PIECE OF SEATING FURNITURE HAVING A TELESCOPING LEG-REST ELEMENT

Abstract

A piece of seating furniture having a seat part, a back part, a chassis, and an at least two-part leg rest pivotably. The parts of the leg rest can be slid relative to each other during the pivoting. A part of the leg rest is formed by a telescoping leg-rest element which is retracted when the leg rest is pivoted in and is extended, in order to increase the length of the leg rest, when the leg rest is pivoted out. A first articulated lever and a second articulated lever are articulated to the seat part, a third articulated lever and a fourth articulated lever are each connected to a fifth articulated lever. A coupling lever and a control lever are articulated to the first articulated lever and/or the second articulated lever and/or to the third articulated lever and/or the fourth articulated lever.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a piece of seating furniture having a telescoping leg rest element, comprising a seat part, a back part, a chassis and a leg rest pivotably connected to the seat part and / or the chassis, wherein the piece of seating furniture is adjustable between a sitting and a reclined position, wherein in the sitting position, the leg rest is substantially pivoted below the seat part and, in the reclined position, is pivoted out in front of the seat part in such a way that the seat part is extended by the leg rest, wherein the leg rest comprises two rails pivotably connected to the seat part, on which the telescoping leg rest element is movably attached in the longitudinal direction of the rails, wherein the leg rest element is retracted when the leg rest is pivoted in and extended when the leg rest is pivoted out, in order to increase the length of the leg rest.

Description of the Background Art

Typically, a piece of seating furniture has full-length cushioning extending over the seat part and leg rest. For an attractive design, the adjustment fitting of the piece of seating furniture must be designed in such a way that the cushioning is tightened when the leg rest is unfolded.

To achieve this, the leg rest must be simultaneously pivoted and extended as it is being unfolded.

From the document WO2014/071924A1 a piece of seating furniture has become known in which this object is achieved by a two-part leg rest, wherein the parts of the leg rest can be slid against each other during the pivoting.

In order to pivot the leg rest and move the parts of the pivoted-in leg rest, which are retracted in the sitting position, into the extended position in the reclined position, a lever adjustment gear is used in the known piece of seating furniture, wherein in particular in the case of the variant shown in FIG. 5 of the above-mentioned document, with a leg rest pivoted in approximately parallel to the seat part, it is a disadvantage that the extended parts of the pivoted-out leg rest are not extended far enough, so that the full-length cushioning extending over the seat part and leg rest is not optimally tightened when the leg rest is unfolded.

It is also disadvantageous that, in the approximately vertically aligned intermediate position of the leg rest, the extended parts of the pivoted-out leg rest are already roughly halfway extended, relative to the pivoted-out end position, which limits the length of the extended parts of the leg rest since these have to be able to pass over the floor during the pivoting.

Combined with the above-mentioned disadvantage of the insufficiently extended parts of the pivoted-out leg rest, the overall length of the unfolded leg rest and thus the reclining comfort for the user is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a piece of seating furniture in such a way that the reclining comfort of the piece of seating furniture is improved.

The said object is achieved according to the invention by a piece of seating furniture having at least a telescoping leg rest element.

Due to the features of the invention, it is possible to provide a generic piece of seating furniture in which a leg rest element is movably disposed in the longitudinal direction of two rails jointed on the seat part in such a way that the vertically aligned leg rest element is not or only slightly adjusted relative to the rails if the leg rest is pivoted out about halfway.

Not until approximately the second half of the pivoting movement of the leg rest from the sitting to the reclined position is the leg rest element slid into an extended position relative to the rails, making the use of a leg rest element possible which is longer than the one in the piece of seating furniture known from WO2014/071924A1, which is incorporated herein by reference.

At the same time, an inventive lever geometry of the lever adjustment gear used to pivot the leg rest and to guide the leg rest element into the retracted position / extended position provides a larger travel than the one of the piece of seating furniture known from WO2014/071924A1, so that the leg rest element can be extended further relative to the rails.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes, combinations, and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention in the reclined position of the piece of seating furniture;

FIG. 2 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture;

FIG. 3 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention as per FIG. 2 with the sitting angle adjusted;

FIG. 4 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention as per FIG. 3 with a partially pivoted leg rest;

FIG. 5 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention with the seat part adjusted in the angle and a pivoted-out leg rest;

FIG. 6 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention as per FIG. 5 in a detailed view; and

FIG. 7 shows a piece of seating furniture according to the invention as per FIG. 2 in a detailed view.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustrations in the drawing substantially show only the mechanism of the piece of seating furniture 1 according to the invention omitting parts not of interest here, such as the cushions.

