Patent Application
20060076807
This invention pertains to furniture and, more particularly, to a foot rest for a reclining chair.
Reclining chairs are well known in the art, as are chairs that have a foot rest that can extend from the seat portion in conjunction with or independent of the reclining of the back portion of the chair. Known recliners, however, have a gap between the seat portion of the chair and the leg-rest portion when the leg rest is fully extended. This can cause discomfort to some users who have to sit for long periods of time, such as during a transatlantic or transpacific airplane flight. Furthermore, most leg-rest portions do not extend far enough to accommodate the feet of tall occupants. This results in the occupant's feet hanging over the end of the leg rest, a position that can cause discomfort or circulation problems during long periods of sitting in general and sleeping, in particular.
Because many people must sit, and even sleep, for long hours in a chair on, for example, an international aircraft flight, a chair having a leg-rest assembly capable of extending from the seat without generating a gap between the seat and the leg rest, and to accommodate one's feet would be an important improvement in the art.
The invention is directed to a leg-rest assembly for use with a chair, in particular, a reclining chair. The leg-rest assembly is comprised of a leg rest pivotally connected to a seat, and a foot-rest portion attached in a telescopic relationship with the leg-rest portion.
The invention, as shown in
As shown in FIGS. 2, 4-7, 11 and 13, at least two pulleys 16 are attached to the leg-rest portion 12. These two pulleys 16 are separated from each other and are connected by a cable 18 passing around each of the pulleys 16. In addition to passing around the pulleys 16, the cable 18 is fixed, in a suitable way such as with a mount 20, to the foot-rest portion 14, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4-7, 11, 13 and 14-15. At least one mounting bracket 22 is attached to the leg-rest portion 12. The at least one mounting bracket 22 has a first end 24 pivotally connected to the seat and a second end 26 attached to the cable 18 and slidably connected to the leg-rest portion 12. As shown in
As used throughout this description, the phrase “around the pulleys” is meant to mean in contact with the pulley and includes the cable passing either over or under a pulley.
The leg-rest portion 12, as shown in
In one embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 2, 4-6 and 11, a first and second set of pulleys 42, 44, each set having two pulleys 16, 17, are attached to the leg-rest portion 12. A first cable 18 extends around and connects the two pulleys 16 of the first set 42 while a second cable 19 extends around and connects the two pulleys 17 of the second set 44. Each of the cables 16, 17 is also fixed to the foot-rest portion 14 of the leg-rest assembly 10. A first and second mounting bracket 22, 23, are each pivotally connected at a first end 24, 25 to a second position 38 on the seat while also being connected at their second end 40, 41 to the respective first and second cable 18, 19, as well as slidably connected to the leg-rest portion 12. In a particular version of the embodiment, the first end 24, 25 of each of the first and second mounting brackets 22, 23 is pivotally connected at the second position 38 to the, respective first and second side rails 32, 34 of the seat pan 36.
As shown in
In another embodiment, as shown in
As shown in
When in operation, an occupant of the seat can extend the leg-rest portion 12 using any mechanical or electrical means known in the art. Furthermore, the leg-rest portion 12 may be extended in conjunction with, or independent of, the reclining of the back portion (not shown) of the chair. As the leg-rest portion 12 extends forward from the seat, the mounting bracket 22 pivots about its attachment point 38, which may be a second mounting tube 49, on the seat, thereby causing the second end 26 of the bracket 22 to move along the guide track 28 in the leg rest 12, as shown in
When the leg-rest portion 12 is retracted, the mounting bracket 22 again pivots about its attachment point 38 on the seat, thereby causing the end 40 of the bracket 22 attached to the leg-rest portion 12 to move from the second position B proximal to the top 46 of the leg rest 12 to the first position A distal to the top 46, thereby pulling the cable 18 in the reverse direction and causing the foot-rest portion 14 to retract into the leg-rest portion 12. In an embodiment, when the leg-rest portion 12 is in a retracted position, the bottom end 50 is recessed with respect to the top end 46, as shown in
The invention also involves a method of reclining a chair comprising the steps of: (a) sitting in a chair having a reclinable back portion and a leg-rest portion attached to a seat portion; (b) reclining the back portion from a substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal position; (c) raising the leg-rest portion from a substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal position simultaneously with the recline of the back portion; and (d) extending a foot-rest portion from the leg-rest portion substantially simultaneously with the raising of the leg-rest portion.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Of course, variations of those preferred embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
This patent application is related to copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed Oct. 6, 2004, entitled A Reclining Chair.
