Chairs and seats – Armrest – Adjustable to multiple use positions relative to bottom or back
Reexamination Certificate
2003-09-16
2004-11-30
Cuomo, Peter M. (Department: 3636)
Chairs and seats
Armrest
Adjustable to multiple use positions relative to bottom or back
Reexamination Certificate
active
06824217
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an armrest assembly, more particularly to a height adjustable armrest assembly for a chair.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 2
, a conventional height adjustable armrest assembly
1
is shown to include an L-shaped support
11
, a vertical sleeve
12
, a lever body
13
, and an armrest
14
.
The support
11
includes a horizontal part
111
adapted to be fixed on a bottom side of a chair (not shown), and a vertical part
112
that extends upwardly from one end of the horizontal part
111
and that is formed with vertically aligned positioning grooves
113
. The vertical sleeve
12
is sleeved slidably on the vertical part
112
, has a peripheral wall
121
defining a receiving space
122
for receiving the vertical part
112
therein, and is formed with a plurality of limiting ribs
123
which contact slidably the vertical part
112
so as to prevent wobbling of the peripheral wall
121
relative to the vertical part
112
. The lever body
13
has an upper block portion
132
pivoted to the peripheral wall
121
, an engaging portion
133
extending from the upper block portion,
132
into the receiving space
122
to releasably engage a selected one of the positioning grooves
113
, and an operating portion
131
connected to the upper block portion
132
and exposed from the peripheral wall
121
. The armrest
14
is mounted on the vertical sleeve
12
. When the operating portion
131
is lifted upward as shown in
FIG. 2
, the lever body
13
swings in the vertical sleeve
12
to permit disengagement of the engaging portion
133
from the selected one of the positioning grooves
113
.
It is relatively inconvenient and laborious to adjust the height of the armrest
14
. Moreover, since the distance between adjacent ones of the positioning grooves
113
is fixed, height adjustment of the conventional armrest assembly lacks flexibility.
A height adjustable armrest assembly for a chair according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,221 discloses an armrest support adapted to be fixed on a seat of the chair, an armrest mounted rotatably on the armrest support, a hydraulic cylinder secured in the armrest support, a piston rod secured to the armrest and exposed to ambience when the armrest is lifted relative to the armrest support by the piston rod, and a lever unit mounted in the armrest for actuating the piston rod.
Disadvantages of Patent '221 are as follows:
(1) Since the outer surface of the piston rod is normally applied with lubricant thereon, the user may accidentally contact the lubricant when the piston rod is raised and exposed to the ambience.
(2) Since the armrest and the top end of the armrest support cooperatively form a gap therebetween when the piston rod is raised, objects, such as clothes, fingers, etc., may be accidentally clamped therebetween when the armrest together with the piston rod is lowered down to the top end of the armrest support.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a height adjustable armrest assembly for a chair that is capable of overcoming the aforesaid disadvantages of the prior art.
Accordingly, a height adjustable armrest assembly of the present invention for a chair includes: a support unit including a lower part defining a lower chamber, and an upper part that defines an upper chamber therein, that is movable relative to the lower part, and that has an abutting member disposed within the upper chamber and subdividing the upper chamber into an upper portion and a lower portion; an armrest mounted on the upper part so as to be movable together therewith; a cylinder-and-piston unit including a cylinder that extends into the lower portion of the upper chamber to abut against the abutting member and that has opposite upper and lower ends, a piston mounted securely in the lower chamber and telescopically extending into the lower end of the cylinder, and a locking member including a spring-biased button projecting upwardly from the upper end of the cylinder, extending through the abutting member and into the upper portion of the upper chamber, and pressible to move between a locked position, in which, the cylinder is locked by the locking member against axial movement relative to the piston, and an unlocked position, in which, the cylinder is released by the locking member so as to be axially movable relative to the piston; and a control knob mounted movably on the upper part of the support unit, engaging the button, and operable so as to move the button from the locked position to the unlocked position.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3950027 (1976-04-01), Wilson
patent: 5636899 (1997-06-01), Schiff et al.
patent: 5749629 (1998-05-01), Heath et al.
patent: 5908221 (1999-06-01), Neil
patent: 5931536 (1999-08-01), Wu
patent: 6702386 (2004-03-01), Davis et al.
Cuomo Peter M.
Edell Joseph
Fu Luong Hi-Tech Co., Ltd.
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
LandOfFree
Height adjustable armrest assembly for a chair does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Height adjustable armrest assembly for a chair, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Height adjustable armrest assembly for a chair will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3328896