US3008762A

US3008762A - Leg-rest control linkage for reclining chairs

Info

Publication number: US3008762A
Application number: US825588A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fridtjof F Schliephacke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-07-07
Filing date: 1959-07-07
Publication date: 1961-11-14
Anticipated expiration: 1978-11-14
Also published as: DE1816848U

Description

N v- 14, 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 3,008,762

LEG-REST CONTROL LINKAGE FOR RECLINING CHAIRS Filed July 7, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet x 1 FIG. I.

IN V EN TOR.

FRlDTJoF F- SCHLIEPHACKE BY M4 ATTORNEYS 1961 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 3, 0 6

LEG-REST CONTROL LINKAGE FOR RECLINING CHAIRS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July '7, 1959 INVENTOR. FRIDTJOF F. SCHUEPHACKE A'rroanevs United States Patent 3,008,762 LEG-REST CONTROL LINKAGE FOR RECLINING CHAIRS Fridtjof F. Schliephacke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany, assignor to Anton Lorenz Filed July 7, 1959, Ser. No. 825,588 9 Claims. (Cl. 29789) The present invention relates to improvements in reclining chairs and in particular to a new and improved leg-rest linkage for reclining chairs of the type having an underslung leg-rest which is normally retained in a retracted position parallel to and close to the lower surface of the seat.

The leg-rest linkage of the present invention is particularly adapted for use in a reclining chair of the type in which the seat is raised well above the floor surface by high legs. Such a chair is the development of the modern trend in styling, and for esthetic purposes, the chair frame is mounted on relatively long legs of narrow diameter so that an open space is provided between the bottom of the seat and the floor surface. In chairs having this modern styling, it is necessary to conceal the leg-rest in its retracted position so that the chair will have the appearance of a normal well-styled chair in its upright sitting position, and for this purpose the leg-rest must be mounted so that in itsretracted position it is closely spaced from the bottom surface of the seat and is maintained parallel to the seat. The leg-rest linkage must also be so arranged and constructed that in its folding or collapsed position it is in very compact form with the links thereof closely spaced from each other and preferably substantially parallel to each other. In this condition neither the leg-rest nor the leg-rest linkage is visible fromoutside the chair, when the body supporting structure is in the sitting position.

A problem encountered in the construction of chairs is presented by the required movement of the leg-rest between its underslung position and its extended position. In order to bring the leg-rest from its retracted position to its extended position, the leg-rest must first he swung downwardly and forwardly from its substantially horizontal position beneath the seat to a vertical position beneath the forward end ofthe seat, and then swung upwardly and outwardly so that it is spaced forwardly of the front end of the seat. 'The requirements of chair design are such that the height of the seat above the floor surface must be standard to insure a comfortable sitting position. The spacing of the seat from the floor therefore provides very limited space through which the leg-rest can travel in its path of movement. The leg-rest must of course pass through this limited space in such a manner that it will not strike or scrape the floor. A structural requirement of the chair, therefore, is that the lowest portion of the leg-rest must have a clearance of at least one inch above the floor during its path of movement from its horizontal underslung position in order to insure that the leg-rest does not strike the floor or even a rug upon which the chair may be resting. This problem is accentuated by the fact that the leg-rest must be mounted on relatively long links in order to enable it to be positioned well forwardly of the seat in its extended position.

In my co-pending United States patent application, Serial No. 803,195, filed March 31, 1959, I have disclosed a leg-rest linkage for chairs having an underslung legrest, the linkage including means to delay the turning movement of the leg-rest from its invented to its upright position. The leg-rest is therefore prevented from passing through its vertical position until after the (forward end of the seat, and the leg-rest linkage carried thereby, had risen suiiiciently to afford enough clearance space to permit the leg-rest to pass through its vertical position 3,008,762 Patented Nov. 14, 1961 ice without striking the floor surface. This linkage featured an actuating link mounted on the support frame and connected through an auxiliary link to the links of the legrest linkage which controlled the turning motion of the leg-rest in such a manner that the initial movement of the body-supporting structure was taken up by the actuating link with very little turning movement of the legrest.

