Adjustment device of a chair backrest

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6659554
  • Patent Number
    6,659,554
  • Date Filed
    Friday, February 1, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 9, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Brown; Peter R.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
An adjustment device of a chair backrest includes a fixed member a movable member and a fixing spanner. The fixed member is fixed to a bottom of a seat of a chair. The movable member is pivoted to the fixed member, and a support rod of the backrest is connected to a rear end of the movable member. The fixing spanner is connected to an outer end of a bolt passing through both a lateral curved slot of the fixed member and a round hole of the movable member from a connecting end portion thereof so as to be turnable between an unlocking position for allowing adjustment of the backrest and a locking position for fixing the movable member after the adjustment. The fixed member further has a curved bump enclosing the curved slot. The bump has a tapering lateral side with an upper portion bigger than a lower portion thereof, whereby the backrest can be further secured in position after the adjustment.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to an adjustment device of a chair backrest, and more particularly, an adjustment device that is easy to use and can firmly fix the chair backrest after the adjustment.




Referring to FIGS.


6


˜


9


, a conventional adjustment device of a chair backrest includes a fixed member


51


, a movable member


52


, a fixing member


53


and an elastic member


54


. The fixed member


51


is secured to the bottom of the seat of a chair by means of screws passing through holes


511


thereof, and has two opposing lateral parts, which each has a through hole


512


and a curved slot


513


.




The movable member


52


also has two opposing lateral parts


521


, which each has a through hole


522


, a connecting hole


524


and a through hole


525


. The movable member


52


further has an insertion hole


523


, through which a supporting rod of a backrest


58


is passed.




The movable member


52


is received in, and pivotably connected to, the fixed member


51


with a rod


56


passing through the through holes


522


as well as the through holes


512


.




The elastic member


54


is disposed between the lateral parts


521


of the movable member


52


, and has an upper end portion, a middle connecting portion, and lower end hooked portions. The rod


56


is passed through the middle portion of the elastic member


54


such that the upper end portion of same abuts the lower side of the fixed member


51


. A rod


57


is passed into the connecting holes


524


of the movable member


52


and engage the lower end hooked portion of the elastic member


54


such that the rear end of the movable member


52


is biased up by the elastic member


54


.




The fixing member


53


is connected to a first one of the through holes


525


by means of a bolt


531


passing through the first through hole


525


, and the corresponding curved slot


513


.




Thus, the fixing member


53


can be burned between a loose position for allowing the movable member


52


to be adjusted in respect of the orientation in relation to the fixed member


51


, and a tight position for fixing the movable member


52


to the fixed member


51


.




U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,932,618 GABB, 1,263,162 TRAVERS, 2,272,980 MCLELLAN ETAT, 3,709,525 POTHERMEL, 6,220,664 LEE, ITALIAN Patent No. 672,811 NIENBURGER, BRITISH Patent No. 857,525 THOMPSON, and SWEDISH Patent No. 127,140 GABB also have adjustment devices of the same feature, i.e. the curved slots for allowing the movable member to move relative to the fixed member.




However, the above mentioned adjustment structure is found to have a drawback that the fixing member


53


can't firmly fix the movable member


52


after the adjustment because the lateral parts of the fixed member


51


are flat and smooth, and is likely to move relative to the fixing member


53


, especially when a person is sitting onto the chair. Consequently, the orientation of the chair backrest in relation to the seat after adjustment is unwantedly changed.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide an adjustment device for a chair backrest such that the backrest can be firmly fixed in position after adjustment, without possibility of unwanted change of orientation in relation to the seat.




The adjustment device of the present invention includes a fixed member, a movable member, an elastic member, and a fixing member, which takes the form of a spanner.




The fixed member is fixed to the bottom of the seat. The movable member is pivoted to the fixed member. The backrest is connected to the rear end of the movable member. The fixing spanner is connected to an outer end of a bolt passing through both a lateral curved slot of the fixed member and a hole of the movable member from a connecting end portion thereof so as to be turnable between an unlocking position for allowing adjustment of the backrest and a locking position for fixing the movable member in position after the adjustment. The elastic member biases the rear end of the movable member upwards.




The fixed member further has a curved bump enclosing the curved slot; the bump has a lateral tapering side with an upper portion bigger than a lower portion thereof.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The present invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is an exploded perspective view of the adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a cross-sectional view of the adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is another cross-sectional view of the adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 4

is a third cross-sectional view of the adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 5

is a view showing the operation of the adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 6

is a perspective view of the conventional adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 7

is a cross-sectional view of the conventional adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 8

is another cross-sectional view of the conventional adjustment device of the present invention.





FIG. 9

is a view showing the operation of the conventional adjustment device of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to FIGS.


