Claims
- 1. A three way reclining mechanism for moving an item of reclining furniture between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions, the mechanism comprising:
- a stationary base member;
- a seat supporting member;
- backrest linkage connected to a rear end of said seat supporting member and including a pivoting backrest link for attachment to a backrest and operable to pivot with respect to said seat supporting member;
- a footrest support operatively connected to a forward end of said seat supporting member to allow extension and retraction of said footrest support; and,
- a roller and track system operatively connected between said stationary base member and said seat supporting member to allow relative forward and rearward movement therebetween, said roller and track system including at least one roller engaging a track and said track including a first section sloped downwardly from rear to front and a second section sloped upwardly from rear to front, said first and second sections being separated by a generally angled intersection, wherein said roller is disposed at an upper end portion of the first track section in the fully upright position, at said intersection in the intermediate reclined position and at an upper end portion of the second track section in the fully reclined position.
- 2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said roller and track system further comprises two rollers and two tracks, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said seat supporting member and said base member.
- 3. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said track is disposed on said base member and said roller is mounted for rotation to said seat supporting member.
- 4. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein said base member is a base link adapted for attachment to frame structure of the furniture item and said track is formed on an upper edge of said base member.
- 5. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein said roller and track system further comprises two rollers and two tracks, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said seat supporting member and said base member.
- 6. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said roller is part of a roller assembly including a roller follower for moving along an opposite side of said track with respect to said roller.
- 7. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said track is disposed on said seat supporting member and said roller is mounted for rotation to said base member.
- 8. The mechanism of claim 7 wherein said base member is a base link adapted for attachment to frame structure of the furniture item and said track is formed on a lower edge of said seat supporting member.
- 9. The mechanism of claim 7 wherein said roller and track system further comprises two rollers and two tracks, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said seat supporting member and said base member.
- 10. The mechanism of claim 7 wherein said roller is part of a roller assembly including a roller follower for moving along an opposite side of said track with respect to said roller.
- 11. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said seat supporting member is formed as a portion of a tubular seat frame structure.
- 12. The mechanism of claim 11 wherein said tubular seat frame structure is formed from a plurality tubular members with adjustable connections therebetween to allow size adjustment corresponding to differently sized furniture items.
- 13. A reclining furniture item movable between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions comprising:
- a) a stationary base member;
- b) a backrest, a seat and a footrest connected for movement with respect to each other by a pair of reclining mechanisms, each reclining mechanism including:
- i) a seat supporting member connected to said seat;
- ii) backrest linkage connected to a rear end of said seat supporting member and including a pivoting backrest link connected to said backrest and operable to allow pivoting of said backrest with respect to said seat;
- iii) a footrest support operatively connected to a forward end of said seat supporting member and connected to said footrest to allow extension and retraction of said footrest with respect to said seat; and,
- iv) a roller and track system operatively connected between said stationary base member and said seat supporting member to allow relative forward and rearward movement therebetween, said roller and track system including at least one roller engaging a track said track including a first section sloped downwardly from rear to front and a second section sloped upwardly from rear to front, said first and second sections being separated by a generally angled intersection, wherein said roller is disposed at an upper end portion of the first track section in the fully upright position, at said intersection in the intermediate reclined position and at an upper end portion of the second track section in the fully reclined position.
- 14. The furniture item of claim 13 wherein said roller and track system further comprises two rollers and two tracks, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said s eat supporting member and said base member.
- 15. The furniture item of claim 13 wherein said track is disposed on said base member and said roller is mounted for rotation to said seat supporting member.
- 16. The furniture item of claim 15 wherein said base member is a base link attached to frame structure of the furniture item and said track is formed on an upper edge of said base member.
- 17. The furniture item of claim 15 wherein said roller and track system further comprises two rollers and two tracks, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said seat supporting member and said base member.
- 18. The furniture item of claim 13 wherein said roller is part of a roller assembly including a roller follower for moving along an opposite side of said track with respect to said roller.