In accordance with the present invention, the leg-rest linkage of my aforementioned co-pending patent application, Serial No. 803,195 has been modified in such a manner that the actuating link is no longer mounted directly on the support fname, but rather is mounted on the short arm of a double-arm lever or bell-crank lever which is pivotally mounted on the support frame. The long arm of this bell-crank lever is connected to the seat for actuation thereby through a pin and slot connection. The bell-cnank lever provides a positive drive for the actuating link, and the dimensions and position of the bellcrank lever can be selectively varied to regulate the desired location at which the leg-rest passes through its vertical position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a leg-rest linkage for a reclining chair of the type described, which linkage is made up of links of relatively small size which are effective to move the leg rest to an extended position well forwardly of the front of the seat, and at the same time is so constructed and arranged as to provide sufiicient clearance between the leg-rest and the floor when the leg-rest is initially moved downward from its underslung position beneath the seat.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a leg-rest linkage of the-character described which incorporates lost motion meansfor delaying the opening of saidlinkage until the front of the seat has been raised a sufficient distance from the floor to permit the leg-rest to pass freely therebeneath without striking'or scraping the floor surface.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a leg-rest linkage of the character described which -is particularly adapted for use in chairs having modern styling features including an open side frame, high legs, etc.

Additional objects and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent during the course of the following specification, when taken in connection'with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and shown in section, of an improved reclining chair embodying the leg-rest linkage of the present invention, the chair being shown in its upright or sitting position, with the leg-rest in its underslung, retracted position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 1, .but showing the chair til-ted rearwardly to its fullest extent and the leg-rest in its elevated leg-supporting position;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away and shown in section, of a reclining'chair having a modified leg-rest linkage made in accordance with the invention herein, the chair being shown in its upright or sitting position; and

, FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the forward portion of the chair of FIG. 3, showing the chair in its rearwardlytilted or reclining position and the leg-rest linkage in its fully-extended leg-supporting position.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, FIGS.'-1 and 2 illustrate the type of chair in which the leg-rest linkage of the present invention is particularly adaptedand intended to be incorporated. The chair has a fixed and immovable support frame or base 10 which includes legs 12. A body supporting structure '14, comprising a seat 16 and a back-rest 18 formed rigidly with each other, is

mounted for rearward tilting movement upon the support frame The support frame 10 includes open side frames which have side rails 22 connected by cross bars or

braces

24 and 26. The chair also includes a leg-rest which is carried by a leg-rest actuating linkage designated generally by the reference numeral 32, the latter being mounted on the support frame 10 and connected to the seat 16 in a manner which will be presently described.

As can be readily seen in FIG. 1, the legs 12 are made in accordance with modern styling and are relatively high and narrow so as to present a large unencumbered space beneath the seat 16. In conformance with this modern styling, it is required in a chair of this type that the legrest be retracted to an underslung position, as indicated in FIG. 1, in which it is normally spaced a short distance beneath the lower surface of the seat and is parallel thereto, so as to be substantially hidden from view by the side rails 22. For this purpose it will also be observed that the leg-rest linkage 62 in this retracted position of the leg-rest is collapsed to a very compact condition in which the links of said linkage are closely folded adjacent the seat 16 and the side rails 22 and are also hidden from view. The leg-rest 30 in its retracted position is inverted as shown in FIG. 1, and in order to be brought to its extended position illustrated in FIG. 2, it is necessary to move the leg-rest downwardly and outwardly through a designated path of movement, during which movement the leg-rest is brought to a vertical position and approaches the surface of the floor. As was previously indicated, this invention is concerned with the problem of providing sufiicient clearance of the 1eg-rest in order to prevent the latter from striking or scraping along the floor surface when the leg-rest is moved through said path of movement.

