U.S. patent application number 12/176345 was filed with the patent office on 2011-04-21 for headrest set for office chair.
Invention is credited to Wen-Nan Chang, Li-Wen JEN.
Application Number | 20110089738 12/176345 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43878732 |
Filed Date | 2011-04-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110089738 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
JEN; Li-Wen ; et
al. |
April 21, 2011 |
Headrest Set for Office Chair
Abstract
A headrest set for office chairs includes a bracket whose lower
end is fastened on a rear side of a seat back while a top end of
the bracket connects with and supports a backside plate of the
headrest, a headrest, and an elastic buffering member arranged
between the backside plate of the headrest and the top end of the
bracket. By deformation of an elastic member, the headrest set has
buffering effects. When the user's head suddenly leans against a
headrest surface or the user changes the posture from sitting to
reclining, the impact caused by the reaction force of the headrest
surface is buffered and the headrest surface is automatically
adjusted so as to enhance comfort of the headrest.
Inventors: |
JEN; Li-Wen; (Shulin city,
TW) ; Chang; Wen-Nan; (Pingzhen City, TW) |
Family ID: |
43878732 |
Appl. No.: |
12/176345 |
Filed: |
July 19, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/404 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 7/38 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/404 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/38 20060101
A47C007/38 |
Claims
1. A headrest set for office chairs comprising a bracket, a
headrest and an elastic buffering member; wherein the bracket whose
lower end is fastened on a rear side of a seat back while a top end
of the bracket connects with and supports a backside plate of the
headrest, the headrest connects with the top end of the bracket so
that a headrest surface is above top of the seta back for users'
heads to lean against; the elastic buffering member disposed
between the headrest and the top end of the bracket and having at
least one elastic member so that the impact from the headrest
surface is buffered by deformation of the elastic member; wherein
while the user's head leaning against the headrest, impact of the
headrest is buffered by the elastic member of the elastic buffering
member and by pressing of the user's head, the headrest move
backwards corresponding to the bracket so as to adjust a relative
position of the headrest toward the seat back.
2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the headrest further
comprising a backside plate while a slot base and an insertion hole
are arranged on a center area of the backside plate so that a front
part of a connecting member is mounted inside the horizontal slot
base movably and a rear part of the connecting member inserts
through the insertion hole.
3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a hollow part is
arranged on the top end of the bracket and shape of the
cross-section of the hollow part corresponds to the shape of the
cross-section of a part of a rear part of the connecting member so
that the rear part of the connecting member is sleeved into the
hollow part of the bracket movably.
4. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic buffering
member comprising a connecting member and an elastic member that is
a coil compression spring inserted into the hollow part on the top
end of the bracket while a rear end of the elastic member is fixed
so as to form a stopping end; a front part of the connecting member
is mounted inside the headrest movably while a rear part of the
connecting member extends backward and movably inserts into the
hollow part on the top end of the bracket so that the rear part of
the connecting member leans against a head part of the elastic
member; when the headrest is applied with reaction force due to
user's head against the headrest, the headrest presses the
connecting member to move backward and synchronously presses the
head part of the elastic member to move backward so that the
elastic member is compressed elastically for reducing height of the
headrest.
5. The device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the elastic buffering
member comprising a connecting member and an elastic member that is
a coil compression spring inserted into the hollow part on the top
end of the bracket while a rear end of the elastic member is fixed
so as to form a stopping end; a front part of the connecting member
is mounted inside the headrest movably while the rear part of the
connecting member extends backward and movably inserts into the
hollow part on the top end of the bracket so that the rear part of
the connecting member leans against a head part of the elastic
member; when the headrest is applied with reaction force due to
user's head against the headrest, the headrest presses the
connecting member to move backward and synchronously presses the
head part of the elastic member to move backward so that the
elastic member is compressed elastically for reducing height of the
headrest.
6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bracket further
comprising an upper section and a lower section while the upper
section is sleeved into the lower section; an elastic ball lock is
disposed on a bottom of the upper section and a plurality of
vertically arranged locking slots corresponding to the elastic ball
lock is arranged on an inner surface of the lower section so that
when the upper section slides vertically inside the lower section,
the upper section stops at a certain height inside the lower
section by the elastic ball lock locked into one of the locking
slots.
7. The device as claimed in claim I, wherein the headrest surface
of the headrest is disposed with a plurality of suspending pieces.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a headrest set for office
chairs, especially to a headrest set having an elastic buffering
member between a headrest and a bracket so as to make the headrest
have buffering effect and absorb impact energy caused by reaction
force of the headrest.
