Patent Application
20250031856
The present disclosure relates to an armrest assembly and a chair including the same, and more specifically, to an armrest assembly and a chair including the same, in which an arm support pad is configured to be rotated (rotated) with respect to an inner body, thereby improving user convenience by adjusting a rotational force (frictional force) for each user and preventing random loose of a hinge screw being a rotation center.
To improve a user's convenience, recently released home and office chairs are configured to be provided so that a seat part on which a user sits has an adjustable height and slides in a front-rear direction to be provided to have an adjustable seating position according to the user's type, and also provided so that a backrest part supporting a back portion of a user has an upper end portion provided to tilt at a predetermined angle in the front-rear direction with respect to a lower end portion to enable more comfortable seating life for the user.
In addition, an armrest assembly provided at both end portions of the seat part to rest the user's arms may also be configured so that its height may be adjusted, a portion thereof slides in a front-rear direction, or a front end portion or a rear end portion is rotated (rotated) around any hinge shaft in a left-right direction, thereby maximizing the use convenience of the user.
To constitute the armrest assembly according to the related art to rotate in a left-right direction, a component positioned relatively above a component positioned relatively at a lower portion of the conventional armrest assembly is rotated, and the two components are assembled to rotate using a hinge screw, and an additional component for providing the sense of manipulation (a manipulation force or a rotational force) to a user upon relative rotation between the two components is included.
However, since a manipulation sense provision part of the armrest assembly according to the related art is configured to provide only a predetermined sense of manipulation to the user and is not configured to customize the magnitude (manipulation force) of the sense of manipulation for each user, there is inconvenience of having to newly replace the configuration of the manipulation sense provision part to provide user customized sense of manipulation.
In addition, the manipulation sense provision part of the armrest assembly according to the related art also has a problem that noise greatly occurs when the sense of manipulation occurring through predetermined interference is generated on a rotational path between a rotating component and a fixed component.
In addition, the armrest assembly according to the related art has a movement problem of an element configured to be rotated by random loose of a hinge screw caused by the repeated rotation manipulation of the user when the hinge screw connecting components to be relatively rotated among components of the armrest assembly is fastened using a complete assembly strength.
The present disclosure has been made in efforts to solve the above technical problems and is directed to providing an armrest assembly and a chair including the same, in which an arm support pad is configured to be rotated (rotated) with respect to an inner body and a rotational force (frictional force) is adjusted for each user, thereby improving use convenience and preventing random loose of a hinge screw being a rotation center.
The objects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described object, and other objects that are not mentioned will be able to be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.
An armrest assembly according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes an arm frame body in which an inner space with an open upper end portion is formed and which mediates coupling to a seat part on which a user sits, an inner body disposed by being inserted into the inner space of the arm frame body and disposed to be moved vertically by the user's manipulation, an arm support pad which is connected to an upper portion of the inner body, on which the user's arms are supported by being rested, and which is provided to have a front end portion rotated by an external force provided by the user in a horizontal direction, and a frictional ring disposed between the inner body and the arm support pad and providing a frictional force between the inner body and the arm support pad when the arm support pad rotates with respect to the inner body, wherein the frictional force by the frictional ring is determined by an assembly force of a hinge screw connecting the inner body to the arm support pad.
Here, the inner body may include a height adjustment case inserted into the inner space of the arm frame body to adjust a height and a connection part provided at an upper end of the height adjustment case and mediating the relative rotation connection of the arm support pad, and the frictional ring may be seated in a circular installation groove formed in an upper surface of the connection part.
In addition, the frictional force may be determined as an upper end portion of the frictional ring is compressed by a lower end portion of a ring-shaped compression boss protruding to a lower portion of the arm support pad.
In addition, the frictional ring may be formed with a plurality of locking protrusions protruding downward from a lower surface thereof, and the plurality of locking protrusions may be fixedly inserted into a plurality of locking grooves formed in the circular installation groove.
In addition, the frictional ring may be an elastic body made of a rubber material.
In addition, the inner body may be provided with a screw fastening boss in which a screw fastening hole is formed, and the arm support pad may be provided with a screw through boss in which a screw through hole is formed at a position corresponding to the screw fastening hole, and the frictional ring may be compressed as a ring-shaped compression boss formed to protrude to the lower portion of the arm support pad is moved downward by an assembly force of the hinge screw fastened to the screw fastening hole of the screw fastening boss through the screw through hole of the screw through boss.
