Patent Application
20200121081
The embodiments described relate generally to a height adjusting lock mechanism, for example a height adjusting lock mechanism for furniture such as a table, a chair, a stool, a coffee table and the like.
Furniture, such as tables, chairs, stools, coffee tables, etc., are common in daily life. People can put things, do things, eat, write, work, etc. on some pieces of furniture. Generally, the height of the furniture is fixed and may be very inconvenient to use. For example, the height of the table and chair can make the seat feel very comfortable and help to reduce the bad sitting posture and hunchback phenomenon. Due to the uneven height of the tables and chairs in the market and also the height difference of people, the height difference between the table and the chair of the same set of products may not be suitable, which limits the range of uses for the tables and chairs.
Tables and chairs and other furniture or apparatuses having extendable portions may have adjustable legs or columnar supports such that the height of the chair or table surface may be adjustable. Various locking mechanisms have been devised for causing height adjustability for legs, but not all are compact and easy to use such as a screw threaded columnar support as is seen on many office chairs. Many of these types of chairs lack mechanisms to lock the chair at a certain height while others have locking mechanisms that do not hold the chair at the given height because the holding force is insufficient. Accordingly, there is a need for a locking mechanism that can hold an adjustable leg or support at a given height while overcoming deficiencies of other holding mechanisms.
An exemplary embodiment relates to a height adjusting device. The height adjusting device includes a supporting foot and a lifting nut coupled to the supporting foot. The device also includes a lifting rod coupled to the lifting nut by a threaded interaction. Further, the device includes a first mechanical combination of a fixing plate coupled to the lifting nut and having a threaded aperture therethrough; a screw threaded through the threaded aperture and having a first screw end and a second screw end; a knob coupled to the first screw end; and a latching tooth coupled to the second screw end. Further still, the device includes a second mechanical combination like the first mechanical combination of the fixing plate, the screw, the knob, and the latching tooth. The fixing plate of the second mechanical combination is positioned at a different orientation than the first mechanical combination relative to the lifting nut.
Another exemplary embodiment relates to a locking mechanism for locking a nut to a threaded rod preventing rotation. The mechanism includes a nut configured to couple with the threaded rod. The mechanism also includes a first mechanical combination of: a fixing plate coupled to the nut and having a threaded aperture therethrough; a screw threaded through the threaded aperture and having a first screw end and a second screw end; a knob coupled to the first screw end; and a latching tooth coupled to the second screw end. The mechanism also includes a second mechanical combination like the first mechanical combination of the fixing plate, the screw, the knob, and the latching tooth. The fixing plate of the second mechanical combination is positioned at a different orientation than the first mechanical combination relative to the nut.
Yet another exemplary embodiment relates to a method of locking a nut to a threaded rod. The method includes providing a nut configured to couple with the threaded rod and turning a knob, to engage a locking tooth with the threaded rod, of a first mechanical combination. The first mechanical combination includes: a fixing plate coupled to the nut and having a threaded aperture therethrough; a screw threaded through the threaded aperture and having a first screw end and a second screw end; a knob coupled to the first screw end; and a latching tooth coupled to the second screw end. The method also includes turning another knob, to engage another locking tooth with the threaded rod of a second mechanical combination like the first mechanical combination. The second mechanical combination includes the fixing plate, the screw, the knob, and the latching tooth, the fixing plate of the second mechanical combination is positioned at a different orientation than the first mechanical combination relative to the nut.
In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the disclosure set forth herein. The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications, generalizations, inclusions, and/or omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes and/or other subject matter described herein will become apparent in the disclosures set forth herein.
The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicates similar or identical items unless context dictates otherwise.
