WO2001095767A1

WO2001095767A1 - Office chair

Info

Publication number: WO2001095767A1
Application number: PCT/EP2000/010982
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gianfranco Tessaro; Marco Tessaro; Davide Tessaro
Original assignee: Tessaro Snc Di Tessaro Gianfranco & C.
Priority date: 2000-06-15
Filing date: 2000-11-07
Publication date: 2001-12-20
Also published as: AU2001216989A1; DE20021373U1; ITVI20000131A0; ITVI20000131A1; IT1315369B1

Abstract

A chair (1) is disclosed comprising at least a support pillar (2) arranged vertically and provided at the top with a seat (3) adapted to receive a sitting person and at the bottom one or more support legs (4) arranged radially to the pillar and resting on the floor (T). The support legs (4) are rigidly connected to the support pillar (2) through a connecting element (5) comprising a main body (6) provided with first radial coupling means (7) adapted to pressure receive second coupling means (8) belonging to the support legs (4).

Description

OFFICE CHAIR

The invention relates to a chair with variable height particularly simple and easy to be assembled and adapted to be used in environments such as offices, laboratories and so on. It is known that office chairs generally comprise a support pillar provided at the top with a seat on which the user is sitting and at the bottom one or more support legs resting on the floor.

More particularly the support legs are generally welded radially around a ring coaxially receiving the pillar. A first drawback of the above mentioned chair consists in that the weldings of the legs cause variations of the inner diameter of the ring so as to make difficult and sometimes impossible the coupling between pillar and ring. This affects also the coupling precision causing plays and consequently annoying and unwelcome oscillations when the chair is used. Another drawback connected to the preceding one, consists in that grinding operations on the ring are sometimes required to improve the coupling and increase considerably the production cost of the chair.

Such operations are indeed difficult because of the presence of the support legs and must be carried out by skilled personnel. Another drawback consists in that to improve the aesthetic impact jeopardised by the sight of the weldings, application of proper covering elements is required, contributing to increase the production cost of the chair.

In order to solve at least partially said drawbacks the presently known art consists in making the support legs and the ring in a single piece obtained by die forming.

Therefore for each model of chair, with identical aesthetic features, height from ground of the seat and length or dimensions of the legs, it is necessary to make a corresponding die so as to produce support legs of different length for each variation of the model. A first drawback of the chair of the above mentioned kind consists in that one die must correspond to each chair model so as to cause a considerable increase of the production cost of the chair.

Another drawback connected to the preceding one consists in that this system causes a considerable increase of the executive varieties and consequently an increase of storage costs then affecting the production cost of each chair. Another drawback consists in that in each of the above mentioned embodiments the height from ground of the seat is substantially determined by the length of the pillar. Consequently as the point of coupling pillar and legs is at the lower end of said pillar, there is an amplification of the oscillations that the user transmits to the chair which is proportional to the length of the pillar. The so amplified oscillation puts under considerable stress the coupling between pillar and legs, sometimes causing irreversible damage that requires their replacement. The object of the present invention is to overcome said drawbacks. More particularly a first object of the invention is a chair allowing to reduce considerably or even remove completely in comparison with the chairs of known type, the oscillation arising from the movements of the user. Another object of the present invention is to decrease the number of executive variations of the support leg and ring unit with the variation of the height of said chair.

Another object of the invention is a chair allowing to keep the ratio between height and overall dimensions within standard values set forth by the competent authorities. Another object is a standardised pillar and leg unit reducing both the production costs and the storage costs of said unit.

A further object is to remove the grinding operations required to obtain a coupling between pillar and legs free from plays.

Last but not least object of the invention is a safe chair respecting all the regulations in force relating to accident prevention. Said objects are obtained by a chair that according to the main claim comprises at least one vertically arranged support pillar provided at the top with a seat on which the user is sitting and at the bottom one or more support legs arranged radially to said at least one pillar and resting on the floor, said chair being characterised in that said one or more support legs are rigidly connected to said at least one support pillar through at least one connection element comprising a main body provided with first coupling radial means adapted to pressure receive second coupling means belonging to said at least one or more support legs. Advantageously the chair of the invention allows to change during the assembly stage the ratio between height from ground of the seat and dimensions of said chair.

In a further advantageous way the chair of the invention reduces in comparison with the chairs of known type, the oscillations generated by the user so as to increase the useful life of the chair. The above mentioned objects and advantages will be better understood by reading the description of a preferred embodiment given as an illustrative and non limiting example with reference to the accompanying sheets of drawings in which: figure 1 is an isometric view of the chair according to the invention; - figure 2 is an exploded isometric view of a part of the chair of figure 1 ; figure 3 is a partial sectional side view of an element of the chair of figure 1 ; figure 4 is an executive variation of the chair of figure 1 ; and figure 5 is another executive variation of the chair of figure 1. The chair of the present invention is shown in figure 1 where it is indicated generally with the reference number 1 , and comprises a support pillar 2 arranged vertically and provided at the top with a seat 3 adapted to receive a sitting user and at the bottom a plurality of support legs 4 arranged radially in respect of the pillar 2 and resting on the floor T to discharge the user weight. The present invention provides that the support legs 4 are rigidly connected to the support pillar 2 by means of a connecting element 5 comprising, as shown in detail in figure 2, a main body 6 provided with first radial coupling means 7 adapted to pressure receive second coupling means 8 belonging to the support legs 4. The first coupling means 7 consist of radial holes 9 shown in figure 3, made on the main body 6 and receiving corresponding projecting elements 10 formed by an end of each leg 4, each element having an outer shape matching the shape of the holes 9 constituting the second coupling means 8. According to an executive variation shown in detail in figure 5, the first coupling means 7 consist of elements 71 projecting from the main body 6 matching corresponding seats 81 made in each leg 92 constituting the second coupling means 8, each having a cross-sectional shape matching the outer shape of the projecting elements. The main body 6 is also provided with a vertical hole 61 adapted to pressure receive the support pillar 2 having axis 11 forming with axis 91 of each radial hole 9 an angle α other than 90° and amounting to 45° in the case of the illustrated example.