In addition, a flat washer may be interposed in the hinge screw to mediate transmission of an assembly force transmitted from the user to the ring-shaped compression boss.
In addition, a plurality of grooves may be repeatedly formed in an outer circumferential surface of the ring-shaped compression boss in the circumferential direction, and an operation sense provision part elastically supported toward the plurality of grooves to provide the sense of operation when the arm support pad rotates may be further provided on the upper surface of the connection part of the inner body.
In addition, the operation sense provision part may include a member case having an installation space that is open toward the plurality of grooves in the upper surface of the connection part of the inner body, an elastic rubber provided inside the installation space in the member case, and an operation pin having an inner end supported by the elastic rubber and a portion of outer surfaces supported to be engaged with the plurality of grooves.
A chair according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a seat part provided so that a user sits thereon, and an armrest assembly provided on both left and right end portions of the seat part and provided so that the user's arms are rested, wherein the armrest assembly includes an arm frame body in which an inner space with an open upper end portion is formed and which mediates coupling to the seat part, an inner body disposed by being inserted into the inner space of the arm frame body and disposed to be moved vertically by the user's manipulation, an arm support pad which is connected to an upper portion of the inner body, on which the user's arms are supported by being rested, and which is provided to have a front end portion rotated by an external force provided by the user in a horizontal direction, and a frictional ring disposed between the inner body and the arm support pad and providing a frictional force between the inner body and the arm support pad when the arm support pad rotates with respect to the inner body, wherein the frictional force by the frictional ring is determined by an assembly force of a hinge screw connecting the inner body to the arm support pad.
According to the armrest assembly and the chair including the same according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to customize the rotational force (manipulation force) of the arm support pad for each user by adjusting the fastening strength of the hinge screw and prevent random loose of the hinge screw through the even distribution design of the frictional force through the frictional ring, thereby greatly improving user convenience.
a chair including the same according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.
Hereinafter, an armrest assembly and a chair including the same according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In adding reference numerals to components in each drawing, it should be noted that the same components have the same reference numerals as much as possible even when they are illustrated in different drawings. In addition, in describing embodiments of the present disclosure, the detailed description of related known configurations or functions will be omitted when it is determined that the detailed description obscures the understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
Terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used to describe components of the embodiments of the present disclosure. The terms are only for the purpose of distinguishing a component from another, and the nature, sequence, order, or the like of the corresponding component is not limited by the terms. In addition, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. The terms defined in a generally used dictionary should be construed as meanings that match with the meanings of the terms from the context of the related technology and are not construed as an ideal or excessively formal meaning unless clearly defined in this application.
Referring to
In addition, the chair 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a manipulation part 150 disposed on a lower surface of the seat part 110 and provided to be connected to respective connecting portions of the seat part 110 and the backrest part 120 to manipulate the seat part 110 to slide in the front-rear direction and the backrest part 120 to tilt and move in the front-rear direction.
In addition, the chair 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure may further include an armrest assembly 200 for supporting both arms of a user seated on the seat part 110 at both left and right end portions of the seat part 110. Detailed description of the armrest assembly 200 will be described below.
The seat part 110 may be provided to slide in the front-rear direction with respect to a seat frame (not shown) so that a seating position may be adjusted according to the user's convenience.
More specifically, the seat part 110 may extend in the front-rear direction. The seat part 110 may be a part on which the user sits. The seat part 110 may support the user's buttocks and a thigh of each of the user's two legs.
Among an upper surface of the seat part 110, a rear portion that is a portion that supports the user's buttocks may be formed to be slightly recessed downward, and a front portion that is a portion that supports the two thighs of the user may be formed to be inclined to be close to a lower side as it goes forward.
The backrest part 120 may extend vertically and may extend to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that a lower end portion is positioned in front of an upper end portion. The lower end portion of the backrest part 120 may be hinge-coupled to a seat frame (not shown). Therefore, the upper end portion of the backrest part 120 may be adjusted to tilt around a hinge portion of the lower end portion in the front-rear direction.