Some of the components mentioned below exist twice due to a largely mirror-image structure of the mechanics of the piece of seating furniture 1. While these components are discussed below in the singular, both components are referred to in each case.

A piece of seating furniture 1 according to the invention is formed of a chassis 5, a seat part 3, a back part 4 and a leg rest 6 pivotably connected to the seat part 3, wherein the piece of seating furniture 1 can be slid from a sitting position, when the piece of seating furniture is shifted to the rear edge of the piece of seating furniture 1 (FIG. 2) and in which the leg rest 6 is substantially pivoted in below the seat part 3, to a reclined position, when the piece of seating furniture is shifted to the front edge of the piece of seating furniture 1 (FIG. 1) and in which the leg rest 6 is pivoted out in front of the seat part 3 in such a way that the seat part 3 is extended by the leg rest 6.

The terms “front edge of piece of seating furniture” and “rear edge of the piece of seating furniture” refer to a person’s perspective when sitting on the piece of seating furniture, their legs pointing forward and their back pointing rearwards.

The leg rest 6 is designed in two parts, wherein one part of the leg rest 6 is formed by two rails 9 pivotally connected to the seat part 3 and another part is formed by a telescoping leg rest element 2, which is disposed in a movable manner in the longitudinal direction of the rails 9, wherein the telescoping leg rest element 2 is retracted when the leg rest 6 is pivoted in (FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 7) and, when the leg rest 6 pivoted out, is extended in order to increase the length of the leg rest 6 (FIG. 1, FIG. 5).

A first 10 and / or a second articulated lever 11 are / is articulated to the seat part 3, wherein, in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1, a longitudinal axis formed between the two end hinge points 18, 19 of at least one of the first 10 and / or the second articulated levers 11 is arranged at an angle to the seat part 3 and the end hinge point 18 of said articulated lever facing the seat part 3 is positioned closer to a vertical plane spanned by the front edge of the seat part 15 than the end hinge point 19 of said articulated lever facing away from the seat part 3.

At least one of the first 10 and / or the second articulated levers 11 has a stop element 28 which, during the pivoting movement of the leg rest 6, comes into contact with a stop surface of a seat part tab 29 connected to the front area of the seat part 3 (FIG. 2).

The terms “the end hinge point facing the seat part” and “the end hinge point facing away from the seat part” refer to the shortest distance between an end hinge point of an articulated lever and the seat part, wherein an end hinge point of an articulated lever facing the seat part is at a shorter distance from the seat part than an end hinge point of said articulated lever facing away from the seat part.

The first 10 and / or the second articulated lever 11 are / is coupled to the telescoping leg rest element 2 in such a way that an adjustment of one of the first 10 and / or the second articulated levers 11 relative to the seat part 3 causes a pivoting out or pivoting in of the leg rest 6 relative to the seat part 3 and a simultaneous shifting of the telescoping leg rest element 2 along the rails 9.

The pivoting of the leg rest 6 is carried out according to the invention by means of a lever adjustment gear hinged on the seat part 3, wherein the first 10 and the second articulated levers 11 are hinged on the one hand to a front area of the seat part 3 and on the other hand to a coupling lever 16, wherein, in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1, a third 12 and a fourth articulated lever 13 have an orientation in which a longitudinal axis formed between the two end hinge points 20, 21 of at least one of the third 12 and / or the fourth articulated levers 13 is arranged at an angle to the seat part 3 and thus, the end hinge point 21 of this articulated lever facing away from the seat part 3 is positioned closer to a vertical plane spanned by the front edge of the seat part 15 than the end hinge point 20 of said articulated lever facing the seat part 3, wherein the third 12 and the fourth articulated lever 13 are each connected on the one hand to the coupling lever 16 and on the other hand, with their end hinge points 20 facing the seat part 3 in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1, are each connected to a fifth articulated lever 14, wherein one of the third 12 and / or the fourth articulated levers 13 is extended beyond its hinge point at the coupling lever 16 and, at its free end, is articulatedly connected to a first end of a control lever 17, the second end of which is articulated to a central area of one of the first 10 and / or the second articulated levers 11, wherein the fifth articulated lever 14 is connected on the one hand to the third 12 and the fourth articulated lever 13 and on the other hand hinged with its free end to the telescoping leg rest element 2.

