Chairs and seats – Bottom or back with means to alter contour
Patent
1985-06-28
1987-07-07
Zugel, Francis K.
Chairs and seats
Bottom or back with means to alter contour
A47C 300
Patent
active
046782303
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to back support mechanisms.
Mass produced chairs and the like formed with a fixed back support structure do not provide adequate lumbar support for many users. Various attempts have been made using selective padding of back rest zones in order to provide comfort together with adequate lumbar support for a variety of users. Of course individual requirements vary to a date such attempts have not been entirely successful. Also back rests have been formed on adjustable mountings to vary the inclination thereof. However, such adjustment cannot accommodate variations in individual back configurations.
The present invention aims to alleviate the disadvantages associated with such prior art devices and to provide a back support mechanism which can be incorporated in backrests and which will be effective and efficient in use. It is also an object of this invention to provide such a mechanism which can be adjusted to suit individual requirements.
With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention provides a back support mechanism for a backrest of a chair including: out of the plane of the backrest for a chosen degree.
Preferably the adjustable support means bearing pad is movable in a direction substantially at right angles to the plane of the backrest. If desired however, the bearing pad could be movable or pivotal for adjustment in any suitable manner so as to provide support in the lumbar region of a user. In a preferred form the bearing pad is centrally disposed and pivotally connected to the opposed supports arranged for movement towards or away from one another and the pivotal connection being such that such movement causes a corresponding movement of the bearing pad substantially in the direction at right angles to the plane of movement of said supports. The supports can be adapted to move transversely or in an up and down direction and of course if desired the bearing pad could be coupled to a single support or it could be located by other actuating mechanisms. Preferably the supports engage a threaded actuating shaft having external actuating means whereby rotation of the shaft will cause the supports to move together or away from one another.
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a typical application of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a preferred form of back support mechanism;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a broken away view illustrating the operation of the back support mechanism;
FIG. 5 illustrates a modified mounting arrangement for the support mechanism;
FIG. 6 illustrates another modified mounting arrangement for the support mechanism; and
FIG. 7 shows a view illustrating the mode of adjustment of the mechanism of FIG. 6.
As illustrated the support mechanism 10 is adapted to be supported between the side rails 11 of the backrest 12 of a chair. The side rails 11 are upholstered and control means such as an operating knob 13 is supported in an accessible position projecting outwardly from the backrest as illustrated in FIG. 1. The backrest 12 may include fixed upper and lower backrest panels 14 and an intermediate backrest panel 15 which is separately upholstered and movable with respect to the adjacent panels 14 such that adjustment of the panel 15 will not pull on the fixed upholstery fabric in the panels 14 and about the side rails 11 and cause creases and the like to form in the upholstery fabric.
The back support mechanism 10 includes adjustable support means comprising a central substantially rectangular bearing pad 16 which is connected pivotally at opposite sides to laterally spaced link members 17 each having upper and lower slotted arms 18 remote from the pad 16 which engage about mountings or posts 19. Posts 19 are supported slidably on upper and lower guide rails 20. The inner end portions 21 of the link members 17 extend inwardly beyond their pivotal connections 23 with the bearing
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