1


˜


4


, an adjustment device of a chair backrest of the present invention includes a fixed member


1


, a movable member


2


an elastic member


3


and a fixing member


4


.




The fixing member


1


has a horizontal part, and two opposing lateral parts; the horizontal part has through holes


11


thereon, and is fixedly fitted to the bottom of a seat


111


of a chair by means of screws passing through the holes


11


. The lateral parts have opposing through holes


12


, and opposing curved slots


14


and


15


at the rear end portion; a first one of the curved slots


14


is enclosed by a curved bump. The curved bump enclosing the curved slot


14


is shaped such that the upper portion thereof is bigger than the lower portion, i.e. the curved bump tapers off toward the lower portion, as shown in FIG.


2


.




The movable member


2


has two opposing lateral parts, which have first opposing holes


21


, opposing connecting holes


22


, and third opposing holes


23


and


24


. A first one of the lateral parts of the movable member


2


has a fourth hole


27


, while the other lateral part has a holding hole


28


facing the fourth hole


27


. The hole


23


is enclosed by a circular bump, having an upper portion which is bigger than the lower portion, i.e. the circular bump tapers off toward the lower portion. The movable member


2


is substantially received in, and pivoted to, the fixed member


1


; a pivotal rod


13


is passed through a middle portion of the elastic member


3


, and the first holes


21


as well as the through holes


12


of the fixed member


1


such that an upper end portion of the elastic member


3


abuts the bottom of the horizontal part of the fixed member


1


. A connecting rod


221


is passed into the connecting holes


22


of the movable member


2


, and engage lower end hooked portions of the elastic member


3


such that the rear end of the movable member


2


is biased upwards by the elastic member


3


.




The fixing member


4


can take the form of a spanner, and has a lower end connecting portion


40


. A bolt


41


is passed through the hole


23


of the movable member


2


, the curved slot


14


enclosed by the curved bump, and screwed into a nut


42


disposed adjacent to the curved bump. The connecting portion of the fixing member


4


is connected to the nut


42


such that it can be turned between an unlocking loose position for allowing adjustment of the orientation of the movable member


2


in relation to the fixed member


1


, and a tight locking position after the adjustment is performed. A covering part


43


is screwed onto the outer end of the bolt


41


to prevent the fixing member


4


from falling out. Another shaft


44


is passed through the hole


24


and the curved slot


15


.




The backrest


25


of the chair has a supporting rod


251


, which is passed through the insertion hole


26


of the movable member


2


. A bolt


252


is passed through the fourth hole


27


, the holding hole


28


of the movable member


2


, and a fixing block


254


, and screwed into a tube portion of a knob


253


; the fixing block


254


is disposed between the lateral parts of the movable member


2


to contact the supporting rod


251


of the backrest


25


. Thus, the knob


253


can be turned loose for allowing the backrest to be adjusted in respect of the height.




When the fixing member


4


is turned to the tight position after adjustment of the position of the movable member


2


, the connecting portion


40


thereof will come into contact with the curved bump of the curved slot


14


.




From the above description, it can be easily understood that the adjustment device of a chair backrest of the present invention has an advantage that the circular bump, having bigger height at the upper portion, can move slightly down relative to the fixed member


1


when a person is sitting on the chair, thus engaging the same further so as to help the movable member


2


firmly fixed in position after adjustment.



Claims
  • 1. An adjustment device of a chair backrest, comprising:a fixed member fixedly fitted to a bottom of a seat of a chair; a movable member pivoted to said fixed member, said chair backrest being connected to a rear portion of said movable member from a supporting rod thereof; an elastic member biasing said rear portion of said movable member upwards; a fixing member connected to an outer end of a bolt passing through both a lateral curved slot of said fixed member and a hole of said movable member from a connecting portion thereof so as to be trunable between an unlocking position where said movable member is pivotable in relation to said fixed member for adjustment of the orientation of said backrest in relation to said seat and a locking position where said movable member is fixed to said fixed member; and characterized by a curved bump formed on said fixed member; said curved bump enclosing said curved slot and having a tapering lateral side with an upper portion at least slightly bigger than a lower portion thereof, whereby the securement of said backrest relative to said fixed member when locked by said fixing member is reinforced against release when a person sitting on said seat leans against said backrest.
  • 2. The adjustment device of a chair backrest as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hole of said movable member is provided with a circular bump formed thereabout to face a part of said fixed member that is formed with said curved bump.
  • 3. The adjustment device of a chair backrest as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixing member takes a form of a spanner.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
2585447 Eichorst Feb 1952 A
3601444 Doerner Aug 1971 A
4720142 Holdredge et al. Jan 1988 A
4953259 Frye et al. Sep 1990 A
6220664 Lee Apr 2001 B1