The invention relates to an improved arrangement of an arm assembly for an office chair, and more particularly, to an arm assembly wherein the elevation, angular, longitudinal and transverse positions of an arm cap are readily adjustable.
Conventional office chairs are designed to provide significant levels of comfort and adjustability. Such chairs typically include a base which supports a tilt control assembly to which a seat assembly and back assembly are movably interconnected. The tilt control mechanism includes a back upright which extends rearwardly and upwardly and supports the back assembly rearwardly adjacent to the seat assembly. The tilt control mechanism serves to interconnect the seat and back assemblies so that they may tilt rearwardly together in response to movements by the chair occupant and possibly to permit limited forward tilting of the seat and back. Further, such chairs typically permit the back to also move relative to the seat during such rearward tilting.
In addition to supporting the seat and back of the occupant, the chair also may include support assemblies that support the occupant's body at various locations thereof. One primary support assembly of this type is an arm assembly wherein an arm assembly is mounted on each opposite side of the seat so as to support the arms and specifically, the elbows and forearms of the occupant. Such arm assemblies project upwardly and include an upward facing armrest thereon which armrest defines a support surface to accommodate the occupant's arms.
However, one difficulty associated with the design of conventional office chairs is the fact that office workers have different physical characteristics and comfort preferences such that it is difficult to design a single chair configuration that satisfies the preferences of the different individuals who might purchase such a chair.
To accommodate these differences, it is known to provide arm assemblies which allow for adjustment of the height of the armrest as well as the relative location of the armrest relative to the seat assembly. An armrest therefore may be movable in its angular orientation as well as its position in the front-to-back direction as well as the side-to-side direction.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved arm rest assembly which allows ready configurability thereof while providing improved comfort with respect to the range and combination of motions which are permitted.
The invention relates to an arm assembly which not only is height adjustable but also permits adjustment of the armrest in the angular, front-to-back and sideward directions. This arm assembly includes a support post mounted to the base of the chair and preferably, the upright thereof so that the armrest moves in unison with the upright during tilting of the chair and maintains the arms in a proper orientation relative to the seat and back of the user when reclining.
To provide this height-adjustability, the arm assembly includes an armrest assembly having a vertically elongate column that projects downwardly and is slidably received within a tubular support post fixed to the chair frame. This support post includes an arrangement of plastic liner sections which fit within the tube and also define vertically spaced apart recesses that correspond to various elevations at which the armrest may be maintained.
To maintain the armrest at such elevations, a latch mechanism is provided which comprises a vertically movable lever disposed within a hollow interior of the armrest column. The latch assembly further includes a cassette assembly which snaps into the side of the column and has a spring-loaded, slidable latch that moves sidewardly into engagement with any of the various recesses located within the post liner. The cassette assembly also engages with the lever and prevents removal thereof.
The armrest provides three directions of movement in addition to height-adjustability. Specifically, the armrest includes a multi-layer plate arrangement wherein multiple layers of plates are stacked one above the other and are each movable horizontally in an associated direction..
More particularly, a first pivot plate is pivotally connected to the armrest column and is maintained in a selected angular position by a first detent. The detent defines multiple angular positions at which the armrest may be maintained while also permitting angular movement of the armrest when the stopping threshold or capacity of the detent is overcome as the occupant manually moves the arm cap at the top of the armrest.
The pivot detent preferably comprises a ring of elastomeric material wherein one sidewall of this ring includes a plurality of angularly spaced recesses that define the various angular positions of the armrest. Deflection of this detent wall therefore permits angular movement and defines the stop capacity of the detent.
Additionally, a second slide plate is mounted on top of the pivot plate and is slidable relative thereto in the front-to-rear direction. A slide detent is fitted within the slide plate wherein this slide detent is fixed to the pivot plate to fasten the slide plate to the pivot plate. The slide detent also selectively restrains the slide plate while also defining a stop threshold above which, the slide plate may be moved upon the user's manual application of a suitable force to the arm cap. The slide detent is formed somewhat similar to the pivot detent in that it is a ring of elastomeric material which is deformable. In this case, the slide detent has opposite sidewalls which deflect inwardly.
