Patent Publication Number: US-9901175-B2

Title: Armrest adjuster

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an armrest adjuster, especially to an armrest adjuster that is formed by a slider, a fixing member and a button and is able to be disposed on a top of a vertical support of an armrest conveniently. 
     For convenience and comfort of users, an armrest is disposed with various adjustment mechanisms. Yet the design and production of these adjustment mechanisms should meet the requirements of mass-production and cost constraints for higher market competitiveness. 
     Generally, an armrest includes an armrest support and an armrest pad. The armrest support is fastened and fixed on the right side and the left side of a seat while the armrest pad is connected to and covered a top of a vertical support of the armrest support. A conventional armrest adjuster consists of a horizontal adjustment member (to-and-fro or left-and-right) and a height adjustment member. The horizontal adjustment member is fastened and assembled on the top of the vertical support of the armrest support or a top of a T-shaped rack. The height adjustment member is mounted and hidden in the vertical support of the armrest support. For example, a multi-function bearing head is disposed on the armrest, with a rotational, longitudinal and lateral adjustment mechanism for the arm support in an armrest, in particular for an office chair US2008/0084103. However, the conventional armrest adjuster has shortcomings of more components used and complicated structure. Thus the assembly of the armrest is troublesome and inconvenience. Before being assembled, the respective components of the adjuster are delivered to a workstation. Then operators fasten the components on an armrest support in turn so as to get an armrest product at once. Or the respective components can be assembled to form a semi-finished product (or a module), which is used in the following assembly. Yet the components of the semi-finished product (the module) are assembled from the top down to the bottom or from the bottom up to the top, not integrated into one part. Thus the semi-finished product (the module) may be separated, loosened or lost during transportation or the following assembly process due to direction change or inverted position. This causes negative effects on the following assembly process, production management, mass production and market competitiveness of the armrest. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an armrest adjuster that is easy and convenient to be transported, assembled, modularized and mass produced. 
     In order to achieve the above object, an armrest adjuster according to the present invention includes a slider, a fixing member, and a button is revealed. The fixing member is moveably mounted into a concave space of the slider. A bottom surface of the fixing member is disposed with two pins while a bottom surface of the slider is arranged with two long grooves. The pins are moveably mounted in the long grooves respectively and each pin is set with a through hole for being fastened on a top of a vertical support of an armrest. Thus an armrest pad of the armrest is set on the slider and is adjusted along with the horizontal movement of the slider. The button clipped between the slider and the fixing member and is exposed and pressed by users to be moved in or turned back elastically. The button is disposed with a rack while another rack corresponding to the rack of the button is arranged at the fixing member. The rack of the button can be engaged with or separated from the rack of the fixing member. When the button is pressed, the rack of the button is separated from the rack of the fixing member so that the slider is moved horizontally relative to the fixing member and the position of the armrest pad is also adjusted along with the movement of the slider. Thereby the design of the armrest adjuster is beneficial to transportation, the following assembly process, modularization and mass production. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing showing an embodiment of an armrest adjuster disposed on a vertical support of an armrest according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an explosive view of an embodiment of an armrest adjuster according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is another explosive view of an embodiment of an armrest adjuster according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a button and a slider assembled with each other in an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing a button, a slider and a fixing member assembled with one another in an embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a top view of an embodiment of an armrest adjuster without being adjusted according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a top view of an embodiment of an armrest adjuster being adjusted according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Refer to  FIG. 1 , an armrest adjuster  1  of the present invention is set on a top of a vertical support  201  of an armrest  2 . Thus an armrest pad  202  of the armrest  2  can be moved horizontally, as the arrow A in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 7  indicates. The armrest adjuster  1  mainly includes a slider  10 , a fixing member  20  and a button  30 . 
     Refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the slider  10  is a long housing formed by an enclosed wall  11  therearound, a concave space  12  formed in the enclosed wall  11 , at least one hook  13 , a bottom surface  14  thereof, two linear long grooves  15 , a notch  16  and at least one stopping rib  17 . The armrest pad  202  of the armrest  2  is connected to the top of the slider  10 . The hook  13  is projecting inward and disposed on an inner surface of a left side or a right side of the enclosed wall  11   a . In this embodiment, there are four hooks  13  arranged at the inner surfaces of the left side and the right side of the enclosed wall  11   a . The long grooves  15  are formed on the bottom surface  14  under the concave space  12  while the notch  16  is set on either the left side or the right side of the enclosed wall  11   a . The stopping rib  17  is projecting from and disposed on the bottom surface  14  under the concave space  12 , closed to the notch  16 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the fixing member  20  is a long plate having a length shorter than the length of the slider  10  and being mounted into the concave space  12  of the slider  10 . The fixing member  20  consists of a top surface  21 , two long slots  22 , two pins  23 , a bottom surface  24  thereof, two through holes  25 , and at least one rack  26 . The long slots  22  are arranged at the left side and the right side of the top surface  21  respectively and corresponding to the hooks  13  of the slider  10 . Thus the hooks  13  are pressed against and slidable in the long slots  22  due to the long slots  22 . The pins  23  are disposed on the front end and the rear end of the bottom surface  24  respectively while each pin  23  is mounted and sliding in the long groove  15  of the slider  10  correspondingly. The through hole  25  is set on the pin  23  and used for fastening and fixing the fixing member  20  on the top of the vertical support  201  of the armrest  2  (the fastening way is not shown in the figures). The rack  26  is set on an edge of either the left side or the right side of the bottom surface  24  and corresponding to the notch  16  of the slider  10 . 
