 28 are rigidly fixed to the spider arms [4, as by means of the rivets 29 and 39, of which two are employed in connection with each side wall or flange of the spanner member. Rivets 39 are offset upwardly to a certain extent from rivets 29. The hinge pin or axle ll, previously referred to, passes through the walls 28 adjacent their front lower corners, and from these lower corners the walls 28 slope upwardly and rearwardly at their lower edges, as shown at 3i. The hinge pin I! passes through the walls 28 andthrough the side walls of member 2 I, and for a considerable portion of its length it is located in the space between the lower portions of members 2| and 22, respectively.

The U-shaped member 22 is provided at its forward portion with an integral extension 32 The member'22 is a smaller U- bent upwardly therefrom and forming a transverse wall closing in the space at the front of the pivotal joint structure. By so closing in this space a wall is created that is approximately opposite the wall 28 and a somewhat box-like structure is presented affording opposite relatively movable walls for the reaction of the resilient members 29, as hereinafter described.

For the purpose of providing a suitable stop mechanism to arrest the tilting movement at the proper points, I prefer to employ the rivets 29, previously mentioned, these rivets having protruding cylindrical heads 29 at their inner ends, which heads are located within notches 33 formed in the upper ends of the side walls of member 2|. At one end of the tilting movement each rivet 29 is at one end of the notch in contact with a portion 34 of member 2|, and at the other end of the movement the rivet is in contact'with a portion 35 at the other end of the notch.

The resilient members 29, previously mentioned, mounted on the bolt or rod I9, are arranged respectively in front and at the rear of the box-like joint structure, previously described, with one of said resilient members located adjacent wall 28 to act thereon, and the other similarly located adjacent wall 32. The bolt I9 is approximately horizontally arranged. The resilient members 29 may be formed as rubber blocks or as springs, but in the particular example illustrated, they are shown as comprising cylindrical resilient rubber sleeves having central openings or bores 28 through which the bolt I 9 passes for tying together and controlling the operation of the resilient counterbalancing elements. In the example shown, the bolt I9 is provided at its rear extremity with a rounded head 36 having at the'under side thereof a square portion 31 adapted to fit a square hole 38 in a washer 39 held in place by head 36 against a retainer 49 in the form of a shallow metal cup encircling and receiving one end of the adjacent rubber cylinder 29. The square portion 31 engages a square hole M in this retainer, and it will be understood that by the construction described neither the Washer 39 nor the retainer 40 can turn relatively to the body of the bolt I9. At the opposite end of the same rubber block 29 is arrangeda similar retainer 42, and this retainer is abutted against the outer face of wall 28 and is held in fixed relation thereto by means such as rivets 43. 'The bolt I9 passes through the wall 28 and member '42, for which'purpose wall 28 is provided with a clearance slot 28', and member 42 with a clearance slot 42 these slots being of such a size I that there is no interference with the swinging movement of the bolt I9 hereinafter referred to. The resilient member at the front of the pivot joint structure is mounted similarly to the rear resilient member, having rear and front retainers 44 and 45 of shallow cup shape similar to retainers and 42. The bolt I9 passes through wall 32 of the fixed joint member in a notch 46 formed in Wall 32, and retainer 44, which is riveted to wall 32 by rivets 47. has a clearance slot 48 adjacent notch 48. Retainer has a round hole 49 in which the threaded portion 50 of bolt or tie rod I9 is located, and in front of retainer 45 a washer 5| is placed around the threaded portion 50, Engaging the threaded portion 59 of the bolt are interior threads 52 in a shank 53 of a nut member 54 having a head 55 of convenient shape for turning by the hand.

It will be understood that by screwing up on the nut 54, which is conveniently located beretainers such as 42 and 44,

degree to provide the desired resistance to the tilting movement of the chair seat when the latter is occupied. When the chair is in the untilted or normal position the stops 29 are in contact with the portions 34. When the chair seat is occupied and the same tilted rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, the movable member 28 is swung rearwardly so as to exert compressive force on the rear resilient member 20 from the front of said member, moving said member rearwardly, and as the rear portion of said member is moved in a rearward direction, the bolt I9 is pulled in a rearward direction. The result of this rearward pull on the bolt is to carry nut 54, washer 5|, and retainer 45 in a rearward direction, thereby exerting compressive force on the front member 29 from the front thereof, so as to exert compressive force on said member 20 between its retainers 45 and 44. Thus it will be understood that the member l9 ties the two resilient elements together, so that compression exerted upon one will be transmitted to the other through the endwise moving tie rod.

