Abstract:
A flexible chair that includes a seat member with seat bottom and back rest portions, first and second pairs of legs, and a plurality of cross members. The pair of first legs are pivotly connected to rearward positions of the seat bottom portion and extend downwardly and forwardly from the seat bottom portion. The pair of second legs are pivotly connected to forward positions of the seat bottom portion and extend downwardly and rearwardly from the seat bottom portion, such that the first legs cross the second legs. The plurality of cross members connect the first and second legs together such that the seat member is rearwardly reclinable against a resilient force provided by at least one of the first pair of legs, the second pair of legs and the plurality of cross members

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/568,946, filed May 6, 2004. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to chairs, and more particularly to stackable, reclining chairs that combine functionality and comfort.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     It is presently known to make a chair that flexes, where as the back tilts, the seat travels forward and slightly upward. Such a chair is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Re. 36,335.  
         [0004]     However, such a chair does not have arm rests, and does not provide a simple construction that allows the chair to resiliently recline in a hammock-like fashion, while still being stackable.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention is a reclining chair that provides a seat back and bottom that tilts in a hammock like fashion through flexure of the legs and/or cross members between the legs, without the bottom of the legs moving, and without using springs or other complicated or expensive mechanical devices.  
         [0006]     A flexible chair that includes a seat member having a seat bottom portion and a back rest portion, a pair of first legs pivotly connected to rearward positions of the seat bottom portion and extending downwardly and forwardly from the seat bottom portion, a pair of second legs pivotly connected to forward positions of the seat bottom portion and extending downwardly and rearwardly from the seat bottom portion such that the first legs cross the second legs, and a plurality of cross members connecting the first and second legs together such that the seat member is rearwardly reclinable against a resilient force provided by at least one of the first pair of legs, the second pair of legs and the plurality of cross members.  
         [0007]     In another aspect of the present invention, a flexible chair includes a seat member having a seat bottom portion and a back rest portion, a pair of arm rests extending up from the seat bottom portion, a pair of first legs pivotly connected to rearward positions of the arm rests and extending downwardly and forwardly from the arm rests, a pair of second legs pivotly connected to forward positions of the arm rests and extending downwardly and rearwardly from the arm rests, such that the first legs cross the second legs, and a plurality of cross members connecting the first and second legs together such that the seat member is rearwardly reclinable against a resilient force provided by at least one of the first pair of legs, the second pair of legs and the plurality of cross members.  
         [0008]     Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent by a review of the specification, claims and appended figures. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the flexible chair of the present invention, illustrating how the seat member reclines backward against the resiliency of the legs and cross members.  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view illustrating the stacking of the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view illustrating the stacking of the flexible chair illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 6A  is a perspective view illustrating an alternate configuration of the cross members for the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6B  is a top cross-sectional view illustrating the alternate configuration of the cross members of  FIG. 6A .  
         [0016]      FIG. 7A  is a perspective view illustrating an alternate configuration of the cross members for the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 7B  is a top cross-sectional view illustrating the alternate configuration of the cross members of  FIG. 7A .  
         [0018]      FIG. 8  is a top cross-sectional view illustrating the relative positioning of the cross members for the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 9  is a top cross-sectional view illustrating a bookshelf mounted on the cross members.  
         [0020]      FIG. 10  is a top cross-sectional view illustrating the various dimensions of the cross members.  
         [0021]      FIG. 11  is a top cross-sectional view illustrating an alternate configuration of the cross members for the flexible chair of the present invention.  
         [0022]      FIG. 12  is a perspective view of the flexible chair of the present invention without arm rests.  
         [0023]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of the flexible chair of the present invention with a bucket shaped seat member.  
         [0024]      FIG. 14  is a perspective view of the flexible chair of the present invention with the back rest portion rotatably connected to the seat bottom portion. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0025]     The present invention is a chair  10  that is illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The chair includes a seat member  12  having a seat bottom portion  14  and a back rest portion  16  either integrally formed together (as shown), rigidly attached to each other, or attached together in an articulatable manner. The seat member  12  includes arm rests  18  that, in the preferred embodiment, are attached to and support the seat bottom portion  14 . A forward leg  20  and rearward leg  22  are connected to each of the arm rests  18 , and extend down from the arm rest  18  in a manner where the forward and rearward legs  20 / 22  cross each other. Thus, the forward leg  20  is pivotally connected (i.e. in a rotatable manner such as with a rotating pin joint  24 ) to a rearward position of the arm rest  18  (i.e. closer to the back rest portion  16 ) and extends therefrom in forward and downward directions. Likewise, the rearward leg  22  is pivotally connected (i.e. in a rotatable manner such as with a rotating pin joint  24 ) to a forward position of the arm rest  18  (i.e. a position further forward relative to the back rest portion  16  compared to the rearward position of the other pin joint) and extends therefrom in rearward and downward directions. A first cross member  26  extends between and is rigidly attached to the pair of forward legs  20 . A second cross member  28  extends between and is rigidly attached to the pair of rearward legs  22 , and is formed in a U-shape that extends forward from the rearward legs  22  to a weld point  30  where it is welded or otherwise connected to the first cross member  26 . The weld point  30  preferably encompasses a relatively short segment “S” of the cross members  26 / 28  (e.g. 4 to 6 inches), but can be extended or shortened to result in the desired amount of these cross members that are not connected together and thus can flex independently.  
