Patent Application
20110018331
This invention relates generally to seating units, and relates more particularly to reclining seating units with rocking capability.
Recliner chairs and other reclining seating units have proven to be popular with consumers. These seating units typically move from an upright position, in which the backrest is generally upright, to one or more reclined positions, in which the backrest pivots to be less upright. The movement of the seating unit between the upright and reclined positions is typically controlled by a pair of matching reclining mechanisms that are attached to the seat, backrest and base of the chair.
One particularly popular reclining chair is the so-called “rocker-recliner,” which can, when in the upright position, rock with a forward and rearward motion similar to that of a traditional rocking chair. A typical rocker recliner, one of which is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,647 to Rogers, includes an arcuate rocker cam that is attached with the lower portion of each mechanism, with the lower convex surface of the rocker cam contacting a level bearing surface of the base. Also, a spring assembly is mounted to the base of the chair and to each rocker cam. Each spring assembly includes two quite stiff, vertically-oriented helical springs attached to mounting brackets that are in turn fixed to the base and to the rocker cam. When the chair is in its upright position and is unoccupied, the seat, backrest and reclining mechanisms reside above the base, the rocker springs are deflected only along their longitudinal axes, and the rocker cams rest on a level portion of the base. When an occupant sits on the chair and applies a forwardly- or rearwardly-directed force to the seat or backrest, the seat and backrest move relative to the base. The path of movement is defined by the convex shape of the rocker cams as they rock on the level bearing surface of the base, with the result that the seat and backrest simulate the rocking motion of a rocking chair. During the rocking movement, the rocker springs deflect such that their top portions bend away from their longitudinal axes as the chair rocks forward and back. The deflection in the springs urges the springs (and, in turn, the seat and backrest) to return to their original positions as the chair returns to and through the upright position. In this manner, the chair is capable of providing a controlled rocking motion when in the upright position.
Many, if not all, chairs of this design include some type of safety feature, such as an extendable foot, that prevents rocking when the chair is in a reclined position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,754 to Lawson discloses a rocker lock that is pivotally interconnected with the rear portion of the reclining mechanism and with the base of the chair. More specifically, the rocker lock includes three separate pivotally interconnected links mounted to the base and to the reclining mechanism. A bracket is mounted to and extends above the base. A slotted link is pivotally and slidably attached to the bracket via a pin on the bracket. A support link, to which a roller is attached, is pivotally interconnected with the forward end of the slotted link and with the reclining mechanism. A control link is pivotally interconnected with the support link and to the reclining mechanism. In the upright position, as the chair rocks, the slotted link moves forwardly and rearwardly relative to the mounting bracket, as the pin on the mounting bracket is free to slide within the slot of the slotted link as it moves. As the chair moves to an intermediate reclined position (often termed the “TV position”), movement of the reclining mechanism causes the control link to drive the roller on the support link downwardly into contact with a plate attached to the base. The slotted link is forced rearwardly so that the pin of the mounting bracket is lodged against the front edge of the slot. This placement of the wheel and the pin in the slot prevents the chair from rocking.
This locking mechanism can have some shortcomings. Because the slotted link slides on the pin of the mounting bracket during the rocking motion, in some instances the occupant of the chair can rock forward sufficiently that the rear end of the slot strikes the pin, thereby giving a jolt to the occupant. Also, because of the configuration of the locking mechanism, if the occupant is rocking forward when releasing the chair to a reclined position, in some instances the chair can “catch” and impede reclining movement. One locking mechanism that proposes to overcome some of these shortcomings is discussed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/982,108, filed Nov. 4, 2004 and entitled Rocking-Reclining Seating Unit with Motion Lock, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. Nevertheless, it may be desirable to provide additional configurations for motion locking mechanisms that can remove cost and/or labor from the manufacturing process and that can improve performance.
As a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention are direction to a rocking and reclining seating unit. The seating unit comprises: a base unit; a generally horizontally-disposed seat positioned above the base unit; a generally upright backrest positioned above the base unit and substantially rearward of the seat; an extendable ottoman; a reclining mechanism attached to the seat, the backrest, the ottoman and the base unit, the reclining mechanism comprising a plurality of pivotally interconnected links, the reclining mechanism configured to move the seating unit between (a) an upright position, in which the seat is generally horizontally disposed, the backrest is generally vertically disposed, and the ottoman are generally vertically disposed and positioned below the seat, (b) an intermediate TV position, in which the ottoman is generally horizontally disposed in front of the seat and the backrest and the seat substantially maintain the same relationship as they have in the upright position, and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the angle between the backrest and the seat increases; a longitudinally-directed reciprocating mechanism attached with the base unit and the reclining mechanism, the reciprocating mechanism configured to enable the seat, backrest and reclining mechanism to experience a longitudinally-directed reciprocating motion relative to the base unit; and a locking unit coupled to the reclining mechanism that allows the seating unit to reciprocate while in the upright position but prevents reciprocating of the seating unit while in the TV and fully reclined positions. The locking unit comprises: a locking link pivotally attached with the reclining mechanism; and a capture member fixed to the base, the capture member having a corner section. The capture member and the locking link are configured such that the locking link resides in the corner section of the capture member when the seating unit is in the TV and fully reclined positions. This configuration provides a relatively simple and straightforward locking system for the seating unit.
