Claims
- 1. A seating unit, comprising:
a base; a seat-supporting structure movably mounted on said base; a back support pivoted to the seat supporting structure for movement between upright and reclined positions; a seat positioned on the seat-supporting structure; said seat-supporting structure being adapted to allow said seat to move generally forwardly in a synchronized motion with the back support in response to recline of the back support; and a compliant back connected to the back support in at least one top connection and to one of the back support and the seat in at least one bottom connection vertically spaced from the at least one top connection, the at least one bottom connection constraining the bottom of the compliant back to a predetermined range of motion and the compliant back being flexible so that the compliant back undergoes controlled flexure between the top and bottom connections upon flexure of a seated user's back.
- 2. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein said at least one bottom connection is located proximate a rear of the seat and proximate a bottom of the compliant back.
- 3. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein said seat-supporting structure is also adapted to move said seat angularly relative to said back support upon recline of the back support.
- 4. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein said generally forwardly motion of said seat occurs during recline of said back support.
- 5. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein the portion of said seat-supporting structure positioning said seat is mechanically connected to the portion of said seat-supporting structure having said back support pivoted thereto.
- 6. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein an active energy mechanism biases said compliant back.
- 7. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein an energy mechanism biases said back support toward an upright position.
- 8. The seating unit of claim 7, wherein said energy mechanism is active.
- 9. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein the base, seat, and back define a chair.
- 10. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein the back support and the seat-supporting structure are operably connected to the base for moving the back and seat with a synchronous simultaneous motion upon recline of the back by a seated user.
- 11. The seating unit of claim 1, wherein the back support is pivoted to the seat-supporting structure for movement about a pivot axis located forward of a front surface of the back.
- 12. A seating unit, comprising:
a base; a back support adapted for pivotal motion relative to said base between upright and recline positions; a seat adapted for generally forward movement relative to said base that is synchronized with movement of said back support such that said seat moves forwardly in a synchronized motion with the back support in response to recline of the back support; a back shell attached to said back support and having relatively rigid upper and lower areas interconnected by a relatively flexible central area, and including at least one top and at least one bottom pivotal connection; an active energy mechanism biasing said back shell toward a more convex shape when viewed in a vertical section; and wherein said pivotal connections constrain the flexure of said back shell so that said rigid upper and lower areas rotate in opposite directions about their respective pivotal connections as said back shell is flexed.
- 13. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein said at least one bottom pivotal connection is positioned forward of said back shell.
- 14. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein said seating unit includes a seat-supporting structure movably mounted on said base and said seat is mounted on said seat-supporting structure.
- 15. The seating unit of claim 14, wherein said back support is pivotably attached to said seat-supporting structure.
- 16. The seating unit of claim 15, wherein said back support is pivoted relative to said seat at a point forward of a front surface of said back shell.
- 17. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein said seat also moves angularly relative to said back support upon recline of the back support.
- 18. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein said generally forward motion of said seat occurs during recline of said back support.
- 19. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein said seat is mechanically connected to said back support.
- 20. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein an energy mechanism biases said back support toward an upright position.
- 21. The seating unit of claim 20, wherein said energy mechanism is active.
- 22. The seating unit of claim 21 wherein the base, seat, and back define a chair.
- 23. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein the back shell and the seat-supporting structure are operably connected to the base for moving the back shell and seat with a synchronous simultaneous motion upon recline of the back shell by a seated user.
- 24. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein the back shell is pivoted to the seat for movement about a pivot axis located forward of a front surface of the back.
- 25. The seating unit of claim 12 wherein the base, seat, and back support define a chair.
- 26. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein the back support and the seat-supporting structure are operably connected to the base for moving the back and seat with a synchronous simultaneous motion upon recline of the back by a seated user.
- 27. The seating unit of claim 12, wherein the back support is pivoted to the seat-supporting structure for movement about a pivot axis located forward of a front surface of the back.
- 28. A seating unit comprising:
a back support; a seat adapted for angular movement relative to said back support that is synchronized with movement of said back support such that said seat moves angularly in a synchronized motion with the back support in response to recline of the back support; a back bendable to different shapes for engaging and supporting a seated user and connected to the back support in at least one top connection and to one of the back support and the seat in at least one bottom connection; and a belt bracket attached to the back, and having flanges that extend from the back, the flanges providing a portion of said at least one bottom connection, said back being constrained by the top and bottom connections and by the flanges so that the back is adapted to engage and provide support to the seated user.
- 29. The seating unit of claim 28, wherein said seat also moves generally forwardly relative to said back support upon recline of the back support.
- 30. The seating unit of claim 28, wherein said motion of said seat occurs during recline of said back support.
- 31. The seating unit of claim 28, wherein the angular motion of said seat results from the rear portion of said seat moving downward relative to the front portion of said seat.
- 32. The seating unit of claim 28, wherein said seat is mechanically connected to said back support.
- 33. The seating unit of claim 28, wherein an active energy mechanism biases said back.
- 34. The seating unit of claim 28, wherein an energy mechanism biases said back support toward an upright position.
- 35. The seating unit of claim 34, wherein said energy mechanism is active.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/214,543, filed Aug. 8, 2002, entitled Seating Unit Including Novel Back Construction, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/921,059, filed Aug. 2, 2001, entitled Seating Unit Including Novel Back Construction (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,928), which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/694,041, filed Oct. 20, 2000, entitled Seating Unit Including Novel Back (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,982), which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/491,975, filed Jan. 27, 2000, entitled Back for Seating Unit (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,877), which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/386,668, filed Aug. 31, 1999, entitled Chair Control Having Adjustable Energy Mechanism (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,695), which is a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/957,506, filed Oct. 24, 1997, entitled Chair with Reclineable Back and Adjustable Energy Mechanism (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,153).
[0002] This application is also related to the following co-assigned patents and applications. The disclosure of each of these patents and applications is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety:
1TITLEU.S. Pat. No.ISSUE DATEChair Including5,975,634Nov. 2, 1999Novel Back ConstructionChair With Novel Seat Construction5,871,258Feb. 16, 1999Chair with Novel Pivot Mounts and5,909,923Jun. 8, 1999Method of AssemblySynchrotilt Chair with5,979,984Nov. 9, 1999Forwardly Movable SeatSeating Unit with Reclineable Back6,394,549May 28, 2002And Forwardly Movable SeatSeating Unit with Novel6,394,548May 28, 2002Seat ConstructionSeating Unit with Novel Pivot Mounts6,318,800Nov. 20, 2001And Method of AssemblyBack for Seating Unit6,394,545May 28, 2002
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09694041 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
09921059 |
Aug 2001 |
US |
Parent |
08957506 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09386668 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Continuations (4)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10214543 |
Aug 2002 |
US |
Child |
10376535 |
Feb 2003 |
US |
Parent |
09921059 |
Aug 2001 |
US |
Child |
10214543 |
Aug 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09491975 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
09694041 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Parent |
09386668 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Child |
09491975 |
Jan 2000 |
US |