These compressive effects upon the rubber sleeves or blocks are, in a general sense, axially directed, inasmuch as the rubber sleeves are approximately horizontally alined for tying toether in a substantially horizontal direction by their connecting or tying-member, but it will be understood that in moving from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5, for example, a certain relative displacement of the respective members 20 occurs, and that the member I9 is also relatively displaced. Such movements cause a certain amount of twisting and distortion of the rubber sleeves, as well as longitudinal compression, and this is indicated to an extent in Fig. 5.

It will be noted that the bores or holes in the rubber sleeves are of appreciably larger diameter than the bolt I9, and that in the tilting of the chair seat the tie member or bolt will float freely in swinging and translatory movement without contacting the members of the pivot joint. The only contacts of bolt I9 with metal are those which the bolt has with the retaining or head structures at the rear face of the rear rubber sleeve, and at the front face of the front rubber sleeve, and it is to be borne in mind that these retainer or head structures are supported in a cushioned and therefore silently working manner by the rubber sleeves. The only part of the mechanism which may require lubrication (at rather long intervals) is the fulcrum connection provided by the pin I1 or its equivalent. It is not necessary to lubricate the resilient counterbalancing means having the free-floating connecting member on account of the entire absence of .metal-to-metal contacts capable of creating squeaks or other noises.

In Figs. '7 and 8 is shown a form which is the same as that above described except for the means for positioning the inner portions of the rubbers 29. In this case, instead of using shallow I employ the members 42 and 44. These, as before, are fixed to The handand carried by the walls 28 and 32 respectively, but they are constituted by deeper cup-like members surrounding a greater portion of the periphery of the rubber sleeve. Moreover, these cups are of outwardly sloping or flaring shape and so arranged that initially the rubber members contact substantially their bottoms only, as

shown in Fig. '7, there being a tapered space between the periphery of each sleeve and the surrounding cupped'or bell-shaped member. However,'when the chair is tilted, the action is as shown in Fig, 8, the rubber being forced out into the tapered or wedge-shaped space, particularly at the upper part of the rubber sleeve, and only a portion (in this instance slightly more than one-half of the length) of the rubber mass being free to expand or bulge beyond the mouth of the cup. In this manner the action of the rubber body is very eifectively controlled for the purposes in view. One of the principal advantages of this sloping or conical cup wall formation is that there is greater control of the compression, and another advantage arises from'the centering effect of the cup, which tends to center and hold the rubber body in proper position with respect to the inner member of the pivotal structure with which it reacts to produce the counterbalancing effect.

In practice I deem it preferable to give the mouth or rim portion of the cup a slight outward curve, as indicated at 42* and 44 In Fig. 9 I have shown in a somewhat diagrammatic manner a modified form of my tilting mounting in which the chair has a so-called high fulcrum. member of the pivot joint is shown at 56, and this member is pivoted at 5'! (approximately at the same elevation as the spider arms 58) to a swinging member 59 rigid with the spider arms having a front wall Gil against which front resilient member BI is positioned. Rear resilient member 52 is positioned adjacent a fixed wall 63 rigid with the stationary member 56. Spindle 64 passes through a slot 85 in wall 80 and through a slot 63 in wall 63. When the chair is tilted backwardly, wall 56 is swung forwardly to compress front rubber member 6i, and through the pull on the spindle 64 the rear rubber member 62 is compressed by pressure exerted on its rear portion. also the pivot joint adapted to connect the chair seat to the supporting post is characterized by a generally box-like structure presenting at one end a transverse forwardly and rearwardly swinging wall, and at the opposite end a transverse fixed wall, these walls being resiliently tied together by a device including a resilient member located behind and acting against the rear wall, and a resilient member located in front of and acting against the front wall, said resilient members being mounted tandemwise on a common spindle or tie rod passing through the'fro-nt and rear walls of the joint structure and arranged to transmit compressive action from one resilient member to the other so that they are caused to operate simultaneously. In this manner a very strong and durable structure is provided which is not likely to get out of order, and which is provided with ample counterbalancing means for the chair, which means is under a nice control. I have already referred to the noiselessness of the operation, and it will be apparent that the construction is such that the parts are relatively few in number and of simple structure, and capable of ready assemblage and disassemblage.