The body supporting unit 14 is mounted for rearward tilting movement upon support frame 10 by a link 34 which is connected at its upper end by pivot 36 to said unit 14 at the juncture between the seat 16 and back-rest 18. The other end of the link 34 is connected by pivot 38 to a fixed part of the support frame 10'. When the occupant of the chair in the sitting position leans rearwardly upon the back-rest 18, the body supporting unit 14 will tilt rearwardly about the pivot 36, and at the same time the link 34 will swing rearwardly about the pivot 38 to carry the body supporting unit in a rearward direction relative to the support frame 10 until the fully tilted position of said body supporting unit is reached. In this fully tilted position of FIG. 2, the rear surface of the back-rest 18 engages the rear-most cross bar 26, the latter serving as stop means to limit further rearward tilting movement of said body supporting unit.

Referring now specifically to the leg-rest linkage 32 which incorporates the invention herein, the legrest 30 is supported and guided by a first pair of links 38, 40 and a second pair of

links

42, 44. The first pair of links 38 and 40 are interconnected in end-to-end relationship by a pivot 46, while the second pair of

links

42 and 44 are likewise connected end-to-end by a pivot 48. The free end of the link 38 is connected to the structure of the leg-rest 26 by a pivot 50. The free end of the link 42 of the second pair of links is also connected to the leg-rest structure by pivot 52 at a point spaced from the pivotal connection 50 of the link 38 to said leg rest 26.

The free end of the link 40 is pivotally mounted at 54 on the seat 16 at a point near the forward end thereof.

The free end of the link 44 of the second pair of links is connected by pivot 56 to one end of an auxiliary link 58 the other end of which is pivotally mounted at 60 on the seat 16 at a point spaced forwardly of the pivotal mount 54. The auxiliary link 58 forms a part of the legrest control linkage during the initial rearward tilting movement of the body supporting structure 14, and serves as lost motion means for delaying the extension of the leg-rest linkage, in a manner which will be presently described.

The link 38 of the first pair of links crosses over the link 44 of the second pair of links and is pivotally connected thereto at its crossing-over point by pivot 62.

Movement of the first link pair 38, 40 is effected by a first actuating link 64 which is pivotally mounted at 66 on an elongated bracket 68 which is fixed to the support frame 10 and forms a rigid portion thereof. The first actuating link 64 is connected by pivot 70 to the upper portion of the link 40 of the first pair of links and serve as a pusher link to cause the first pair of

links

38, 48 to move to their extended position when the body supporting unit 14 is tilted and moved rearwardly.

A second actuating link 72 is associated with the second pair of

links

42 and 44. This second actuating link 72 has a bent free end portion 72a which is pivotally connected by pivot 56 to the link 44 and auxiliary link 58 coaxially with the point of connection between said two latter links. The second actuating link 72 is pivotally mounted on the short arm of a bell-crank lever in a manner which will be presently described and serves as a pusher link to cause the auxiliary link 58 to pivot upwardly during the initial movement of the body supporting structure 14 from its upright sitting position of FIG. 1 to its rearwardly tilted position of FIG. 2.

The bell-crank lever 80 has an upstanding long arm 82 and a short arm 84 arranged at an angle to said long arm 82. The lever 80 is mounted by pivot 86, at the juncture between said long and short arms, on a bracket 88 rigidly affixed to the cross-bar 24 of the support frame 10. The rear end of the second actuating link 72 is connected by pivot 90 to the free end of the short arm 84.

The upper end portion of the long arm 82 of the bellcrank lever 80 has an elongated slot 92. A pin 94, carried by the seat 16, is slidably contained within said slot 92.