- 19. The furniture item of claim 13 wherein said track is disposed on said seat supporting member and said roller is mounted for rotation to said base member.
- 20. The furniture item of claim 19 wherein said base member is a base link attached to frame structure of the furniture item and said track is formed on a lower edge of said seat supporting member.
- 21. The furniture item of claim 19 wherein said roller and track system further comprises two rollers and two tracks, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said seat supporting member and said base member.
- 22. The furniture item of claim 19 wherein said roller is part of a roller assembly including a roller follower for moving along an opposite side of said track with respect to said roller.
- 23. The mechanism of claim 13 wherein said seat supporting member is formed as a portion of a tubular seat frame structure.
- 24. The mechanism of claim 23 wherein said tubular seat frame structure is formed from a plurality tubular members with adjustable connections therebetween to allow size adjustment corresponding to differently sized furniture items.
- 25. A reclining furniture item movable between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions comprising:
- a) a stationary base member;
- b) a backrest, a seat and a footrest connected for movement with respect to each other by a pair of reclining mechanisms, each reclining mechanism including:
- i) a tubular seat supporting member connected to said seat;
- ii) backrest linkage connected to a rear end of said seat supporting member and including a pivoting backrest link connected to said backrest and operable to allow pivoting of said backrest with respect to said seat;
- iii) a footrest support operatively connected to a forward end of said seat supporting member and connected to said footrest to allow extension and retraction of said footrest with respect to said seat;
- iv) at least one roller connected for rotation to said base member; and
- v) a track formed on said tubular seat supporting member and mounted on said roller, said track including first and second differently sloped sections separated by a generally angled intersection, the first sloped track section being sloped downward from rear to front and the second sloped section being sloped upward from rear to front, wherein said roller is disposed at an end portion of the first sloped track section in the fully upright position, at said intersection in the intermediate reclined position and at an end portion of the second sloped track section in the fully reclined position.
- 26. The mechanism of claim 25 wherein said base member is a base link attached to frame structure of said furniture item.
- 27. The mechanism of claim 25 wherein said mechanism further comprises two rollers mounted to said base member two tracks formed on said tubular seat supporting member, said rollers and said tracks being respectively engaged with each other at front and rear locations on said tubular seat supporting member and said base member.
- 28. The mechanism of claim 25 wherein said roller is part of a roller assembly including a roller follower for moving along an opposite side of said track with respect to said roller.
- 29. The mechanism of claim 25 wherein said tubular seat supporting member is formed from a plurality tubular members with adjustable connections therebetween to allow size adjustment corresponding to differently sized furniture items.
- 30. A three way reclining mechanism for moving an item of reclining furniture between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions, the mechanism comprising:
- a) a base member;
- b) seat supporting linkage;
- c) backrest linkage connected to a rear end of said seat supporting linkage and including a pivoting backrest link for attachment to a backrest and operable to pivot with respect to said seat supporting linkage;
- d) a footrest support operatively connected to a forward end of said seat supporting linkage to allow extension and retraction of said footrest support; and,
- e) a roller and track system operatively connected to said base member and said seat supporting linkage to allow relative forward and rearward movement between said base member and a seat adapted to be supported by the seat supporting linkage, said roller and track system including first and second rollers respectively engaging first and second tracks, wherein the first roller moves independently of the second roller during movement of the mechanism between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions and both the first and second rollers move along the first and second tracks during movement of the mechanism between the intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions.
- 31. The mechanism of claim 30 wherein said first track is disposed on said base member and first said roller is mounted for rotation to a link in said seat supporting linkage.
- 32. The mechanism of claim 31 wherein said base member is a base link adapted for attachment to frame structure of the furniture item and said first track is disposed at a rear portion of the base link.
- 33. The mechanism of claim 30 wherein the second track is formed as a single, straight track.
- 34. The mechanism of claim 33 wherein the second track slopes upward from rear to front.
- 35. The mechanism of claim 30 wherein the second roller is connected for rotation to a link in said seat supporting linkage and remains stationary as the mechanism moves between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions.