In this context, “a central area of the articulated lever” does not refer to the exact geometric center, but to the entire area of the articulated lever between the two end hinge points.

When the piece of seating furniture 1 is adjusted from the sitting to the reclined position, the first 10 and / or the second articulated lever 11 are pivoted in such a way that the coupling lever 16 is pushed forward relative to the seat part 3, wherein at the same time the third 12 and the fourth articulated levers 13 are pivoted relative to the coupling lever 16 and the fifth articulated lever 14 is thereby pushed forward relative to the coupling lever 16.

On the basis of the arrangement of the invention and the accumulating pivoting movements of the first 10 and / or the second articulated levers 11 on the one hand and of the third 12 and / or the fourth articulated levers 13 on the other, in which, when the piece of seating furniture 1 is adjusted from the sitting to the reclined position, one of the first 10 and / or the second articulated levers 11 is pivoted at an angle of preferably more than 200° relative to one of the third 12 and / or the fourth articulated levers 13, a total travel of more than 200° is achieved for the lever adjustment gear.

According to the invention, the first 10 and / or the second articulated lever 11 on the one hand and the third 12 and / or the fourth articulated lever 13 on the other hand are arranged in such a way that during approximately the first half of the pivoting movement of the piece of seating furniture 1 from the sitting to the reclined position, the coupling lever 16 is lowered relative to the seat part 3, while all sections of the fifth articulated lever 14 are simultaneously raised relative to the coupling lever 16.

The lowering of the coupling lever 16 is thus virtually compensated for by a simultaneous raising of the fifth articulated lever 14 relative to the coupling lever 16, causing the articulation point of the fifth articulated lever 14 on the telescoping leg rest element 2, during a first phase of the pivoting from the sitting to the reclined position, to follow an almost linear, or a “flat” movement curve near the front edge of the seat part 15.

In this way, it is achieved by the invention that during the approximately first half of the adjustment of the piece of seating furniture 1 from the sitting to the reclined position, the leg rest 6 is pivoted and the leg rest element 2 is not or only slightly shifted relative to the rails 9 (FIG. 4).

Only when the leg rest 6 is further pivoted in the direction of the reclined position of the piece of seating furniture 1 is the leg rest element 2 slid in the longitudinal direction of the rails 9 until the extended end position is reached (FIG. 1, FIG. 5, FIG. 6).

The inventive effect of a “flat” movement curve of the articulation point of the fifth articulated lever 14 on the telescoping leg rest element 2 allows for the use of a much longer leg rest element 2 than those in the known, generic piece of seating furniture (see document WO2014/071924A1), so that, in combination with the above-mentioned large travel of the lever adjustment gear, an inventive particularly long leg support surface and thus increased reclining comfort can be provided for the user in the pivoted-out position of the leg rest 6.

When the piece of seating furniture 1 is adjusted from the sitting to the reclined position, the seat part 3 is slid forward via a pivot guide 26 relative to the chassis 5 and at the same time adjusted in inclination, wherein the pivot guide 26 has a front 7 and a rear control lever 8 which form a four-bar linkage with the seat part 3 and the chassis 5 (FIG. 5).

The adjustment movement of the seat part 3 in the direction of the front edge of the piece of seating furniture 1 is blocked by a stop element 27 on the chassis side (FIG. 5).

The pivot guide 26 is subjected to force by means of at least one tension spring 25, wherein the tension spring 25 acts between the seat part 3 and the chassis 5 in such a way that the tension spring 25 shortens in the direction of the front edge of the piece of seating furniture 1 during the adjustment movement of the seat part 3 (FIG. 2, FIG. 6).

