Patent Grant
11832727
The present invention relates generally to seating units, and relates more particularly to reclining seating units.
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 “wall-proximity” chair. In a conventional reclining chair, as the backrest moves to the reclined position, the upper end of the backrest moves rear artily relative to the base of the chair. As a result, typically the chair cannot be positioned such that the backrest is adjacent a wall, as the reclining backrest would strike the wall and thereby be prevented from fully reclining. A “wall-proximity” reclining chair includes some type of mechanism (typically either a linkage or a set of wheels that roll on a track) that move the seat of the chair forward relative to the base to provide additional room for the backrest to recline. Typically, such chairs are configured so that the seat and backrest move forward relative to the base when the chair moves from an upright position to a partially reclined “TV” position, in which the footrest is extended. The seat and backrest then move farther forward relative to the base as the chair from the TV position to its fully reclined position. Exemplary wall-proximity chairs are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,663 to Cycowicz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,977 to Rogers et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,778 to Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,960 to Tacker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,710 to Wiecek, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,930 to LaPointe et al., and in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0036248 to Murphy et al., the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated herein in their entireties. A typical wall-proximity chair in its upright position can be placed with the backrest within 3 to 4 inches of an adjacent wall and still avoid striking the adjacent wall when moved to the fully reclined position.
One potential shortcoming of wall-proximity chairs is that the wall-proximity mechanism or wheel/rail system is typically somewhat complex, with multiple interconnected intricate parts. As such, production of these mechanisms can be relatively expensive. Also, the mechanisms that control the movement of wall-proximity chairs tend to be rather bulky, and therefore may be unsuitable for some specialized chairs. For example, some chairs have a “high leg” style in which the arms of the chair are raised several inches off of the underlying surface (typically between about 4 and 9 inches). It is ordinarily undesirable for portions of a reclining mechanism to be visible in the space below the chair when the chair is in the upright position, so the designers are faced with providing a reclining mechanism that folds into a relatively small package that is not visible from the side in the upright position.
As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a wall-proximity reclining seating unit. The seating unit comprises: a frame having a back member and a pair of arms, the back member being fixed relative to and extending between the arms; a backrest; a seat; a footrest; a reclining mechanism connected between the frame, backrest, seat, and footrest, the reclining mechanism comprising a series of pivotally interconnected links and configured to move the seating unit between: (a) an upright position, in which the backrest is disposed at a first generally upright backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a first generally horizontal seat angle, and the footrest is retracted below a forward portion of the seat and faces generally downwardly and defines an angle of between about 20 and 40 degrees with the underlying surface, (b) a TV position, in which the backrest substantially maintains the first backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a second seat angle that is steeper than the first seat angle, the footrest is extended in front of the seat and is generally horizontally disposed, and the seat and backrest are moved forwardly relative to the frame between about 2.5 and 4 inches; and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the backrest is disposed at a second backrest angle that is shallower than the first backrest angle, the footrest remains extended in front of the seat, and the seat is moved forward of its position in the TV position between about 4 and 7 inches; and a power actuator coupled to the reclining mechanism that drives the backrest, seat and footrest between the upright, TV and fully reclined positions.
As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a wall-proximity reclining seating unit comprising: a frame having a back member and a pair of arms, the back member being fixed relative to and extending between the arms; a backrest; a seat; a single footrest having a depth of between about 8 and 12 inches; a reclining mechanism connected between the frame, backrest, seat, and footrest, the reclining mechanism comprising a series of pivotally interconnected links and configured to move the seating unit between: (a) an upright position, in which the backrest is disposed at a first generally upright backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a first generally horizontal seat angle, and the footrest is retracted below a forward portion of the seat and faces generally downwardly and defines an angle of between about 20 and 40 degrees with the underlying surface, (b) a TV position, in which the backrest substantially maintains the first backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a second seat angle that is steeper than the first seat angle, the footrest is extended in front of the seat and is generally horizontally disposed, and the seat and backrest are moved forwardly relative to the frame between about 2.5 and 4 inches; and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the backrest is disposed at a second backrest angle that is shallower than the first backrest angle, the footrest remains extended in front of the seat, and the seat is moved forward of its position in the TV position between about 4 and 7 inches; and a power actuator coupled to the reclining mechanism that drives the backrest, seat and footrest between the upright, TV and fully reclined positions. In the TV and fully reclined positions, the footrest is positioned between about 6.5 and 9.5 inches from a frontmost portion of the seat, and in the upright position, a lowermost portion of the footrest is between about 4.5 and 6.5 inches above the underlying surface.
