JP7621060B2 - Chair with armrests - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a chair with armrests.

In chairs, the positioning of armrests is often such that the armrests protrude from the backrest. As an example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which left and right support pillars are formed on the backrest support body to which the backrest is attached, the backrest is fixed to the left and right support pillars, and an elbow body is integrally formed at the upper ends of the left and right support pillars of the backrest support body so that it protrudes forward, and an elbow pad is attached to the elbow body.

JP 2012-10937 A

In Patent Document 1, there is no armrest support, which has the advantage of providing a sleek overall appearance. However, because the armrest body is integrally formed with the backrest support, the mold for manufacturing the backrest support must be large and complex, which creates the problem of increased costs.

In this regard, it is conceivable to manufacture the armrest separately from the backrest support and fix the armrest to the backrest support with a bolt. By manufacturing the armrest as a separate member in this way, when attaching an operating lever operated by a wire cable inside the armrest, it is easy to realize the wiring structure of the wire cable. Furthermore, it is easy to apply it to a type without an armrest, a fixed arm type, a movable arm type, etc., and there is also the advantage that it is easy to have variations in the design of the armrest device. However, with this bolt fastening method, there is a concern that the bolt head is exposed to the outside, which mars the aesthetics.

The present invention was made to improve this current situation.

The present invention includes the structures of the claims, and the invention of claim 1 is as follows:
"It has a tilting frame connected to a base so as to be able to tilt backward, and a backrest attached to the tilting frame, and the tilting frame has left and right support parts that are covered from behind or from the left and right outside by the left and right sides of the backrest, and armrests are attached to the support parts."
In this configuration,
"The support column is a hollow structure that opens upward, and a hollow intermediate member is inserted from above into the support column, and a part of the elbow body is inserted from above into the intermediate member, and a part of the elbow body is fixed to the intermediate member by a bolt that is long in the axial direction of the support column and faces downward or upward.
The relay member is fixed to the support column by a first bolt that faces the head toward the side of the backrest so that the head is hidden by the side of the backrest.
It is given the following characteristics.

Claim 2 states:
"The seat includes a tilting frame connected to a base so as to be tiltable backward, and a backrest attached to the tilting frame, and the tilting frame has left and right support parts that are covered by the left and right side parts of the backrest,
The support pillar is a hollow structure that opens upward, and the armrest body of the armrest is fixed to the intermediate member disposed inside the support pillar by a downward or upward bolt.
The relay member is fixed to the support by a first bolt whose head is hidden by the side of the backrest.
In this basic configuration,
"The relay member is cup-shaped and opens upward, while the elbow body is formed with a boss portion that fits into the relay member from above, and the boss portion is fixed to the relay member by the downward or upward second bolt."
The structure is as follows.

Claim 3 provides the same basic configuration as claim 2 ,
"The backrest and the support pillar are held together by a dovetail-shaped female rail portion and a dovetail-shaped male rail portion that fit together from above and below, and the head of the first bolt is located at the point where the male rail portion and the female rail portion fit together."
The structure is as follows.

Furthermore, the invention of claim 4 has the same basic configuration as claim 2,
" The armrest body is formed with a boss that fits into the relay member from above, and an operating lever for controlling the movable member of the chair is attached to the underside of the armrest. The boss and the relay member have an escape hole through which a wire cable that transmits the movement of the operating lever to the control unit of the movable member can be inserted."
The structure is as follows.

In each of the present inventions, the elbow body is fixed to the support part via a relay member built into the support part, and while the head of the first bolt that fixes the relay member is hidden by the backrest and cannot be seen, the bolt ( second bolt ) that fixes the elbow body to the relay member faces either downward or upward. When a downward-facing bolt is used, it can be hidden by the elbow pad, while when an upward-facing bolt is used, it is usually not visible to the public even if it is exposed downward, and it can also be made invisible from the outside by covering it with a cover or hiding it in a countersink.

Therefore, in the present invention, the cantilever-shaped armrest that protrudes forward from the support can be attached in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

The relay member can be formed, for example, in a block shape, but if it is formed hollow, such as in a cup shape as in claims 1 and 2, and the elbow body ( boss portion ) is fitted into it, this has the advantage of increasing the unity between the relay member and the elbow body ( boss portion ) and improving the fixing strength.

When the configuration of claim 3 is adopted, the head of the first bolt is hidden by utilizing the fitting portion between the backrest and the support portion, improving the fixing strength between the backrest and the support portion (tilting frame) while improving the aesthetic appearance of the armrest.

