Patent Application
20160279003
Conventionally, chairs which are used in environments such as convalescent homes, nursing homes, hospitals, or the like require a person using the chair to be transferred laterally to another device such as a wheelchair or bed. The arm rests on such chairs form an obstacle when transferring a person laterally from the chair to another device. Chairs with movable arm rests to aid in person transferring typically require additional clearance between the chair and the transfer device, causing secondary moving of the chair or transfer device after the arm rest is moved.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a transfer chair includes a base, supporting sides disposed on opposite sides of the base and which extend upward from the base, a chair seat extending between the supporting sides, and a chair back extending upwardly from a rear of seat. At least one of the supporting sides has an arm base securely fastened to the base with an arm base upper surface disposed beneath a top surface of the seat. It also has an arm rest with an arm rest lower surface. The arm rest is rotatably mounted to the arm base such that the arm rest may be selectively rotated in the same plane as the arm base between a closed position where the arm rest lower surface engages the arm base upper surface, and a fully open position where the arm rest lower surface is disposed behind a front surface of the chair back.
In the drawings:
Turning to the drawings and to
One or both of the supporting side arms 12 includes an arm base 24 defining a lower portion of the supporting sides 12 and an arm rest 22 defining an upper portion of the supporting sides 12. The arm base 24 is securely fastened to the base 11 and the arm rest 22 is rotatably mounted to the arm base 24 such that the arm rest 22 may be selectively rotated with respect to the arm base 24.
A latching mechanism 15 having a first portion disposed in the arm rest 22 and a second portion disposed in the arm base 24 is provided in the supporting side arms 12 to selectively secure the arm base 24 and arm rest 22 together at the front portion thereof. The arm rest 22 is provided with a lever 26 operably coupled to the latching mechanism 15 to selectively allow the arm rest 22 to rotate about the arm base 24. When the lever 26 is in a first or closed position as illustrated in
When the lever 26 is rotated to a second position as illustrated in
When disengaged from the arm base 24, the arm rest 22 may be rotated about the arm base 24 at a rear portion thereof toward a fully open position as illustrated in
To reengage the arm rest 22 with the arm base 24, the arm rest 22 may be rotated until the arm rest lower surface 34 is in contact with the arm base upper surface 32 and the lever 26 may be rotated to the first position, engaging the first and second portions of the latching mechanism 15.
Referring now
The arm base 24 comprises a lower frame portion 128, a latching mechanism lower portion 132, side base panels 144, a lower front cover 146 and a lower rear cover 148. The side base panels 144, lower front cover 146 and lower rear cover 148 attach to and surround the lower frame portion 128. The lower frame portion 128 includes a horizontal frame rail 130 having an upper surface defining the arm base upper surface 32, a vertical frame rail 136 and lower frame members 138. The latching mechanism lower portion 132 may be provided with a retention spring 134 to provide a downward spring force on the latching member upper portion 112 when engaged with the latching member lower portion 132. The retention spring 134 thus biases the arm rest 22 toward the closed position. The arm base 24 is further provided with a pivot arm retainer 140 having a closed position stop surface 141, an open position stop surface 143 and a pivot axis 146. A biasing spring 148 is provided on the closed position retaining surface 142.
The lower portion of the connecting arm 126 on the pivoting connecting member 122 connects to the pivot axis 146 on the pivot arm retainer 140 to rotatably connect the arm rest 22 to the arm base 24. When connected, the pivoting connecting member 122 may rotate about the pivot axis 146 between the closed position where the connecting arm 126 compresses the biasing spring 148 and nearly abuts the closed position stop surface 141 and the fully open position where the connecting arm 126 abuts the open position stop surface 143.
When in the closed position, the horizontal member 124 of the connecting member 122 abuts the horizontal frame rail 130 of the lower frame portion 128 and the connecting arm 126 abuts the closed position retaining surface 141, compressing the biasing spring 148. In this way, the biasing spring 148 provides an upward force on the connecting arm 126 such that the upward force is overcome by a user providing a downward force on the arm rest 22 to engage the latching mechanism upper portion 112 and latching member lower mechanism 132.
When the lever 26 is moved to the second position or disengaged position as illustrated in
When the latching mechanism upper portion 112 is disengaged from the latching mechanism lower portion 132, the arm rest 22 is rotatable to the fully open position as illustrated in
The embodiments of the invention provide for a plurality of benefits including that the arm rest 22 of the chair 10 is movable between a closed position and a fully open position in the same plane. In the closed position, the arm rest 22 may be securely engaged with the arm base 24 to provide a person in the chair 10 with arm support and prevent a person from accidently moving the arm rest 22. In the open position, the arm rest 22 is disposed behind the front surface of the chair back 16 and the arm base upper surface 32 is positioned below the chair seat 18, allowing a person in the chair to be transferred to another device by moving horizontally over the arm base 24. By allowing the arm rest 22 to rotate about the arm base 24 while remaining in the same plane as the arm base 24, the chair requires minimal clearance between other objects to rotate the arm rest 22 to the open position. For example, the chair may be positioned directly next to another device, such as a wheelchair, and the arm rest 22 may still rotate to the open position. This allows the person in the chair to be transferred directly the other device without secondary movement of the chair or other device after the arm rest 22 is moved to the open position. Furthermore, by providing a biasing spring 148 in connection with the arm rest 22, the arm rest 22 moves to a rotation indication position when the arm rest 22 is disengaged from the arm base 24. This provides a visual indication that the arm rest is not engaged with the arm base 24 to increase the safety and user friendliness of the chair.
While the invention has been specifically described in connection with certain specific embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that this is by way of illustration and not of limitation. Reasonable variation and modification are possible with the scope of the foregoing disclosure and drawings without departing from the spirit of the invention which, is defined in the appended claims. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.
