Patent Publication Number: US-10779652-B2

Title: Swingable body carrier

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a body carrier, such as a power-driven bed or a power-driven chair. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Due to the busy modern life, people always want to lay down comfortably after work. Many people will lay on a swingable chair, massage chair or swingable bed to relieve the weariness and pressure at work. Although there are many swingable chairs in the market, the user needs to swing by themselves and keep the swingable chair swinging. 
     As mentioned above, such the swingable chair needs to be swung by the user. Once the user stops swinging the swingable chair for a while, the swingable chair will also stop swinging due to a mutual elimination between inertia and obstruction. Then, the user needs to swing the swingable chair again and thus it will be burden for user. 
     A massage chair with an automatic swinging function can be referred to Taiwan utility model patent TWM429416. The automatic swinging equipment includes a base and a seat body pivoted to the base. The base is further combined with a driving device and an eccentric wheel transmission mechanism. A linkage is then provided for connecting the eccentric wheel transmission mechanism and the seat body to allow the driving device, the eccentric wheel transmission mechanism and the linkage to drive the seat body to swing. Thus, the massage chair, which does not need to be swung by the user, that is, can swing automatically, is provided. 
     Except for the abovementioned massage chair, a power-driven bed, which can move reciprocatingly, is provided in Taiwan utility model patent TWM561459. The power-driven bed includes a base, a shelf and a connecting member. The shelf is configured to the above of the base through the connecting member or another sliding frame assembly and driven to move reciprocatingly by using a pulley assembly, a crankshaft and a swing arm. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In the currently existing mechanism, the reciprocating movement structure can be power-driven. However, the swing method cannot satisfy the user&#39;s need. As to the massage chair provided in Taiwan utility model patent TWM429416, it swings up and down using a base of the chair as an axis so as to give a horse-riding feel to the user. If there is no suitable frequency and margin of the swing, the user will feel uncomfortable. As to the reciprocating movement structure provided in Taiwan utility model patent TWM561459, it only swings horizontally or swings forward and downward, backward and downward. However, such the swing method is different from the user preferred. 
     Second, an angle of the chair back of the swing chair was fixed in the past. Thus, the user cannot lower the chair back to get a relaxed experience. 
     According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a swingable device, which can be power-driven to swing, is provided and has a new swing method. 
     According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a swingable device is provided for a user to freely adjust a riding pose so as to achieve a better user experience. 
     To achieve the abovementioned purposes, the present disclosure provides a swingable body carrier including a base, a reciprocating assembly, a power assembly and a carrying assembly. The base has a plurality of connecting portions. The reciprocating assembly has a plurality of swing arms and a swingable seat, in which each of the swing arms has one end pivoted to the connecting portion and the other end extended downwardly to be pivoted to the swingable seat. The power assembly provides a reciprocating power to allow the swingable seat moving reciprocatingly corresponding to the base and to allow the swing arms swinging reciprocatingly. The carrying assembly is provided for carrying a body, disposed at the swingable seat to move reciprocatingly along with the swingable seat and located above the swingable seat. 
     In some embodiments, the swing arms can be arranged in parallel with one another. 
     In some embodiments, a swinging area resulted from the reciprocatingly swinging of the swing arms is capable of having a swing angle not greater than 30 degrees. 
     In some embodiments, the power assembly can be connected between the base and the swingable seat. 
     In some embodiments, the base can further comprise a frame, a plurality of posts and two connecting rods. The frame is located lower than the swingable seat. In particular, each of the posts is mounted on the frame and extended upwardly. More particularly, the posts are arranged in surrounding the swingable seat. The two connecting rods are separately mounted to the ends of the posts and parallel to each other. The connecting portions are discretely disposed at the two connecting rods. 
     In some embodiments, the carrying assembly can comprise a transmission linkage, a power-driven retractable rod, a seat frame and a seat frame linkage. One end of the transmission linkage is pivoted to the swingable seat. The power-driven retractable rod is pivoted between the other end of the transmission linkage and the swingable seat. A length of the power-driven retractable rod can be changed so as to drive the transmission linkage to swing. The seat frame has one end pivoted to the swingable seat, and the seat frame linkage is pivoted between the seat frame and the transmission linkage. Thus, the seat frame linkage and the seat frame can be driven to swing when the transmission linkage swings. 
