The invention relates to a piece of seating and reclining furniture comprising a seat, a backrest and an adjustment mechanism for changing the position of the seat and/or the backrest between at least a first and a second position.
These can be, in particular, reclining or relaxing chairs equipped with or without an aid for standing up, which can usually be brought from an upright basic position into at least one reclining position. Retractable and extendable footrests, which increase the comfort in the reclining position, are usually also provided. Such chairs are extremely comfortable and promote relaxation.
Almost everyone has to deal with back pain in the course of their life, which is caused in particular by lack of exercise, over-exertion and incorrect nutrition, but above all by long and incorrect sitting. Relaxing or recliner chairs are therefore perceived as very pleasant and relaxing.
From DE 20 2019 100 213 U1, a relaxation chair with an aid for standing up is known, which comprises a footrest, a seat and a backrest, which can be brought from a basic position into a raised position to facilitate standing up or at least into a relaxation position with the footrest extended.
Furthermore, EP 3 143 902 B1 discloses a recliner chair comprising a seat, a backrest and a footrest, which has a footrest adjustment mechanism with a first actuator for extending and retracting the footrest and a seat and backrest adjustment mechanism with a second actuator for adjusting the seat and the backrest.
Although a relaxed reclining position is perceived by the user as very pleasant, passive reclining is no substitute for movement of the body, such as occurs, for example, when walking or taking part in sport. However, in some circumstances natural movement of the body is not always possible to a sufficient extent for the most varied reasons (lack of time, physical ailments). So-called massage chairs have therefore been developed which are equipped with massage elements, for example massage rollers in the backrest. Actuation of the massage function has a relaxing effect on the back muscles and can relieve cramps and tension. Such a massage chair is known, for example, from EP 1 738 736 B1. However, such massage chairs are relatively complex and expensive due to the technology built into the backrest.
EP 2 305 202 B1 discloses a chair type massage machine comprising a seat portion, a backrest portion which is capable of being reclined about a back portion side of the seat portion as a reclining center and massage tools for performing a massage portion. Furthermore, it comprises a rocking mechanism portion for swinging the backrest portion in a reclined state in the front-back direction along with the seat portion while taking a position, which is different from the reclining center in the vertical direction, as a rocking center.
The object of the invention is to specify a more cost-effective piece of seating and reclining furniture with which effective relaxation is made possible for the user.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features of claims 1 and 10.
In the method according to the invention for adjusting a piece of seating and reclining furniture with a seat and a backrest, in a positioning mode the seat and/or the backrest are optionally positioned in an upright basic position, a first reclining position or a second reclining position by means of at least one actuator and the seat and/or the backrest in an activatable relaxation mode being movable back and forth. The seat and/or the backrest is adjusted in the positioning mode as well as in the activatable relaxation mode between the first reclining position and the second reclining position by means of the same actuator.
The piece of seating and reclining furniture according to the invention has a seat, a backrest and an adjustment mechanism for changing the position of the seat and/or the backrest between at least an upright basic position, a first reclining position and a second reclining position, the adjustment mechanism having at least one actuator and a controller for controlling the actuator, which controller provides at least one positioning mode for positioning the seat and/or the backrest in the upright basic position, the first reclining position or the second reclining position. Furthermore, the controller has a relaxation mode for moving the seat and/or the backrest back and forth between the first and the second reclining position. In the positioning mode as well as in the relaxation mode the seat and/or backrest is adjustable by the same actuator between the first and the second reclining position.
Sitting and reclining chairs, such as are known from DE 20 2019 100 213 U1 and EP 3 143 902 B1, usually only have one positioning mode in order to adjust the piece of sitting and reclining furniture, for example, from an upright basic position into a first reclining position or a second reclining position. The invention now makes use of this already existing technology by adding an activatable relaxation mode which enables a back-and-forth movement of the seat and/or the backrest between the first and the second reclining position. In this way, the user experiences a constant movement, which has a very beneficial and in particular relaxing effect on the user. The existing actuator(s) can be used for implementation, so that only a change of the controller is required.
