The present invention relates to an armrest adjustment device, especially to an armrest adjustment device that enables an armrest moving horizontally toward different directions. Moreover, the armrest adjustment is with simple structure and easy operation.
There are various designs of armrests available now. In order to make sitting more comfortable, the armrest can be adjusted in different directions according to figure of people sit in chairs.
Generally, an armrest consists of an armrest and an armrest support. The armrest is arranged at a top surface of the armrest support while the armrest support is fastened and fixed on the left side and the right side of a chair seat. The armrest adjustment involves adjusting the width of the armrest in the horizontal direction and the height of the armrest in the vertical direction. A horizontal adjustment part is for sliding the armrest forward or backward or rotating the armrest and usually is disposed on the armrest. A height adjustment part is for adjusting height of the armrest and is arranged at the armrest support. Refer to US Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0084103, an armrest having a rotational, longitudinal and lateral adjustment mechanism is revealed. However, the armrest has many components and complicated structure. Thus the assembling of the armrest is difficult and the production cost is high. This is not beneficial to mass production and market competitiveness. There is great room for improvement.
Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an armrest adjustment device includes an armrest arranged at a top surface of an armrest support. The lower part of the armrest support is connected to a chair seat. The armrest can be adjusted by fore/aft movement in relation to the chair seat. The movement of the armrest is stable, smooth and quiet and both the moving distance and the final position of the armrest can be controlled precisely.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an armrest adjustment device that is also moved in the left/right direction besides the forward and backward movement. The movement of the armrest is stable, smooth and quiet. Moreover, the moving distance and the stopped position of the armrest can be controlled precisely.
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Two symmetrical slots 21 with the same length are arranged at a middle part of the armrest base 20 along the same direction of the fore/aft movement of the armrest 1. The length of the slot 21 is the maximum movement (travel) of the armrest base 20. A gap 22 is mounted on one side of the armrest base 20 and is aligned with the opening 2a of the armrest body 2. A sliding slot 23 is disposed on the armrest base 20, near the gap 22 so as to restrict movement of the press member 40 and prevent the press member 40 from falling out of the sliding slot 23. A mounting slot 24 for mounting and fixing the damping part 30 is arranged at an outer side of the armrest base 20. One side of the mounting slot 24, opposite to the gap 22 is arranged with a projecting piece 241 for stopping the press member 40.
The damping part 30 is used to reduce impacts and vibrations for providing stability, such as a damping gear. The damping part 30 is assembled in the mounting slot 24 of the armrest base 20. Each of two sides of the damping part 30 is disposed with an elastic locking block 31 that is locked with and fixed into a locking slot 242 of the mounting slot 24.
A press part 41 for being pressed by users is on one end of the press member 40 while an elastic part 42 is arranged at the other side, opposite to the press part 41. Due to the elasticity of the elastic part 42, the press member 40 acts elastically after being pressed and released. The elastic part 42 can be a spring or a dome connected to and integrated with the press member 40 to simplify the structure. An open slot 43 with a proper size and an opening facing upwards is set between the press part 41 and the elastic part 42. At least one projective body 44 is disposed on a bottom of the open slot 43 near the side of the elastic part 42 while a channel 45 is formed on the bottom of the open slot 43 near the press part 41. The press member 40 is passed the gap 22 of the armrest base 20 to be mounted on the sliding slot 23 on the bottom of the armrest base 20 and the elastic part 42 is elastically against the projecting piece 241 on the side of the mounting slot 24 of the armrest base 20. While the press part 41 being pressed to push the press member 40 moving inward along the sliding slot 23, the elastic part 42 is compressed to lean against the projecting piece 241. When the press part 41 is released, the press member 40 is moved outward along the sliding slot 23 due to recovering elasticity of the elastic part 42.
The first component 50 is mounted inside the armrest body 2. A bottom surface 51 of the first component 50 is disposed with two posts 52, a positioning member 53 and a plurality of grooves 54 arranged at regular intervals. The two posts 52 are respectively arranged at a front part and a rear part on the bottom surface 51. The positioning member 53 can be a rack that is corresponding to and engaged with the damping part 30 while the groove 54 is corresponding to the open slot 43 of the press member 40 and is engaged with the projective body 44 of the open slot 43 for positioning.
While being assembled, each of the two posts 52 on the first component 50 passes the slot 21 on the middle of the armrest base 20 to be fixed into a hole 200a of the armrest support 200 correspondingly and the positioning member 53 is against the damping part 30. The groove 54 is correspondingly engaged with at least one projective body 44 of the open slot 43 of the press member 40.