     In some embodiments, the transmission linkage can comprise a body and two pivoting seats. The body has an upper portion and a lower portion, in which the lower portion is pivoted to the swingable seat. The two pivoting seats are connected to the front side and the rear side of the upper portion of the body. The power-driven retractable rod and the seat frame linkage are pivoted to the same pivoting seat, and the seat frame linkage is extended nonlinearly. 
     In some embodiments, the carrying assembly can further comprise a back frame and a back frame linkage assembly. The back frame is pivoted to the seat frame, and the back frame linkage assembly includes a first linkage, a second linkage and a third linkage. One end of the first linkage, one end of the second linkage and one end of the third linkage are pivoted together. The other end of the first linkage is pivoted to the back frame, the other end of the second linkage is pivoted to the seat frame, and the other end of the third linkage is pivoted to the transmission linkage. 
     In some embodiments, the carrying assembly can further comprise a crossed linkage assembly, a foot frame and a foot frame linkage. The crossed linkage assembly has a proximal portion pivoted to the seat frame and a distal portion pivoted to the foot frame. The crossed linkage assembly can further comprise a supporting portion, and the foot frame linkage is pivoted between the supporting portion and the transmission linkage. 
     In some embodiments, the supporting portion is located between the proximal portion and the distal portion. 
     Accordingly, the swingable body carrier provided in the present disclosure can hang the swingable seat in the air and provide a carrying assembly for riding. The power assembly can push the swingable seat, and then the carrying assembly serves like a cradle or a swing chair to reciprocatingly swing so as to provide a good user experience. 
     In the meanwhile, a linkage mechanism is configured in the carrying assembly for adjusting the angle of the chair or the chair back. Thus, a user can freely adjust a riding pose so as to achieve a better user experience. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present disclosure can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows: 
         FIG. 1  is a three dimensional view of a swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure after a cushion is assembled thereon; 
         FIG. 2  is a three dimensional view of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a three dimensional view of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure in another view angle; 
         FIG. 4  is a three dimensional view of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure after adjusting a pose; 
         FIG. 5  is a three-dimensional exploded view of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a three-dimensional exploded view of a power assembly of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a three-dimensional exploded view of a base and a reciprocating assembly of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a side cross-sectional view of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10  are schematic diagrams showing the operation of adjusting a pose of the swingable body carrier according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Please refer to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , a swingable body carrier is provided in an example of the present disclosure, such as a power-driven chair. The power-driven chair can be wrapped by several cushions  90  for improving the user experience when the user sits or lies thereon. Please refer to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the swingable body carrier includes a base  10 , a reciprocating assembly  20 , a power assembly  30  and a carrying assembly  40 . 
     The base  10  includes a frame  11 , a plurality of posts  12  and two connecting rods  13 . The base  11  is located at the bottom of the base  10  for being placed on the ground. Several rods or tubes can be welded or screwed to be constructed as the frame  11 , or the frame  11  can be an integrated H-shaped frame. The posts  12  are mounted at the frame  11  and extended upwardly. In particular, the posts  12  are located at two sides of the frame  11 , and more particularly there are two posts  12  located at each of the two sides of the frame  11 . The two connecting rods  13  are separately mounted at two ends of each post  12 . The two connecting rods  13  are parallel to each other and located separately at the two sides of the frame  11 . Each end of the connecting rod  13  is pivoted to a connecting portion  131  for being pivoted with other members. In some embodiments, the formation and the appearance of the frame and the posts may be changed, that is, the base  10  can be a frame which is a part of other device or in other form. However, the base  10  still needs at least one connecting portion  131  for being pivoted with other members. 