The armrest of the present invention can be fitted with a control lever for height adjustment, etc., just like in Patent Document 1, but by adopting the configuration of claim 4, the wire cable that transmits the movement of the control lever can be inserted inside the support, which also contributes to improving the aesthetic appearance.

1A is a front perspective view of a chair according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a side view of the chair, and FIG. 1C is a rear perspective view of the chair. 1A and 1B are perspective views in which some members are separated, and 1B is a perspective view showing a framework. 1A is a perspective view of a back shell body and a tilting frame separated from each other, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the tilting frame. FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the chair from below, FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view of an armrest, and FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an armrest, a tilting frame, and a back shell body separated from each other, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing an armrest separated from each other. 13A and 13B are exploded perspective views showing the mounting structure of an armrest. 1A is an exploded perspective view of an armrest, and FIG. 1B is a plan view of the armrest with the armrest removed.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this application, the terms front, back, left and right are used to specify directions, but these are based on the state seen from a person normally seated in the chair. The front view is the direction facing the seated person.

(1) Overview of the Chair First, an overview of the chair will be described mainly with reference to Figures 1 to 4. As shown in Figure 1, the chair comprises, as its main elements, a leg device 1, a seat 2, and a backrest 3, with a headrest 4 disposed above the backrest 3. The chair of this embodiment also comes standard with armrests 5. The leg device 1 has a leg support 6 made of a gas cylinder and branches extending in radial directions, with casters provided at the tip of each branch. A roughly box-shaped base 7 that opens upward is fixed to the upper end of the leg support 6.

As shown in FIG. 2(B), a front block 8 made of resin or aluminum die-cast is bolted to the front end of the base 7, and a pair of left and right front links 9 are attached to the front block 8 via a front shaft so that they can tilt rearward.

As also shown in FIG. 2(B), forward-facing arm portions 11 of a tilting frame 10 are disposed on both the left and right sides of the base 7, and the forward-facing arm portions 11 are connected to the base 7 by hollow shafts (not shown) so as to be able to tilt backward. In addition, left and right support portions 12 are provided at the rear of the tilting frame 10, and the backrest 3 and armrests 5 are attached to the support portions 12.

The front end of the forward arm 11 that constitutes the tilting frame 10 is connected to the base 7 via a hollow shaft that runs horizontally as described above, so that the backrest 3 tilts backward around the front end of the tilting frame 10. A torsion bar (not shown) as an example of a spring means is built into the hollow shaft, and the tilting frame 10 tilts backward against the elasticity of the torsion bar.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the tilting frame 10, the left and right support pillars 12 are integrally connected to lower stays 13 and upper stays 14 that are gently curved so as to bulge backwards (concave forwards) in plan view, and the left and right support pillars 12 and the upper and lower stays 13, 14 form the base of the tilting frame 10, and separate forward-facing arms 11 are fixed to both the left and right ends of the base (the forward-facing arms 11 may be formed integrally with the base). The base and forward-facing arms 11 of the tilting frame 10 are each aluminum die-cast products, but resin products can also be used.

The seat 2 is constructed with a cushion stretched over a resin seat plate 15, part of which is shown in FIG. 1(B), and the seat plate 15 is attached to a seat support shell body 16 located below it. The front of the seat support shell body 16 is connected to the front link 9 described above with a left-right long pin, and the rear of the seat support shell body 16 is connected to a rear link 17 protruding upward from the forward arm 11 of the tilting frame 10 with a left-right long pin. Therefore, when the backrest 3 tilts backward, the seat 2 also tilts backward while moving backward.

As shown in FIG. 3, the backrest 3 has a back shell body 20 consisting of a lower shell body 18 and an upper shell body 19 made of synthetic resin, and as shown in FIG. 2(A), a cushion body 21 is disposed on the front surface of the back shell body 20. The back shell body 20 and the cushion body 21 are entirely covered with a bag-shaped skin material (not shown). The skin material is omitted in FIGS. 1 and 2. Note that, although the back shell body is composed of upper and lower shells 18 and 19 in this embodiment, it may be composed as a single unit.

For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the lower part of the lower shell body 18 protrudes forward, and as shown in Fig. 4, a dovetail-shaped female rail portion 22 that opens downward is formed at the front end of the left and right protrusions (i.e., at the left and right sides of the backrest 3) , while a dovetail-shaped male rail portion 23 into which the female rail portion 22 fits from above is integrally formed on the rear surface of the support portion 12 of the tilting frame 10. Therefore, the left and right sides of the backrest 3 are located behind the support portion 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the upper stay 14 of the tilting frame 10 is formed with a left-right long positioning protrusion 24 and a left-right long groove frame body 25 that opens up and down, while the lower surface of the lower shell body 18 is formed with a downward recess 26 into which the positioning protrusion 24 and the groove frame body 25 fit. The upper stay 14 and the lower shell body 18 are fastened with multiple bolts (three bolts) spaced apart on the left and right. Bolt insertion holes 28 are visible in FIG. 3, and the bolts are screwed into nuts placed on the lower shell body 18.