In the sitting position of the body-supporting unit 14 shown in FIG. 1, the leg-rest linkage 32 is folded up into compact form and the leg-rest 30 is held in an inverted underslung position substantially parallel to and closely spaced from the bottom surface of the seat 16, the legrest and its linkage being thus effectively concealed by the sides frames of the chair. In this sitting position, the long arm 82 of the bell-crank lever 80 is inclined upwardly and forwardly from its pivotal mount 86 and the pin 94 is located at the bottom of the slot 92. The short bellcrank lever arm 84 extends in a rearward direction from the pivotal mount 86, and the second actuating link 72 extends rearwardly in a nearly horizontal attitude from the auxiliary link 58 to the short lever arm 84. The first actuating link 64 is disposed in a substantially horizontal position, and a stop member 96, formed thereon, is in engagement with the edge of the bell crank lever arm 82 to immovably maintain the bell-crank lever 80 and thereby support the front end portion of the seat as well as prevent the leg-rest linkage from collapsing from its retracted position.

When the occupant of the chair in the sitting position of FIG. 1 exerts a slight pressure against the back-rest 12, the body supporting unit 14 will move rearwardly, guided by the guide link 34, in a downward are about the fixed pivot 38 and the front portion of the seat 16 will move upwardly and rearwardly, carrying with it the seat pivots 54 and 60.

As the seat moves rearwardly, the seat pivot 5'4 is brought closer to the fixed pivot 66, thereby causing the first actuating link '64 to push against the rearwardly moving link 40 of the first pair of links and causing said link 40 to begin to pivot about said seat pivot 54. This pivoting movement of the link 40 increases the angle between the first pair of links 38 and 40, causing the link 38 to carry the leg-rest 30 downwardly and forwardly from its original retracted position of FIG. 1.

Rearward movement of the seat 16 also causes the long bell-crank arm 82 to pivot rearwardly about the fixed pivot 86, because of the pin and slot connection 92, 94. The rearward pivoting movement of the long arm 82 causes a corresponding forward movement of the short lever arm 84, which drives the second actuating link 72 in a forward and upward direction. This in turn raises the auxiliary link 58 about its seat pivot 60 until said auxiliary link engages a stop 9-8 atfixed to the seat 16 and is restrained from further upward movement.

This movement of the auxiliary link 58 occurs during the initial phase of movement of the body-supporting unit 14, and the actuating link serves as a means for delaying the turning of the leg-rest 30, as will now be explained.

The second pair of

links

42 and 44 determine the attitude of the leg-rest 60, and the action of these links causes the leg-rest to turn about the pivot 50 through an angle of substantially 180 from the substantially horizontal, inverted position of FIG. 1 to the reversed, upright position of FIG. 2. In traversing this path of movement, the leg-rest 30 passes through a point in which it is vertically disposed and in which its leading edge is closest to the floor surface. Since the links of the legrest linkage 32 are so arranged as to provide an accelerated movement of the leg-rest 30 so that the leg-rest travels an appreciably greater distance than the body supporting unit 14, ordinarily this vertical position of the leg-rest would be reached at a time before the front portion of the seat 16 has risen sulficiently to allow the leg-rest to clear the floor surface. The auxiliary link 58, however, acts to delay the action of the second pair of

links

42 and 44 until the seat front portion has risen a sufiicient distance to provide clearance for the leg-rest.

As the seat 16 initially moves rearwardly from its sitting position of FIG. 1, the bellcrank lever 80 drives the second actuating link 72 forwardly, as previously described. The pushing force of the second actuating link 72 is therefore primarily taken up by the auxiliary link '58, and the second pair of links 42 and 44- are afforded only a small amount of relative movement so that the turning movement of the leg-rest 30 about the pivot 50 is initially'held to a At the time that the auxiliary link 58 engages the stop 98, therefore, the leg-rest '30 has been moved forwardly past the front portion of the seat, but has not yet been pivoted to its vertical position and is spaced well above the level of the floor surface.

Once the auxiliary link 58 engages the stop 98, the auxiliary link 58 becomes a fixed portion of the seat 16 and thereafter becomes inactive. The pivot 56 therefore becomes a fixed seat pivot and the second actuating link 72 becomes inactive and immovable. As the body sup porting unit continues to pivot and tilt rearwardly, the first actuating link 64 continues to exert a pushing force upon the link 40 of the first pair of links, and the second pair of links, through its pivotal connection 62 with the first pair of links, serves its normal function in causing the leg-rest 30 to turn about pivot 50 until it assumes the substantially horizontal, extended position of FIG. 2. In this extended position of the leg-rest 30, the latter is spaced well forwardly of the front edge of the seat 16 and is substantially at the level thereof.

