BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a chair assembly, more particularly to a chair assembly having a rotary seat unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, various types and forms of chair assemblies have been proposed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an example of a typical chair assembly with a seat unit that is rotatable in-situ is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. US 2004/0160105 A1. The chair assembly comprises a chair frame 11, a rotary seat support 12 mounted rotatably on the chair frame 11, a looped seat frame 14 secured on the rotary seat support 12 by several screws 13, and a chair cushion 15 encasing and mounted on the looped seat frame 14.
The chair frame 11 includes a looped base frame 111, an upright tubular post 112 located in the center of the looped base frame 111, and a plurality of connecting arms 113 each connecting the upright tubular post 112 to the looped base frame 111. The rotary seat support 12 has a tubular curved support rod 121 including a front rod section extending forwardly and upwardly, a rear rod section extending rearwardly and upwardly and an intermediate rod section interconnecting integrally the front and rear rod sections, and an insert post 122 that is fixed to the intermediate rod section of the tubular curved support rod 121 and that is inserted rotatably into the upright tubular post 112. The looped seat frame 14 is a ring member having a narrower front portion and a wider rear portion and is mounted on two support plates 123 that are disposed on the front and rear rod sections of the tubular curved support rod 121, respectively. The chair cushion 15 includes a peripheral sleeve portion 151 for sleeving around the looped seat frame 14, and a main portion 152 surrounded by the peripheral sleeve portion 151 for seating purposes. The insert post 122 of the rotary seat support 12 is inserted rotatably into the upright tubular post 112 so that the rotary seat support 12 and the chair cushion 15 and the looped seat frame 14 mounted on the rotary seat support 12 can be rotated about a vertical axis 10. Therefore, the orientation of the looped seat frame 14 and the chair cushion 15 can be changed while the rotary seat support 12 is rotated about the vertical axis 10.
Although the orientation of the looped seat frame 14 and the chair cushion 15 can be changed by rotating the rotary seat support 12 about the vertical axis 10, the looped seat frame 14 is constantly oriented in a manner such that the narrower front portion thereof is lower than the wider rear portion thereof due to the vertical position of the upright tubular post 112 with respect to the ground and parallel to the axis 10. That is, the configuration of the looped seat frame 14 and the chair cushion 15 of the chair assembly cannot be adjusted as desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the present invention is to provide a chair assembly including a seat unit having an adjustable configuration to enhance comfort during use.
According to the present invention, a chair assembly comprises a base; a tubular post that extends upwardly from the base and that is inclined by an angle of about 45-80 degrees with respect to the base; a rotary support including a seat support frame, and a rotary shaft extending downwardly from the seat support frame and inserted rotatably into the tubular post; and a seat unit including a looped seat frame mounted on the seat support frame.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional chair assembly;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional chair assembly of FIG. 1, in which a chair cushion is removed;
FIG. 3 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of a chair assembly according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is an exploded side view of the preferred embodiment of the chair assembly according to the present invention, in which a fabric component is removed;
FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the chair assembly according to the present invention, illustrating a tubular post of the chair assembly;
FIG. 6 is fragmentary top view of the preferred embodiment of the chair assembly according to the present invention, illustrating a base of the chair assembly;
FIG. 7 is a top schematic view of the preferred embodiment of the chair assembly according to the present invention, illustrating a seat unit of the chair assembly at a first seat position; and
FIG. 8 is a top schematic view similar to FIG. 7, illustrating the seat unit at a second seat position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6, the preferred embodiment of a chair assembly according to the present invention comprises a base 21, a tubular post 22, a rotary support 3, and a seat unit 4. The tubular post 22 extends upwardly from the base 21 and is inclined by an angle with respect to the base 21. The rotary support 3 includes a seat support frame 31, and a rotary shaft 32 extending downwardly from the seat support frame 31 and inserted rotatably into the tubular post 22 along an inclined axis 28 parallel to the tubular post 22. The seat unit 4 includes a looped seat frame 41 mounted on the seat support frame 31.