In the end, the lower shell body 18 (or the backrest 3) is fastened to the upper stay 14 with bolts while being held in position by fitting the male and female rails 22, 23 together. The bolts are screwed in from below, so the head is not visible to the public. The groove frame 25 is fitted with a lever 30 (see Fig. 3B) for moving the lumbar pad 29 shown in Figs. 2(A) and (B) up and down.

As shown in FIG. 3(B), the lower stay 13 of the tilting frame 10 has an inverted L-shaped cross section, and by arranging a center cover 31 and a side cover 32 on its underside, a horizontally elongated recess that opens forward is formed in the lower stay 13. The center cover 32 is fixed to the lower stay 13 with screws 33, and the side cover 32 is engaged with the lower stay 13 and held down by the center cover 25. The side cover 32 also covers the underside of the forward arm 11.

(2) Basic Structure of the Armrest Next, the armrest 5 will be described mainly with reference to Figures 5 to 8. First, the basic structure will be described. As shown in Figure 5(B), the armrest 5 has an arm body 36 attached to the support 12 of the tilting frame 10, and an arm pad 38 attached to the arm body 36 via an inner lid 37. The arm body 36 is made of aluminum or resin, and has the shape of a long container that opens upwards. An operating mechanism is located inside (this will be described later).

As mentioned above, the support section 12 has a hollow structure, and as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the elbow body 36 is integrally formed with a boss body 40 that enters the support section 12 via a bottomed cylindrical relay holder 39. To be precise, the support section 12 has a rectangular cylindrical (trapezoidal) shape that is slightly long in the front-to-rear direction, so the relay holder 39 and boss body 40 also have a rectangular shape that is slightly long in the front-to-rear direction. The relay holder 39 is a specific example of a relay member described in the claims.

The relay holder 39 has a flange 41 that overlaps the upper surface of the support section 12, and two tapped holes 43 are formed at the top and bottom of the rear surface that overlaps the rear surface of the support section 12. A first bolt (screw) 44 that faces forward and penetrates the male rail section 23 formed on the rear surface of the support section 12 from the rear is screwed into this tapped hole 43. Therefore, the relay holder 39 is fixed to the support section 12 by the first bolt 44. The first bolt 44 is in a horizontal position.

The boss portion 40 has a bolt insertion hole 46 through which the downward-facing second bolt (screw) 45 is inserted, and an upper escape hole 47 through which the wire cable is inserted. The lower surface of the boss portion 40 overlaps the bottom portion 39a of the relay holder 39 from above, and the bottom portion 39a of the relay holder 39 has a nut holding groove 49 that holds the nut 48 into which the second bolt 45 is screwed so that it cannot rotate, and a lower escape hole 50 through which the wire cable is inserted. Therefore, the elbow body 36 is fixed to the relay holder 39 by the second bolt 45.

As mentioned above, the tilting frame 10 is an aluminum die-cast product, and the support section 12 is formed in a cylindrical shape. However, while the support section 12 is deep, the boss section 40 does not need to be very tall. Therefore, without the intermediate holder 39, the boss section 40 would have to be fixed directly with a horizontal bolt inserted into the support section 12, which would expose the bolt head to the outside and spoil the aesthetic appearance.

In contrast, when the relay holder 39 is used as in the embodiment, the head of the first bolt 44 that fixes the relay holder 39 is hidden from behind by the back shell body 20 (lower shell body 18) that constitutes the backrest 3, and the head of the second bolt 45 that fixes the boss portion 40 to the relay holder 39 is hidden inside the boss portion 40 and cannot be seen from the outside, so that the armrest body 36 can be fixed to the support portion 12 without spoiling the aesthetic appearance. Note that a tapped hole may be formed in the relay holder 39 instead of attaching the nut 48. Conversely, a nut into which the first bolt 44 screws may be attached to the relay holder 39.