During the rearward movement of the body-supporting unit 14, the pin 94 slides upwardly in the slot 92 of the bell-crank lever 80, thereby permitting the forward portion of the seat 16 to be raised relative to the support frame 10. The reclining position of the chair is determined by engagement of the body-supporting unit 14 with the reanmost crossbar 26, as shown in FIG. 2.

-When the occupant of the chair in the rearwardlytilted position of FIG. 2 wishes to return to the sitting position of FIG. 1, he need only exert a slight downward pressure with the legs upon the extended leg-rest 30. A reverse action of the leg-rest linkage 32 then occurs to bring the leg-rest 26 back to its underslung retracted position of FIG. 2.

It will be appreciated that by selectively varying the 6 dimensions or position of the bell-crank lever 80, the pitch of the leg-rest 30 can be effectively controlled. Thus, the most desirable point at which the leg-rest passes through the vertical position can be selected to suit the dimensions or styling of the individual chair.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, there is shown a reclining chair which incorporates another embodiment of leg-rest linkage demonstrating further features of the present invention. In these views similar reference numerals are used for like parts, except that these numerals are in the series.

Again the chair includes a support frame having relatively long legs 112 and mounting a body supporting unit 114 which includes a seat 116 and back-rest 118 formed rigidly with each other. The body supporting unit 114 is mounted for rearward tilting movement upon the support frame 110 by a link 134 which is connected at its upper end. by a pivot 136 to the rear end portion of said body supporting unit, and at its lower end by pivot 13 8 to the support frame 110. The leg-rest is supported and guided by a leg-rest linkage 132 which is similar in construction to the leg-rest linkage of FIGS. 1 and 2, except as will be presently explained.

As in the previously-described embodiment, the legrest linkage 132 includes a first pair of links I138 and 140 connected in end-to-end relationship by pivot 146. The free end of link 138 is connected by pivot to the legrest 130'. A second pair of

links

142 and 144 are also connected in end-to-end relationship by a pivot 148. The free end of the link 142 is connected by pivot 152 to a point on the leg-rest 130 which is spaced from the pivot 150, while the free end of the link 144 is connected by a pivot 156 to the lower end of an auxiliary link 158. The auxiliary link 158 is connected at its opposite end by pivot 160 to the seat 116. The

links

138 and 144 cross each other and are connected at their crossing-over point by a pivot 162. Movement of the first pair of links 138 and '140 is effected by a first actuating link 164' which is mounted at 166 on a bracket 1'68 rigidly aflixed to the cross-bar 124 of the support frame i110. The other end of the first actuating link 164 is connected by pivot 170 to the upper portion of link 140 Movement of the auxiliary link 158 is efiected by a second actuating link 172 which has an offset end 172a connected by pivot 156 to the point of connection between the auxiliary link 158 and the link 144. The rear end of the actuating link .172 is connected by pivot to the short arm 184 of bell-crank lever 180. A pivot 186 mounts said bell-crank lever 180' on a bracket 1-88 aflixed to the cross-bar 124. The long bell-crank lever arm 182 has a slot 192 with which is slid'ably engaged a pin 194 carried by the seat 116.

The aforementioned parts are identical to those previously described in connection -Wl-th the chair illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The link 140 of the first pair of links, however, instead of being pivotally mounted on the seat as in the preceding embodiment, is in this instance connected by pivot 193 to an extension arm 195 of the bellcrank lever 180. In the upright sitting position of the chair shown in FIG. 3, the extension arm 195 is directed forwardly and slightly downwardly.