The headrest part 130 may extend vertically and may be coupled to the center of the upper end portion of the backrest part 120. The headrest part 130 may be formed integrally with the backrest part 120 and may have a lower end portion coupled so that a horizontal shaft formed to extend laterally on a front surface of the upper end portion of the backrest part 120 becomes a rotation center and an upper end portion coupled to tilt in the front-rear direction.
Meanwhile, the leg part 140 may be disposed under the seat part 110 and provided to support the manipulation part 150. The leg part 140 may include a plurality of branch frames 141 disposed radially and a moving wheel 143 rotatably coupled to a lower portion of a front end of each of the branch frames 141.
The branch frames 141 may be formed so that five branch frames are branched at the same angle from the center, but it is sufficient that three or more are formed within the limit that supports the user's seating. Here, a cylinder device that is not shown but is installed to be recessed under the seat part 110 may be provided at the center of the branch frame 141, and a height of the seat part 110 may be adjusted by the user's manipulation of the manipulation part 150.
As shown in
The armrest assembly 200 configured as described above may be provided so that an insertion end 213 formed at a lower end portion of the arm frame body 210 is substantially parallel to the lower surface of the seat part 110 and firmly connected by an assembly screw (not shown) assembled through a fastening member through hole 215 formed to vertically pass through the insertion end 213 after inserted into a coupling end (not shown) of the lower portion of both left and right end portions of the seat part 110.
The arm frame body 210 may have a portion, which extends to an upper portion excluding a portion parallel to the lower surface of the seat part 110, formed with an inner space in which the inner body 220 may be installed.
A height adjustment button 250 is provided to be exposed externally on an upper end portion of the inner body 220 installed by being inserted into the inner space of the arm frame body 210, and a rotation lock part (not shown) linked to the height adjustment button 250 is provided inside the inner body 220 so that the user may adjust the arm support pad 230 to a desired height.
More specifically, the inner body 220 may include a height adjustment case 221 inserted into the inner space of the arm frame body 210 to adjust the height, and a connection part 222 provided at an upper end of the height adjustment case 221 and mediating the relative rotation connection of the arm support pad 230.
That is, the arm support pad 230 may be provided to rotate in the left-right direction in a state in which the height is fixed around upper and lower rotation axes of the connection part 222 provided at an upper end of the inner body 220.
Meanwhile, as shown in
Here, a safety space S may be formed between respective rear end portions of the connection pad 231 and the support pad 232 to prevent the user's arm from being caught and injured when the tilting of the backrest part 120 is adjusted in the front-rear direction.
As shown in
That is, the user's arm may be rested in a state in which the arm support pad 230 is fixed to the center with respect to the hinge screw 240 according to the user's preference as shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
To this end, a screw installation hole 235 provided at a portion where the connection pad 231 is formed and provided to install the hinge screw 240 to be described below may be further formed in the safety space S of the arm support pad 230.
The screw installation hole 235 may be shielded by a hole cover 237 after the hinge screw 240 to be described below is installed. An outer surface of the hole cover 237 may be formed in a shape that matches an outer surface forming the safety space S side of the connection pad 231.
Here, the arm support pad 230 may be rotatably connected to the upper surface of the connection part 222 among the components of the inner body 220 via the hinge screw 240.
To this end, a screw fastening boss (no reference numeral) in which a screw fastening hole 223h is formed may be provided on an upper surface 223 of the connection part 222 of the inner body 220, and a screw through boss 234 in which a screw through hole 233h is formed at a position corresponding to the screw fastening hole 223h may be provided on a lower surface of the connection pad 231 of the arm support pad 230.
The arm support pad 230 may be rotatably connected to the connection part 222 of the inner body 220 by allowing the hinge screw 240 to pass through the screw through hole 233h through the screw installation hole 235 of the safety space S side in a state in which the hole cover 237 has been removed and then to be fastened to the screw fastening hole 223h.
Here, a flat washer 241 may be interposed in the hinge screw 240 as shown in
In addition, the flat washer 241 may function to mediate the transmission of the assembly force transmitted from the user to a ring-shaped compression boss 236 formed integrally with a lower end portion of the connection pad 231 to compress a frictional ring 225 to be described below.