[0002] Refer to FIG. 1, a common headrest set 10 assembled with an
office chair includes a headrest 11 and a bracket 12. The upper end
of the bracket 12 connects with a rear side or bottom side of the
headrest 11 while the lower end of the bracket 12 is fastened on a
rear side 14 of a seat back 13. Thus the headrest set 10 is
arranged on a certain position on the seat back 13 for users' head
to lean against a headrest surface 111. Most of design of the
headrest 11 is related to the ergonomics appearance or height
adjustment. However, the buffering effect of the headrest 11 has
great effect on its comfort. When the user sits on the office
chair, his head suddenly leans against on the headrest 11 so that
there is an impact force generated toward the headrest 11. Now the
reaction force from the headrest 11 may cause damage or
unconfortableness of the user's head. Although the headrest 11 is
disposed with a soft pad on the outer layer, the buffering effect
is limited. Moreover, when the user's head leans against the user's
head, the user's head gives an action force to the headrest 11
while the headrest 11 correspondingly give a reaction force to the
user's head and presses user's head. The magnitude of action force
and reaction force depends on the user. For example, the user's
gender makes differences. The curves from the user's head to the
shoulder also have effects.
[0003] Furthermore, when the user sits on the chair, the reaction
force from the headrest 11 is not too strong. Yet when the user
changes from sitting to reclining (the seat back 13 is adjusted
backward), the reaction force increases along with the increasing
of the reclining angle. After the conventional headrest set 10
being assembled with the office chair, the angle between the
headrest 11 and the seat back 13 is fixed and is unable to be
adjusted according to different figures of the users. It also can't
be changed when the user changes the posture from sitting to
reclining. Thus the requirement of comfort of the headrest can't be
satisfied. And the design of conventional headrest set 10 is unable
to overcome the uncomfortableness caused by reaction force of the
headrest 11.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to
provide a headrest set formed by a bracket and a headrest. A lower
end of the bracket is fastened on a rear side of a seat back, near
the upper edge thereof. The bracket extends and the top end of the
bracket facing the front end of the seat back connects with and
supports a backside plate of the headrest so that a headrest
surface of the headrest locates above the seat back for the user's
head to lean against. An elastic buffering member is disposed
between the backside plate of the headrest and the top end of the
bracket 30. The elastic buffering member is formed by at least one
elastic member. By deformation of the elastic member, the impact of
the reaction force of the headrest surface is buffered. When the
user's head suddenly leans against a headrest surface or the user
changes the posture from sitting to reclining, the impact caused by
the reaction force of the headrest surface is buffered and the
headrest surface is automatically adjusted so as to increase the
buffering effect of the headrest and enhance comfort of the
headrest.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional headrest set
assembled with an office chair;
[0006] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment assembled with
an office chair according to the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 3 is an explosive view of an embodiment according to
the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 4 is a side view of the embodiment in FIG. 3;
[0009] FIG. 4A is a partial enlarged view of the embodiment in FIG.
4;
[0010] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the headrest I the
embodiment in FIG. 3;
[0011] FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing an embodiment in use
while an user is seated;
[0012] FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing showing an embodiment in use
while an user is reclined.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Refer to FIG. 2, FIG. 3 & FIG. 4, a headrest set for
office chairs 2 according to the present invention is assembled on
a seat back 3 for users' heads to lean against and is composed of a
headrest 20, a bracket 30 and an elastic buffering member 40. The
headrest 20 is designed into a housing formed by a headrest surface
21 and a backside plate 22. A room 23 is arranged on about central
area of an inner surface of the backside plate 22. A horizontal
slot base 24 and an insertion hole 26 are arranged on the room3. A
corresponding cover 25 is fastened on outside surface of the room
23 while a front part 411 of a connecting member 41 is mounted
inside the horizontal slot base 24 movably. A rear part 412 of the
connecting member 41 inserts through the insertion hole 26 so that
the headrest 20 can rotate vertically within a certain range of
angle. While the rear part 412 of the connecting member 41 is
fixed, the headrest 20 can rotate vertically within a certain range
of angle, as an arrow B points shown in FIG. 4. Thus the headrest
20 has an ergonomic design.
