WO2016185494A1

WO2016185494A1 - A chair for barbers or hairdressers

Info

Publication number: WO2016185494A1
Application number: PCT/IN2016/050147
Authority: WO
Inventors: Abhijeet SONAWANE
Original assignee: Sonawane Abhijeet
Priority date: 2015-05-19
Filing date: 2016-05-19
Publication date: 2016-11-24

Abstract

The present invention provides a chair (100) for barbers or hairdressers having a revolving barber's seat (160) and an auxiliary revolving seat attachment for the existing hydraulic chairs for barbers and/or hairdressers to work whilst seated wherein said seat (160) is adapted cantileverly. The chair (100) comprises a base (150), a hydraulic system (120) for raising or lowering a customer's seat (110) and a revolving seat system (160) adapted between the base (150) and a hydraulic system (120). This allows the user to rotate the barber's seat (160) freely in 360 degrees around the customer's seat (110). The chair (100) is simple, easy to assemble and has a long life.

Description

A CHAIR FOR BARBERS OR HAIRDRESSERS TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION :

The present invention relates to a chair to be used in barber's and hairdresser's shops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Barbers and hairdressers require standing for long period while hairdressing or hair cutting. Standing on a hard concrete floor for long periods puts undue stress on their feet, knees, and back. A recent study showed that around 70% of hairdressers reported pain after standing for long periods and that the pain may cause Varicose Veins. Hence there is a need for a chair that allows barbers and hairdressers to sit while carrying out their work. There are various types of wheel chairs available in the market used by various professionals such as architects, dentists, office employees. Further, there are chairs available in the market including patent domain particularly designed for hairdressers and barbers.

There are also patents and patent applications such as US Patent 2,252137, recent WIPO Publication WO 2009/056894 that provides auxiliary seats for barbers that is rotatably connected to the barber chair. However, also these seats are cumbersome, consume more floor space and use wheels for rotation. This results in increment of distance between the hairdresser's chair and the customer's seat when the later moves it to the front, back, right or left. As a result, the hairdresser cannot perform his work properly. Further, the hair fallen on the floor continuously entangles in the wheels, thereby making it very difficult to rotate the barber's seat. Moreover, over the period, the chairs become noisy when they are moved on the floor especially when the flooring has small defects like the point that the tiles join and slanting surface of floor.

Further, there are patents or patent applications such as US2440644, US2542653, US2678086 are available that provide auxiliary seats for barber chairs. However, they are directly adapted to the hydraulic shaft as an attachment by using a ring connected to the stationary part of the hydraulic system of the chair. Hence, these auxiliary seats are not durable. Further, it creates problem to operate hydraulic system of the chair and proper maintenance of the chair also. Moreover, it does not move freely, thereby restricting the barbers from working flexibly.

Hence, there is a need of a chair that solves at least one of the problems described above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a chair for barbers or hairdressers having a barber's seat revolving around the chair allowing barber or hairdresser to work whilst seated wherein said seat is adapted cantileverly and rotatably.

Accordingly, the present invention, in one aspect, provides a chair for barbers and/or hairdressers, said chair comprising a base, a hydraulic system for raising or lowering a customer's seat, and a revolving seat system adapted between the base and the hydraulic system.

According to the present invention, the said hydraulic system comprises a hydraulic shaft connected to the customer's seat, a hydraulic pump and a lever of the hydraulic pump to move up and down the hydraulic shaft.

According to the present invention, the revolving seat system comprises a stationary cylinder for adapting of the hydraulic system fixedly, a stationary bearing shaft adapted below the stationary cylinder, a housing rotatable around the bearing shaft, and a Z-shaped rod extending from the housing to adapt a barber's seat at free end cantileverly and rotatably around the customer's seat. Alternatively, the stationary cylinder can be a plate or any other means for fixing the hydraulic system of the chair firmly. In another aspect, the present invention provides an auxiliary revolving seat attachment for the existing hydraulic chairs for barbers and/or hairdressers. The said auxiliary revolving seat attachment comprises a stationary cylinder connecting to a bottom of a hydraulic system of the existing hydraulic chairs, a stationary bearing shaft adapted below the stationary cylinder, a housing rotatable around the bearing shaft; and a Z- shaped rod extending from the housing to adapt a barber's seat at free end cantileverly and rotatably around the customer's seat.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a footrest is adapted on the stationary cylinder between the lever and revolving seat system for allowing user to place the leg and steer the barber's seat as per the requirement.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the housing of the revolving seat system has a speed adjustment knob for allowing the user to adjust the steering speed of the barber's seat.