It is particularly advantageous if the angle between the seat and the backrest also changes during the movement back and forth between the first and the second reclining position. The adjustment of the seat and/or the backrest is preferably adjusted by activation of at least one actuator, which is formed, for example, by a linear actuator with an electric motor, spindle and nut. However, two and more actuators can also be provided. The control of the actuator or actuators takes place by means of a pulse width modulation unit, which enables direct control of the actuator (electric motor) with a very high degree of efficiency. In particular, this enables a very simple adaptation of the speed of the actuator without significant energy losses.
Furthermore, it is advantageous if the speed of adjustment of the piece of seating and reclining furniture is greater in the positioning mode than in the relaxation mode. This enables a very smooth and gentle movement, above all in the relaxation mode, whilst the desired position can be reached more quickly in the positioning mode. It has also proved advantageous if the speed of adjustment of the piece of seating and reclining furniture is varied in the relaxation mode by the adjustment of the seat and/or the backrest being varied by braking and/or accelerating and/or pausing. Furthermore, it is conceivable that the speed of the actuator, by which the piece of seating and reclining furniture is adjusted in the relaxation mode, is reduced before the first or second reclining position is reached and increased again after reversal of the direction of rotation of the actuator. This in turn results in a very smooth sequence of movements, so that movement in the relaxation mode is also conceivable for a person sleeping on the piece of seating and reclining furniture.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the seating and reclining furniture also has a footrest which is adjustable between a retracted position and an extended position. In this case, in particular, in a basic position of the piece of seating and reclining furniture, the footrest can be in the retracted position, and between the first and second reclining position the footrest can be in the extended position.
Furthermore, the adjustment mechanism can have a first actuator for adjusting the footrest and a second actuator for adjusting the seat and/or the backrest. However, it is also possible within the scope of the invention that both the seat and the backrest and also the footrest are actuated by one single actuator.
The tests on which the invention is based have shown that the best relaxation results are achieved when the relaxation mode can only be activated between the first and the second reclining position when the footrest is also extended. In order that the relaxation mode can only be activated between the first reclining position and the second reclining position, suitable sensors (e.g. rotary encoder, distance sensor) can be provided, which only enable the relaxation mode when the first reclining position is reached. Thus, the relaxation mode would not be possible if the piece of seating and reclining furniture is in the upright basic position or in a position before the first reclining position is reached.
Further configurations of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to the following description of two exemplary embodiments.
In the drawings:
Starting from an upright basic position P1 of the piece of seating and reclining furniture according to
However, in addition to the first reclining position P2 and the second reclining position P3, an aid for standing up 9 can also be activated by driving the actuator 70 in the opposite direction starting from the basic position P1. The seat is then raised by means of a corresponding mechanism and tilted slightly forward, so that the user can get up quite easily from the upholstery (position P0 according to
The special feature of this first exemplary embodiment is that all the positions of the piece of seating and reclining furniture shown in
The controller of the actuator 70 is described in more detail below with reference to
For example, in the positioning mode it could be provided that the actuator 70 is controlled via the microprocessor by pressing the button B such that the piece of seating and reclining furniture moves from the basic position P1 according to
If the piece of seating and reclining furniture is in the basic position P1 according to
The operation of the manual controller 85 as described above activates the positioning mode, which leads to the piece of seating and reclining furniture assuming one of the positions according to
To activate the relaxation mode, the button A on the manual controller 85 is pressed and causes the piece of seating furniture to move back and forth between the two reclining positions P2 and P3. A more detailed description of the relaxation mode is given below with reference to
So that the microprocessor 81 knows the position of the piece of seating and reclining furniture, a sensor 88, which detects the respective position of the actuator 70 and thus also the position of the piece of seating and reclining furniture, can be assigned to the first actuator 70. The sensor 88 is connected to the microprocessor 81 and can be designed, for example, as a rotary encoder or distance sensor.