     The reciprocating assembly  20  has a plurality of swing arms  21  and a swingable seat  22 , in which each of the swing arms  21  has one end pivoted to the connecting portion  131  and the other end extended downwardly to be pivoted to the swingable seat  22 . The swing arms  21  and the swingable seat  22  are located between the two connecting rods  13  to allow the posts  12  to be arranged in surrounding the swingable seat  22 . Preferably, a length of the swing arm  21  is not longer than that of the post  12 . Thus, a height of the swingable seat  22  is between the frame  11  and the connecting rods  13  so that the swingable seat  22  can be hanged upon the frame  11  by using the swing arms  21 . The swing arms are all extended vertically downward to allow the swing arms  21  to be arranged in parallel with one another. The swingable seat  22  is provided to be assembled with the carrying assembly  40 . Several rods or tubes can be welded or screwed to obtain the swingable seat  22 , and the swingable seat  22  can be a rectangular frame. 
     The power assembly  30  is positioned between the swingable seat  22  and the frame  11 . Thus, a reciprocating power can be provided from the base  10  to push the swingable seat  22  moving forward and backward, that is, the swingable seat  22  moves reciprocatingly corresponding to the base thus to allow the swing arms swinging reciprocatingly. Please refer to  FIG. 6 , the power assembly  30  includes a motor  31 , a pulley assembly  32 , a cam  33  and a pushing rod  34 . The pulley assembly  32  is positioned between the motor  31  and the cam  33 . The front end and the rear end of the pushing rod are connected, respectively, to the cam  33  and the rear end of the swingable seat  22 . After the motor  31  is powered on, the pulley assembly  32  drives the cam  33  to rotate so as to allow the pushing rod  34  to move reciprocatingly and swing. Thus, the pushing rod  34  drives the swingable seat  22  to swing reciprocatingly. Please refer to  FIG. 7 , the size and the stroke of the cam  33  and the pushing rod  34  can be predetermined and cooperated with the length of the swing arms  21 . Thus, a sector area resulted from the reciprocatingly swinging in a vertical plane of the swing arms  21  is formed. Preferably, the sector area has a swing angle x not greater than 30 degrees so as to obtain a comfortable swinging margin of the swing arms  21  and the swingable seat  22  without over swinging. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the carrying assembly  40  is disposed at the swingable seat  22  to move reciprocatingly along with the swingable seat  22 . In particular, the carrying assembly  40  is located above the swingable seat  22  and includes a transmission linkage  41 , a power-driven retractable rod  42 , a seat frame  43 , a seat frame linkage  44 , a back frame  45 , a back frame linkage assembly  46 , a crossed linkage assembly  47 , a foot frame  48  and a foot frame linkage  49 . 
     The transmission linkage  41  includes a body  411 , which has an upper portion  4111  and a lower portion  4112 , and two pivoting seats  412 ,  413 . The two pivoting seats  412 ,  413  can be screwed or welded to the front side and the rear side of the upper portion  4111 . The lower potion  4112  of the body  411  is pivoted to the front end of the swingable seat  22 . The power-driven retractable rod  42  is pivoted between the pivoting seat  412  and the rear end of the swingable seat  22 . A length of the power-driven retractable rod  42  can be changed so as to drive the transmission linkage  41  to swing. The power-driven retractable rod  42  can be built up by a pneumatic cylinder  421  and a compressor  422 . The compressor  422  can be power-driven to bring the air into the pneumatic cylinder  421  or expel the air to the environment so as to change its length. However, a combination of a motor and a screw assembly is also available in the present disclosure. 
     The rear end of the seat frame  43  is pivoted to the swingable seat  22 , and the seat frame linkage  44  is pivoted between the front end of the seat frame  43  and the pivoting seat  412 . The transmission linkage  41  swings to allow the seat frame linkage  44  swinging so as to lift or lower the front end of the seat frame  43 . Thus, a tilt angle of the seat frame  43  will be changed. The seat frame linkage  44  includes two rods arranged side by side, and the two rods are pivoted, respectively, to the right side and the left side of the pivoting seat  412 . Preferably, the seat frame linkage  44  is extended nonlinearly, that is, bent so that the seat frame linkage  44  and the transmission linkage  41  will not be interfered and against with each other during the swing. 