Furthermore, an upper transverse subcap plate is slidably supported on the intermediate slide plate through a retainer. The subcap plate is sidewardly or transversely slidable while the retainer carries a resiliently deflectable top detent that engages the subcap plate to maintain the subcap plate in a sidewardly adjusted position while defining a stopping threshold above which a force may be applied to the arm cap to permit sideward adjustment thereof.
With this arrangement, the arm cap may be readily adjusted vertically as well as horizontally.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.
Referring to
Generally as to the chair 10, this chair 10 includes a base 13 having radiating legs 14 which are supported on the floor by casters 15. The base 12 further includes an upright pedestal 16 which projects vertically and supports a tilt control mechanism 18 on the upper end thereof. The pedestal 16 has a pneumatic cylinder therein which permits adjustment of the height or elevation of the tilt control mechanism 18.
The tilt control mechanism 18 includes a control body 19 on which a pair of generally L-shaped uprights 20 are pivotally supported by their front ends. The uprights 19 converge rearwardly together to define a connector hub 22 on which is supported the back frame 23 of a back assembly 24. The tilt control mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/657 524, filed Mar. 1, 2005, entitled TENSION ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM FOR A CHAIR, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/657 541, filed Mar. 1, 2005, and 60/689 723, filed Jun. 10, 2005, both entitled TILT CONTROL MECHANISM FOR A CHAIR, which are owned by Haworth, Inc., the common assignee of the present invention. The disclosures of these patent applications are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
The back assembly 24 has a suspension fabric 25 supported about its periphery on the corresponding periphery of the frame 23 to define a suspension surface 26 against which the back of a chair occupant is supported. The structure of this back assembly 24 is disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/657 313, filed Mar. 1, 2005, entitled CHAIR BACK, which is owned by Haworth, Inc. The disclosure of this patent application is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
To provide additional support to the occupant, the back assembly 24 also includes a lumbar support assembly 28 which is configured to support the lumbar region of the occupant's back and is adjustable to improve the comfort of this support. The structure of this lumbar support assembly 28 is disclosed in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/657 312, filed Mar. 1, 2005, entitled CHAIR BACK WITH LUMBAR AND PELVIC SUPPORTS, which is owned by Haworth, Inc. The disclosure of this patent application is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Additionally, the chair 10 includes a slidable seat assembly 30 that defines an upward facing support surface 31 on which the seat of the occupant is supported.
More particularly as to the arm assemblies 12, these arm assemblies 12 are formed substantially identical to each other except that they are formed as mirror-images for mounting to the respective left or right side of the chair. Preferably, these arm assemblies 12 mount directly to the uprights 20 so as to be movable therewith during reclining of the chair 10.
These uprights 20 are pivotally connected to the tilt control housing 19 and are pivotable about a horizontal axis to effect rearward pivoting movement of the back assembly in unison with more limited, but downward pivoting of the seat assembly 30. The rearward tilting of the back assembly 24 and seat assembly 30 is controlled by the tilt control mechanism 18.
More particularly as to the arm assembly 12,
More particularly, the armrest assembly 35 comprises a downwardly-projecting support column 40 (
The armrest assembly 35 further includes an arm cap 43 (
As to these plates, pivot plate 46 pivots relative to the support column 40 to adjust the angular position of the arm cap 43. Slide plate 47 is slidably connected to the pivot plate 46 to thereby adjust the longitudinal, front-to-back position of the arm cap 43. A translatable subcap slide plate 48 is slidably interconnected to the intermediate slide plate 47 so as to be translatable in the transverse or sideward direction to adjust the relative sideward position of the arm cap 43. The subcap plate 48 is fixedly retained on the slide plate 47 by retainer plate 49 as will be discussed in further detail herein. This multi-layer arrangement of plates 46-49 thereby allows a high degree of adjustability for the arm cap 43 to accommodate the physical characteristics and comfort requirements of an occupant.