As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to a wall-proximity reclining seating unit comprising: a frame having a back member and a pair of arms, the back member being fixed relative to and extending between the arms; a backrest; a seat; a single footrest having a depth of between about 8 and 12 inches; a reclining mechanism connected between the frame, backrest, seat, and footrest, the reclining mechanism comprising a series of pivotally interconnected links and configured to move the seating unit between: (a) an upright position, in which the backrest is disposed at a first generally upright backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a first generally horizontal seat angle, and the footrest is retracted below a forward portion of the seat and faces generally downwardly and defines an angle of between about 20 and 40 degrees with the underlying surface, (b) a TV position, in which the backrest substantially maintains the first backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a second seat angle that is steeper than the first seat angle, the footrest is extended in front of the seat and is generally horizontally disposed, and the seat and backrest are moved forwardly relative to the frame between about 2.5 and 4 inches; and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the backrest is disposed at a second backrest angle that is shallower than the first backrest angle, the footrest remains extended in front of the seat, and the seat is moved forward of its position in the TV position between about 4 and 7 inches; and a power actuator coupled to the reclining mechanism that drives the backrest, seat and footrest between the upright, 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 of 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.
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 reclining wall-avoiding seating unit, designated broadly at 10, is shown in
The seating unit 10 is shown as a two-seat “love seat.” The concepts described herein are equally applicable to single seat units (i.e., chairs), as well as larger units like sofas, section pieces, and the like. Each seating location includes a seat 20 with a cushion (not labelled) that overlies a seat frame 22, a backrest 24 and a footrest 29.
The seat 20, the backrest 24 and the footrest 29 of each seating location are interconnected by two mirror image reclining mechanisms 30. The reclining mechanisms 30 comprise a series of pivotally interconnected links and are arranged and configured to move the seating unit between (a) an upright position, in which the backrest is disposed at a first generally upright backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a first generally horizontal seat angle, and the footrest is retracted below a forward portion of the seat and faces generally downwardly, (b) a TV position, in which the backrest substantially maintains the first backrest angle, the seat is disposed at a second seat angle that is steeper than the first seat angle, the footrest is extended in front of the seat and is generally horizontally disposed, and the seat and backrest are moved forwardly relative to the frame and (c) a fully reclined position, in which the backrest is disposed at a second backrest angle that is shallower than the first backrest angle, the footrest remains extended in front of the seat, and the seat is moved forward of its position in the TV position.
The mechanisms 30 are mirror images of each other about a longitudinal plane that divides each seating unit into left and right sides. As such, only one reclining mechanism 30 will be discussed in detail herein, with the understanding that the discussion is equally applicable to its mirror image mechanism and to the reclining mechanisms 30 of the other seating location. Also, the reclining mechanism 30 will be described first with respect to the fully reclined position (
As used herein to describe the relative positions of components, the terms “lateral” “outward” and derivatives thereof indicate the directions defined by a vector beginning at a vertical plane that bisects the seating unit 10 normal to the seat 20 and the backrest 24 and extending normal thereto. Conversely, the terms “inward”, “inboard” and derivatives thereof indicate the direction opposite the “outward” direction. Together, the “inward” and “outward” directions comprise the “transverse” axis of the seating unit 10. The “rear” of the seating unit 10 is directed toward the backrest 24, and the “front” of the seating unit 10 is directed toward the seat 20 and footrest 29. The “front” and “rear” directions comprise the “longitudinal” axis of the seating unit 10.
Referring now to
The lower footrest extension link 48 is attached at a pivot 56 to a footrest mounting bracket 54 on which the footrest 29 is mounted. An angled crank 58 is attached at its lower end to the lower footrest extension link 48 at a pivot 60, and at its vertex to the forward end of the upper footrest extension link 44 at a pivot 62. The forward end of the crank 58 is attached to a bracing link 64 at a pivot 66; the bracing link 64 also attaches to the footrest mounting bracket 54 at a pivot 68 that is forward of the pivot 56. It can be seen in
Referring still to
A rear recline link 174 is attached to the foundation link 152 at a pivot 176 and extends upwardly and slightly forwardly therefrom. A transition link 178 is attached in an intermediate location to the upper end of the rear recline link 174 at a pivot 180. The lower end of the transition link 178 is attached to a carrier link 190 at a pivot 194. The upper end of the transition link 178 is attached at a pivot 184 to the rear end of a coupling link 182.