[0014] The bracket 30 is a vertical tube or rod without restriction
on the shape. A top end 31 of the bracket 30 connects with and
supports the headrest 20. A hollow part 311 is arranged on the top
end 31 and the shape of the cross-section of the hollow part 311
corresponds to that of a part of the rear part 412 of the
connecting member 41. For example, the cross section of the hollow
part 311 is triangular. Thus the rear part 412 of the connecting
member 41 is sleeved into the hollow part 311 movably. A lower end
32 of the bracket 30 is fastened on a rear side 14 of a seat back
13, near the upper edge thereof. In this embodiment, a fastening
block 60 is fastened on the rear side 14 firstly. A plurality of
fastening holes 62 is arranged on a fastening surface 61 of the
fastening block 60 so that fastening members 63 such as fastening
screws can insert through the fastening holes 62 for fastening the
fastening block 60 on the rear side 14. Moreover, the lower end 32
of the bracket 30 can be assembled with an exterior body 64 of the
fastening block 60. By a fixing screw 322 inserting through a
locating hole 321 on the bottom of the lower end 32 for fastening
the lower end 32 with the fastening block 60, the bracket 30 is
fastened and fixed on the rear side 14 by the fastening block
60.
[0015] The elastic buffering member 40 formed by at least one
elastic member is disposed between the headrest 20 and the top end
31 of the bracket 30. The elastic member can be springs or clips
that deforms for absorbing (impact) energy caused by reaction force
from the headrest 20 while the user's head leaning. In this
embodiment, the elastic buffering member 40 consists of a
connecting member 41 and an elastic member 42. The elastic member
42 is a coil compression spring inserted into the hollow part 311
of the bracket 30 while a rear end of the elastic member 42 is
fixed so as to form a stopping end. As to the connecting member 41,
the front part 411 thereof is mounted inside the horizontal slot
base 24 of the headrest 20 movably while the rear part 412 thereof
inserts through the insertion hole 26 and movably into the hollow
part 311 of the bracket 30 so that the rear part 412 of the
connecting member 41 leans against a head part 422 of the elastic
member 42 and won't fall off from the hollow part 311, as shown in
FIG. 4. Thus the rear part 412 of the connecting member 41 can
slide forward and backward stably inside the hollow part 311. When
the headrest 20 is applied with the reaction force due to the
user's head, the headrest 20 presses the connecting member 41 to
move backward and synchronously presses the head part 422 of the
elastic member 42 to move backward so that the elastic member 42 is
compressed elastically so as to achieve buffering effect, as the
arrow A points shown in FIG. 4.
[0016] When the reaction force from the headrest 20 disappears, the
elastic member 42 turns back and the headrest 20 is also back to
original place. Thus no matter the user's head suddenly leans
against the headrest 20 or the user adjusts the seat back 13 from
straight status to reclined status so that the reaction force
increases, a displacement is generated between the headrest 20 and
the bracket 30 by the connecting member 41 compressed the elastic
member 42 in the elastic buffering member 40 so as to have
buffering effect and the impact energy from user's head to the
headrest 20 is absorbed. Moreover, according to amplitude of the
reaction force of the headrest 20, the position of the headrest 20
is automatically adjusted. For example, when the reaction force is
larger, the position of the headrest 20 is getting lower due to
higher compression. Thus the comfort of the headrest 20 is improved
no matter the user is seated or reclined.
[0017] Refer to FIG. 4 & FIG. 4A, the bracket 30 in this
embodiment is designed into two-stage adjustable structure--having
an upper section 33 and a lower section 34. The upper section 33 is
sleeved into the lower section 34. A horizontal long hole 331 is
arranged on the bottom of the upper section 33 while a compression
spring 71 and two balls 72 on two ends of the compression spring 71
are mounted inside the horizontal long hole 331. A hole 341 is
arranged on one side of the lower section 34, corresponding to the
compression/extension direction of the spring 71 while a plurality
of vertically-arranged arced locking slots 343 is arranged on the
other inner side 342. A cover 35 corresponding to the hole 341 is
disposed with an insertion hole 351 so that the cover 35 is
fastened on the hole 341 of the lower section 34 by a screw 344. By
elasticity of the spring 71, the ball 72 is locked into one of the
arced locking slots 343 so as to form an elastic ball lock 70. In
use, by the elastic ball lock 70, the upper section 33 of the
bracket 30 slides upward and downward inside the lower section 34
so as to adjust the height and located into one of the arced
locking slots 343, as the arrow C points in FIG. 4. Therefore, the
height of the headrest 20 is adjusted.
[0018] Refer to FIG. 5, the headrest surface 21 of the headrest 20
is further disposed with a plurality of suspending pieces 27. Both
the headrest surface 21 and the suspending pieces 27 are integrated
parts made by plastic injection. By elasticity of the suspending
pieces 27, the buffering effect of the headrest 20 is further
enhanced.
* * * * *