Chair with a tilting seat

Abstract: Tilting seat chair, comprising: a base structure (16) bearing a transverse tilting axis (24), a seat support structure (14), tiltably mounted about the said transverse tilting axis (24), elastic means (32) capable of opposing the seat tilting motion, and means of adjustment (42) for varying the force opposing the said elastic means (32). The aforesaid elastic means comprise a torsion bar (32) connecting the seat support structure (14) to the base structure (16) in a tilting manner about the said transverse tilting axis (24). The torsion bar (32) has at least a first portion (32a) rotatably connected to the seat support structure (14) and at least a second portion (32b) connected to the base structure (16) through the aforesaid adjustment means.

Description: This invention relates to a chair with a tilting seat, of the type comprising: a base structure bearing a transverse tilting axis, a seat support structure, tiltably mounted about the said transverse tilting axis, elastic means capable of opposing the seat tilting motion, and means of adjustment for varying the force opposing the said elastic means. EP-A-815778 discloses an office chair comprising a seat and a back made with two independently-adjustable spinal support sections, one for the thoracic and the other for the lumbar region of the spine. The back is connected by a bar to a control box beneath the seat equipped with two torsion bars - one for the bar and the other for columns pivoted to the lumbar support section of the seat back and having different levels of elastic resistance. The two torsion bars are positioned so that they act in sequence, the second coming into operation after the first. EP-A-419404 discloses a chair including a seat pivotally located to pivot about an axis close to the front edge of the seat. The seat is maintained in position by a torsion spring assembly, the spring tension of which is adjustable by a laterally positionable adjustment knob, and a blocking element in form of a gas spring or hydraulic spring couples the seat to the seat support, the respective blocking element being attached with a first end between the pivot axis support and the floor support and with its other end to the seat such that it will extend in the general direction of the elongated seat support and form an acute angle with respect to the seat support, which angle will be somewhat greater than the angle of inclination of the seat support itself. The bias of the torsion spring of the torsion spring system can be changed by adjusting the position of a setting arm by a wedge on a rotatable spindle, coupled to the adjustment knob . WO-A-9816138 discloses a chair according to the preamble of claims 1 and 2, comprising a supporting body fixed to a back column, a swiveling member placed thereon on the knee side, a swiveling seat support pivoting on a first joint area on the knee side as well as a backrest support acting in conjunction with the seat support by means of a second joint area. The seat support is connected to the supporting body by means of a torsion bar. An adjustment device comprises a lever fixed to the torsion bar and a screw and nut device manually operable for varying the angular position of the lever. The purpose of this invention is to provide a chair with a tilting seat of the type described above, provided with elastic means and adjustment means having a particularly simple or robust and compact structure. A further object of this invention is to provide a device for adjustment of the elastic means which opposes the tilting of the seat, which device does not require a large operating force. In accordance with this invention these objects are accomplished through a tilting seat having the features constituting the subject-matter of the claims. This invention will now be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings, given purely by way of a non-restrictive example, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatical side view of a chair according to the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the mechanism for tilting the seat of the chair in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a plan view along the arrow III in Figure 2, Figures 4 and 5 are cross sections along the line IV-IV in Figure 3 in two different working positions, Figure 6 is a partial cross section along the line VI-VI in Figure 3, Figure 7 is a cross section along the line VII-VII in Figure 4, Figure 8 is a cross section similar to that in Figures 4 and 5, illustrating a variant of this invention, and Figure 9 is a diagrammatical cross section along the line IX-IX in Figure 8. Figure 1 illustrates a chair provided with a seat 10 and a back 12. Seat 10 is fixed to a seat supporting structure 14 which is tiltably mounted about a transverse axis with respect to a base structure 16 mounted