A footrest adjustment mechanism 5 which has a first mechanical linkage 50 and a first actuator 51 is also provided for extending and retracting the footrest 4. The first mechanical linkage 50 is articulated in the region of the seat support 20. In a corresponding manner a seat/backrest adjustment mechanism 6 with a second mechanical linkage 60 and a second actuator 61 is provided for the adjustment of the seat 2 and the backrest 3 from an upright basic position P1 (
The footrest adjustment mechanism 5 requires a clear distance of the front end of the seat 2 from the floor which is greater than the clear distance present in the upright basic position P1 according to
With conventional recliner chairs with extendable footrests, the footrest can also be swiveled in or out at any time in the upright basic position.
Due to the special design of the recliner shown here, the footrest can only be actuated in the intermediate position according to
The fully extended footrest 4 is shown in the first reclining position P2 in
Although in the illustrated exemplary embodiment the angle between the seat and the backrest is not changed between the upright basic position P1 and the first reclining position P2, the seat/backrest adjustment mechanism 6 can of course also be designed such that this angle changes already in this first adjustment phase.
In order to prevent the first actuator 51 for the footrest 4 from being actuated in the upright basic position P1 according to
When this piece of seating and reclining furniture is being adjusted, a distinction is made between a positioning mode and a relaxation mode. The controller 8 required for this is shown in more detail in
The control commands activated on the manual control 85 are implemented by the microprocessor 81, which subsequently controls the pulse width modulation unit 82 and the switches 83 and 84, depending on which of the two actuators 51, 61 is to be activated. For example, it could be provided that the first actuator 51 can be controlled by the button B, so that it moves the piece of seating and reclining furniture from the basic position P1 of
The buttons D and E are used to control the second actuator 61 with the reversed direction of rotation. Pressing the button D could, for example, cause an adjustment to the second reclining position P3 according to
The positioning mode is activated by the buttons B, C, D and E of the manual controller 85, which leads to the piece of seating and reclining furniture assuming one of the positions according to
To activate the relaxation mode, the button A on the manual controller 85 is pressed. A safety query in the microprocessor 81 can, however, provide that the relaxation mode can only be activated when the piece of seating and reclining furniture is in the first or second reclining position, i.e., either in the first reclining position P2 according to
So that the microprocessor 81 knows the position of the piece of seating and reclining furniture, either the sensor or switch 11 is provided and/or a first sensor 86 is assigned to the first actuator 51 and a second sensor 87 is assigned to the second actuator 61, the two sensors 86, 87 being designed such that they recognize the respective position of the actuators and thus also the position of the piece of seating and reclining furniture. The sensors can be designed, for example, as rotary encoders or distance sensors. The sensors 11, 86, 87 are therefore connected to the microprocessor 81.
If the user activates the relaxation mode with the button A, the seat 2 and the backrest 3 are moved back and forth between the first reclining position P2 and the second reclining position P3. In the present exemplary embodiment, this means that the second actuator 61 is activated in such a way that the piece of seating and reclining furniture moves from the first reclining position P2 to the second reclining position P3, the direction of rotation of the actuator 61 is reversed there and then the piece of seating and reclining furniture moves back into the first reclining position P2. Depending on the selected program, this process is then repeated several times until the program has finished or is interrupted by the user.
Although a footrest 4 was present in each of the two exemplary embodiments described above, it is also quite conceivable within the scope of the invention that the piece of seating and reclining furniture has no footrest or that the relaxation mode can also be carried out without the footrest extended.
Various examples of how the actuators are controlled in the positioning mode or relaxation mode are explained with reference to
The associated time/distance diagram is shown in
In the associated time/distance diagram according to
The relaxation mode is characterized by a movement back and forth between the positions P2 and P3. The number of repeating cycles is therefore either predetermined by the selected program or can be interrupted by the user. In the speed/time diagram according to
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