Referring to FIG. 7, the looped seat frame 41 is a non-circular looped frame which defines a receiving space 40. Preferably, the looped seat frame 41 is a generally rectangular frame which includes two opposite first rod sections 411, and two opposite second rod sections 411′ connected between the first rod sections 411. The width between the second rod sections 411′ is larger than that between the first rod sections 411. Each of the first and second rod sections 411, 411′ has a mid part 413 connected to the seat support frame 31, and two end portions 414 extending oppositely from the mid part 413. Each of the first and second rod sections 411, 411′ is curved outwardly at the mid part 413 and extends inwardly and gradually from the mid part 413 to the two end portions 414. Each of the second rod sections 411′ is formed of two connecting parts 415 that are interconnected detachably, so that the looped seat frame 41 can be divided into two separable U-shaped frame parts when the two connecting parts 415 of each of the second rod sections 411′ are detached. Therefore, the volume of the looped seat frame 41 can be reduced for convenient packaging and transportation purposes. Besides, although the looped seat frame 41 in this embodiment is formed as a rectangular frame, the looped seat frame 41 may be designed to be an elliptical frame, a triangular frame, etc. In addition, the looped seat frame 41 may be formed by four separable L-shaped frame parts instead of two U-shaped frame parts as illustrated in this embodiment by forming each of the first and second rod sections 411, 411′ as two connecting parts that are interconnected detachably. That is, the shape and the assembling manner of the looped seat frame 41 are not limited to the illustrative preferred embodiment.
Referring to FIG. 6, the base 21 has two spaced apart front legs 211 extending forwardly from a bottom end of the tubular post 22, a rear leg 212 extending rearward from the bottom end of the tubular post 22, and two spaced apart side legs 213 each extending sideward from the bottom end of the tubular post 22 between the rear leg 212 and one of the front legs 211. The length 23 of the front legs 211 is greater than the length 24 of the rear leg 212, and the length of the side legs 213 is generally identical to that of the rear leg 212. The front legs 211 are inclined symmetrically with respect to a central line 20 extending along the rear leg 212. Each of the front legs 211 has a first section 214 extending from the tubular post 22, and a second section 215 bent from the first section 214. In the illustrated embodiment, the angle 25 between the first section 214 of the front leg 211 and the central line 20 is 37 degrees. Therefore, the angle between the first sections 214 of the front legs 211 is 74 degrees. In addition, the angle 26 between the second section 215 and the central line 20 is 16 degrees, i.e., the angle 25 between the first section 214 and the central line 20 is larger than the angle 26 between the second section 215 and the central line 20. The angle 27 between each side leg 213 and the rear leg 212 is 72 degrees, which is slightly smaller than the angle (74 degrees) between the first sections 214 of the front legs 211. By virtue of the arrangements of the length 23 of the front legs 211, the length 24 of the rear leg 212, and the length of the side legs 213, and the arrangement of the angles 25, 26, 27, the base 21 has an improved supporting stability.
The tubular post 22 is located on the central line 20 and extends upwardly from the base 21 along the inclined axis 28, as best illustrated in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the angle 29 of inclination of the tubular post 22 with respect to the base 21 is preferred to be about 45-80 degrees, and more preferably, about 70 degrees. As best illustrated in FIG. 5, the tubular post 22 has an outer tube 221 fixed to the base 21, a sleeve 222 that is inserted fittingly into the tubular post 22 and that has an annular flange 223 formed outside the outer tube 221 and abutting against a top end of the outer tube 221, and a sleeve wall 225 extending into the outer tube 221 from the annular flange 223. The sleeve wall 225 defines a passage 224 of a circular cross section and has a plurality of angularly spaced apart hooks 226 projecting downwardly and inwardly from a bottom end of the sleeve wall 225, as best illustrated in FIG. 5. The rotary shaft 32 is inserted into the sleeve wall 225 through the passage 224 and has a bottom end formed with an annular groove 321. The hooks 226 of the sleeve wall 225 engage slidably the annular groove 321 of the rotary shaft 32. In this way, the seat unit 4 can be rotated with respect to the base 21 about the inclined axis 28 while the rotary shaft 32 is prevented from being disengaged from the tubular post 22.
Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 7, the seat support frame 31 has an intersection 311 connected to the rotary shaft 32, two first frame rods 312 that extend curvedly, upwardly and symmetrically in two opposite directions from the intersection 311 to the looped seat frame 41, and two second frame rods 313 extending curvedly, upwardly and symmetrically in two opposite directions from the intersection 311 to the looped seat frame 41 and transverse to the first frame rods 312. The second frame rods 313 are shorter than the first frame rods 312. The first frame rods 312 are connected respectively to the first rod sections 411, and the second frame rods 313 are connected respectively to the second rod sections 411′. More specifically, the seat support frame 31 further has a plurality of bracket plates 33, each of which is disposed, for example, by welding, on top of one of the first and second frame rods 312, 313, and each of which is placed in abutment with and screwed to one of the first and second rod sections 411, 411′ by fasteners 42, such as screws, as best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 7. The intersection 311 is connected to the first frame rods 312 as one piece. The intersection 311 has two branch tubes 310 extending in opposite directions that are transverse to the first frame rods 312. The second frame rods 313 have end portions 314 adapted to be inserted respectively into two opposite end slots 315 of the intersection 311 so that the second frame rods 313 can be connected removably and respectively to the branch tubes 310. In this manner, the rotary support 3 can be disassembled into three parts, i.e., two separate second frame rods 313 and one piece of member formed by two first frame rods 312 interconnected by the intersection 311. Therefore, the volume of the rotary support 3 can be reduced for convenient packaging and transportation purposes.
Referring to FIG. 3, the seat unit 4 further includes a fabric component 43 having a lateral sleeve portion 431 attached to the looped seat frame 41 and a main portion 432 surrounded by the lateral sleeve portion 431 and suspended from the looped seat frame 41. The lateral sleeve portion 431 has a plurality of notches 433, some of which are located at the positions where the first and second frame rods 312, 313 penetrate through and are connected to the looped seat frame 41 when the lateral sleeve portion 431 is attached to the looped seat frame 41.
When the seat unit 4 is at a first seat position as illustrated in FIG. 7, the first rod sections 411 are located on the right and left sides of the seat unit 4, and the second rod sections 411′ are located on the front and rear sides of the seat unit 4 with the second rod section 411′ on the rear side being higher than the second rod section 411′ on the front side of the seat unit 4. Since the width between the first rod sections 411 is smaller than that between the second rod sections 411′, a narrower space is provided between the right and left sides of the seat unit 4 and a user's body and a high back of the seat unit 4 is provided for the user's back when the user sits on the chair assembly at the first position of the seat unit 4.
When the rotary support 3 is rotated 90 degrees about the inclined axis 28, the seat unit 4 is rotated to a second position, as illustrated in FIG. 8. At this position, the first rod sections 411 are located on the front and rear sides of the seat unit 4, and the second rod sections 411′ are located on the right and left sides of the seat unit 4. Therefore, a wider space is provided between the right and left sides of the seat unit 4 so as to provide the user with a different seating comfort while sitting in the chair assembly. In addition, since the first and second rod sections 411, 411′ are curved outwardly at the mid parts 413, when the seat unit 4 is at either the first position or the second position, the first and second rod sections 411, 411′ may not press against the user's legs, which may cause discomfort to the user sitting on the chair assembly. Because the rotary support 3 can be rotated with respect to the base 21, orientation of the seat unit 4 can be varied continuously as desired. For example, one of the corners of the looped seat frame 41 may be rotated to the front lowest position to provide the user with comfortability according to his/her need.
According to the present invention, the configuration of the seat unit 4 of the chair assembly may be adjusted as desired to enhance seating comfort. In addition, the base 21 of the chair assembly of the present invention has an improved supporting stability. Further, the looped seat frame 41 and the rotary support 3 may be disassembled to reduce the volume thereof for convenient packaging and transportation purposes.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and equivalent arrangements.
Patent Application
20120038194