(3) Armrest operating mechanism As mentioned above, the chair has leg supports 6 made of gas cylinders, so that the height of the seat 2 and backrest 3 can be adjusted by extending and retracting the leg supports 6. The chair also has a tilt control mechanism that switches the backrest 3 between a free state in which it can be tilted freely and a locked state in which it is held at a specific angle. The height adjustment mechanism and tilt control mechanism are operated via a wire cable that has a wire slidably inserted through a tube.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5(A), a first operating lever 51 is attached to the underside of the right armrest 5 so as to be horizontally rotatable, and a second operating lever 52 is attached to the underside of the left armrest 5 so as to be horizontally rotatable, with the first operating lever 51 operating a first wire for tilt control, and the second operating lever 52 operating a second wire for lifting and lowering operation (the left and right relationships may be reversed). Next, the operating mechanism that pulls the wires using the operating levers 51, 52 will be described. Note that the left and right operating mechanisms are the same in structure, except that they are symmetrical, so the right armrest 5 will be taken up for explanation.

As shown in Figure 8, the operating mechanism comprises a shallow dish-shaped base plate 53 that is elongated from front to back and is placed in a recess in the elbow body 36. A lever member (link plate) 54 that is long in the front to back direction is connected to the base plate 53 by a support shaft (screw) 55 so that it can rotate horizontally around its rear end. A portion of the base plate 53 near the rear end is fixed to the elbow body 36 by a screw 56. The front part of the base plate 53 is held in place by the engagement of a positioning pin 57 and a positioning hole 58 so that it cannot shift.

The lever member 54 is a resin molded product, die-cast product, or sheet metal processed product, and in the neutral state, it is inclined in a plan view so that the tip is closer to the seat 2. The first operating lever 51 and the part of the lever member 54 near the tip are fixed with two screws 59, one at the front and one at the back. The screw 59 is screwed into a stepped boss portion 60 that protrudes upward from the first operating lever 51, and the stepped boss portion 60 passes through an elongated hole 61 formed in the elbow body 36 and the base plate 53. The elongated hole 61 is formed in an arc with the support shaft 55 as its center.

Therefore, when the first operating lever 51 is pulled in the opposite direction (outward) from the seat 2 with the fingertip placed on it, the first operating lever 51 rotates. The lever member 54 is pulled by the spring 62 against the base plate 53 so as to return to the neutral position in which it is tilted inward.

One end of a first wire cable 63a for tilting operation is engaged with the base plate 53. That is, the first wire cable 63a includes a tube 64 and a wire 65 inserted therethrough, with a locking device 66 fixed to one end of the tube 64 and a ball 67 fixed to one end of the wire 65. One end of the first wire cable 63a is positioned on the inside of the base plate 53 near the seat 2 in a longitudinal position, but the locking device 66 is attached to a holder portion 53a formed on the base plate 53 so that it cannot slip, and the ball 67 is engaged with an inward protruding portion 54a formed on the lever member 54.

As shown in FIG. 8(B), the locking device 66 has an annular groove 66a formed therein, while the holder portion 53a has a rib 53b into which the annular groove 66a fits, thereby holding the locking device 66 in place so that it cannot come off. The inwardly protruding portion 54a of the lever member 54 has a ball retaining hole 68 into which the ball 67 fits from above, and a wire passing groove 69 that communicates with the ball retaining hole 68. The wire passing groove 69 is cut in the circumferential direction to hold the ball 67 in place so that it cannot slip out upward.

The first wire cable 63a passes through the upper escape hole 47 provided in the boss portion 40 of the elbow body 36 and the lower escape hole 50 provided in the relay holder 39 to reach the inside of the support portion 12, and then passes through the passage hole 70 (see FIG. 11(A)) formed at the lower end of the support portion 12 to reach above the base 8. In other words, the first wire cable 63a is pulled from the support portion 12 through the relay holder 39 and the boss portion 40 into the inside of the elbow body 36.

As shown in FIG. 8, side engagement claws 53c are provided on both the left and right sides of the base plate 53 so as to protrude upward, and a rear engagement protrusion 53d is provided on the rear end of the base plate 53. The inner lid 37 is attached using these engagement claws 53c and engagement protrusions 53d so that it cannot shift forward, backward, left or right.

In this embodiment, the operating levers 51, 52 are arranged on the underside of the armrest 5 so that they can rotate horizontally. Therefore, the operating levers 51, 52 only need to protrude downward enough for the fingertips to rest on them. This makes it possible to make the operating levers 51, 52 as inconspicuous as possible, achieving a streamlined design.

As a reference example of this embodiment, it is possible to fix the boss portion 40 to the support portion 12 with the first bolt 44 without using the intermediate holder 39, and even with this configuration, the head of the first bolt 44 is hidden by the backrest 3, so that deterioration of the aesthetic appearance can be prevented. However, in this case, since the armrest 5 is fixed to the support portion 12 first and then the lower shell body 18 is fixed, there is a risk that when the large lower shell body 18 is fitted into the male rail portion 23 of the support portion 12, the lower end of the lower shell body 18 will hit the rear end of the elbow body 36, damaging the elbow body 36.

