Chair

Details Chair Chair

2000-01-12

2001-10-23

Nelson, Jr., Milton (Department: 3636)

Chairs and seats

Bottom or back

Contoured bottom

C297S452330

Reexamination Certificate

active

06305751

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a chair, preferably of the type adapted for use by handicapped persons, comprising a seat provided with upholstery, and a back rest, a chair frame supporting the seat and the back rest and having, or not, wheels and arm rests fixed in position to the lateral or bottom portions of the seat.
The chairs of the type mentioned above today available on the market suffer from problems as far as the seating comfort is concerned, especially when used by persons who remain seating in the chair for long periods of time. As far as the chair seat is concerned this part has so far not provided the pelvis of the user a satisfactory stability in the rear direction to the back rest. Further, the pressure against the tuberis ischiadicum in combination with the considerable shearing force relatively the seat amount to such a magnitude that the user experiences lack of comfort and so that the soft regions between the seat and the pelvis will get benumbed after some time in the chair. Other problems are that the lower portion of the back rest does not provide adequate space for the pelvis in the rear direction and that the back rest will exert a pressure against the pelvis so that the user tends to slip forwards on the seat and, in the worst case, may fall out of the chair.
When efforts have been made to rectify those problems by tilting the seat backwards, some of the problems are eliminated to a certain extent but, instead other problems will turn up, i.a. that the user assumes a posture too stabilizing backwards to allow him to be active forwards. Also, the tendency for the spine to get compressed does also increase significantly and, already after a few minutes, there arise great problems in the shape of tension in the muscles of the back of the neck. Further, the pressure exerted by the arms against the arm rests can get rather high if the person remains seating in this position for a longer period of time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved chair of the type mentioned above in which the above-mentioned drawbacks have been eliminated so that a handicapped person can experience an excellent support from both the seat, the back rest and the arm rests and always find himself in a comfortable position in the chair. The features characterizing the invention are set out in the subsequent claims.
Thanks to the invention there has now been provided a chair which in an excellent manner can perform its functions and which, at the same time, can be manufactured in a both simple and rational way. Thanks to the fact that, according to the invention, the rear portion of the seat below the user's pelvis has been lowered, it will better match the anatomic shape of a human “seating print”. In this way the pelvis will be positioned at a lower level and somewhat more to the rear on the seat and the stability of the pelvis in the forward direction is increased which means that a backwards sliding in the chair is rendered more difficult. At the same time, the back rest will provide a good stabilization from the rear. In addition thereto the seat depth of the chair can be utilized in an optimal way. Due to the fact that the seat can be tilted forwards—not only when the user shall stand up but also to provide a more optimal working situation—the seat can have this form without causing muscular tensions in the user. The selection of such a seat shape also makes it simpler for the user to adjust the back rest so that it gets more functional as far as the upper part of the body is concerned. The shape of the back rest does, according to the invention, also provide an increased space for the lower portion of the pelvis at the bottom part of the back rest. This has been attained in the way that the lower part of the back rest is shaped so that it gets convex upwards resulting in a solution which makes the lowermost portion of the back rest softer, more flexible and space-providing. As far as the arm rests are concerned those do according to the invention at their upper, inner corners exhibit a centrally located, rounded inward bend somewhat lower, so that when the material in the arm rest is exposed to a load from above the inward bend can be compressed making the corner rounder and softer to the user.


REFERENCES:
patent: 749804 (1904-01-01), Place
patent: 3279853 (1966-10-01), Cromwell et al.
patent: 4331361 (1982-05-01), Krakauer
patent: 5352023 (1994-10-01), Jay et al.
patent: 8303195 (1982-09-01), None

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