In this case the fixed or stationary It will be noted that in this instance f The compression rubbers are especially desirable on account of their simple character and noiseless operation, and also on account of their long service. However, as indicated above, coiled springs can be substituted if desired.

In one aspect of my invention the wall members above referred to, against which the rubber members are positioned, one in front of one wall member and the other at the rear of the other wall member, may be considered as interpivoted leaves spaced apart in a forward and rearward direction, and under the control of a resiliently acting device which ties them together, said device comprising a tie rod passing through clearance openings in said leaves and having a portion disposed in the space between the leaves, such tie rod with its accessories providing a con-- necting means between the resilient members whereby on backward tilt of the chair seat both of said resilient members are compressed, in which operation the tie rod proper is subjected to tension,

It will be understood that I have illustrated only three forms which my invention may assume, and that it is capable of many and various embodiments and modifications and changes in the detail structure without departure from the principles involved or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a tilting chair mounting, a pair of spider arms, a spanner comprising a U-shaped member having side walls attached to the respective spider arms, the attachment being effected at least in part by rivets having inwardly disposed heads, a relatively fixed member to which said spanner has pivotal relation adjacent the lower end of the spanner, said fixed member having side walls with notches'at the upper parts thereof in which the protruding heads of said rivets operate in order to act as stops, and resilient means resisting tilting of the spanner and spider arms.

2. In a tilting chair mounting, rubber cylinders substantially in axial alinement, a two-part pivotal structure between the cylinders, a tie member passing through the pivotal structure and through bores of the cylinders, and retainers for the inner ends of the cylinders carried by the respective parts of the pivotal structure.

3. In a tilting chair mounting, rubber cylinders substantially in axial alinement, a two-part pivotal structure between the cylinders, a tie member passing through the pivotal structure and through bores of the cylinders, and retainers for the inner ends of the cylinders carried by the respective parts of the pivotal structure, said retainers being relatively deep cups having substantially conical walls.

4. In a tilting chair mounting, two' relatively swingable members, one adapted for securement to a chair seat and the other for securement to a supporting post, said members having leaf portions arranged one in front of the other, and a cushioning and tensioning device arranged to confine the leaf portions from the outside for resisting tilting, said device comprising a floating tie rod extending between and beyond said leaf portions; and rubber cylinders'held on said tie rod one in front of the front leaf portion and the other at the rear of the other leaf portion, said cylinders mounting said rod for swinging and endwise movements.

5. In a chair iron structure, a post-supported a lhorizontalaxissaid spanner member having a clearance'opening therein and said frame having a partspaced somewhat forwardly-of that part of the spanner member having the clearance opening and itself provided with a clearance opening in a portion of said frame acting as a resilient element supporting head, a rod passing freely through said clearance openings and having a substantial portion of its length disposed'at the :outer'or remote side of said head, a resilient element disposed about and held on said rod at the last named'portion thereof, said rod extending at .the other end beyond the'clearanceopening portion of the spanner member, and means for swinging'ly' mounting the lastnamed end .of the rod relatively to the spanner member comprising a rubber member mounted on the rod, and :inner and outer retainers for said rubber member surrounding the rod.

6. In a tilting chair mounting, rubber cylinders substantially in axial alinement, a two-part pivotal structure between the cylinders, a tie member passing through the pivotal structure and through bores of thecylinders, retainers for the inner ends of the cylinders carried by the re- .spective parts of the pivotal structure, and retainerstfor the outer ends of the cylinders carried by the tiemember.

'7. In a chair iron structure, a post-connected frame having a substantially upright part, a I

chair-seat-supporting spanner member hinged to said frame for tilting movement and having a substantially upright part facing that of the frame, a substantially horizontal rod passing with clearance through said substantially upright parts and having end portions extending beyond them, resilient seat-cushioning members surrounding said end portions, and elements on the end portions of the rod holding the respective resilient members in position against the respective members of the frame-spanner structure with the rod under tension and tiltably and resiliently held at one end from the spanner member for free swinging and translating movements, the rearward tilting of the chair seat causing a pull on the rod through the resilient member adjacent the spanner which pull acts to compress the other resilient member.

8. A chair iron structure such as set forth in claim 7 in which the resilient member adjacent the spanner member is a rubber cylinder, and in which the spanner member carries a cup-shaped retainer for said cylinder.

9. A chair iron structure such as set forth in claim 7 in which both resilient members are constituted by rubber cylinders, the frame having a cup-shaped retainer receiving one end of one cylinder and the spanner member having a cupshaped retainer receiving a portion of the other cylinder.

