WO2005051129A1

WO2005051129A1 - Seating furniture comprising a seat, said seat having an inclination that is adjustable independently of the backrest

Info

Publication number: WO2005051129A1
Application number: PCT/SE2004/001739
Authority: WO
Inventors: Leila Rinne
Original assignee: Leila Rinne
Priority date: 2003-11-26
Filing date: 2004-11-25
Publication date: 2005-06-09
Also published as: SE0303154D0

Abstract

Seating furniture comprising a chair base (2) which carries a backrest (3) and a seat (4). The seat (4) has a rear edge part that is located in the proximity of the brackrest, and a front edge part that is spaced form the backrest, wherein the seating furniture has longitudinal direction that intersects said front and said rear edge parts. The base supports the seat (4) via a pivot bearing (43) in the region of the front edge part of the seat (4), wherein the pivot bearing has a horizontal axis that defines a right angle with said longitudinal direction, and wherein a setting device (10) acts between the base (2) and the seat (4) to enable the seat (4) to be swung to a selected angle of inclination about the pivot bearing (43) independently of the brackrest (3).

Description

Seating furniture comprising a seat, said seat having an inclination that is adjustable independently of the backrest. The present invention relates to seating furniture of the kind according to the preamble of Claim 1. By seating furniture is meant a sofa, couch or chair, i.e. seating furniture that in addition to a base also includes a backrest and a seat.

Chairs intended for working purposes, particularly office chairs, will have a facility that allows the chair to be brought into different positions. For instance, the chair may include a base that supports an upper part through the medium of a vertical air spring that has an adjustable effective height. It may also be possible to tilt the upper part forwards and backwards about a horizontal axis that extends at right angles to the chair symmetry plane and which can be latched in a selectable tilted position about said axis. The upper part comprises a backrest and a seat and, in certain instances, the angle at which the backrest is inclined relative to the seat may be adjusted, although this adjustment is mechanical and should be effected without subjecting the backrest to load. The angle at which the backrest is positioned is set in a front pivotal end-position of the upper part such that in this position of said upper part the backrest will slope forwards/backwards at a desired angle that is comfortable with regard to the user. Rearward tilting of the upper part serves to provide a rest position with regard to the chair and its user.

One problem in this regard is that inclination of the seat in a forward/rearward direction can not be readily set independently of the inclination of the backrest. The problem is particularly manifested in the case of chairs intended for working purposes, such as office chairs and then particularly office chairs that are used frequently by different persons and therefore need to be quickly adjusted in a simple fashion. The problem is accentuated when the chair has an upper part that is adapted to be tilted about a horizontal axis that extends at right angles to the chair symmetry plane, since, in order to retain optimum seating comfort, it should be possible to change the angle between the backrest and the seat when the upper part is tilted backwards; it is usually desirable to reduce the angle between the seat and the supporting surface of the backrest when the upper part is rearwardly inclined.

In the case of conventional furniture, for instance sofas and armchairs for domestic use and for official environments, the backrest and the seat are normally fixed to one another, wherewith the seating comfort of different users can be achieved with the aid of loose cushions placed between the back of the user and the backrest of the furniture. It is also desirable in this case to facilitate simple adaptation of the furniture with regard to the comfort of different users at a relatively low cost.

Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to alleviate said problems or to satisfy said desiderata either fully or partially.

This object is achieved by means of the present invention.

The invention is defined in the accompanying claim 1.

Other embodiments of the invention are made apparent in the dependent claims.

The invention relates basically to an article of seating furniture which in addition to a base includes an upper part comprising a backrest and a seat, wherein the seat is mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis which is generally at right angles to the symmetry plane of the chair, in other words a vertical plane which intersects the main surfaces of the seat and the backrest generally at a right angle. In this regard, the seat pivot mounting, which is carried by the chair base, is located in the proximity of the front edge of the seat, wherein the seat can be adjusted to a desired pivoted position independently of the backrest. The pivotally mounted seat is supported at a distance behind the pivot bearing against a chair base by means of a support device that can be adjusted for selective setting of the pivoted position of the seat around the pivot bearing. If the backrest of the peace of furniture is fixed in position, the seating comfort of the peace of furniture can still be readily adapted at low cost, by changing the positional setting of the seat around its pivot bearing, such adjustment to the pivotal setting of the seat being readily achieved with the aid of simple means. In one embodiment of the invention, said means may consist of a cylinder whose ends are connected to the base and to the seat respectively, and whose chambers are in mutual communication via a line that includes a valve which can be opened and closed respectively. Alternatively, said means may consist of a screw which is mounted on the underside of the seat and which carries a nut that, in turn, supports against said base, whereby rotation of the nut will cause the pivotal position of the seat to change around the pivot bearing. Still another alternative is one in which the rear part of the seat is supported from the base via an eccentric whose pivot bearing axis is generally parallel with the pivot bearing axis of the seat, such that rotation of the eccentric will change the pivotal position of the seat.

Naturally, a construction of this nature can also be mounted on a base structure that is pivotally mounted on the upper side of said structure via a pivot bearing located in the proximity of the pivot bearing of the seat, such that said upper part, including the seat and an upper base plate will form a chair upper part that can be pivoted or tilted about an axis normal to the symmetry plane of the chair. By insuring that the means for adjusting the pivot position of the chair seat includes spring means that strives to swing up the rear end- part of the seat, it is particularly easy to enable the pivoted position of the seat to be changed when the seat is subjected to load. This enables the angle between the seat and the backrest to be maintained when the upper part is tilted backwards, without needing to adjust the angle at which the backrest is inclined to the upper part in a rearwardly tilted or pivoted state.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 illustrates schematically a first embodiment of seating furniture in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 illustrates another example of seating furniture according to the invention;

Figure 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a setting device for the lower pivotal end- position of the seat;

Figure 4 illustrates a further setting device for adjusting the tilting end-position of the seat; and

Figure 5 illustrates schematically a further setting device that can be used for adjusting the tilting end-position of the seat.