A front recline link 208 is attached at its lower end to the forward end of the foundation link 152 at a pivot 212. At its upper end, the front recline link 208 is attached to an intermediate location of a drawing link 186 at a pivot 206. The drawing link 186 is attached at its lower end to the carrier link 190 at a pivot 192. The forward end of the coupling link 182 is attached to a central position on the drawing link 186 at a pivot 189. At its upper end, the drawing link 186 is attached to a drive link 214 at a pivot 216. The drive link 214 is attached at its rear end to the foundation link 152 at a pivot 218. A rear seat swing link 196 is attached to the rear end of the carrier link 190 at a pivot 198 and to the seat frame 22 at a pivot 200. A forward seat swing link 202 is attached to the carrier link 190 at a pivot 207 and to the seat frame 22 at a pivot 204. A footrest drawing link 138 is attached to the rear end of the lower footrest swing link 36 at a pivot 145 and to the carrier link 190 at a pivot 146.
A linear actuator 130 is employed to drive the seating unit 10 between positions. The linear actuator 130 includes a motor 131, a rail 132, and a carriage 133 that is configured to move along the rail 132 (driven by the motor 131). An actuator drive link 134 is mounted to the carriage 133 and is attached via a pivot 134a to a bracket 135 that is fixed to a cross-member 136 that is fixed to and spans the lower footrest swing links 36. The motor 131 is attached to a bracket 137 at a pivot 131a. The bracket 137 is fixed to a cross-member 139 that spans the lower rear swing links 154.
The seating unit 10 also includes an extendable headrest 250 that is coupled with the reclining mechanism 30. The headrest 250 moves between a retracted position, in which the headrest 250 is generally horizontal and rests atop the backrest 24, and an extended position, in which the headrest 250 is generally upright and above and generally parallel with the backrest 24. The headrest 250 is in the retracted position when the seating unit 10 is in the upright position (
As can be seen in
Referring now to
A drive link assembly 305 includes lower and ripper segments 302, 304. The lower segment 302, 304 includes two pins 302a, 302b that are received in respective slots 304a, 304b in the upper segment 304. The pins 302a, 302b and slots 304a, 304b enable the segments 302, 304 to slide relative to each other. A spring 303 (shown schematically in
Operation of the seating unit 10 typically commences with the seating unit 10 in the upright position of
Also, as shown in
The seating unit 10 is maintained in the upright position by the actuating mechanism 130. The carriage 133 is maintained in a rearward position on the rail 132, which draws the actuator drink link 134 to a rearward position.
To move the seating unit 10 to the TV position of
Operation of the motor 131 drives the carriage 133 (and the actuator drive link 134) forwardly on the rail 132. Forward movement of the actuator drive link 134 pushes the cross-member 136 forwardly, which in turn causes the lower footrest swing link 36 to pivot counterclockwise (from the vantage point of
In addition, rotation of the lower footrest swing link 36 creates a rearwardly-directed force on the footrest drawing link 138, Which is also directed to the carrier link 190 at the pivot 146. However, the carrier link 190 is prevented from rearward movement by the presence of an “over-center” arrangement of the pivots 170, 164, 166 (see
Notably, the length and upright to slightly rearward disposition of the rear and front intermediate swing links 196, 202 enables the seat 20 to move forwardly a greater distance than many previous seating units. In some embodiments, the forward movement of the seat 20 relative to the base 12 is between about 2.5 and 4 inches, which occurs with substantially no relative movement between the carrier link 190 and the base 12.