According to further embodiment of the present invention, the barber's seat is adapted movably to and fro on the z-shaped rod with a spring loaded ball locking mechanism for adjusting the barber's seat.

According to one another embodiment of the present invention, the Z- shaped rod is adapted removably to the housing. According to the present invention, the Z-shaped rod has reinforcing bars adapted at bends of the Z-shaped rod to avoid bending of the Z-shaped.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the base comprises a substantially heavy base plate to place the chair without fixing to the floor to maintain the centre of gravity. Alternatively, the base comprises a light base plate to be fixed to the floor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS OF THE PREFERABLE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in the accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments:

Figure 1 shows a schematic view of a chair for barbers or hairdressers having a barber's seat revolving around the chair according to preferable embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic sectional view of lower portion of the chair according to the preferable embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 3 shows a front view of a barber's seat according to a preferable embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In general, the present invention provides a chair for barbers or hairdressers having a barber's seat revolving around the chair and an auxiliary revolving seat attachment for the existing hydraulic chairs for allowing barber or hairdresser to work whilst seated wherein said seat is adapted cantileverly. The chair comprises a base, a hydraulic system for raising or lowering a customer's seat and a revolving seat system adapted between the base and a hydraulic system.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the chair has a footrest that allows the user to rest his/her feet and revolve the seat in any direction as per his/her wish for performing his or her duty.

Now, the present invention is disclosed hereinafter with the help of Figures 1-3 of the preferable embodiment of the chair. A person skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures. The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. It is to be understood that the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Now, to illustrate the invention, a preferred embodiment thereof will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which in no way restrict the scope of the invention and are for the purpose of illustration only.

Reference Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the chair (100) as per the most preferable embodiment of the present invention comprising a base (150), a hydraulic system (120) for raising or lowering a customer's seat (1 10) and a revolving seat system (130) adapted between the base (150) and the hydraulic system (120).

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the said hydraulic system (120) comprises a hydraulic shaft (121 ) connected to the customer's seat (1 10), a hydraulic pump (124) and a lever (122) of the hydraulic pump (124) to move up and down the hydraulic shaft (121 ). A person skilled in the art can acknowledge that various type of customer seats and designs of the customer seats are available and hence not discussed in detail.

Referring Figures 1 and 2 shows the revolving seat system (130). The revolving seat system (130) comprises a stationary cylinder (123) for receiving a hydraulic pump (124) of the hydraulic system (120) firmly, a stationary bearing shaft (137) adapted below the stationary cylinder (123), a housing (136) rotatable around the stationary bearing shaft (137), and a Z-shaped rod (131) extending from the housing (136) to adapt a barber's seat (160) at free end cantileverly and rotatably around the customer's seat (110).

As shown in the Figures 1 and 2, the stationary cylinder (123) is fixedly adapted to the stationary bearing shaft (137) of the revolving seat system (130). According to the present invention, the stationary cylinder (123) and the stationary bearing shaft (137) can be a single assembly. Alternatively, the stationary cylinder (123) can be welded or bolted to the stationary bearing shaft (137) to form as a single assembly. Alternatively, the stationary cylinder can be a plate or any other means for fixing the hydraulic system of the chair firmly.

The housing (136) is adapted rotatably with the help of plurality of bearings (137A) on the stationary bearing shaft (137). It is not required to discuss in detail rotatable adaption of the housing over the stationary bearing shaft as the person skilled in the art can easily understand the same.