Referring to
Each upright 20 includes a front end 51 which is configured so as to be pivotally connected to the control body 19 such that the uprights 20 pivot downwardly and upwardly together about a horizontal axis, which extends across the transverse width of the tilt control mechanism 18. Each upright 20 therefore extends rearwardly to an intermediate portion 52 on which is formed an upwardly extending bracket 53 that is adapted to be engaged with and support the seat assembly 30. This intermediate portion 52 further includes a connector section having a generally I-shaped mounting socket 55 for engagement with the support post 36 (
Turning to the mounting of the arm assemblies 12, (
The post 36 further includes a connector bayonet 64 that projects sidewardly and has a generally I-shaped cross-sectional configuration as illustrated in
Referring to
On its inside face 72 (
The support post unit 34 further includes the aforementioned liner unit 37, which liner unit 37 is formed of a reduced-friction plastic material. As seen in
Referring to
First as to these features, the liner side wall 77 includes a plurality of hollow locking projections 79, the number, location and shape of which conform to the row of side ports 73 formed in the tubular post section 67. As such, each locking projection 79 snugly fits into the oval side ports 73 (as illustrated in
More particularly as to
The non-locking liner 76 and the locking liner 75 are interconnected to thereby prevent displacement of the non-locking liner 76 relative thereto. In this regard, the opposite vertical side edges 84 of the locking liner 75 are provided with respective pairs of tabs 85 and 86 which generally project circumferentially relative to the arcuate shape of the liner side wall 77. It is noted that the upper tabs 85 are vertically offset relative to each other as can be seen in
The support post unit 34 further is configured to define the upper and lower limits of travel for the telescoping movement of the arm rest assembly 35 relative to the support post unit 34. In this regard, the locking liner 75 is molded so as to include an upper pair of stops 88 and a lower pair of stops 89. The upper stops 88 cooperate with the arm rest support column 40 to define the downward stop location for the arm rest assembly 35. The lower stops 89 are adapted to define the upward stop location for this arm rest assembly 35.
More particularly, each of the stops 88 and 89 is defined by an arcuate band of molded plastic 90 which bows radially inwardly and is separated from adjacent areas of the liner wall 77 along the top and bottom edges thereof by slots 91. The slots 91 permit radially outward deformation and deflection of these plastic bands 90 during installation of the arm rest assembly 35 within the hollow interior of the tubular post section 67. The function of the stops 88 and 89 is described in further detail herein with respect to the arm rest assembly 35.
During installation, the locking liner 75 is slid downwardly into the upper open end 68 of the tubular post section 67 and then shifted sidewardly so that the locking projections 79 fit into the respective side ports 73 which side ports 73 thereby prevent vertical displacement of the liner 75 after installation. Thereafter, the opposite non-locking liner 76 is fitted downwardly and then shifted sidewardly so as to be interconnected with the locking liner 75.
More particularly as to the liner 76,
Further, the liner 76 includes radially arcuate upper and lower stops 98 and 99 which are formed substantially identical to and located at the same positions as the above-described stops 88 and 89. As seen in
Once the liners 75 and 76 are installed into the tubular post section 67, these liners 75 and 76 cover the entire inside surface of the post interior 69 and define a plastic interior face 77-1 along which the arm rest support column 40 is able to slide vertically.
Referring more particularly to the connection of the armrest assembly 35 to the post unit 34, the support column 40 (as illustrated in
The upper ends of the channels 103 terminate at end faces 104 that are defined as abrupt abutments which are adapted to abut against the upper edges of the corresponding upper stops 88 and 98. As such, during lowering of the arm rest assembly 43, these end faces 104 abut against the upper stops 88 and 98 to thereby define the downward limit of the arm rest assembly 43.