Also, as the rear end portion of the seat frame 22 moves forwardly and downwardly, this movement draws the backrest 24 and the foundation panels 301 forwardly and downwardly. The drive link assembly 305 remains generally at the same elevation, but rotates slightly clockwise about the pivot 309. The downward movement of the mounting bracket 306 relative to the drive link assembly 305 causes the lower swing link 308 to pivot clockwise about the pivot 310. Rotation of the lower swing link 308 drives the connection link 314 upwardly, which forces the middle swing link 318 to pivot clockwise about the pivot 320. This action drives the front elevation link 324 upwardly, which in turn rotates the upper swing link 328 clockwise about the pivot 330. Rotation of the upper swing link 328 drives the rear extension link 332 upwardly. As the front and rear extension links 324, 332 rise, they cause the headrest bracket 336 and the attached headrest 250 to take a generally upright disposition (
To move the seating unit 10 from the TV position of
In addition, the forward movement of the seat frame 22 relative to the foundation link 152 draws the backpost 165 (and backrest 24) counterclockwise about the pivot 172. This rotation first causes the lower rear swing link 154 to fully extend forwardly, at which point the upper rear swing link 158 rotates clockwise about the pivot 160. This movement raises the rear end of the seat frame 22 and forces it forwardly, and also causes the backrest 24 to move to a reclined position (i.e., a position with an increased angle relative to the seat 20).
In moving from the TV position to the fully reclined position, the seat frame 22 moves forwardly relative to the base 12 between about 4 and 7 inches, which occurs with substantially no relative forward movement between the seat frame 22 and the earlier link 190. When this distance is combined with the forward movement of the seat frame 22 relative to the base 12 in moving from the upright position to the TV position, the total distance may be as much as 6.5 to 11 inches. Importantly, as can be seen in
Also, as the linear actuator 130 continues to extend and moves the seating unit 10 from the TV position of
It should be noted that, when the headrest 250 is in the retracted position and resting atop the backrest 24, the drive link assembly 305 has the ability to extend, i.e., the upper segment 304 can slide upwardly relative to the lower segment 302. This capability can provide a convenience feature to the seating unit 10, as the headrest 250 can pivot upwardly from the backrest 24 (resisted somewhat by the spring 303, as it biases the segments 302, 304 toward remaining retracted). Thus, if a person, animal or object were resting on the upper surface of the rear portion of the frame as the seating unit 10 moves to the upright position, it would not be trapped against the frame by the headrest 250 as it folds into its retracted position, as the allowable movement between the segments 302, 304 enables the headrest 250 to pivot away from the frame.
It should also be noted that the illustrated seating unit 10 is an “off-the-ground” high-leg style, such that there is space between the lower edges of the arms 14 and the underlying floor (this distance may be between about 4 and 7 inches). It can be seen that the seating unit 10 has wall-proximity capability while still having a reclining mechanism 30 that folds into a sufficiently small “package” that the reclining mechanism 30 is not visible from the side of the seating unit 10 when the seating unit 10 is in the upright position, and can do so with the seating unit 10 maintaining a typical height of the seat 20 above the underlying surface (e.g., 18-23 inches).
In addition, this configuration also enables the use of a deeper seat frame 22, Which can provide more room front-to-back for sitting, laying down, napping, etc. Further, in some embodiments, a unitary upholstery piece (e.g., a cushion or pad) can be used to cover the seat and the footrest 29. As an example, the pad can be attached to the rear end of the seat 20, extend forwardly to cover the seat 20, extend downwardly to cover the front surface of the footrest 29, and attach to the rear side of the footrest 29. Extension/retraction of the footrest 29 and forward movement of the seat 20 are such that the pad can remain taut, but not overstretch, as these components move between positions. Such a pad is shown and described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2020/0163458 to Murphy, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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.
The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/219,495, filed Jul. 8, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2948331 | Schliephacke | Aug 1960 | A |
| 3009734 | Schliephacke | Nov 1961 | A |
| 4077663 | Cycowicz | Mar 1978 | A |
| 4337977 | Rogers, Jr. | Jul 1982 | A |
| 4531778 | Rogers, Jr. | Jul 1985 | A |
| 4805960 | Tacker | Feb 1989 | A |
| 5588710 | Wiecek | Dec 1996 | A |
| 5992930 | LaPointe | Nov 1999 | A |
| 7731276 | Hoffman | Jun 2010 | B2 |
| 9603453 | Hoffman | Mar 2017 | B2 |
| 10524575 | LaPointe | Jan 2020 | B2 |
| 11197549 | LaPointe | Dec 2021 | B1 |
| 20080036248 | Beaver | Feb 2008 | A1 |
| 20110248530 | Sartisohn | Oct 2011 | A1 |
| 20120286557 | Hoffman | Nov 2012 | A1 |
| 20200163458 | Murphy | May 2020 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20230010099 A1 | Jan 2023 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63219495 | Jul 2021 | US |