As shown in Figure 1 and 2, a footrest (142) is adapted on the stationary cylinder (123) between the lever (122) and the housing (136) of the revolving seat system (130) for allowing user to keep the leg and steer the barber's seat (160) as per the requirement. The footrest (142) gives a proper support to the legs of the user and helps him to rotate the seat without keeping legs of the floor (155). Moreover, it also helps shorter users to rotate the user's seat as per the requirement. Advantageously, the footrest (14a) is covered with slip proof material such as rubber. The footrest (140) is connected to the stationary cylinder (123) by means of bars (142). The bars (142) are welded to the stationary cylinder (123). The footrest (142) as shown in the Figure 1 is circular for understanding the invention, however, it can be of made of horizontal bars or polygonal shapes including but not limited to triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal shapes.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the chair comprises a speed adjustment knob (138) is fitted over the housing of the revolving seat system (130) for allowing the user to adjust the steering speed of the barber's seat. As shown in Figures, the speed adjustment knob is a rotatable bolt that abuts with the stationary shaft (137) of the revolving seat system (130) and due to friction with the stationary shaft (137), the knob (138) controls the rotational speed of the barber's seat (160).

Referring Figures 1 and 2 show the Z-shaped rod (131 ) extending from the housing (136). As shown in the said Figures, the Z-shaped rod (131 ) is removably connected to the housing (136). A sleeve (133) along with bolts (not shown) is used to connect the Z-shaped rod (131 ) removably with a connecting bar (135) protruding from the housing (136) of the revolving seat system (130). The connecting bar (135) is welded to the housing (136) of the revolving seat system (130). Alternatively, the Z-shaped rod

(131 ) can be welded directly to the housing (136) of the revolving seat system (130). Further, Z-shaped rod (131 ) comprises reinforcing bars

(132) adapted at bends of the Z-shaped rod to avoid bending of the Z- shaped.

As shown in the Figure 1 , the barber's seat (160) is adapted on a free end of the Z-shaped rod (131 ). Referring Figure 3 shows an arrangement of the barber's seat for the user according to the preferable embodiment of the present invention. The user can sit on the barber's seat (160) and can move the seat to and fro as per his requirements. The barber's seat (160) comprises a cushion seat (161 ) fixed on a top of the free end of the Z- shaped rod (131 ) with the help of linear motion bearings adapted in supporting blocks (166A.166B). The supporting blocks (166A and166B) are fitted on two parallel rods (165). As shown in the figures, the supporting blocks (166A and166B) are fitted on the rod (165) with help of bolts/screws (not numbered). The cushion seat (161 ) mounted rod (165) is then fixed to the free end of the Z-shaped rod (131 ). A spring loaded ball locking mechanism (163) is adapted to lock the linear motion of the barber's seat (161 ) by locking in locking counters (162) provided below the barber's seat (161 ). The present invention provides the cushion seat (161 ) having large surface area so that barber can sit very comfortably and while working user can move to and fro. As shown in Figure 1 and 3, the barber's seat has a back rest (not numbered). According to the inventor, various designs of the barber's seat are possible including to and fro along with locking arrangement of the seats are possible.

The base (150) as shown in Figures 1 and 2 has holes (not numbered) to fix the chair to the floor (155) firmly by means of bolts (154). Alternatively, the base may comprise a substantially heavy base plate for maintaining the centre of gravity of the chair in order to place the chair without fixing to the floor (155). As shown in Figure 1 and 2, the base comprises two plates namely top plate (152) and bottom plate (150) fixed together by nut-bolts (153) and the top plate (152) is connected to the stationary shaft (137) by means of bolts (139). Alternatively, the top plate can be welded to the stationary shaft of the revolving seat system.

The present invention also provides an auxiliary revolving seat attachment for the existing hydraulic chairs for barbers and/or hairdressers. The said auxiliary revolving seat attachment comprises a stationary cylinder connecting at a bottom of the hydraulic system of the existing chairs, a stationary bearing shaft adapted below the stationary cylinder, a housing rotatable around the bearing shaft; and a Z-shaped rod extending from the housing to adapt a barber's seat at free end cantileverly and rotatably around the customer's seat. According to the present invention, the stationary cylinder adapts hydraulic shaft of the existing hydraulic chairs firmly. All the features of the attachments are discussed in the chair discussed above with the help of Figures 1 -3, and hence, no separate explanation or figures is required.