A linear actuator 23 is coupled with a first end to the chassis 5 and with a second end to the first 10 and / or the second articulated lever 11 via a cross brace 24 connected to the first 10 or the second articulated lever 11 (FIG. 6).

When the piece of seating furniture 1 is in the starting position or the sitting position, by means of the linear actuator 23 hinged between the chassis 5 and the cross brace 24, the leg rest 6 is held in the pivoted end position by means of the stop element 28 acting between the seat part tab 29 and the first 10 and / or the second articulated lever 11.

When actuated, the linear actuator 23 generates a linear stroke formed of at least a first and a second partial stroke, wherein the linear actuator 23, by means of the pivot guide 26 with a first partial stroke starting from the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1, causes a forward shift of the seat part 3 relative to the chassis and a simultaneous adjustment of the inclination of the seat part 3 until the rear handlebar lever 8 of the pivot guide 26 comes into contact with the chassis-side stop element 27 and the pivot guide 26 is thereby blocked, wherein during this first partial stroke of the linear actuator 23 there is no pivoting out or in of the leg rest 6 relative to the seat part 3 (FIG. 3).

The tension spring 25 shortens during this first adjustment step and thus supports the adjustment movement of the seat part 3, whereby the seat part 3 is first adjusted relative to the seat part 3 without pivoting the leg rest 6.

At the end of the first adjustment step, the front edge of the seat part 3 is at a greater distance from the contact plane of the piece of seating furniture 1 than in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1, which means that due to a larger pivoting space being available, it is possible to use a longer leg rest 6.

The further advantage of this first intermediate position of the piece of seating furniture 1, obtained at the end of the first adjustment step, is the option for the user to perform an additional adjustment function, as compared to the piece of seating furniture known from WO2014/071924A1, also known as the “lounging position” (FIG. 3).

Thus, in a structurally simple way, a piece of seating furniture of the present invention offers on the one hand the advantage of a longer leg rest 6 as compared to the generic piece of seating furniture 1 and thus an improved reclining comfort, and on the other hand the advantage of improved sitting comfort due to the user being able to adopt a more relaxed sitting posture than that in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture.

In a second adjustment step of the piece of seating furniture 1 from the sitting to the reclined position effected by a second partial stroke of the linear actuator 23, while maintaining the inclination and displacement position of the seat part 3 relative to the chassis 5 and maintaining the position of the back part 4 relative to the seat part 3 achieved at the end of the first partial stroke, a pivoting out of the leg rest 6 relative to the seat part 3 is caused until the leg rest 6 has reached the pivoted-out end position and the piece of seating furniture 1 has thus reached a second intermediate position, also known as the “relaxation position” (FIG. 5, FIG. 6).

In the reverse adjustment direction, i.e., in the direction of the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1, the functional sequence described above takes place in reverse order: starting from the “relaxation position” of the piece of seating furniture 1, upon actuation of a first partial stroke of the linear actuator 23, the leg rest 6 is first pivoted in due to the spring force of the tension spring 25 to be overcome until the pivoted-in end position has been reached by means of the stop element 28 acting between the seat part tab 29 and the first 10 and / or the second articulated lever 11; and upon actuation of a second partial stroke of the linear actuator 23, the seat part 3 is slid relative to the chassis 5 in the direction of the end edge of the piece of seating furniture 1, against the spring force of the tension spring 25, until the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture 1 is reached.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A piece of seating furniture comprising: a seat part;a back part;a chassis; andan at least two-part leg rest pivotally connected to the seat part and / or to the chassis,wherein parts of the leg rest are adapted to slide relative to each other during a pivoting,wherein the piece of seating furniture is adjustable between a sitting and a reclined position,wherein, in the sitting position, the leg rest is essentially pivoted in below the seat part and in the reclined position, is pivoted out in front of the seat part such that the seat part is extended by the leg rest,wherein a part of the leg rest is formed by a telescoping leg rest element, which is retracted when the leg rest is pivoted in and extended, in order to increase a length of the leg rest when the leg rest is pivoted out,wherein, when the piece of seating furniture is in the sitting position, a first and / or a second articulated lever are / is articulated to the seat part and / or to the chassis and a longitudinal axis formed between the two end hinge points of at least one of the first and / or the second articulated levers is arranged at an angle to the seat part, an end hinge point of this articulated lever facing the seat part is positioned closer to a vertical plane spanned from the front edge of the piece of seating furniture than an end hinge point of said articulated lever facing away from the seat part,wherein, when the piece of seating furniture is in the sitting position, a third and a fourth articulated lever have an orientation in which a longitudinal axis formed between the two end hinge points of at least one of the third and / or the fourth articulated levers is arranged at an angle to the seat part, an end hinge point of said articulated lever facing away from the seat part is positioned closer to a vertical plane spanned by the front edge of the piece of seating furniture than an end hinge point of said articulated lever facing the seat part,wherein the third and fourth articulated levers, with their end hinge points facing the piece of seating furniture in the sitting position of the piece of seating furniture, are each connected to a fifth articulated lever,wherein a coupling lever is articulated to the first and / or to the second articulated lever and / or to the third and / or to the fourth articulated lever, andwherein a control lever is articulated to at least one of the first, the second, the third and the fourth articulated levers, andwherein the fifth articulated lever is connected to the third and the fourth articulated lever and, with its free end, is articulated to the telescoping leg rest element.

2. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein during a subphase of the pivoting of the piece of seating furniture from the sitting to the reclined position, the coupling lever is lowered relative to the seat part, while all sections of the fifth articulated lever are substantially simultaneously raised relative to the coupling lever.

3. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the first and the second articulated lever are hinged on the one hand to a front area of the seat part and on the other hand to the coupling lever, wherein the third and the fourth articulated lever are hinged to the coupling lever and to the fifth articulated lever, and wherein one of the third and / or the fourth articulated levers extends beyond its articulation point on the coupling lever and is articulatedly connected, at its free end, to a first end of the control lever, the second end of which is connected to a central area of one of the first and / or the second articulated levers.

4. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the leg rest comprises one or more rails pivotally connected to the seat part, on which the telescoping leg rest element is disposed in a movable manner in the longitudinal direction of the rails, wherein at least one of the first and / or the second articulated levers is coupled to the telescoping leg rest element such that an adjustment of one of the first and / or the second articulated lever relative to the seat part causes a pivoting out or in of the leg rest relative to the seat part and a substantially simultaneous displacement of the telescoping leg rest element along the rails.

5. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and / or the second articulated levers has a stop element which, during the pivoting movement of the leg rest, comes into contact with a stop surface of a seat part tab connected to the front part of the piece of seating furniture.

6. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein at least one linear actuator is provided for adjusting the seat part and the leg rest, wherein upon actuation, the linear actuator generates a linear stroke formed of at least one first and one second partial stroke, wherein the linear actuator, with a first partial stroke, causes a displacement of the seat part relative to the chassis as well as a substantially simultaneous tilt adjustment of the seat part, wherein during this first partial stroke of the linear actuator there is no pivoting out or in of the leg rest relative to the seat part, and wherein the linear actuator, with a second partial stroke, causes the leg rest to pivot out or in relative to the seat part as well as a simultaneous displacement of the telescoping leg rest element.

7. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the linear actuator, with a partial stroke, only causes the leg rest to pivot out or in relative to the seat part without adjusting the seat part relative to the chassis and without adjusting the back part relative to the seat part.

8. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the linear actuator is coupled with a first end to the chassis and with a second end to the first and / or the second articulated lever via a crossbar connected to the first or the second articulated lever.

9. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the seat part, at least during a subphase of the adjustment of the piece of seating furniture from the sitting to the reclined position, is displaced forward relative to the chassis via a pivot guide, and wherein the pivot guide has a front and a rear handlebar lever, which form a four-bar linkage with the seat part and the chassis.

10. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment movement of the seat part in the direction of the front edge of the piece of seating furniture is blocked by a chassis-side stop element.

11. The piece of seating furniture according to claim 1, wherein the pivot guide is subjected to force via at least one tension spring, wherein the tension spring acts between the seat part and the chassis such that the tension spring shortens in the direction of the front edge of the piece of seating furniture during the adjustment movement of the seat part.