US556343A - Reclining-chair - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

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RBGLINING CHAIR. No. 556,343.` A Patented Mar. 17,1896.

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RECLINING CHAIR.

No. 556,343. Patented Mar. 17,- 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

HERMAN IVILLIAM FLEER AND HERMAN HENRY ELEER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

RECLlNlNG-CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,343, dated March 17, 1896.

Application filed August 16, 1895. Serial No. 559,485. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HERMAN WILLIAM FLEER and HERMAN HENRY FLEER, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Reclining- Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

Our invention has relation to improvements in reclining-chairs for railway-cars; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fullyset forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our invention, showing the chair in a re-V clining position. Fig. 2 is a rear view of the reclining back with parts broken away. Fig. 3 is a middle vertical section taken through the back and seat, the chair being shown in its normal or erect position. Fig. 4 is a top plan view witli' the several cushions removed and with the seat-frame swung back. Fig. 5 is a detail in side elevation of the operating or supporting arms for the seat-frame and the parts co-operating therewith. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the extensible frame located below the seat-frame, taken on the line ma ofFig. 7.; andFig. 7 is a section on line y g/ of Fig. 6.

The object of our invention is to construct a reclining-chair for cars which can be adjusted or made to assume any convenient position to suit the person or passenger occupying the same, such adjustments being effected without the use of springs, but solely through the medium of various levers and their co-operating elements.

In detail the chair may be described as follows:

Referring to the drawings, l represents a pedestal which receives the pivot 2 about which the chair-frame or body portion 3 of the chair revolves. The side-arm supporting frames 4 may either be formed integrally with the chair-body or secured thereto by screws, as shown, the side arms 5 being formed preferably integrally with said frames 4. Between the upper adjacent surfaces of the said arm-supporting frames 4' are pivoted the lateral members 6, forming part of the frame of the cushioned back 7, the members G extending a suitable distance beyond the pivotal points and forming arms 8, to the free end of each of which is pivotally secured a connecting-bar 9, whose opposite or farther end is pivotally secured to an operating-arm 10, pivoted at one end to the inner surface of the frame 4, said pivotal connection between the bars 9 and the operating-arms 10 bei-ng in proximity to the pivotal point of the latter. (See Fig. 5.) Vhen the back of the chair is reclined, as shown in Fig. 1, then, from the several connections so far disclosed, it is obvious that the arms 10 will be swung open, their free ends resting against the front transverse member 11 of the chair-body. IVhen the back is tilted to its normal position, as seen in Fig. 3, the arms 10 will be closed or inclined inwardly, the path or sweep of the free ends of the same being that of the arc of a circle. During the sweep of the said arms in one direction or the other the free engaging ends 13 of the same pass under the reversely-ourved bases of the side bars 14 of the seat-frame 15, which is also pivoted along the inner surfacesof the frames 4 adjacent to the pivotal points of the back.

IVhen the back of the chair is in its normal or erect position, as seen in Fig. 3, the engaging lends 13 of the arms 10 engage the notches 16 formed at the base of the compound basal curve of the lower surface of the bars 14, supporting said seat-frame 15, as seen in said figure in an elevated position. Vhen the back is reclined, as seen in Fig. 1, the compound curvature at the base of the bars 14 permits the engaging ends of the arms 10 to sweep along said curve, first raising the seat-frame, as seen in Fig. 5, and gradually lowering or letting down its free end to its lowest position, as seen Figs. 1 and 4-that is to say, allowing it to rest upon the extensible frame carried by the chair-body underneath the seat-frame-and to be now more particularly described.

Carried by or supported at the free ends of they pivotal pins which secure the bars 9 to the arms S are the lateral members 17 of an extensible frame located between the seatframe and the supporting-surface of the base IOO of the chair-frame. To prevent binding of the parts the pivotal pins carrying the ends of the members 17 pass through elongated slots 18 formed in said members to allow for the circular sweep of the pins during the tilting of the back of the chair. The forward end of the extensible frame of which the members 1 7 form a part rests normally on the supporting-surface of the base of the chair-frame 3. The members 17 have each formed therein along their upper surface a bevel-groove 19 for the reception of a terminal tongue 2O of a sliding extension or platform 21 adapted to support a foot rest or cushion 22. A portion of the inner wall of the groove 19 is cut away, leaving the terminal inner end of the bottom of the groove without an inner side wall, as shown at 23, the object of this construction being to allow for the ready engagement of the sliding extension 21 with the extensible frame-that is to say, to allow the tongues 2O to be rst brought into proper alignment with the grooves 19, when the platform may then be drawn out at the pleasure of the passenger. The platform or extension is limited outwardly by the terminal wall 24 of the groove, Fig. 7. The extension is provided with a suitable handle 25, by which it may7 be seized and manipulated.

