U.S. patent application number 10/975598 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-11 for chair backrest having adjustable head and lumbar zones.
Invention is credited to Yuh Yun Jang.
Application Number | 20060097556 10/975598 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36315597 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060097556 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jang; Yuh Yun |
May 11, 2006 |
Chair backrest having adjustable head and lumbar zones
Abstract
Provided is a mechanism mounted in a separable head zone or a
lumbar zone in either recess of a backrest of a chair. In one
embodiment the mechanism comprises upper and lower cross members
having pivotal centers and each cross member having one ends
slidably secured to the lumbar zone or the head zone and a back
board, a post having both ends slidably secured one ends of the
cross members, a piston-cylinder assembly having one end fixedly
coupled to the post, and two push buttons each provided on one side
of the backrest and having one end coupled to the piston. Pressing
the push button will extend the piston, slide the cylinder to push
the post inwardly and slide one ends of the cross members inwardly,
and extend the lumbar zone or the head zone from the corresponding
recess.
Inventors: |
Jang; Yuh Yun; (Taichung
Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PRO-TECHTOR INTERNATIONAL
20775 Norada Court
Saratoga
CA
95070-3018
US
|
Family ID: |
36315597 |
Appl. No.: |
10/975598 |
Filed: |
October 27, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/284.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 7/46 20130101; A47C
7/38 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/284.4 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/46 20060101
A47C007/46 |
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. A mechanism mounted in a separable head zone or a lumbar zone in
either recess of a backrest of a chair, comprising: a first
piston-cylinder assembly secured to the backrest and further
comprising a bracket secured to the lumbar zone, a first cylinder,
and a first extendable piston having its projected end secured to
the bracket; a second piston-cylinder assembly secured to the
backrest and comprising a bracket secured to the head zone, a
second cylinder, and a second extendable piston having its
projected end secured to the bracket; two finger tabs provided on
one side of the backrest; and two wires, each interconnecting one
of the finger tabs to one of the pistons, whereby pressing one of
the finger tabs will extend one of the pistons from the cylinder
via one wire, and extend the lumbar zone or the head zone,
respectively, from the corresponding recess; and urging the lumbar
zone or the head zone against the backrest will retract the piston
into the cylinder, and retract the lumbar zone or the head zone
into the corresponding recess.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to chairs and more
particularly to an ergonomic chair (e.g., office chair) having its
backrest provided with adjustable head and lumbar zones so as to
accommodate users of different body portions (e.g., head and
lumbar) and provide a degree of comfort thereto.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] There have been numerous suggestions in prior patents for
the provision of an ergonomic chair having mechanism for adjusting
height, arms, or inclined degree of backrest. However, such prior
mechanisms are relatively complex in constructions, costly to
manufacture, trouble-prone, and unreliable in use. Moreover,
document about an ergonomic chair having its backrest provided with
adjustable head and lumbar zones has not been disclosed as far as
the present inventor is aware. Thus, continuing improvements in the
exploitation of ergonomic chair are constantly being sought.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
ergonomic chair having its backrest provided with adjustable head
and lumbar zones so as to accommodate users of different body
portions (e.g., head and lumbar) and provide a degree of comfort
thereto.
[0004] In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
mechanism mounted in a separable head zone or a lumbar zone in
either recess of a backrest of a chair, comprising an upper cross
member comprising first and second members pivtotably intersected
at their centers wherein one end of the first member is slidably
secured to an elongate groove of a first bracket secured to the
lumbar zone, one end of the second member is secured to a second
bracket secured to the lumbar zone, the other end of the first
member is secured to a third bracket secured to a back board of the
backrest, and the other end of the second member is slidably
secured to an elongate groove of a fourth bracket secured to the
back board; a lower cross member comprising third and fourth
members pivtotably intersected at their centers wherein one end of
the third member is slidably secured to an elongate groove of a
fifth bracket secured to the lumbar zone, one end of the fourth
member is secured to a sixth bracket secured to the lumbar zone,
the other end of the third member is secured to a seventh bracket
secured to the back board, and the other end of the fourth member
is slidably secured to an elongate groove of an eighth bracket
secured to the back board; a post having one end slidably secured
to the other end of the second member and the other end slidably
secured to the other end of the fourth member; a piston-cylinder
assembly comprising one end fixedly coupled to an intermediate
portion of the post, a C-shaped member secured to the back board, a
cylinder slidably fastened by the C-shaped member, a piston
extended lengthwise within the cylinder and including an outwardly
projected end slidably secured to the backrest, and a trigger
member provided at the projected end of the piston; and two push
buttons each provided on one side of the backrest and having one
end coupled to the trigger member, whereby pressing one push button
will move the trigger member to extend the piston from the
cylinder, slide the cylinder to push the post inwardly and slide
one ends of the first and third members inwardly, and extend the
lumbar zone or the head zone from the corresponding recess; and
urging the lumbar zone or the head zone against the back board will
slide the post outwardly and slide one ends of the first and third
members outwardly, and retract the lumbar zone retracted into the
corresponding recess.
[0005] In another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a mechanism mounted in a separable head zone or a lumbar
zone in either recess of a backrest of a chair, comprising a
piston-cylinder assembly secured to the backrest and comprising a
bracket secured to the lumbar zone or the head zone, a cylinder,
and an extendable piston having its projected end secured to the
bracket; two finger tabs provided on one side of the backrest; and
two wires each interconnected one of the finger tabs to the piston,
whereby pressing one finger tab will extend the piston from the
cylinder via one wire, and extend the lumbar zone or the head zone
from the corresponding recess; and urging the lumbar zone or the
head zone against the backrest will retract the piston into the
cylinder, and retract the lumbar zone or the head zone into the
corresponding recess.