The armrest pad 10, the armrest base 20, the damping part 30, and the press member 40 are assembled into a removable armrest 1 while the first component 50 and the armrest support 200 are fixed and connected. While being operated, the armrest 1 is moved forward and backward in relation to the first component 50 and the armrest support 200 and is moved stably by the positioning member 53 of the first component 50 against the damping part 30. The armrest 1 is positioned by the groove 54 engaged with the projective body 44. Thus the fore/aft movement and adjustment of the armrest 1 are achieved, as a front arrow and a rear arrow indicated in
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Moreover, when the armrest 1 is moved forward or backward, the movement is with damping effects due to the damping part 30 and the positioning member 53 of the first component 50. Thus the movement of armrest 1 is stable, smooth and quiet. Furthermore, the moving distance can be controlled precisely by the grooves 54 on the first component 50 engaged with the projective body 44 of the open slot 43.
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The armrest 1 includes an armrest pad 10 and an armrest base 20, a damping part 30, a press member 40, a first component 50, a second component 60 and an adjustment member 70. The armrest pad 10 and the armrest base 20 are assembled correspondingly to form an armrest body 2. A rectangular internal space for receiving related components is formed in the armrest body 2, between the armrest pad 10 and the armrest base 20. An opening 2a for mounting the press member 40 is arranged at one side of the armrest body 2.
Two symmetrical slots 21 with the same length are arranged at a middle part of the armrest base 20 along the same direction of the fore/aft movement of the armrest 1. The length of the slot 21 is the maximum movement (travel) of the armrest base 20. A gap 22 is mounted on one side of the armrest base 20 and is aligned with the opening 2a of the armrest body 2. A sliding slot 23 is disposed on the armrest base 20, near the gap 22 so as to restrict movement of the press member 40 and prevent the press member 40 from falling out of the sliding slot 23. A receiving hole 25 for receiving the adjustment member 70 and corresponding to the gap 22 is disposed on the armrest base 20. A circular wall 251 is set around the receiving hole 25 and is used to stop the press member 40. A mounting slot 24 for mounting and fixing the damping part 30 is arranged at an outer side of the armrest base 20.
The damping part 30 is for reducing impacts and vibrations to provide stability, such as a damping gear. The damping part 30 is assembled over the mounting slot 24 of the armrest base 20. Each of two sides of the damping part 30 is disposed with an elastic locking block 31 that is locked with and fixed into a locking slot 242 of the mounting slot 24.
The adjustment member 70 is set in the receiving hole 25 of the armrest base 20, passing through the circular wall 251 of the receiving hole 25. At least one projective body 71 is disposed on the bottom of the adjustment member 70 and two symmetrical lugs 72 are arranged at an upper part of the adjustment member 70. The lug 72 is over the circular wall 251 of the receiving hole 25 and is including a slant part 721.
The press member 40 includes a press part 41 on one end and a slanted guide groove 46 on the other end thereof. The press part 41 is used to be pressed and the slanted guide groove 46 is corresponding to and assembled with the lug 72 of the adjustment member 70. The press member 40 is able to be moved horizontally by the slanted guide groove 46 and a slanted surface 721 of the lug 72 of the adjustment member 70 can be moved vertically within the slanted guide groove 46. An open slot 43 with a proper size and an opening facing upwards is set between the press part 41 and the slanted guide groove 46. At least one projective body 44 is disposed on a bottom of the open slot 43 near the side of the slanted guide groove 46 while a channel 45 is formed near the press part 41. An elastic part 80 is set and contacted elastically between the press member 40 and the receiving hole 25. The elastic part 80 can be a spring or a dome connected to and integrated with the press member 40 to simplify the structure. Thus the press member 40 can be moved elastically by the elasticity of the elastic part 80 while being pressed and released. The press member 40 passing the gap 22 of the armrest base 20 is arranged at the sliding slot 23 on the armrest base 20 and the lug 72 of the adjustment member 70 is assembled with the slanted guide groove 46 correspondingly. The elastic part 80 is elastically against the circular wall 251 of the receiving hole 25 of the armrest base 20.