10. In a chair iron structure, a frame, a chairseat-supporting spanner member having a substantially forwardly and rearwardly facing leaf portion with a clearance opening, said frame and spanner member hinged together for tilting movement of said spanner member, a substantially horizontal rod extending through said clearance opening and through a facing rodclearing portion of the frame and having end portions located respectively beyond the frame and spanner member, resilient seat-cushioning members disposed around said end portions, and elements on the end portions of the rod holdin the respective resilient members in position against the respective members of the framespanner structure with the rod under tension :and tiltably and resiliently held at one end from the spanner'member for free swinging and translating movements.

11. In a tilting chair mounting, axially compressible rubber cylinders in substantially horizontal axial alinement and spaced apart, a pivotal-structure between the cylinders having parts attached respectively to a chair seat and to a base and pivoting on an axis substantially transverse to the cylinders, and a tie member passing through the pivotal structure and through bores of the cylinders and tensioned by the cylinders and serving'to maintain compression of the cylinders, said pivotal structure having its chair-seatattached part movable in a generally rearward direction to increase the tension and being reversely movable to decrease the tension.

12. In a tilting chair mounting, chair-seatattached spider arms, a spanner of substantially U shape set in between said spider arms and having an open top and a rearwardly disposed transverse wall, a composite frame member comprising interconnected upper and lower U-shaped elements arranged in the space between the side walls of said spanner and pivoted to said spanner, said composite member including a transverse substantially upright wall on one of said elements spaced forwardly from and facing said firstnamed transverse wall, and a cushioning and tensioning device for the chair seat arranged to confine said transverse walls from the outside for resisting tilting of the chair seat, said device comprising a floating tie rod extending between and beyond said transverse walls, and elastic rubber cylinders on said tie rod one in front of one of said walls and the other at the rear of the other wall, said cylinders mounting said rod for swinging and endwise movements.

13. In a tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame member having an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attached spanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement and having an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said first leaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward direction through clearance openings in the respective leaf portions, said tie rod being continued forwardly substantially beyond the first leaf portion, an elastic rubber compression member surrounding the rod in front of the first leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod between which and thefirst leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to be regulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting from the spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted for free swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearward movement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubber member, and means associated with said first-named leaf portion for controlling the lateral expansion of a portion of said rubber member. 14. In a tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame member having an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attached spanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement and having an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said first leaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward direction through clearance openings in member surrounding the rod in front of the first leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod between which and the first leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to be regulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting from the spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted for free swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearward movement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubber member, and members surrounding the tie rod adjacent the front and rear ends of the rubber member which restrict the expansion of said rub-. ber member at the front and rear.

15. In a tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame member having an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attached spanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement and having an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said first leaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward direction through clearance openings in the respective leaf portions, said tie rod being continued forwardly substantially beyond the first leaf portion, an elastic rubber compression member surrounding the rod in front ofthe first leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod between which and the first leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to be regulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting from the spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted for free swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearward movement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubber member, and members surrounding the tie rod adjacent the front and rear ends of the rubher member which restrict the expansion of said rubber member at the front and rear, the rubber member being confined to a greater extent at the rear end than at the front end.

16. Ina tilting chair mounting, a screw-postattached frame member having an upwardly projecting leaf portion, a chair-seat-attached spanner member hinged to said frame member for tilting movement and having an upwardly directed leaf portion behind and facing said first leaf portion, a tie rod passing in a forward and rearward direction through clearance openings in the respective leaf portions, said tie rod being continued forwardly substantially beyond the first leaf portion, an elastic rubber compression member surrounding the rod in front of the first leaf portion, means on the front end portion of the rod between which and the first leaf portion said rubber member is adapted to be regulably compressed, means at the rear of the spanner for mounting from the spanner the other end portion of the rod, said rod being mounted for free swinging and translating movements and being adapted on rearward movement of the spanner to increase the compression of said rubber member, and members surrounding the tie rod adjacent the front and rear ends of the rub ber member which restrict the expansion of said rubber member at the front and rear, the rubber member being confined to a greater extent at the rear end than at the front end, and the restricting member at the rear end of the rubber member being constituted by a flange projecting forwardly from the adjacent leaf portion and having an outwardly flared rim.

WALTER F. HEROLD.

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