The chair for barbers or hair-dressers of the present invention is simple and easy to assemble. The chair allows the user seated on barber's seat to seat for several hours comfortably and to rotate 360 degree around the customer chair. Further, the leg steering ring makes barber's work more easy by allowing him/her to rotate the seat as per his/her requirements. The chair of the present invention solves the problem by providing the revolving seat system below the hydraulic system thereby increases the life and application of the barber's chairs. Further, as the revolving seat system is adapted below the hydraulic system, the user can operate the hydraulic system easily to move the customer's seat up and down as per his/her requirements while seating on the barber's seat. The foregoing description of the invention has been set merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting for example a term "barber" is not limited to barbers and includes hairdressers also. Various modifications are possible such as Z-shaped rod mentioned in the invention is for understanding the invention as claimed but Z-shaped rod is only means to adapt the barber's seat at a distance from the customer's seat to carry his/her duty and at a particular height only and various shapes such as zigzag, S-shape etc. are possible and are within the scope of the present invention as claimed in the application. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the substance of the invention may occur to a person skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the disclosure.

Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A chair for barbers and/or hairdressers, said chair comprising:

a base;

a hydraulic system for raising or lowering a customer's seat, said hydraulic system having a hydraulic shaft connected to the customer's seat, a lever for raising or lowering a customer's seat and a hydraulic pump; and

a revolving seat system adapted between the base and a hydraulic system, said revolving system having:

a stationary cylinder for adapting of the hydraulic system fixedly; a stationary bearing shaft adapted below the stationary cylinder, a housing rotatable around the bearing shaft, and

a Z-shaped rod extending from the housing to adapt a barber's seat at free end cantileverly and rotatably around the customer's seat.

2. The chair as claimed in the claim 1 , wherein the chair further comprises a footrest adapted on the stationary cylinder between the lever and the housing for allowing user to keep the leg and steer the barber's seat as per the requirement.

3. The chair as claimed in the claim 2, wherein the footrest is covered with slip proof material such as rubber

4. The chair as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the housing of the revolving seat system has a speed adjustment knob for allowing the user to control the steering speed of the barber's seat.

5. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 4, wherein the barber's seat is adapted movably to and fro on a free end of the z-shaped rod with a spring loaded ball locking mechanism.

6. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5, wherein the Z-shaped rod is adapted removably to the housing.

7. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 or 5, wherein the Z-shaped rod has reinforcing bars adapted at bends of the Z-shaped rod to avoid bending of the Z-shaped.

8. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 -7, wherein the base comprises a light base plate to be fixed by nut-bolts to the floor.

9. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 -7, wherein the base comprises a substantial heavy base plate to place the chair on the floor without fixing.

10. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 -9, wherein the stationary cylinder and the stationary bearing shaft is a single assembly.

11. The chair as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 1 -9, wherein the stationary cylinder and the stationary bearing shaft can be welded or bolted together to form a single assembly.

An auxiliary revolving seat attachment for the existing hydraulic chairs for barbers and/or hairdressers, said auxiliary revolving seat attachment comprising: a stationary cylinder connecting to a hydraulic system of the existing hydraulic chairs;

a stationary bearing shaft adapted below the stationary cylinder;

a housing rotatable around the bearing shaft; and

13. The auxiliary revolving seat attachment as claimed in claim 1 1 , wherein the attachment further comprises a substantial heavy base plate to place the chair without fixing to the floor.

14. The auxiliary revolving seat attachment as claimed in claim 1 1 , wherein the attachment further comprises a light base plate to be fixed to the floor.

15. The auxiliary revolving seat attachment as claimed in claim 1 1 , wherein the attachment further comprises a footrest adapted on the stationary cylinder to place the leg and steer the barber's seat as per the requirement.