)Vhen the chair is in its upright position, as seen in Fig. 3, and the extension 21 is shoved back in its grooves, the seat-frame 15 is mainly supported by the arms 10, the forward or free end of the said seat-frame resting on the terminal lips 26 of the extension, which lips serve to retain the cushion 22 in place. lVhen, however, the extension is drawn out to its full extent, (see Fig. 1,) then the free end of the seat-frame rests upon the upper surface of the extensible frame of which the extension forms a part.

Formed in the lower side members 27 of the chair-frame are slots 28, which serve to support and guide the lateral supporting-pins 29 of a bottom platform or foot-rest 30 for the person occupying the seat behind, said rest being supported at its free end when in position within the chair by the pockets 31 formed at the rear ends of the members 27. The footrest can, of course, be drawn out rearwardly to any extent, the terminal walls 32 of the pockets serving to support said rest in any position to suit the convenience of the passenger.

Along the outer edge of the back 7 we secure two rods or guideways 33 and 34, respectively, the sides of the guideways being substantially parallel, as seen in Fig. 2, the parallelism continuing to a suitable distance upward from the points of fastening of said rods to the sides of the back, when the loop of the guideway or rod 34 is gradually depressed below the loop 33, making the line of connection between the two guideways more and more inclined as it approaches the top of the respective loops, the shortest distance between the two wires, however, remaining the same throughout their full length. The guideways or loops serve to support in any adjusted position a suitable head-rest 35, the latter bein g secured to the guideways by the side lugs, 3G, which embrace the loop 33, and a central extended lug, 37 ,which embraces the wire 34, the head-rest being adapted to be slid along the wires to any adjusted position, when the same can be permanently fastened by a bindingscrew 3S carried by the lug 37. It is apparent from the disposition of the wires that the head-rest will be variably inclined to the general surface of the back as said rest is moved along the guideways, varying from an inclination that approximates a right angle on the sides of the chair to approximately one hundred and eighty degrees when moved to the top of the back of the chair. (Compare Figs. 1 and 2.) These various inclinations of the head-rest are desirable in order to accommodate the head of the passenger occupying the chair, who for convenience can shift the headrest to any desirable position.

From the bottom of the chair-frame depend two lugs 39 from which extends a foot-operated lever 40 having a rear extension or arm 41 controlled by a spring-plate 42, the free end of the extension co-operating with notches 43 of the pedestal and locking the revolving chair in any desirable position. To turn the chair to another position, the operator depresses the lever 40 with his foot, releasing the extension from engagement with its notch, when the chair can be turned to the position corresponding to any succeeding notch with which the spring-plate 42 will cause the arm 41 to engage upon the release by the passenger of the lever 40.

The back 7 is limited in its reclining position by the lugs 43' of the frame with which the arms 8 come in contact. (See Fig. 1.)

Having described our invention, what we claim is- 1. In a reclining-chair, a suitable tilting back, arms pivoted at one end to the chair frame or body, connecting bars between said arms and the lower end of the tilting bac-k, a pivoted seat-frame adapted to be engaged by the free ends of the said arms when the back is in its normal position, and a suitable extensible frame below the seat-frame for supporting the latter when the back is in its reclined position, substantially as set forth.

2; In a reclining-chair, a suitable tilting back, arms pivoted at one end to the chairbody, connecting bars between said arms and the tilting back, a pivoted seat-frame having side bars provided with a basal surface of compound curvature, a notch at the base of said surface adapted to co-operate with the engaging end of the pivoted arms and support the seat-frame when the back is in its normal or erect position, and suitable means for supporting the free ends of the seat and the arms when disengaged from the seatframe, substantially as set forth.

3. In a reclining-chair, a suitable tilting IOO IIO

back, an eXtensible frame having lateral inemy bers carried by the lower end of said back, suitable terminal slots in said members and pins carried by the back to effect a pivotal connection between these parts, dovetail grooves formed in the lateral members, a suitable extension-platform, basal tongues carried at one end of the extension adapted to co-operate with the grooves, the inner walls of the grooves being cut away a portion of their length for the reception of the tongues, means for limiting the outward movement of the extension, and means for limiting the tilting of the back, substantially as set forth.

et. In a reclining-chair, a suitable back, guideways carried by the same along the top and sides thereof, a head-rest adapted to be moved along said guideways the latter being adapted to give the said rest variable inclination relative to the general surface of the back in its path along said guideways, and means for retaining the head-rest in any of its adjusted positions, substantially as set forth.

5. In a reclining-chair, a suitable back, guideways or wires secured to the back in the form of loops, said wires being substantially parallel to one another from their securingpoints to a suitable distance along the loops, then receding from each other so that one loop is depressed below the other, and a suitable head -rest adapted to slide along said guideways, substantially as set forth.

6. In a reclining-chair, a tilting back, a pivoted seat-frame, intermediate connections between the back and seat-frame for controlling the latter, and an eXtensible frame connected to the back and adapted to support the seat-frame when the back is in its reclining position, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof We afIiX our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

HERMAN WILLIAM FLEER. HERMAN HENRY FLEER. IVitnesses:

E. STAREK, ALFRED A. MATHEY.

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