In contrast, when the intermediate holder 39 is used as in the embodiment, the intermediate holder 39 is first fixed to the support 12, the backrest 3 is then assembled, and the armrest body 36 is then attached, which prevents the armrest 5 from being damaged (the armrest body 36 is light, so it can be carefully attached to the support 12 so as not to hit the backrest. Also, the backrest 3 is covered with a skin material, so it will not be damaged even if the armrest 5 hits it.) In this way, the present invention also has advantages in the assembly process. The armrest 5 can also be easily repaired or replaced.

The above describes an embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention can be embodied in various other ways. For example, the backrest can be a type in which a mesh material is stretched over a frame that is open at the front and back. The tilting frame does not need to have upper and lower stays as in the embodiment.

The first bolt is in a forward-facing position, but if the support part of the tilting frame is covered from the left and right outer sides by the left and right sides of the backrest, it can be in a roughly left-right longitudinal position. It is also possible to use multiple first bolts, with some first bolts facing sideways and others facing forward. The first bolts may be inclined relative to the horizontal. The armrest in the embodiment is in a cantilever shape, but a loop structure can also be used.

The present invention can be embodied in a chair, and therefore has industrial applicability.

2 Seat
3. Backrest
5 Armrest 10 Tilting frame 12 Support section 14 Upper stay of tilting frame 22 Female rail section 23 Male rail section 36 Armrest body 39 Intermediate holder 40 Boss section of armrest body 32 Tapped hole 44 First bolt 45 Second bolt 47, 50 Relief hole (wire cable insertion hole)

Claims (4)

The seatback includes a tilting frame connected to a base so as to be tiltable backward, and a backrest attached to the tilting frame, the tilting frame has left and right support pillars that are covered from behind or from the left and right outer sides by the left and right sides of the backrest, and armrests are attached to the support pillars,
The support column has a hollow structure that opens upward, and a hollow intermediate member is inserted from above into the support column, and a part of the elbow body is inserted from above into the intermediate member, and the part of the elbow body is fixed to the intermediate member by a bolt that is long in the axial direction of the support column and faces downward or upward.
The relay member is fixed to the support column by a first bolt that faces the head toward the side of the backrest so that the head is hidden by the side of the backrest.
chair. A seatback includes a tilting frame connected to a base so as to be tiltable backward, and a backrest attached to the tilting frame, the tilting frame having left and right support pillars covered by the left and right side portions of the backrest,
The support pillar is a hollow structure that opens upward, and the armrest body of the armrest is fixed to the intermediate member disposed inside the support pillar by a downward or upward bolt.
The relay member is fixed to the support column by a first bolt whose head is hidden by a side portion of the backrest,
The relay member is cup-shaped and opens upward, while the elbow body is formed with a boss portion that fits into the inside of the relay member from above, and the boss portion is fixed to the relay member by the downward or upward second bolt.
Chair with armrests. A seatback includes a tilting frame connected to a base so as to be tiltable backward, and a backrest attached to the tilting frame, the tilting frame having left and right support pillars covered by the left and right side portions of the backrest,
The support pillar is a hollow structure that opens upward, and the armrest body of the armrest is fixed to the intermediate member disposed inside the support pillar by a downward or upward bolt.
The relay member is fixed to the support column by a first bolt whose head is hidden by a side portion of the backrest,
The backrest and the support pillar are held together by a dovetail-shaped female rail portion and a dovetail-shaped male rail portion that fit together from above and below, so that they cannot be separated from each other in the front and rear directions, and the head of the first bolt is located at the position where the male rail portion and the female rail portion are fitted together.
Chair with armrests. A seatback includes a tilting frame connected to a base so as to be tiltable backward, and a backrest attached to the tilting frame, the tilting frame having left and right support pillars covered by the left and right side portions of the backrest,
The support pillar is a hollow structure that opens upward, and the armrest body of the armrest is fixed to the intermediate member disposed inside the support pillar by a downward or upward bolt.
The relay member is fixed to the support column by a first bolt whose head is hidden by a side portion of the backrest,
A boss portion is formed on the armrest body, which fits into the inside of the relay member from above, and an operating lever for controlling the movable member of the chair is attached to the underside of the armrest, and an escape hole is provided in the boss portion and the relay member, through which a wire cable for transmitting the movement of the operating lever to the control unit of the movable member is inserted.
Chair with armrests.

Images