.The general operation of this leg-rest linkage of FIGS. 3 and 4 is essentially the same as that described for the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. In the sitting position of the chair shown in FIG. 3, the leg-rest linkage 132 is in the collapsed position shown, and the leg-rest 130 is in its underslung retracted position in which it is substantially horizontally disposed and closely spaced from the bottom surface of the seat 116. A stop 196 on the first actuating link 164 is in engagement with the lever arm 182 to maintain the seat and the leg-rest linkage in the position of FIG. 3.

When the occupant of the chair in the upright sitting position of FIG. 3 leans rearwardly upon the back-rest 118, the link 134 will pivot rearwardly to move the body supporting unit 114 in a rearward direct-ion, and the body supporting unit will also begin to tilt about the pivot 136. During the initial phase of this movement, the second actuating link 172 Will exert a pushing action upon the auxiliary link 158 and the latter will pivot upwardly until it abuts the blocking member 198, thereby absorbing some of the movement of the leg-rest linkage 132 and preventing the said linkage from extending until the for- Ward end of the seat has risen a suflicient distance to provide clearance for the movement of the leg-rest 130. After the seat has risen a sufficient distance to provide such clearance, the auxiliary link 158 engages the blocking member 198 and becomes a rigid portion of the seat, the second actuating link 172 now becoming inactive and the link 144 turning about the immovable pivot 156 to turn the leg-rest 130 about the pivot 150 and bring it through a vertical position to the substantially horizontal extended position shown in FIG. 4.

During rearward movement of the seat 116, the bellcrank lever 130' turns about its fixed pivot 186 to provide a positive forward thrust to the second actuating link 172 for raising the auxiliary link 158, as has been previously described. During such movement of the bellcrank lever 180, the extension arm 195 is moved rearwardly relative to the seat 116, thereby carrying the pivotal mount 193 of link 140* toward the fixed pivot 166 at a faster rate than in the previous embodiment, and causing the first actuating link 1454 to push the

link pair

138 and 140 outwardly at an accelerated rate.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described herein by way of illustrative examples, it will be obvious that numerous additions, changes and omissions may be made in such embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a reclining chair having a support frame, a bodysupporting structure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support frame for rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; leg-rest actuating means carrying the leg-rest and operable in response to tilting movement of the body supporting structure to move the leg-rest from a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to an upright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating means comprising first linkage means and second linkage means for guiding the path of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and for controlling the turning movement of the leg-rest between its inverted and upright positions, means operatively connecting said first and second linkage means for coordinated movement thereof when said body-supporting structure is moved rearwardly, lost motion means connecting said second linkage means to the seat, an actuating link for operating said lost motion means during an initial phase of movement of said bodysupporting structure to delay the turning movement of said leg-rest, and a double-arm lever mounted on said support frame and having a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operatively connected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm being operatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, the other end portion of the actuating link being operatively connected to the lost motion means.

2. In a reclining chair having a support frame, a bodysupporting structure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support frame for rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; leg-rest actuating means carrying the leg-rest and operable in response to tilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-rest from a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to an upright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating means comprising first linkage means and second linkage means for guiding the path of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and for controlling the turning movement of the leg-rest between its inverted and upright positions, means operatively connecting said first and second linkage means for coordinated movement thereof when said body-supporting structure is moved rearwardly, an auxiliary link pivotally mounted on the seat and connected to said second linkage means, an actuating link for moving said auxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of said body-supporting structure to delay the turning movement of said leg-rest, and a bell crank lever mounted on said support frame and having a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operatively connected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm being operatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, the other end portion of the actuating link being operatively connected to the auxiliary link.

