The present invention relates to an armchair adjusting device, particularly for hairdressers, armchairs.
To adapt to the different morphologies of customers and to the different operations performed on them—washing, cutting hair—hairdressers' armchairs are adjustable.
For washing the hair in particular, it is important that the customer's head is always at a predetermined height above the ground, whatever the customer's height. This height corresponds to the height of a shampoo basin.
These armchairs are generally adjustable for height and their backrests can also be inclined.
Adjusting the position of the parts of the chair to adapt it to each customer can be done with the aid of gas pumps which the hairdresser operates by foot or by hand.
This adjustment is very tiresome for the hairdresser, who has to carry out this task very many times a day as it is frequently necessary to modify the height and position of the chair to adapt it both to the size of the customer and to the operation being carried out.
More sophisticated chairs incorporate electric motors to adjust the height and position of the customer.
These types of chairs are very comfortable to use from the point of view of the hairdresser, as he or she simply operates switches to adjust the position of the chair.
These armchairs are however prohibitively expensive, being by definition close to sources of water and therefore requiring expensive provisions to eliminate all electrical risk.
In addition, the design of these armchairs is complex and they can be subject to frequent breakdowns.
It is an object of the invention to provide an armchair adjusting device in which adjustment is a simple process yet highly reliable.
The adjusting device according to the invention comprises
In a first embodiment the actuator is a jack connected to the use line, in which jack a piston connected to the support element by an axial rod is moved by the water under pressure from the water distribution main.
In a second embodiment, the actuator comprises a structure in the form of a deformable parallelogram and a waterproof extensible bellows connected to the use line enclosed by a mobile upper plate and a fixed lower plate, between a contracted position and an extended position and a mechanism for guiding the movement of the bellows.
In an alternative form of this second embodiment, two links hinged to each other keep the plates parallel to each other as the bellows extends.
In another alternative second embodiment, the upper plate and the lower plate are connected by four uprights, the uprights guiding the horizontal and vertical movement of the plate as the bellows extends.
The invention also relates to an adjustable armchair, such as a hairdresser's armchair, comprising means of support such as a seat base, a backrest or a footrest, characterized in that the adjustment of the position of at least one of the means of support is effected by an adjusting device.
The adjusting device is particularly suitable for adjusting the position of a hairdresser's armchair that is always close to a water outlet.
In one embodiment of this armchair, the piston is connected to an axial rod on which the seat base is arranged, the adjustment of the position of the piston being effected by an action of the directional control valve to introduce water under pressure into the cylinder by releasing the water present therein into the sewer.
Advantageously, the underside of the armchair is provided with:
In accordance with another feature, the underside of the seat base has at least three wheels guided in rails formed in the plate.
In accordance with one feature of the device, the plate has a pulley on its rear face to guide the inelastic cable.
In an alternative embodiment, the footrest which is hinged to the armchair comprises a board on which slides a support element, a jack being able to pivot the footrest between a retracted position in which the support element is superposed on the plate and an extended position in which the support element is in the continuation of the board.
In addition, the support element is, at its extremity adjacent to the hinge between it and the armchair, connected to a fixed point on the armchair by a cable running through a sheath connected to the board at its furthest extremity from the hinge between it and the armchair.
Advantageously, the support element is returned by a spring.
To explain the invention clearly, it is described below with reference to the attached schematic drawing showing several embodiments of an adjusting device according to the invention.
A pedestal 5 holds the armchair 2 and the basin 3.
The drainpipe 6 carrying the waste water from the basin 3 is hidden inside the pedestal 5. This pipe leads to a trap 7.
A three-way directional control valve 8 is also installed in the pedestal 5.
The directional control valve 8 operated by a knob 9 comprises a supply line 10 connected to the water main, a use line 11 connected to the jack 4 and a return line 12 connected to the trap 7.
The jack 4 comprises a cylinder 13 in which a piston 14 moves.
An axial rod 16 is connected at one end to the piston 14 and at the other to a plate 17 on which the base 18 of the armchair 2 rests. The axial rod 16 has a groove to prevent the rod rotating.
The height of the armchair 2 is adjusted in the following way.
To move the armchair 2 from a low position, illustrated in solid lines in
The base 18 of the armchair is both subject to a return force by a spring 23, parallel to the rails 19, and connected by cable 24 to the pedestal 5, the cable 24 being guided by a pulley 25 on the rear face of the plate 17.
When the armchair is in a low position as shown in
When the armchair is raised by the action of the jack 4, it is drawn backward, that is to a position near to the basin 3 because the cable 24 is of a fixed length.
This alternative embodiment makes it possible to combine the vertical upward movement with a horizontal rearward movement. The combination of these two movements thus enables the armchair 2 to move toward the basin 3.
As can be seen in these figures, the actuator comprises a flexible bellows 30 connected to the guide structure. The bellows 30, made of a flexible elastomer, is connected to the supply line 11 extending from the valve 8.
An upper link 31 hinged to the plate 17, and a lower link 32 hinged to a lower plate 34, the two links 31 and 32 being hinged together by a hinge pin 35, guiding the vertical movement of the bellows 30 both upward and downward, depending on whether it is filled with mains water or whether this water is emptied from it into the sewer.
In this embodiment the plate 17 is connected by pivot connections 36 to the lower plate 34 by four uprights 37 so that the two plates and the uprights thus form a deformable parallelogram.
When the water is introduced at pressure into the bellows 30, the bellows expands and exerts a thrust on the plate 17 which undergoes movement having both vertical and horizontal components while remaining parallel to the plate 34.
Referring to
It comprises a board 33 hinged so that it can rotate relative to the seat base. The board 33 is driven by a rod 16 extending from a jack 4 operating as described earlier on water under pressure from the water distributor main.
A support element 32 is superposed on the top of the board 30. Runners having a structure such as that shown in section in
The support element 32 is moved by a cable 34 connected to a fixed point of the armchair and to an extremity of the support element nearest the hinge axis. The cable 32 slides inside a sheath 35, one of the ends of which is situated on the board 30 near the axis of rotation 31, while the other end is situated at its furthest extremity from the hinge axis 31.
A return spring 37 connects the support element to the board.
Thus, beginning with the legrest in a position as shown in
In the course of this rotation, the cable 34, which is of a fixed length, forces the support element 32 to move translationally relative to the board 30 in such a way that the total length of the legrest increases.
By means of this arrangement, the legrest 29, whose rotation results in an elongation, adapts itself to the morphology of the person sitting on the armchair and in particular avoids the problem of known legrests in which the extremity ends up under the calves of the person sitting in the chair.
The legrest described by contrast becomes longer and thus supports the entire leg.
In addition, for greater mechanical strength, the bellows may have mechanical banding.
The invention thus provides a device by means of which it is possible to adjust the position of objects such as the base of a hairdresser's armchair, in a very simple and reliable manner.
It goes without saying that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above by way of example, but that on the contrary it covers all embodiments thereof.
For example, the adjusting device could be applied to dentists' armchairs as shown in
Additionally, while the armchair is being raised, the backrest is guided by a runner 39 which may have a Teflon coating.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
01.07602 | Jun 2001 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/FR02/01993 | 6/11/2002 | WO |