According to exemplary embodiments, a height adjusting locking mechanism, comprises a supporting foot, a lifting nut, a threaded lifting rod, a fixing plate, at least two screws, at least two knobs, and at least two engagement tooth portions. The supporting foot is placed on a horizontal surface, and the lifting nut is fixedly mounted on the upper end of the supporting foot, the lifting nut. The threaded lifting rod is coupled to the lifting nut via the screw thread of the lifting nut engaging the screw thread of the threaded lifting rod. Coupled to the top of the threaded lifting rod is a table surface or chair seat, etc. Coupled to at least two sides of the lifting nut is a fixing plate having a threaded hole in the middle of the fixing plate. Each of the at least two fixing plates has a threaded hole and a screw is configured to fit the threaded hole. At one end of each of the screws is a knob for easy grasping. A user rotates the knob by hand to advance or withdraw an engagement tooth portion within a cavity in the lifting nut. The relative screw motion of the threaded lifting rod and the lifting nut can precisely adjust the height of the lifting rod head (where the table surface or chair seat, e.g. are coupled) from the ground. Once a desired height is reached the at least two knobs are turned to advance the at least two screws which in turn advance the at least two engagement tooth portions. The structure design is simple and easy to use, and the manufacturing cost is low. The use of at least two engagement tooth portions creates a very tight locking with high resistance to rotation of the lifting nut relative to the threaded lifting rod. It is suitable for all furniture that needs to be supported such as but not limited to tables, stools, coffee tables, chairs, etc., it is convenient for users to use and has a wide range of uses. Although this device is shown and described as a height locking mechanism, it may be applied to horizontal use, or use at any orientation without departing from the scope of the invention.
Referring now to
Specifically, the lifting nut 2 has two, the latching teeth 7 are located between the two lifting nuts 2, and the lifting rod 3 is screwed to the two lifting nuts 2, on the one hand, the lifting rod 3 is prevented from loosening, and on the other hand, the locking teeth 7 are facilitated. The clamp lifts the lifting rod 3. In addition, the teeth 7 are equally divided into a plurality of serrations on the side of the lifting rod 3, and the serrations can clamp the external threads of the lifting rod to ensure that the lifting rod 3 does not slip and fall when the lifting rod 3 supports adjusting the height of the furniture, and the structure is stable and reliable.
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a second fixing plate 4 is used to mount a second knob 6 coupled to another screw 5 and another latching tooth 7. The use of the second latching tooth 7, which is configured to engage threaded lifting rod 3, is to provide a much firmer locking mechanism such that it becomes nearly impossible to rotate threaded lifting rod 3 when both of the latching tooth 7 are tightly engaging threaded lifting rod 3.
Referring now to
In a particular embodiment, a furniture piece may have three support legs 1 and the three support legs 1 may be arranged in an equilateral triangle around the lifting nut 2. The stability of the equilateral triangle structure is not as easy to deform as the quadrilateral shape, and is stable, firm, and resistant. The characteristics of the equilateral triangle arrangement, allow for significant pressure to be placed on the legs and ensure that it will not fall. The height adjustment locking mechanism may be used with any leg configurations without departing from the scope of the invention.
In operation rotating threaded lifting rod 3 adjusts the height of the head of threaded lifting rod 3, and after determining the height, the two knobs 6 are rotated. The rotation of knobs 6 drives the two latching tooth 7 towards the center of lifting nuts 2. By the cooperation of the screws 5 and the fixed plates 4 the plurality of serrations on the two latching tooth 7 are locked with the external thread of lifting rod 3. Lifting rod 3 cannot be freely rotated to change the height, thereby firmly locking the height of the top of threaded lifting rod 3 and any surfaces coupled thereto. The function of adjustment and the structure of the mechanical design are both simple and practical. The practicability is high, the manufacturing cost is low, and it is suitable for all the furniture that needs to be supported, such as tables, stools, coffee tables, chairs, etc. Further, the embodiments described and shown are convenient for users to use, and the range of uses is very wide.
In some instances, one or more components may be referred to herein as “configured to,” “configured by,” “configurable to,” “operable/operative to,” “adapted/adaptable,” “able to,” “conformable/conformed to,” etc. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such terms (e.g. “configured to”) generally encompass active-state components and/or inactive-state components and/or standby-state components, unless context requires otherwise.
While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to claims containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that typically a disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms unless context dictates otherwise. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be typically understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
With respect to the appended claims, those skilled in the art will appreciate that recited operations therein may generally be performed in any order. Also, although various operational flows are presented in a sequence(s), it should be understood that the various operations may be performed in other orders than those which are illustrated, or may be performed concurrently. Examples of such alternate orderings may include overlapping, interleaved, interrupted, reordered, incremental, preparatory, supplemental, simultaneous, reverse, or other variant orderings, unless context dictates otherwise. Furthermore, terms like “responsive to,” “related to,” or other past-tense adjectives are generally not intended to exclude such variants, unless context dictates otherwise.