As a second aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a rocking and reclining seating unit, comprising: a base unit; a generally horizontally-disposed seat positioned above the base unit; a generally upright backrest positioned above the base unit and substantially rearward of the seat; an extendable ottoman; a reclining mechanism attached to the seat, the backrest, the ottoman and the base unit, the reclining mechanism comprising a plurality of pivotally interconnected links, the reclining mechanism configured to move the seating unit between (a) an upright position, in which the seat is generally horizontally disposed, the backrest is generally vertically disposed, and the ottoman are generally vertically disposed and positioned below the seat, (b) an intermediate TV position, in which the ottoman is generally horizontally disposed in front of the seat and the backrest and the seat substantially maintain the same relationship as they have in the upright position, and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the angle between the backrest and the seat increases; a power actuating unit attached to the reclining mechanism; a rocker mechanism attached with the base unit and the reclining mechanism, the rocker mechanism configured to enable the seat, backrest and reclining mechanism to experience a longitudinally-directed rocking motion relative to the base unit; and a locking unit coupled to the reclining mechanism that allows the seating unit to rock while in the upright position but prevents rocking of the seating unit while in the TV and fully reclined positions. The locking unit comprises: a locking link pivotally attached with the reclining mechanism; and a capture member fixed to the base, the capture member having a corner section. The capture member and the locking link are configured such that the locking link resides in the corner section of the capture member when the seating unit is in the TV and fully reclined positions.
As a third aspect, embodiments of the present invention are directed to a rocking and reclining seating unit, comprising: a base unit; a generally horizontally-disposed seat positioned above the base unit; a generally upright backrest positioned above the base unit and substantially rearward of the seat; an extendable ottoman; a reclining mechanism attached to the seat, the backrest, the ottoman and the base unit, the reclining mechanism comprising a plurality of pivotally interconnected links, the reclining mechanism configured to move the seating unit between (a) an upright position, in which the seat is generally horizontally disposed, the backrest is generally vertically disposed, and the ottoman are generally vertically disposed and positioned below the seat, (b) an intermediate TV position, in which the ottoman is generally horizontally disposed in front of the seat and the backrest and the seat substantially maintain the same relationship as they have in the upright position, and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the angle between the backrest and the seat increases; a longitudinally-directed reciprocating mechanism attached with the base unit and the reclining mechanism, the reciprocating mechanism configured to enable the seat, backrest and reclining mechanism to experience a longitudinally-directed reciprocating motion relative to the base unit; and a locking unit coupled to the reclining mechanism that allows the seating unit to reciprocate while in the upright position but prevents reciprocating of the seating unit while in the TV and fully reclined positions. The locking unit comprises: a locking link pivotally attached with the reclining mechanism; and a capture member fixed to the base. The locking link engages both the base and the capture member when the seating unit is in the TV and fully reclined positions.
The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as “between X and Y” and “between about X and Y” should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as “between about X and Y” mean “between about X and about Y.” As used herein, phrases such as “from about X to Y” mean “from about X to about Y.”
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on”, “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting”, etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on”, “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
This invention is directed to seating units that have a stationary base, a seat portion, and a backrest. As used herein, the terms “forward”, “forwardly”, and “front” and derivatives thereof refer to the direction defined by a vector extending from the backrest toward the seat parallel to the underlying surface. Conversely, the terms “rearward”, “rearwardly”, and derivatives thereof refer to the direction directly opposite the forward direction; the rearward direction is defined by a vector that extends from the seat toward the backrest parallel to the underlying surface. The terms “lateral,” “laterally”, and derivatives thereof refer to the direction parallel with the floor, perpendicular to the forward and rearward directions, and extending away from a plane bisecting the seating units between their armrests. The terms “medial,” “inward,” “inboard,” and derivatives thereof refer to the direction that is the converse of the lateral direction, i.e., the direction parallel with the floor, perpendicular to the forward direction, and extending from the periphery of the seating units toward the aforementioned bisecting plane.
