Chairs and seats – Bottom or back with means to alter contour – Providing support for lower back region
Patent
1998-07-01
1999-11-23
Brown, Peter R.
Chairs and seats
Bottom or back with means to alter contour
Providing support for lower back region
29745252, A47C 746
Patent
active
059887451
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention concerns an improved support structure for incorporation in a seat frame, and more especially such a structure comprising a wire framework of the kind having two lateral side wires adapted to be suspended in a seat frame and between which extend a plurality of transverse wires providing load bearing support for upholstery of the seat.
Support structures of the aforementioned kind are very well known and may have various configurations determined by the design of seat in which the support structure is to be mounted.
Whilst such support structures have proved advantageous in hitherto known designs of seat, there is an increasing requirement, particularly in relation to seats for motor vehicles, that the seat back should provide adequate and anatomically correct support for an occupant of the seat in the lumbar region.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a support structure of the aforementioned type that is capable of providing improved lumbar support.
In accordance with the invention a support structure of the aforementioned type is characterised in that one or more transverse wires extend laterally beyond the side wires after having been wound around the latter and terminate in hook-like fingers that extend generally in a plane parallel to a surface of the seat to be supported.
The fact that the extended portions of the transverse wires terminate in free ends acting as fingers, rather than being connected to an edge wire as in hitherto known constructions, enables more versatile lateral support to be provided, particularly in the lumbar region of a back rest, as the fingers can be individually angled, if desired, to conform to the contour of the seat back. The hooked ends of the wire fingers may also provide a convenient means for the suspension of the support structure in a seat frame, serving as anchorages for tension springs or like suspension means.
The fact that the laterally extending fingers are unconnected at their free ends also enables an effective adjustable lumbar support to be provided by arching of the two side wires under the action of a tension means, in known manner, as the freely extending fingers can provide laterally contoured support in the lumbar region without interfering with the arching of the two side wires.
If desired the two side wires may be angled to provide regions of the support structure of differing transverse widths between these side wires. Transverse wires extending between a wider section of the support structure may terminate at the side wires, so that the support structure combines an area having the characteristics of a known flat support with an area having lateral support provided by the extended wire fingers in accordance with the invention.
Further preferred features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a front view of a support structure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, and
FIG. 2 is a similar view of a second embodiment of the invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, a support structure comprises a pair of side wires 1 and 2 between which extend a plurality of transverse wires 3 that are anchored to the side wires 1 and 2 by being wound around the latter and then extend beyond the side wires at 4 to terminate in hooked ends 5 that extend generally in the plane of a surface of the seat to be supported.
In known manner the side wires 1 and 2 are provided with a covering of paper or plastic material that is gripped by the wound portions of the wires 3 and serves to maintain the spacing of the latter along the side wires 1 and 2. The lower ends of the wires 1 and 2 as viewed in the drawing are interconnected by a U-shaped transverse wire 6 of similar gauge and construction to the wires 1 and 2, the wire 6 being secured to the wires 1 and 2 by means of clips, in known manner. A similar transverse wire 7 is provided in the region of the upper ends of the wires 1 and 2.
The upper ends of the wires 1 and 2 are angled ou
REFERENCES:
patent: 4715653 (1987-12-01), Hattori et al.
patent: 5050930 (1991-09-01), Schuster et al.
patent: 5518294 (1996-05-01), Ligon, Sr. et al.
Brown Peter R.
Youngflex AG
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