Figure 1 illustrates an armchair that includes a rigid base 2 and a backrest 3 connected thereto. Mounted at the front edge of the chair on the base 2 is a pivot bearing 43 whose axis is generally horizontal and at right angles to the chair symmetry plane. The pivot bearing is carried by the base 2 and supports a seat 4 for pivotal movement at the front edge part 41 of the seat 4.

The rear edge 42 of the seat 4 is shown to be located in the proximity of the front side of the backrest 3. Provided between the underside of the seat 4 and the base 2 is a setting device 10 that includes a manoeuvring element 11. The setting device 10 acts between the base 2 and the seat 4 at a distance behind the pivot bearing 43, so as to enable the upper surface of the seat 4 to be pivoted from an angle α beneath the horizontal plane 45 to an angle β above the horizontal plane 45.

This enables the angle between the upper surface of the seat 4 and the front surface of the backrest 3 to be adjusted easily and effectively to a magnitude that provides optimal furniture seating comfort to the individual user.

Figure 2 shows a piece of seating furniture in the form of an office chair. The illustrated chair has a base 2 which includes a lower part 21 and an upper part 22 which can be pivoted about an axis 24 via a pivot bearing, said axis extending normal to a chair symmetry plane. The upper part 22 of the base supports a backrest 3 via adjustment devices 61, 62 which enable the backrest to be set to a vertical and horizontal position in the chair symmetry plane. A setting device 110 enables the upper part 22 to be swung selectively to a position relative to the lower part 21 of the base 2. The upper part 22 of the base carries a pivot bearing 43 in the region above the pivot bearing 23, said bearings 43, 23 being generally parallel. The bearing 43 supports a chair seat 4 for swinging of the seat about the axis of the bearing 43 wherein the swung position of the seat 4 can be adjusted by means of the setting device 10, as described with reference to figure 1. The setting device 10 and/or the setting device 110 may have a design of the kind illustrated in figure 3 or figure 4. The setting device illustrated in figure 3 comprises a screw 12 which extends through an opening 13 in the base 2 and which carries a nut 11 ' that rests against the upper surface of the base 2. Orientation of the seat 4 about the bearing 43 can be adjusted by rotating the nut 11 '. Spring means (not shown) are able to clamp or likewise secure the seat

4 in an upper end-position (not shown) or in a lower end-position, which is preferably defined by the setting device 10. Figure 4 illustrates an alternative to the subject of figure 3, wherein the setting device 10 is comprised of an eccentric 14 that is mounted for rotation on a bearing 15 which is carried by the base 2 and which can be rotated to different stable positions of rotation with the aid of a manoeuvring arm 11 or the like.

Figure 5 illustrates a further setting device 10 in the form of a fluid cylinder that has two chambers separated by a piston. The two chambers communicate via a line that includes a closing valve 11". A spring may be provided for clamping or likewise securing the setting device in one of its end positions, wherein the spring means may include a helical spring in one of the cylinder capsules. The cylinder may contain a fluid in the form of a liquid or a gas wherewith the gas is able to exert a spring effect on the setting device 10 as a result of the compressibility of the gas. The setting device 10 indicated in figure 2 may have a surface configuration of the kind apparent from figure 5.

In the fixed position of the backrest or its forwardly tilted end position (fig. 2), the seat 4 can thus be swung about a bearing 43 located in the region of the front edge of the chair to an optional swung position, so that the angle between the upper surface of the seat 4 and the front surface of the backrest can be changed without needing to change the inclination of the backrest.

Claims

1. Seating furniture comprising a chair base (2) that supports a backrest (3) and a seat (4), wherein the seat (4) has a rear edge part that is located in the proximity of the backrest and a front edge part that is spaced from the backrest, said seating furniture having a longitudinal direction that intersects said front and said rear edge parts, wherein the base carries the seat (4) via a pivot bearing (43) in the region of the front edge part of the seat (4), and wherein the pivot bearing has a horizontal axis that defines a right angle with said longitudinal direction, characterized by a setting device (10) which acts between the base (2) and the seat (4) so as to allow the seat (4) to be swung about the pivot bearing (43) to a selected position of inclination independently of the angle of inclination of the backrest (3).

2. Seating furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the backrest is mounted in a fixed position relative to the base.

3. Seating furniture according to claim 1, characterized in that the base (2) has a lower part (21) which carries an upper part (22) via a pivot bearing (23) located in the region beneath the pivot bearing (43) of the seat (4); and in that a setting device acts between the lower part (21) of the base and the upper part (22) of said base so as to allow the upper part (22) of the base to be swung about the pivot bearing (23) between the upper and lower parts (21, 22) of said base; and in that the backrest (3) is carried by the upper base part (22).

4. Seating furniture according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized by spring means that function to secure the seat (4) in an upper pivoted position; and in that the setting device (10) is adapted to define a lower pivoted end-position of the seat.

5. Seating furniture according to claim 4, characterized in that the setting device (10) is adapted to define a position of seat orientation about its pivot bearing (43) when said setting device is in an activated state.