The first component 50 is arranged inside the armrest body 2. A post 52 is disposed on a front part and a rear part respectively on a bottom surface 51 of the first component 50. A guiding block 55 is connected to a bottom end of the post 52. The bottom surface 51 of the first component 50 is further arranged with a positioning member 53 and a plurality of grooves 54 arranged at regular intervals. The positioning member 53 can be a rack that is corresponding to the damping part 30 while the groove 54 is corresponding to the open slot 43 of the press member 40 and is engaged with the projective body 44 of the open slot 43 for positioning. The first component 50 is further arranged with a long groove 56 that allows the adjustment member 70 moving upward freely. The long groove 56 is arranged along the same direction as that of the fore/aft movement of the armrest 1 and the length of the long groove 56 is the maximum movement (travel) of the armrest base 20. A positioning member 551 such as a rack is set on one side of the guiding block 55 and is engaged with the damping part 30 correspondingly.
The second component 60 is disposed under the armrest body 2. The second component 60 is arranged with two threaded holes 65, a plurality of slots 61 arranged at regular intervals, two long grooves 62, two guiding slots 63 and a mounting slot 64. The two threaded holes 65 are respectively arranged at a front part and a rear part of the second component 60. The slots 61 engaged with the projective body 71 of the adjustment member 70 for positioning are on a middle part of the top surface of the second component 60. The long grooves 62 in the left/right direction are respectively disposed on a front part and a rear part of the top surface of the second component 60 while the guiding slots 63 penetrating from the left side to the right side are corresponding to the long grooves 62 and arranged at the bottom surface of the second component 60. As shown in
While being assembled, each of the two posts 52 on the first component 50 passes the two slots 21 on the middle part of the armrest base 20 and the long groove 62 of the second component 60 and the guiding block 55 is connected to the bottom end of the post 52. The guiding block is able to move within the guiding slot 63 on the bottom surface of the second component 60 and the positioning member 53 is against a damping part 30 while the positioning member 551 is contacted with another damping part 30. The groove 54 is engaged with at least one projective body 44 of the open slot 43 of the press member 40. The plurality of slots 61 of the second component is engaged with at least one projective body 71 of the adjustment member 70. Moreover, a bolt 90 is passes the threaded hole 65 of the second component 60 to be assembled with and fixed on hole 200a of the armrest support 200.
When the press part 41 is pressed, an elastic part 80 is compressed and leaning against the circular wall 251 of the receiving hole 25 so as to make the press member 40 move inward along the sliding slot 23 and the adjustment member 70 is pushed to move upward and separate with the second component 60. While the press part 41 being released, the press member 40 is moved outward along the sliding slot 23 due to recovering elasticity of the elastic part 80. And the adjustment member 70 is moved downward to be engaged with the second component 60 correspondingly.
The armrest pad 10, the armrest base 20, the press member 40, the first component 50 and the adjustment member 70 are assembled into a removable armrest 1 while the first component 50 and the armrest support 200 are fixed and connected with each other. While being operated, the armrest 1 is moved forward and backward in relation to the second component 60, the first component 50 and the armrest support 200 and is moved stably by the positioning member 53 of the first component 50 against a damping part 30. The armrest 1 is positioned by the groove 54 engaged with the projective body 44 of the press member 40. Thus the fore/aft movement and adjustment of the armrest 1 are achieved. Moreover, the armrest 1 can be moved in the left/right direction in relation to the second component 60 and the armrest support 200 and the movement of the armrest 1 is stable due to the positioning member 551 of the guiding block 55 against another damping part 30. The moved armrest 1 is positioned by the slots 61 engaged with the projective body 71 of the adjustment member 70. Thus the armrest 1 is adjusted by being moved in the left/right direction, as the arrows indicated in
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In accordance with the above structure, while the armrest 1 of the present invention being moved forward/leftward and leftward/rightward, the movement having damping effects due to contact between two damping parts 30 respectively and the positioning member 53 of the first component 50/the positioning member 551 of the guiding block 55. Thus the movement of the armrest 1 is stable, smooth and quiet. Moreover, the displacement is controlled precisely by both the plurality of slots 54 of the first component 50 engaged with the projective body 44 on the open slot 43 of the press member 40 and the slots 61 of the second component 60 engaged with the projective body 71 of the adjustment member 70.
In addition, the armrest adjustment device of the present invention features on simple structure and fewer components. Thus the assembling time is much reduced, the operation is easy and the movement is quiet and smooth. These lead to great difference between the present invention and prior arts. Therefore, the functions of the present invention are improved, the production cost is reduced and the competitiveness is increased.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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99214703 U | Jul 2010 | TW | national |
100205292 U | Mar 2011 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20120025584 A1 | Feb 2012 | US |