The angle at 45° of the radial holes 9 allows advantageously to obtain a ratio between overall dimensions of the chair and height of the seat which is always inside the range of values defined by the regulations in force.

As to the support pillar 2, it consists of a threaded male element 21 matching a corresponding nut screw 22 which is arranged inside the vertical hole 61.

Therefore the user may change the height H from the floor of the seat 3 by screwing or unscrewing the pillar 2. According to an executive variation shown in detail in figure 4, the support pillar 2 consists of a pneumatic jack 15 that can be actuated manually by the user and having the main body integral with the main body 6 and the stem integral with the seat 3.

It is also to be pointed out that this embodiment allows to remove the protection sleeve existing on the pneumatic jacks of conventional type, replacing it with the walls of the vertical hole so as to further reduce the global production cost of the chair 1.

A back 40 may also be associated to seat 3 as well as possible armrests 41 as illustrated in detail with dashed lines in figure 1. As to the support legs 4, they consist of tubular bars with generally elliptical section and may rest on the floor through one or more castors 25 or through fixed supports not shown.

The proposed solution advantageously allows to change the height from the floor of the seat 3 by changing simply the length L of the support legs 4. More particularly as the support legs 4 are made of tubular bars, it will be sufficient to cut to the desired length so as to eliminate the executive variation and reducing the storage costs.

The manufacturer indeed may provide for the orders of different models of chairs, simply cutting to the desired length the tubular bars when assembling the chair 1.

It is also to be noted that the main body 6 has a plurality of lightening holes that can be made during the forming stage of the connection element 5 or during one of its finishing stages.

It is also important to note the presence of a protection element 31 arranged coaxially to the vertical hole 61 and below the pillar, preventing even to unskilled users to get injured during use of the chair. The assembling stage of the chair provides that once the height from the floor of seat 3 is chosen, the operator calculates the length L of the bar constituting each support leg 4.

Once the bars are cut, the operator will then insert them into the main body 6 and couple the pillar 2.

Once the elements are assembled as shown in detail in figures 1 and 2, the chair is ready to be used.

It is also important to note that the assembling operation is particularly simple and can be carried out even by the final user so as to allow a further reduction of dimensions and shipping costs of the chair that may indeed be marketed as a kit in a disassembled condition.

Although the invention was described with reference to the accompanying sheets of drawings, in the implementation stage it may undergo executive variations not represented in the drawings but anyhow falling within the scope of the inventive principle set forth in the appended claims and therefore protected by the present patent.

Claims

1) A chair (1) comprising at least one support pillar (2) arranged vertically and provided at the top with a seat (3) adapted to receive a sitting person and at the bottom one or more support legs (4) arranged radially to said at least one pillar and resting on the floor (T), characterised in that said one or more support legs (4) are rigidly connected to said at least one support pillar (2) through at least one connection element (5) comprising a main body (6) provided with first radial coupling means (7) adapted to pressure receive second coupling means (8) belonging to said at least one or more support legs (4).

2) The chair (1) according to claim 1) characterised in that said first coupling means (7) are radial holes (9) and said second coupling means (8) projecting elements (10) constituted by an end of each of said legs (4), each having an outer shape matching the shape of said holes (9). 3) The chair (1) according to claim 1 ) characterised in that said first coupling means (7) are elements projecting from said main body (6) and said second coupling means (8) are seats made in said leg (92) each having a cross-section matching the shape of said projecting elements.

4) The chair (1 ) according to claim 1) or 2) or 3) characterised in that said main body (6) has at least a vertical hole (61) adapted to receive said at least one support pillar (2).

5) The chair (1 ) according to claim 2) and 4) characterised in that the intersection of each axis (91 ) of said radial holes (9) with said vertical hole (61) forms an angle other than 90 degrees. 6) The chair (1 ) according to claim 1 ) characterised in that said angle is equal to 45 degrees.

7) The chair (1 ) according to claim 1 ) characterised in that said support pillar (2) comprises a threaded male element (21) matching a corresponding nut screw (22) that is arranged inside said vertical hole (61) to change the height (h) from the floor of said seat (3).

8) The chair (1 ) according to claim 1 ) and 4) characterised in that said support pillar (2) consists of a pneumatic jack (15) that can be actuated manually and is adapted to change the height (h) from the floor of said seat (3). 9) The chair (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that a back is associated to said seat.

10) The chair (1) according to claim 9) characterised in that one or more armrests are associated to said back.

11) The chair (1) according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that said at least one support leg (4) is resting on the floor through one or more castors (25).

12) The chair (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that said main body (6) has a plurality of lightening holes.

13) The chair (1) according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that said at least one support leg (4) consists of tubular bars.