     A lower end of the back frame  45  is pivoted to the seat frame  43 . The back frame linkage assembly  46  includes a first linkage  461 , a second linkage  462  and a third linkage  463 . The first linkage  461  has one end connected to the back frame  45 , the second linkage  462  has one end connected to the seat frame  43 , and the third linkage  463  has one end connected to the transmission linkage  41 . The other end of the first linkage  461 , the other end of the second linkage  462  and the other end of the third linkage  463  are pivoted together so that the transmission linkage  41  can swing to drive the back frame linkage assembly  46  and further drive the back frame  45  to swing together. 
     Several linkages are pivoted in cross to obtain the crossed linkage assembly  47 , which can be pushed to pivot and elongate. The crossed linkage assembly  47  has a proximal portion  471 , a supporting portion  472  and a distal portion  473 . The proximal portion  471  is pivoted to the seat frame  43 , and the supporting portion  472  is located between the proximal portion  471  and the distal portion  473 . The foot frame  48  is pivoted to the distal portion  473 . The foot frame linkage  49  is pivoted between the supporting portion  472  and the pivoting seat  413  of the transmission linkage  41 . When the transmission linkage  41  swings, the supporting portion  472  can be pushed or pulled by the foot frame linkage  49 . Thus, the crossed linkage assembly  47  will stretch and swing at the same time so as to drive the foot frame  48  which is connected to the distal portion  473 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 , the back frame  45 , the seat frame  43  and the foot frame  48  can be wrapped by the cushion  90  for carrying the body. The user can control the power-driven retractable rod  42  to elongate for driving the transmission linkage  41  to swing. Then, the transmission linkage  41  drives the back frame linkage assembly  46 , the seat frame linkage  44  and the foot frame linkage  49  to swing together when sitting on the carrying portion  40 . The third linkage  463  of the back frame linkage assembly  46  will be drawn to move forward to allow the first linkage  461  and the second linkage  462  to swing downward, and therefore, the back frame  45  will pivot backward and lie down gradually. The seat frame linkage  44  swings to push the front end of the seat frame  43  upward and thus the seat frame  43  will tilt gradually to allow the head and the back of the user to tilt backward a little bit. When the transmission linkage  41  swings forward, the foot frame linkage  49  is pushed so as to push the crossed linkage assembly  47 . Thus, the crossed linkage assembly  47  pivots and elongates for pushing the foot frame  48  to swing forward. 
     When the transmission linkage  41  keeps swinging to allow the seat frame linkage  44  to be completely upright and still swings forward, the top of the seat frame linkage  44  is over the highest point so that the seat frame linkage  44  will drive the front end of the seat frame  43  to swing downward as shown in  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10 . Thus, a tilt angle of the seat frame  43  will be gradually reduced. The back frame  43  continues to pivot backward and lay down at that time, and the foot frame  48  keeps swinging forward. Thus, the user can lay down after the tilt angle of the seat frame  43  is reduced. 
     In the elongation of the power-driven retractable rod  42 , the user can turn off the power-driven retractable rod  42  depending on his/her preference so that the carrier will stop at a specific angle and pose. In the meanwhile, the power assembly can be switched on to drive the swingable seat to reciprocatingly move together with the carrying assembly for providing an operation of reciprocatingly swing. 
     The swingable seat is hanged by the swing arm to move forward and backward using a horizontal pose without rotation so that the operation of reciprocatingly swing can be achieved as mentioned above. In the reciprocatingly movement, level heights at the front end and the rear end will raise a little bit thus to allow the swingable seat and the carrying assembly to present like a swing route of the cradle. Thus, a good and comfortable user experience will be achieved. 
     Second, the user can freely adjust the pose to get the good and comfortable experience because the carrying assembly further includes the retractable rod and the linkage assembly for adjusting the pose. 
     The above-mentioned only exemplifies the swingable body carrier through the power-driven chair. However, the back frame, the seat frame and the foot frame can be changed in other embodiments. Alternatively, the quantity of the linkages and the support members can be reduced to allow the swingable body carrier being a power-driven bed or any other carrying furniture capable of achieving similar effects. 
     To sum up, the swingable body carrier of the abovementioned embodiment can provide a good swinging mode and is configured with the relative linkages for adjusting the pose. Thus, the present disclosure actually satisfies the needs of the public and the relative equipment&#39;s provider. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.