Patent Abstract:
A lounge chair having movable armrests. The lounge chair comprises a seat, a back, legs and armrests. The armrests may be placed in a raised position for use by the occupant or may be swing down to provide more room or to allow the occupant to easily exit the lounge chair. The armrests are preferably attached to each other such that moving one arm to the lowered position simultaneously moved the other arm to the lowered position.

Full Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     The present application is a continuation of “Lounge Chair with Movable Arms,” U.S. application Ser. No. 10/722,922 filed Nov. 26, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto. 
     
    
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The disclosed invention relates to lounge chairs. In particular, the present invention relates to lounge chairs which have simultaneously movable arms.  
         [0004]     2. Description of Related Art  
         [0005]     Lounge chairs, in many different forms have been used for quite some time. Lounge chairs without arms are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,585,323, 6,293,624, 6,213,555, 6,109,685 and 3,737,926. These chairs generally have a flat portion for the user&#39;s legs and a fixed or adjustable portion for the user&#39;s back and head. The chairs have fixed or foldable legs and may include wheels for ease of relocation of the chair. The chairs are covered with slats of wood, plastic, vinyl or fabric or by a solid piece of these materials. Other lounge chairs include arms such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,082,820, 4,441,756, 4,252,371, 2,614,612 and 1,185,181. These chairs are similar to those without arms discussed previously but also include arms. In some examples, the arms are rigid; in others, the arms fold as the chair is collapsed for transport or storage.  
         [0006]     These prior art lounge chairs lack an arm structure which may be moved by an occupant of the chair. Such a structure is desirable to facilitate exiting the chair. Moving the arms also allows different occupants to configure the chair to their personal tastes, whether they prefer a lounge chair with arms or without. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the present invention as claimed.  
         [0007]     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lounge chair which includes arms which are movable.  
         [0008]     It is another object of the present invention to provide a lounge chair with movable arms to facilitate entering or exiting the chair.  
         [0009]     It is another object of the present invention to provide a lounge chair with movable arms which may be moved simultaneously with a single motion.  
         [0010]     It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a lounge chair which is convenient and easy to use.  
         [0011]     Finally, it is an object of the present invention to accomplish the foregoing objectives in a simple and cost effective manner.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     A lounge chair having movable arms includes a seat, adjustable back, legs and at least one armrest which may be raised or lowered as needed or desired, independently of the orientation of the back. The seat is preferably horizontally oriented, adjustable and covered in part by material. The back is preferably adjustable between a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation and is covered in part by material similar to the seat. Both are suspended by a frame and the legs. The armrest or armrests preferably have an upper horizontal member; and at least one vertical support member which may be connected to the seat. If both armrests are collapsible, a horizontal member may connect the armrests to facilitate collapsing or raising the armrests. In the preferred embodiment, a stop element is provided to limit motion of the armrest or armrests beyond a desired orientation in either or both directions. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  shows the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the armrests raised;  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  shows the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the armrests lowered;  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the preferred armrest assembly with the armrests raised;  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the preferred armrest assembly with the armrests lowered;  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a detailed view of the armrest assembly of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a detailed view of a portion of the armrest of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 7  is a further detailed view of a portion of the armrest of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the present invention; and  
         [0021]      FIG. 9  is a detail side view of a stop and a portion of the armrest of the present invention.  
                                         Element List                                10   frame       20   back portion       22   seat portion       24   legs       26   armrests       28   support beam       30   vertical element       32   horizontal element       34   horizontal bar       36   stops       38   bolt       40   bolt                    
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0022]     The following detailed description is of the best presently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating general principles of embodiments of the invention.  
         [0023]     The present invention provides a lounge chair which has movable armrests for ease of use. The chair includes a frame, seat portion, back portion, armrests and legs. The armrests can be moved between a position which is elevated above the seat portion and a position which is preferably substantially even with the seat portion. This motion is achieved independently of the orientation of the seat portion or the back portion. This allows a user of the lounge chair to determine whether they wish to use the armrests or not and provides a convenient orientation for the armrests when they are not desired. Further, by lowering the armrests, egress from the chair is facilitated. Preferably, both armrests may be lowered by a single motion.  