At the bottom end of each guide channel 103, bottom end walls 105 are formed which define upward facing abrupt abutments that are adapted to abut against the lower edge of the lower stops 89 and 99 to thereby define the upper limit of travel of the arm rest assembly 43. The lower end walls 105 are formed as solid formations and are not deflectable but have inclined surfaces 106 downwardly adjacent thereto which surfaces are inclined outwardly as illustrated in
As such, the column body 101 is vertically slidable in telescoping relation within the posts 36. As seen in
Additionally, the column body 101 is hollow in that it includes an interior chamber that extends along the entire vertical length of the support column 40 which interior chamber is adapted to receive the latching mechanism 41 therein. More particularly, the upper end of the column body 101 is an enlarged hub 112 defined by an annular hub wall 113. The rear end of the hub 112 includes an upstanding pivot shaft 114, the function of which will be described in further detail hereinafter. The inner side of the hub wall 113 is formed with a rectangular notch 116 (
To accommodate the latching mechanism 41, the column body 101 includes an installation window 118 (
The latching mechanism 41 includes an actuator lever 121 (
Referring generally to
The opposite sides of the central latch body 133 are formed with enlarged guide ribs 136, and a pair of actuator pins 137 projecting from the remaining two sides of the central body 133. The end of the body 133 opposite to the projection 134 includes a blind spring bore 138. Additionally, the guide ribs 136 include raised stops 140 which have a ramp-like face 141 to facilitate assembly.
As to the cassette housing 132, this housing 132 includes an end section 143 which supports a pair of spaced apart arms 144 to generally define a U-shape for the housing 132. The arms 144 include elongate guide channels 145 on the inside face thereof which open inwardly in opposing relation with each other and open sidewardly from the end of the housing 132 so as to slidably receive the corresponding guide ribs 136 of the latch 130 therein which thereby permits the slidable latch to be received into the housing 132.
The arms 144 each include a slot 146 which is adapted to align with and receive the latch stops 140. These slots 146 are elongate so as to permit displacement or sliding of the latch 130 within the housing 132 during operation. The above-described spring 131 is received within the spring bore 138 and abuts against the inside face of the housing end portion 143 to normally bias the latch 130 outwardly to the position illustrated in
It is noted that the actuator pins 137 of the latch 130 project sidewardly from the spaces between the housing arms 144 so that they are able to abut against and cooperate with the forked section 123 of the lever 121. Referring more particularly to
To secure the cassette assembly 128 in its installed position (
It is noted that the installation window 118 also includes notches 152 (
Furthermore, in this manner, the slide lever 121 is installed merely by sliding same downwardly into the column body 101 and then is retained in place once the cassette assembly 128 is snapped into position.
Turning next to the connection of the arm cap 43 to the column 40, the column hub 112 is formed with a first fastener bore 156 (
Generally as to
More particularly as to these structural components, the pivot plate 46 is adapted for angular displacement about the pivot shaft 114 that projects upwardly from the column hub 114. The pivot plate 46 includes a shaft bore 163 which extends vertically through the back end of the pivot plate 46 and receives the shaft 114. Initially during installation, the plate 46 is merely seated onto the shaft.
To control angular displacement of the pivot plate 46, this plate 46 includes an arcuate guide slot 164 which extends over the fastener bore 156. A cylindrical pivot bearing 166 is provided which has a lower shaft section 167 and enlarged head 168 as seen in
Adjacent to the slot 164, a detent cavity 171 is provided and an elastomeric pivot detent 172 is provided in this cavity. The detent 172 is illustrated in further detail in
The pivot detent 172 is formed of an elastomeric deformable material and preferably is formed of urethane which allows for deflection of the front wall 174 while also resisting angular displacement of the pivot plate 46. While resisting pivoting, sufficient manual twisting of the arm cap 43 by the occupant will eventually reach a pivoting force which overcomes the normal deformation capacity of the urethane material. Hence, the detent 172 defines the threshold or capacity above which the arm cap 43 is displaceable angularly and below which the arm cap 43 is maintained in its angular position by the resiliency of this detent 172. The remainder of the arm cap assembly is supported on this pivot plate 46 such that pivoting movement of this pivot plate 46 allows the rest of the arm cap assembly to simply move angularly in unison therewith.
To further secure the remainder of the components onto this plate 46, the plate 46 also includes an upstanding post 180 having a vertical fastener bore 181 therein.