- 36. The mechanism of claim 35 wherein the second roller acts as a pivot point for said seat supporting linkage during movement of the mechanism between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions.
- 37. In a three way reclining mechanism for moving an item of reclining furniture between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions, and generally including a base member and a seat supporting member operatively connected together for moving the item of furniture between said positions, wherein the improvement comprises:
- a roller and track system operatively connected to said base member and said seat supporting member to allow relative forward and rearward movement between said base member and a seat adapted to be supported by the seat supporting member, said roller and track system including first and second rollers respectively engaging first and second tracks, wherein the first roller moves along the first track as the mechanism moves between each of the fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions, while the second roller moves along the second track only during movement of the mechanism between the intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions.
- 38. The mechanism of claim 37 further comprising seat supporting linkage connected with the seat supporting member wherein the second roller acts as a pivot point for said seat supporting linkage during movement of the mechanism between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions.
- 39. The mechanism of claim 37 wherein the first track includes an angled portion at which the first roller rests at the intermediate reclined position.
- 40. The mechanism of claim 39 wherein the second track is a straight track that slopes upward from rear to front.
- 41. A reclining furniture item movable between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions comprising:
- a) a base member;
- b) a backrest, a seat and a footrest connected for movement with respect to each other by a pair of reclining mechanisms, each reclining mechanism including:
- i) seat supporting linkage including a seat link connected to said seat;
- ii) backrest linkage connected to a rear end of said seat supporting linkage and including a pivoting backrest link connected to said backrest and operable to allow pivoting of said backrest with respect to said seat;
- iii) a footrest support operatively connected to a forward end of said seat supporting linkage and connected to said footrest to allow extension and retraction of said footrest with respect to said seat; and,
- iv) a roller and track system operatively connected to said base member and said seat supporting linkage to allow relative forward and rearward movement between said base member and said seat, said roller and track system including a first roller engaging a first track, wherein the first roller moves independently of the second roller during movement of the mechanism between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions and both the first and second rollers move along the first and second tracks during movement of the mechanism between the intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions.
- 42. The furniture item of claim 41 wherein said first track is disposed on said base member and said first roller is mounted for rotation to a link in said seat supporting linkage.
- 43. The furniture item of claim 42 wherein said base member is a base link attached to frame structure of the furniture item and said first track is disposed at a rear portion of the base link.
- 44. The mechanism of claim 41 wherein the second track is formed as a single, straight track.
- 45. The mechanism of claim 44 wherein the second track slopes upward from rear to front.
- 46. The mechanism of claim 41 wherein the second roller is connected for rotation to a link in said seat supporting linkage and remains stationary as the mechanism moves between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions.
- 47. The mechanism of claim 46 wherein the second roller acts as a pivot point for said seat supporting linkage during movement of the mechanism between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions.
- 48. The mechanism of claim 47 wherein the second roller remains stationary as the mechanism moves between the fully upright and intermediate reclined positions.
- 49. In a three way reclining mechanism for moving an item of reclining furniture between fully upright, intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions, and generally including a base member and a seat supporting member operatively connected together for moving the item of furniture between said positions, wherein the improvement comprises:
- a roller and track system operatively connected to said base member and said seat supporting member to allow relative forward and rearward movement between said base member and a seat adapted to be supported by the seat supporting member, said roller and track system including at least one roller engaging a track, said track including a first section sloped downwardly from rear to front and a second section sloped upwardly from rear to front, said first and second sections being separated by a generally angled intersection, wherein said roller is disposed at an upper end portion of the first track section in the fully upright position, at said intersection in the intermediate reclined position and at an upper end portion of the second track section in the fully reclined position.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/664,000, filed on Jun. 14, 1996 now abandoned.
The disclosure of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/664,000 is hereby fully incorporated by reference herein.
US Referenced Citations (73)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
701781 |
Dec 1940 |
DEX |
1010702 |
Jun 1957 |
DEX |
603980 |
Jun 1948 |
GBX |
775679 |
May 1957 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
664000 |
Jun 1996 |
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