Meanwhile, as shown in
Here, the frictional ring 225 may be an elastic body made of a rubber material. Therefore, the frictional ring 225 may be elastically deformed when the assembly force of the hinge screw 240 is transmitted by the ring-shaped compression boss 236 to be described below.
The frictional force by the frictional ring 225 may be determined by the assembly force of the hinge screw 240 connecting the inner body 220 to the arm support pad 230.
More specifically, the frictional ring 225 may be disposed between the inner body 220 and the arm support pad 230 and elastically compressed by the assembly force transmitted through the hinge screw 240 to generate a frictional force on the respective contact surfaces between the two components (the inner body 220 and the arm support pad 230), thereby preventing the arm support pad 230 from rotating arbitrarily when a predetermined assembly force or more is not transmitted.
To this end, a circular installation groove 224 may be formed in the upper surface of the connection part 222, and the frictional ring 225 may be seated in the circular installation groove 224. The circular installation groove 224 may be formed in a form in which a non-continuous arc-shaped rib protrudes upward.
In addition, the ring-shaped compression boss 236 may be formed on the lower surface of the connection pad 231 of the arm support pad 230 so as to be formed to have a larger diameter than the screw through boss 234. The ring-shaped compression boss 236 functions to uniformly compress an upper surface of the frictional ring 225 when the hinge screw 240 is fastened to the screw fastening hole 223h.
In this way, the uniform compression force of the ring-shaped compression boss 236 on the frictional ring 225 is an operating force adjusted by the user through the hinge screw 240, and at least the frictional ring 225 needs to be formed of an elastic body capable of elastic deformation at a predetermined hardness in order to provide a frictional force corresponding to the above operating force to the ring-shaped compression boss 236.
In this case, as shown in
Therefore, as shown in
The frictional ring 225 may also be applied to the relative rotation structure between the connection pad 231 and the support pad 232, and it goes without saying that a modified embodiment according to the structure of the plurality of locking protrusions 225a and the plurality of locking grooves 224a may also be applied to the frictional ring 225 in this case.
Meanwhile, a plurality of grooves 238 may be repeatedly formed in an outer circumferential surface of the ring-shaped compression boss 236 in a circumferential direction as shown in
Here, as shown in
When the user holds the arm support pad 230 by hand and rotates the arm support pad 230 in a desired direction, the sense of operation generated as the operation pin 229 elastically supported by the elastic rubber 228 sequentially passes over the plurality of grooves 238 is conversely transmitted to the user so that the user may receive a predetermined sense of operation (sense of manipulation).
The operation effects of the armrest assembly 200 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure configured as described above will be briefly described with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows.
First, as shown in
In this case, the frictional ring 225 provided between the connection part 222 of the arm support pad 230 and the inner body 220 may rotate while forming different frictional forces according to the assembly force according to the pre-adjustment of the hinge screw 240.
Here, the rotational force (frictional force) of the arm support pad 230 that is suitable for each user may be adjusted by removing the hole cover 237 and then adjusting the assembly force of the hinge screw 240 using a simple tool.
In this case, as shown in
As described above, according to the armrest assembly 200 and the chair 100 including the same according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible to minimize manipulation noise by generating the uniform frictional force through the frictional ring 225 between the arm support pad 230 and the inner body 220 when the arm support pad 230 rotates and to simply adjust the rotational force (frictional force) desired by the user for each user.
The armrest assembly 200 and the chair 100 including the same according to one embodiment of the present disclosure have been described above in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it goes without saying that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not necessarily limited by the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and implementation within the equivalent scope are possible by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Therefore, the true scope of the present disclosure will be determined by the claims to be described below.
The present disclosure provides an armrest assembly and a chair including the same, which are capable of customizing a rotational force (manipulation force) of an arm support pad for each user by adjusting the fastening strength of a hinge screw and prevent random loose of the hinge screw through the even distribution design of the frictional force through a frictional ring.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2022-0050551 | Apr 2022 | KR | national |
This application is a Continuation application of PCT International Application No. PCT/KR2023/005337 (filed on Apr. 20, 2023), which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0050551 (filed on Apr. 25, 2022), which are all hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/KR2023/005337 | Apr 2023 | WO |
| Child | 18917461 | US |