3. In a reclining chair having a support frame a bodysupporting structure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support frame for rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; a leg-rest actuating linkage carrying the leg-rest and operable in response to tilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-rest from a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to an upright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating means comprising a first pair of links connected end-to-end and a second pair of link-s connected end-to-end for guiding the path of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and for controlling the turning move ment of the leg-rest between its inverted and upright positions, means operatively connecting the first and second pairs of links for coordinated movement thereof, one link of each pair being pivotally connected to the leg-rest, an auxiliary link pivotally mounted on the seat and connected with the other link of said second pair, the other link of the first pair being pivotally mounted on a movable portion of the chair, an actuating link for moving said auxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of said body-supporting structure to delay the turning movement of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever mounted on said support frame and having a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operatively connected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm being operatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, the other end portion of the actuating link being operatively connected to the auxiliary link.

4. A leg-rest actuating linkage according to claim 3 in which said other link of the first pair of links is pivotally mounted on the seat.

5. A leg-rest actuating linkage according to claim 3 in which the long arm of the bell crank lever has an extension projecting beyond the operative connection of said long armto the seat, said other link of the first pair of links being pivotally connected to said extension.

6. In a rec-lining chair having asupport frame, a body.- supporting structure including a seat and 'a. back-rest mounted on said support frame for rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; leg-rest actuating means carrying the leg-rest and operable in response to tilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-rest from a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to an upright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating means comprising a first pair of interconnected links, and a second pair of interconnected links for guiding the path of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and for controlling the turning movement of the leg-rest between its inverted and upright positions, means operatively connecting said first and second pairs of links for coordinated movement thereof, an auxiliary link pivotally mounted on the seat, the first pair of links being connected at one end to the leg-rest and at the other end to a movable portion of the chair, the second pair of links being connected at one end to the leg-rest and at the other end to the auxiliary link, an actuating link for moving said auxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of said body-suporting structure to delay the turning movement of said leg-rest, and a bell crank lever mounted on said support frame and having a long arm and a short arm, the long arm having an elongated slot and the seat having a fixed pin slidab-ly engaging said slot for actuation of said bell crank lever by tilting movement of the seat, the short arm being operatively connected to one end portion of the actuating link, the other end portion of the actuating link being pivotally connected to the auxiliary link for driving the latter in a lost motion phase of movement during the initial tilting movement of the seat.

7. A leg-rest linkage according to claim 6 which also includes means for terminating the lost motion movement of .the auxiliary link at the end of the initial tilting movement phase of the body-supporting structure, whereby to permit operation of the second pair of links thereafter to turn the leg-rest to its upright position.

8. A leg-rest linkage according to claim 7 in which said means for terminating the lost motion movement of the auxiliary link comprises a stop member affixed to the seat and positioned to engage and halt the movement of said auxiliary link at the end of said initial tilting movement phase.

9. In a reclining chair having a support frame, a bodysupporting structure including a seat and a back-rest mounted on said support frame for rearward movement to a tilted position, and a leg-rest; a leg-rest actuating linkage carrying the leg-rest and operable in response to tilting movement of the body-supporting structure to move the leg-rest from a retracted underslung, inverted position beneath the seat to an upright extended position forwardly of the seat, said actuating linkage comprising a first pair of links connected end-to-end and a second pair of links connected end-to-end for guiding the path of movement of the leg-rest between its retracted and extended positions, and for controlling the turning movement of the leg-rest between its inverted and upright positions, said pairs of links connecting the leg-rest to the seat, an auxiliary link connecting the second pair of links to the forward end portion of the seat, a first actuating link pivotally mounted on the support frame and pivotally connected to the first pair of links for actuating the latter in response to tilting movement of the body-supporting structure, means interconnecting said pairs of links for coordinated movement whereby the second link pair is elevated when the first link pair is actuated, a second actuating link for moving said auxiliary link during an initial phase of movement of said body-supporting structure to delay the turning movement of said leg-rest, and a bell-crank lever mounted on said support frame and having a long arm and a short arm, the long arm being operatively connected to the seat for actuation thereby and the short arm being operatively connected to one end portion of the second actuating link, the other end portion of the actuating link being operatively connected to the auxiliary link.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,774,412 Lnckhardt Dec, 18, 1956 2,781,826 Rote Feb. 19, 1957 2,871,917 Schliephacke Feb. 3, 1959