         [0026]     When a person sits on the seat bottom portion  14  and leans back against the back rest portion  16  (i.e. shifts the center of gravity backward on bottom seat portion  14  and/or exerts a backward force against the back rest portion  16 ), all four legs  20 / 22  rotate rearwardly as the seat member reclines into its occupied position  10   a  (relative to its resting unoccupied position  10   b ) as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , in which the cross members  26 / 28  twist and/or flex together and separately to resiliently counter the tilting back of the seat member  12 . When the person vacates the chair  10 , seat member  12  is resiliently brought back into its static resting position  10   b  as the cross members  26 / 28  untwist and/or unflex. The portions of the first cross member  26  not connected to the second cross member  28  twist in torsion, and the second cross member  28  is subjected to a mix of torsion and bending. The stiffness of the chair  10  (against the rearward tilt) is set by the rigidity of cross members themselves, as well as what proportion of the cross members  26 / 28  are left unconnected to each other for independent twisting/flexing. Thus, increasing the distance S where the first and second cross members  26 / 28  are joined increases the stiffness of the chair. The chairs  10  can be stacked for easy storage, as shown in  FIG. 3 . Chair stacking is facilitated by making the forward legs  20  positioned inside of the rearward legs  22 , and by making the second cross member  28  wider (at the point adjacent the forward legs  20 ) than the distance between the forward legs  20 , so that the second cross member  28  nests outside of the forward legs  20  of the chair below it.  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  illustrates an alternate embodiment of the present invention, where the bottoms of each corresponding pair of forward/rearward legs  20 / 22  are joined together by a bottom cross-member  32 . Preferably, each pair of corresponding forward/rearward legs  20 / 22  and its bottom cross-member  32  are integrally formed together. In this embodiment, the second cross-member  28  is (but need not be) omitted, where the flexure of the legs  20 / 22  (especially where they meet the bottom cross-member  32 ) provides most of the chair&#39;s resiliency. It should be noted that the first cross member  26  could be omitted as well, so long as the legs  20 / 22  are adequately and firmly secured to the arm rests  18 . The bottom cross-members  32  allow the chair to be easily slid forwardly/rearwardly along a surface (e.g. a carpeted surface), and allow the chair  10  to be stacked as illustrated in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0028]     It is within the scope of the present invention to incorporate different configurations of the first and/or second cross-members  26 / 28  and the weld point(s)  30  (if any) therebetween to achieve the desired tilting action of the seat member  12  and the stackability of the chairs. For example,  FIG. 6  illustrates that the first and second cross members  26 / 28  both bend inwardly toward each other (i.e. both are non-linear).  FIG. 7  illustrates that the first and second cross members  26 / 28  extend straight between the legs, and are attached together via a pair of torsion bars  34  extending therebetween separated by the distance “S”. When the user reclines in the chair, the portions of the cross members  26 / 28  between the torsion bars  34  are rigid, and the portions of the cross members  26 / 28  between the torsion bars  24  and the legs  20 / 22  flex and/or twist. Thus, the greater the distance between the torsion bars  34 , the stiffer the chair.  FIG. 8  illustrates that first and second torsion bars  34  are connected between the first and second cross members  26 / 28  and are separated by a distance S. Lengths F of the first and second cross members  26 / 28  bend in pure torsion when the seat member  12  reclines. Increasing the lengths F will soften (reduce the force needed to recline) the chair, which can be achieved by decreasing the spacing S. In  FIG. 9 , a bookshelf  38  (formed of crisscrossing bars) is supported by the first and second torsion bars  34  of  FIG. 8 , for institutional seating applications. In  FIG. 10 , the second cross member  28  is angled inwardly further than that shown in  FIG. 1 . The longer length of the second cross member  28  as compared to other embodiments reduces the strain on the second cross member  28 . The first cross member  26  twists in pure torsion in the length portions F. This configuration can be used for aesthetic reasons and potentially to reduce the stress on the cross members  26 / 28  and their connections, and may make stacking more difficult. In  FIG. 11 , there is just a single U-shaped crossbar  36  that forms the three cross member segments  36   a ,  36   b ,  36   c  connecting all four legs. The rearward legs are wider than the crossbar  36 , and the U-shaped crossbar  36  is wider than the forward legs. This configuration requires only one crossbar or member, which may place more stress on the joints of the crossbar, and the legs may be designed to bend to compensate for the extra stiffness of the connections.  
         [0029]     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described above and illustrated herein, but encompasses any and all variations falling within the scope of the appended claims. For example, cross member segments  36   a ,  36   b ,  36   c  could be three separate segments connected together, instead of a single integrally formed crossbar member, and further segment  36   b  can be omitted if there is sufficient stability for the intended application without it. The arm rests  18  can be omitted from the seat bottom portion  14 , where the pin joints  24  pivotly connect the legs  20 / 22  to the sides of seat bottom portion  14 , as illustrated in  FIG. 12 . Seat member  12  can be integrally formed in a bucket seat shape as illustrated in  FIG. 12 , where the seat bottom portion  14  includes side members  42  extending up to serve as arm rests, and where the seat bottom portion  14 , side members  42  and back rest portion  16  are all integrally formed together. Lastly, back rest portion  16  can be pivotly attached to the seat bottom portion using a separate bar member  40  (that is attached to seat bottom portion  14  and rotatably attached to the back rest portion  16 ), as illustrated in  FIG. 14 .