     The button  30  is moveably mounted into the notch  16  of the slider  10  and clipped between the slider  10  and the fixing member  20 . The button  30  is composed of a press portion  31 , a projecting portion  32 , a rack  33  and at least one elastic portion  34 . The press portion  31  is exposed outside the notch  16  to be pressed by users while in use. The projecting portion  32  is integrally disposed on one side of the press portion  31  and extended toward the concave space  12  of the slider  10 . The rack  33  is integrated on the top surface of the projecting portion  32  and used for being engaged with or separated from the rack  26  of the fixing member  20 . The elastic portion  34  provides an elastic recovery force to the button  30  being pressed. 
     Refer to  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the slider  10 , the fixing member  20  and the button  30  are integrated into one module and connected tightly by the hooks  13  of the slider  10  being pressed against the long slots  22  of the fixing member  20  when the fixing member  20  is pressed by a force applied to be passed through the hooks  13  of the slider  10  and mounted in the concave space  12  of the slider  10 . The design is beneficial to modularization and the following assembly process. 
     Refer to  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 , the elastic portion  34  is against the stopping rib  17  of the slider  10  to be compressed and deformed elastically when the button  30  is pressed and moved into the concave space  12  of the slider  10 , as the arrow B in the  FIG. 7  indicates. Thus the rack  33  of the button  30  is moved away from the rack  26  of the fixing member  20  and the slider  10  is moved forward and backward relative to the fixing member  20  for adjustment of the position of the armrest pad  202  relative to the vertical support  201  of the armrest  2 , as the double-headed arrow A in  FIG. 7  indicates. 
     Also refer to  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 , after adjustment of the slider  10  and no force being applied to press the button  30 , the button  30  is turned back to the original position by the elastic force of the elastic portion  34 , as the arrow C in  FIG. 6  indicates. The rack  33  is also moved back and engaged to the rack  26  of the fixing member  20  again at a new position. At the moment, the slider  10  is positioned and unable to be moved horizontally relative to the fixing member  20 . The armrest pad  202  is also positioned at a new position relative to the vertical support  201  of the armrest  2  after the adjustment. 
     In the embodiment shown from  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 7 , the slider  10  is a long housing with left-right symmetry. Thus the armrest pad  202  disposed over and connected to the slider  10  can be integrated into the armrest  2  on the left side or the right side of a chair. 
     The elastic portion  34  of the button  30  includes at least one elastic pin ( 34 ) extended in an inclining manner that is integrated into the press portion  31  and located at the same side as the projecting portion  32 . The elastic pin ( 34 ) is inclined toward the concave space  12  of the slider  10  and used for against the stopping rib  17  of the slider  10  to form a pressed state. 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the elastic portion  34  includes two elastic pins ( 34 ) extended incliningly and arranged symmetrically at two lateral sides of the projecting portion  32  respectively. 
     Refer to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , a head end of the projecting portion  32  of the button  30  is further disposed with a spring-fixing end  35  while the slider  10  is arranged with a spring-fixing end  18  that is corresponding to the spring-fixing end  35  of the button  30 . A compression spring  40  is positioned between the spring-fixing end  35  and the spring-fixing end  18  and used for providing the elastic recovery force by which the button  30  being pressed is turned back to the original position. 
     Moreover, another rack  27  facing inward is disposed on one side of the fixing member  20  opposite to the side of the fixing member  20  with the rack  26 . The bottom surface  14  of the concave space  12  of the slider  10  is set with a groove  19  while a rotary damper  50  is mounted in the groove  19 . Thus the rack  27  on the fixing member  20  can be engaged with a gear  51  that rotates on the rotary damper  50  for damping. Thereby the slider  10  can be moved and sliding relative to the fixing member  20  more stably and smoothly. During the horizontal movement of the slider  10  relative to the fixing member  20 , as the double-headed arrow A in  FIG. 7  indicates, the movement is retarded and slowed down by the rotary damper  50  engaged with the rack  27  of the fixing member  20 . Thus the slider  10 /or the armrest pad  202  is moved stably, smoothly and quietly during the adjustment. 
     Furthermore, the armrest adjuster  1  of the present invention further includes a top cover  60  disposed over the slider  10  and the fixing member  20 . The top cover  60  can be connected to the slider  10  and the fixing member  20  by pin-and-hole engagement or screws. The connection is not limited to a specific way. The armrest pad  202  of the armrest  2  is covered over the top cover  60 . 
     In summary, the armrest adjuster  1  of the present invention features on simple structure, fewer components, simplified assembly and easy production. For example, the integrated part can be produced by plastic injection molding. These features are beneficial to transportation, the following assembly process, modularization and mass production. 
     Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.