To facilitate longitudinal sliding of the arm cap 43 in the front-to-back direction, the slide plate 47 is mounted upon the pivot plate 46. Referring to
The slide plate 47 is positioned onto the pivot plate 46 during assembly, and when so positioned, the central slot 184 receives the projecting post 180 therein along with the upper most section 187 of the pivot shaft 114 as best seen in
To secure the slide plate 47 in place and also restrain longitudinal movement thereof, the slide detent 189 is fitted into the guide channel 183 as illustrated in
Referring to
To secure the remaining components to the slide plate 47, this plate 47 also includes raised posts 198 which project upwardly and include vertical fastener bores 199 therein.
Referring to
More particularly, the retainer plate 49 then mounts on top of the top plate 48 to secure all of the components together. Particularly, the opposite ends of the retainer plate 49 include fastener bores 206 that align with the bores 199 on the post 198 which project through the top plate 48. When the retainer plate 49 is seated onto the top plate 47, fasteners 207 are then threadedly engaged therethrough as illustrated in
To guide movement of the top plate 48, the retainer plate 49 also includes a guide slot 208 on each end of the bottom thereof into which the corresponding guide ribs 204 are received so that the transverse movement of the subcap plate 48 is essentially perpendicular to the slide plate 47.
To maintain the subcap plate 48 in a selected transverse position, a detent arrangement also is provided between the retainer plate 49 and the stop plate 48. More particularly, the retainer plate 49 on the bottom includes a pair of L-shaped locator ribs 209 which project downwardly and align with a detent cavity 210 formed in the plate 48.
Referring to
When the retainer plate 49 is mounted in position, this detent 212 fits within the corresponding cavity 210 as illustrated in
The top plate 48 also includes a front hook 220 on the front edge thereof and an additional fastener bore 221 (
In view of the foregoing, assembly of the arm cap assembly 35 is accomplished by first positioning the pivot plate 46 onto the shaft 114, locating the bearing 166 in the appropriate slot 164 and then fastening the bearing 166 in place by the fastener 169. The plate 46 thereby is non-removably connected by the support column 40.
Thereafter, the intermediate slide plate 47 is positioned with its respective center slot 184 aligned with and receiving the upwardly projecting post 180 and shaft projection 157 therethrough. Then the slide detent 189 is positioned with the fastener holes 191 thereof aligned with the respective fastener bores 157 and 181 so that the fasteners 196 may be secured with these bores. As such, the intermediate slide plate 47 is non-removably fixed to the pivot plate 46 but is still slidable relative thereto in the direction of reference arrow 161.
Then, the translatable top plate 48 is positioned onto the slide plate 47 with the post 198 projecting through the slots 201 and 202. The retainer plate 49 is assembled with the detent 212 located on the bottom thereof and then positioned over the plate 48. The guide slots 208 and the retainer plate 49 are fitted onto the upstanding guide ribs 204 which therefore aligns the bores 206 on the retainer plate 49 with the corresponding fastener bores 199 located on the post 198. Fasteners 207 are screwed into place which prevents removal of the top plate 48 from the lower slide plate 47 while still permitting transverse sliding movement thereof.
Finally, the top cap is hooked onto the front hook 220 and secured in place to complete the assembly of the arm cap arrangement. Once the full arm rest assembly 35 is assembled together, it is installed by inserting the support column 40 downwardly into the support tube 36.
With the foregoing arrangement, the arm cap 43 may be readily adjusted with respect to any of its elevation, angular position, longitudinal position and transverse position.
Additionally, an alternate embodiment for the arm assembly is illustrated in
However, referring to
Referring to
This additional feature therefore represents an improvement over the latch mechanism disclosed herein.
Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed in detail for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of the disclosed apparatus, including the rearrangement of parts, lie within the scope of the present invention.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/598 165, filed Nov. 10, 2006, which is a continuation of PCT Application No. PCT/US06/07821, filed Mar. 1, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/657 632, filed Mar. 1, 2005.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60657632 | Mar 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/US06/07821 | Mar 2006 | US |
Child | 11598165 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11598165 | Nov 2006 | US |
Child | 13200704 | US |