at the top of a central support 18, of a type which is in itself known, which can be adjusted for height. With reference to Figure 2, from the point of view of its construction, seat support structure 14 comprises two longitudinal members 20 of bent sheet, which are spaced apart in a transverse direction and connected together by a rear plate 22. Base structure 16 is formed of a body of substantially a box shape which has a transverse tilting axis 24 about which is tiltably mounted seat supporting structure 14. A pair of tubular members 26 are fixed to longitudinal members 20 and are arranged coaxially with tilting axis 24. In Figure 2,28 indicates a supporting structure for the back. This supporting structure is tiltably mounted on base structure 16 about a second transverse tilting axis 30 parallel to tilting axis 24 and set at a slight distance from the latter towards the rear of the chair. Back support structure 28 is connected by means of a pair of tie bars (not illustrated) to seat supporting structure 14, so that the tilting movements of the seat and back are synchronized. A mechanism for immobilizing the seat and the back in a plurality of operating positions is described in detail in a simultaneous patent application by the same applicant. With reference to Figures 4, 5 and 6, tilting axis 24 of seat supporting structure 14 comprises a torsion bar 32 which extends coaxially with axis 24. From the point of view of its construction, torsion bar 32 comprises a plurality of extended rods 34 having a transverse cross section of flattened rectangular shape. The various rods 34 are placed on top of each other and fixed together in such a way as to form a bar of quadrangular transverse cross section with an extension in the transverse direction which is slightly greater than the distance between longitudinal side members 20 of seat supporting structure 14. As can be seen in particular in Figure 6, end portions 32a of torsion bar 32 project laterally outside the two longitudinal side members 20. End portions 32a of torsion bar 32 are fixed to tubular members 26 forming part of seat support structure 14. This attachment may for example be achieved by means of a pair of washers 35 welded to tubular members 26 which have quadrangular holes engaged by end portions 32a. A pair of transverse pins 36 prevents torsion bar 32 from moving in an axial direction. The portions of torsion bar 32 which project at the side are covered by corresponding caps 38. The central portion 32b of torsion bar 32 is rotatably connected to a lever 40. In the example illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the rotatable connection between lever 40 and central portion 32b is achieved by the fact that lever 40 has a hole with a quadrangular cross section within which the central portion 32b of torsion bar 32 is inserted. With reference to Figures 4 and 5, lever 40 acts together with an adjustment device 42, supported by base structure 16, which is capable of varying the angular position of lever 40 with respect to the axis of torsion bar 32. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, adjustment mechanism 42 comprises a wedge 44 which can slide in a longitudinal direction on a guide wall 46 of base structure 16. Wedge 44 has an inclined guide surface 48 along which is slidably mounted a shoe 50 having a concave seat 52 which supports a rounded end 54 of lever 40 (see also Figure 7). Wedge 44 can be moved in a longitudinal direction by causing a knob 56 located outside base structure 16 in a central position on the front of the chair to rotate. Knob 56 is rotatably connected to a threaded rod 58 which is axially attached to base structure 16 and is free to rotate around its own longitudinal axis. Threaded bar 58 engages a threaded nut 60 which is fixed with respect to wedge 54. The elastic action of torsion spring 32 tends to hold lever 40 pressed against shoe 50. Thus movement of wedge 44 which is controlled manually by the user through knob 56 can vary the angular position of lever 40 which consequently alters the angular position of central section 32b of the torsion spring about its own axis. Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the two end-of-travel positions of wedge 44 which define the field of adjustment for device 42. Each angular position of lever 40 corresponds to a particular amount of preloading on torsion spring 32. Given that seat support structure 14 is fixed to the ends of torsion bar 32, preloading of the torsion bar opposes tilting of the seat in the direction indicated by arrow 62 in Figures 4 and 5. The user therefore has the possibility of continuously adjusting the elastic force opposing the tilting movement of the seat between a minimum value and a maximum value. From the description above it will be understood that torsion bar 32 performs both the function of the elastic member which opposes the tilting movement of the seat and back, and that of the pivot member between the seat supporting structure and base structure 16. This arrangement renders the tilting mechanism for the seat particularly compact in that the space which is normally necessary to house the shaft providing the joint between the seat support structure and the base structure also incorporates the elastic member. Adjustment mechanism 42 makes it possible to achieve an extensive gearing down of the operating force, as a result of which knob 56 can be operated easily without having to apply excessive force. Figures 8 and 9 illustrate a variant of the adjustment mechanism according to this invention. The details corresponding to those previously described are indicated by the same reference numbers. In this variant threaded rod 58 is replaced by a shaft 64 which has teeth 66 at one end which engage with a wheel 68 which can rotate with and is incorporated with a threaded rod 70. Threaded rod 70 is free to rotate about its own longitudinal axis and engages a nut 72. Lever 40 fixed in central section 32b of torsion bar 32 has a fork-shaped end with two limbs 74 which support nut 72 on opposite sides with respect to threaded bar 70. The elastic reaction force of torsion bar 32 exerts a downward force on nut 72 and prevents the latter from rotating about the axis of threaded rod 70. Therefore rotation of shaft 64 controlled by manually operated knob 56 (not visible in Figures 8 and 9) can be used to move nut 72 upwards and downwards and as a consequence to vary the angular position of lever 40. In this case too the user can vary the elastic force opposing the oscillating movement of the seat between a minimum value and a maximum value by rotating knob 56.

Claims: Chair with a tilting seat, comprising: a base structure (16) bearing a transverse tilting axis (24), a torsion bar (32) coaxially mounted on said transverse tilting axis (24), a seat support structure (14) fixed at opposed ends of said torsion bar (32), the seat support structure being capable of oscillating with respect to the base structure about said transverse tilting axis (24) and the torsion bar (32) applying to the seat support structure an elastic action opposing the seat tilting motion about said transverse tilting axis, a lever (40) fixed to the central portion (32b) of the torsion bar (32), and a manually operable adjustment device (42) supported by the base structure (16) for varying the angular position of said lever (40) about the transverse tilting axis (24) so as to adjust the opposing force of said torsion bar (32), the manually operable adjustment device (42) including a rotatable knob (56) associated with a screw and nut mechanism (58, 60), characterized in that the adjustment device (42) comprises a gearing down device defining a correlation between the angular position of the knob (56) and the angular position of the lever (40), the gearing down device comprising a wedge (44) associated with the screw and nut mechanism (58, 60), the wedge being slidable in a longitudinal direction and having an inclined surface (48) acting on one end (54) of said lever (40). Chair with a tilting seat, comprising: a base structure (16) bearing a transverse tilting axis (24), a torsion bar (32) coaxially mounted on said transverse tilting axis (24), a seat support structure (14) fixed at opposed ends of said torsion bar (32), the seat support structure being capable of oscillating with respect to the base structure about said transverse tilting axis (24) and the torsion bar (32) applying to the seat support structure an elastic action opposing the seat tilting motion about said transverse tilting axis, a lever (40) fixed to the central portion (32b) of the torsion bar (32), and a manually operable adjustment device (42) supported by the base structure (16) for varying the angular position of said lever (40) about the transverse tilting axis (24) so as to adjust the opposing force of said torsion bar (32), the manually operable adjustment device (42) including a rotatable knob (56) associated with a screw and nut mechanism (70, 72), characterized in that the adjustment device (42) comprises a gearing down device defining a correlation between the angular position of the knob (56) and the angular position of the lever (40), the gearing down device comprising a pair of toothed wheels (66, 68) which mesh together, a first toothed wheel (66) being rotatably connected to the operating knob (56) and the second toothed wheel (68) being incorporated with and rotating with a threaded rod (70) which engages a nut (72) which acts together with one end of the aforesaid lever (40).

Inventors: PIRETTI GIANCARLO, PIRETTI, GIANCARLO
Applicants: PRO CORD SPA, PRO-CORD S.P.A.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: A47C3
IPC codes: A47C1, A47C7, A47C3