[0006] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description taken with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment
of chair according to the invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a mechanism for adjusting the
lumbar zone of backrest shown in FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1
where the mechanism is in a retracted position;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 where the mechanism is in
an extended position;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a side view schematically depicting a person
sitting on the chair with both mechanisms in the extended
positions;
[0012] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a second preferred
embodiment of chair according to the invention;
[0013] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of a mechanism for adjusting the
lumbar zone or the head zone of backrest shown in FIG. 6; and
[0014] FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 6
where the mechanism is in an extended position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, there is shown a chair 10 (e.g.,
office chair) having its backrest 11 formed of elastomeric material
for providing a seated person with a degree of comfort in a
slightly lying position. The backrest 11 is provided with
adjustable, separable head zone 20 and lumbar zone 30 in accordance
with a first preferred embodiment of the invention. Note that a
second mechanism for adjusting the head zone 20 has the same
characteristics as a first mechanism for adjusting the lumbar zone
30. Thus, for the sake of brevity the following description is
about the first mechanism only.
[0016] A rectangular recess 12 is formed in the backrest 11. The
recess 12 has a depth to expose a back board 13. The lumbar zone 30
is a member of parallelepiped and is shaped to receive in the
recess 12. An upper first cross member comprises two members 31 and
31' pivtotably intersected at their centers by a pin. One end of
one member 31' is slidably secured to an elongate groove 37 of a
first bracket 35 which in turn is secured to the lumbar zone 30 by
fasteners. One end of the other member 31 is secured to a second
bracket 33 which in turn is secured to the lumbar zone 30 by
fasteners. The other end of one member 31' is secured to a third
bracket 34 which in turn is secured to the back board 13 by
fasteners. The other end of the other member 31 is slidably secured
to an elongate groove 37 of a fourth bracket 36 which in turn is
secured to the back board 13 by fasteners.
[0017] Likewise, a lower second cross member comprises two members
32 and 32' pivtotably intersected at their centers by a pin. One
end of one member 32' is slidably secured to an elongate groove 37
of a first bracket 35' which in turn is secured to the lumbar zone
30 by fasteners. One end of the other member 32 is secured to a
second bracket 33' which in turn is secured to the lumbar zone 30
by fasteners. The other end of one member 32' is secured to a third
bracket 34' which in turn is secured to the back board 13 by
fasteners. The other end of the other member 32 is slidably secured
to an elongate groove 37 of a fourth bracket 36' which in turn is
secured to the back board 13 by fasteners. A post 38 has one end
slidably secured to the other end of the other member 31 at the
groove 37 of the fourth bracket 36 and the other end slidably
secured to the other end of the other member 32 at the groove 37 of
the fourth bracket 36'. A member 42 of C-shaped is fixedly coupled
to an intermediate portion of the post 38. The member 42 is
provided at one end of a piston-cylinder assembly 40. A piston 41
is extended lengthwise within the piston-cylinder assembly 40 and
has an outwardly projected end slidably secured to one side of the
backrest 11 by a fastening member 43. The projected end of the
piston 41 is formed as a trigger member 44 which in turn is coupled
to a push button 45 provided externally of the backrest 11 for ease
of operating by a finger. A C-shaped fifth bracket 39 is adapted to
slidably secure the piston-cylinder assembly 40 to the back board
13.
[0018] An extend operation of the first mechanism will be described
in detailed below. A user may press the push button 45 to extend
the piston 41 from the piston-cylinder assembly 40 via the trigger
member 44. Also, the piston-cylinder assembly 40 slides through the
fifth bracket 39 to push the post 38 inwardly. And in turn the post
38 slides inwardly and thus one ends of members 31' and 32' slide
inwardly from the position shown in FIG. 3 to the position shown in
FIG. 4. As an end, the lumbar zone 30 is extended from the recess
12. Such adjustment can be continued until a desired contact (i.e.,
a degree of comfort) of the lumbar zone 30 with the back of a
seated person is reached. It is obvious that a retraction operation
of the first mechanism can be done by a person strongly urging
his/her back against the lumbar zone 30 for sliding the post 38
outwardly and thus sliding one ends of members 31' and 32'
outwardly from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown
in FIG. 3. As an end, the lumbar zone 30 is retracted into the
recess 12.
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, there is shown a chair 50
according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention. The
differences between the first and the second preferred embodiments,
i.e., the characteristics of the second preferred embodiment are
detailed below. A head zone 60 is provided on an upper recess 52 of
a backrest 51. A lumbar zone 70 is provided on a lower recess 53 of
the backrest 51. A piston-cylinder assembly 80 is secured to the
backrest by fasteners and comprises a bracket 82 secured to the
lumbar zone 70 by fasteners and an extendable piston 81 having its
projected end secured to the bracket 82 by a fastener. In an
extending operation of the lumbar zone 70 by manipulating the first
mechanism a user may press one finger tab 84 to extend the piston
81 outwardly via one interconnecting wire 85. As a result, the
lumbar zone 70 extends from the recess 53. Note that in an
extending operation of the head zone 60 by manipulating the first
mechanism a user may press the other finger tab 85 to extend the
piston 81 outwardly via the other interconnecting wire 85.
[0020] While the invention herein disclosed has been described by
means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and
variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set
forth in the claims.
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