|
PatentVote.com: Vote on your favourite invention!
|
|
 |
Title: Wall proximity chairs and hardware therefor
Claims: We claim: 1. In a wall-proximity reclining chair of the type having (A) a stationary base for supporting the chair on a floor; (B) body-supporting means including a seat located generally above the base, and a backrest located generally rearwardly of the seat; and (C) a movable armrest assembly mounted for movement relative to the base along a front-to-back horizontal longitudinal direction, and concomitantly somewhat along a generally vertical direction, said armrest assembly including (1) a pair of armrests transversely spaced apart of each other along a lateral direction generally perpendicular to the front-to-back longitudinal direction, each armrest having an inner wall which faces towards the seat, and (2) means for interconnecting the armrests for moving the latter jointly in response to manual urging on the armrests by a seated user; the improvement comprising: (a) a pair of base rails having base walls which extend both along the longitudinal and the vertical directions, said base walls being spaced apart of each other in lateral direction underneath the seat; (b) linkage means interconnecting the armrests, the body-supporting means and the base rails, and operative for moving the body-supporting means along the longitudinal and vertical directions between (i) an end-limiting upright position in which the seat is oriented in a sitting orientation and is spaced a predetermined distance away from a room wall behind the chair, and (ii) an end-limiting fully-reclined position in which the seat is oriented in a different reclined orientation, and is spaced at a distance greater than said predetermined distance away from the room wall such that physical contact of the body-supporting means with the room wall is avoided, said linkage means including a pair of linkage assemblies at opposite sides of the seat, each linkage assembly having a plurality of links, at least some of which extend upwardly from the base rails in vertical direction towards the seat, whereby said some links are prone to undesirable side-to-side play movement in lateral direction and to undesirable twisting movement about an axis in vertical direction; (c) means for counteracting and minimizing the undesirable lateral side play and the twisting movements, including (i) two pairs of sliding contact elements, each pair being mounted on a respective linkage assembly, said contact elements of each pair being spaced apart of each other in longitudinal direction, (ii) said sliding contact elements having contact faces juxtaposed with the vertical base walls of the base rails for slidably contacting the base walls during movement of the linkage means, to thereby substantially reduce lateral side play and twisting movements; and (d) adjusting means for moving in lateral direction the position of the contact face of one of said sliding contact elements relative to its juxtaposed vertical base wall, said adjusting means including (i) a displaceable element operatively connected to said one sliding contact element, and (ii) means for displacing the displaceable element in lateral direction to move the contact face of said one contact element into sliding abutting relationship with its juxtaposed vertical base wall when the body-supporting means is in its upright position, whereby the seat in its sitting orientation is particularly resistant to instability. 2. The improvement as defined in claim 1; and further comprising abutment means on the vertical base walls of the base rails for affirmatively and simultaneously wedgingly engaging the contact faces of all of the contact elements only when the body-supporting means is in its upright position, to thereby prevent instability of the seat in its sitting orientation. 3. The improvement as defined in claim 2, wherein said abutment means includes a plurality of projections on the base rails, each projection extending from its respective base wall in lateral direction towards its respective inner armrest wall. 4. The improvement as defined in claim 3, wherein each projection has an inclined portion which diverges rearwardly towards an abutment portion, each inclined portion having a ramp face which extends linearly from the respective base wall in lateral direction towards its associated abutment portion, each contact face slidably engaging a respective ramp face and moving along the latter until it reaches the abutment portion whereat the wedging engagement is made. 5. The improvement as defined in claim 1, wherein the displaceable element comprises an elongated threaded shaft, said displacing means being located at one end of the shaft, and said contact element being located at the other end of the shaft; and further comprising locking means intermediate the ends of the shaft for fixing said one contact element in its selected adjusted position. 6. The improvement as defined in claim 1, wherein said contact elements are constituted of friction-reducing material. 7. The improvement as defined in claim 1, wherein said base includes a front and a rear cross rail, each cross rail extending in lateral direction across and beyond the base rails, to thereby prevent tipping of the chair. 8. The improvement as defined in claim 7, wherein said front cross rail is horizontal and wherein said rear cross rail is vertical. 9. The improvement as defined in claim 7; and further comprising a plurality of floor-engaging pads mounted on the cross rails, two of said pads being located at opposite end regions of the front cross rail at locations laterally beyond the base rails, and another of said pads being located in the vicinity of the center of the front cross rail. Other info: Inventors: Cycowicz, Izchak (Brooklyn, NY, US) Frimmet, Alfred (Larchmont, NY, US) Application Number: 781544 Filing Date: 1977-03-28 Publication_date: 1980-03-25 Assignee: Mohasco Corporation (Amsterdam, NY) Primary Class(es): 297/88 248/429, 297/322 Other Classes: US Patent Ref:
Other Refs: Primary Examiner: McCall, James T. Assistant Examiner: Attorney: Kirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger & Cobrin |
|