         [0024]     The lounge chair, shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , includes a frame  10 , back portion  20 , a seat portion  22 , legs  24  and armrests  26 . The back portion  20  is preferably adjustable between at least a generally vertical position and a generally horizontal position. The adjustment may be made by any means known in the art such as a support beam  28  as shown. The back portion  20  may also have a fixed position, either in an upright, vertical position or in a horizontal position. The seat portion  22  preferably includes a horizontal element and may be entirely horizontal. Alternatively, the seat portion  22  may include a vertical portion for supporting the user&#39;s legs. If desired, the seat portion  22  may be adjustable to allow for different orientations of the user&#39;s legs and/or feet.  
         [0025]     The frame  10 , seat portion  22 , and back portion  20  are formed by any means known in the art for lounge chairs. Generally, the seat portion  22  and back portion  20  are constructed from heavy-duty, weather resistant materials. The construction may include a tubular frame  10 , while seat portion  22  and back portion  20  may be covered with nylon, fabric or plastic straps stretched across portions of frame  10 ; those in the field will recognize that frame  10  may be of a variety of embodiments consistent with parameters of the present invention. Alternatively, sheets of material may be attached to frame  10  to provide support for the user. A wooden embodiment of frame  10  may have rigid slats disposed within frame  10 .  
         [0026]     The seat portion  22  and back portion  20  are preferably supported by legs  24  and frame  10 . The legs may be constructed from the same material as frame  10  or may be different. The legs  24  may include wheels (see  FIGS. 3 and 4 ) to facilitate moving the lounge chair or may fold for ease of storage.  
         [0027]     The armrests  26  consist of vertical elements  30  which support a horizontal element  32  as shown in more detail in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The upper ends of the vertical elements  30  are preferably pivotally connected (see detail of preferred pivot construction in  FIG. 7 ) to the horizontal element  32  to allow rotational movement between the horizontal  32  and vertical elements  30 . The lower ends of the vertical elements are preferably connected to horizontal bar  34  and pivotally connected (see detail of the preferred pivot construction in  FIG. 6 ) to the seat portion  22 . The horizontal bar  34  connects the lower ends of vertical elements  32  on opposite sides of the seat portion  22 . Thus, when one armrest  26  is moved, the other armrest is also moved. In the preferred embodiment, horizontal bars  34  connect both pairs of vertical elements  32  as shown in  FIGS. 1-4 . The armrests  26  are preferably constructed from a heavy-duty weather resistant material like the frame and may be from the same material or a different material.  
         [0028]     To limit the movement of the armrests  26 , one or more stops  36  may be used. In  FIGS. 1-4 , two stops  36  are used on each side of the lounge chair. As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , when the armrest  26  is in the upright position, the vertical elements  30  rest against the stops  36 . The stops  36  maintain the armrests  26  in an upright position for use by the lounge chair&#39;s occupant.  FIGS. 2 and 4  show the armrests  26  in the lowered position. To achieve this configuration, the armrests  26  are moved forward, away from the stops  36 . Preferably, the armrests are connected by the horizontal bar  34  such that one single motion moves both armrests into the desired configuration. Preferably, the horizontal element  32  of the armrests is held in the desired lowered position by at least one of the stops  36  as is shown in  FIG. 2 . A configuration using a horizontal bar  34  to connect the armrests  26  may require only one stop  36  to control the movement of the entire armrest  26 . The stops  36  are connected to the frame  10 , preferably the portion of frame  10  supporting seat portion  22  and are preferably constructed using a shock absorbing material such as rubber or a plastic.  
         [0029]     As discussed previously, the vertical elements  30  of the armrests  26  are preferably pivotally connected to the horizontal element  32  and the seat portion  22 . The preferred constructions for these connections are shown in detail in  FIGS. 6 and 7 .  FIG. 6  shows the connection between the lower end of the vertical element  30  and the seat portion  22 . In this preferred embodiment, the vertical element  30  is bolted to the seat portion  22  in a manner that allows rotation about the bolt  38 . Similarly, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the upper end of the vertical element  30  is bolted  40  to the horizontal element  32  in a manner which allows rotation about the bolt  40 . As shown in  FIGS. 5, 6  and  9 , stops  36  are positioned on frame  10  higher than bolts  38  so as to interrupt the pivotal or rotary movement of vertical element  30  at a point on vertical element  30  between bolt  38  and bolt  40 , which is not only convenient for construction purposes but also reduces the force on bolt  38 , when the armrests  26  are in the fully raised position.  
         [0030]     While the description above refers to particular embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof. The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0