The seating units illustrated and described herein comprise a plurality of pivotally interconnected links. Those skilled in this art will appreciate that the pivots between links can take a variety of configurations, such as pivot pins, rivets, bolt and nut combinations, and the like, any of which would be suitable for use with the present invention. Also, the shapes of the links may vary as desired, as may the locations of certain of the pivots. Moreover, in some instances combinations of pivot points may be replaced by equivalent structures, such as “slider-crank” configurations, like those described in B. Paul, Kinematics and Dynamics of Planar Machinery 4-21 (1979).
Referring now to the figures, a swiveling rocker-recliner chair, designated broadly at 10, is illustrated in
A pair of mirror image reclining mechanisms 30 (only one of which is shown herein in
Referring to
Because the reclining mechanisms 30 are mirror images of each other, only one reclining mechanism will be described in detail herein, with the understanding that the discussion is equally applicable to the mirror image mechanism 30. Also, for clarity the mechanism will be described first with reference to
Turning now to
A backpost 48 is fixed to the backrest 15 via a spacer 60 and extends generally forwardly from the lower front end of the backrest 15. The upper swing link 38 is attached to a forward portion of the backpost 48 at a pivot 50. A straight coupling link 52 having a slot 52a is attached to the backpost 48 via a pin 48a located forwardly of the pivot 50. The coupling link 52 extends forwardly and downwardly from the pin 48a to attach to the front end of the mounting bracket 32 via a pin 52b inserted into a slot 32a in the mounting bracket 32. A trapezoidal sequencer plate 54 is attached to the backpost 48 at a pivot 58, and also interacts with the backpost 48 via a slot 54a that receives a pin 48b. The sequencer plate 54 is also attached to the rear end of the mounting bracket 32 at a pivot 56.
Still referring to
A bi-angled inner ottoman bracket 96 is attached at its lower, forward end to the lower ottoman extension link 86 at a pivot 98. At its opposite end, the inner ottoman bracket 96 supports the ottoman 17b. The inner ottoman bracket 96 also includes a slot 96a that receives a pin 80a located on the upper ottoman extension link 80.
A connecting link 100 is attached to the sequencer plate 54 at a pivot 102. The connecting link 100 extends forwardly and slightly upwardly from the pivot 102 to a pivot 104 with the lower ottoman swing link 76.
A locking unit 130 (
Referring back to
The motor unit 114 is attached to a mounting bracket 110 at a pivot 120 via a mounting tab 114a (see
The rod 118 of the power unit 112 is attached to a bracket 46 (
As can be seen in
Additionally, as shown in
To move the chair 10 from the upright position to the TV position of
In addition, the rotation of the lower ottoman swing link 76 draws the connecting link 100 forward (see
Further, the forward movement of the connecting link 100 induces the sequencer plate 54 to rotate counterclockwise about the pivot 58. This movement lowers the backpost 48 relative to the base 11, which increases the pitch of the seat 13.
To move the chair 10 from the TV position of
It can also be seen in
The chair 10 can be returned to its TV position from the fully reclined position by the occupant operating the actuator in the reverse direction. Because of the over-center condition of the pivots 82, 84, 88, the ottomans 17a, 17b remain extended, such that retraction of the rod 118 draws the backrest 15 to its upright position. Once the motion of the backrest 15 is complete, the over-center condition of the pivots 84, 88 and 94 can be overcome, and the ottomans 17a, 17b are able to retract to the upright position.
Those skilled in this art will recognize that other variations of the chair 10 are contemplated in connection with the present invention. For example, the power unit 112 may be reversed, such that the motor 114 is at the rear end of the power unit 112 and the rod 118 is at the front end. In such a case, the rod 118 would extend forwardly relative to the base unit 11 as the chair 10 moved from the upright position to the TV position, and the motor 114 would move rearwardly relative to the base unit 11 when the chair moved from the TV position to the fully reclined position. In either instance, the front end of the power unit 112 moves relative to the base unit 11 during the movement from the upright to the TV position, and the rear end of the power unit moves relative to the base unit 11 during the movement from the TV to the fully reclined position.
Also, in some embodiments the rocking mechanism 31 may be replaced with a gliding mechanism or the like that can impart a longitudinally-directed reciprocating movement of the seat relative to the base unit.
Further, the capture member 200 may take a different shape. For example, the capture member may define a closed loop, within which the pin 139 can move during rocking motion. The locking link 132 may also take a different configuration, or may be driven by a different link of the reclining mechanism 30. The wheel 138 may be omitted or replaced with a different contact member. Other alternatives may be apparent to those of skill in this art.
The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as recited in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.
