Patent ID: 7240966

Claim:
A mechanism for supporting and permitting selected adjustment of the position of a headrest relative to a chair to which the headrest is movably attached, the mechanism comprising: a body having a first end positionable adjacent the chair and a second end positionable adjacent the headrest; a first pivotable connection near the first end of the body and adapted to connect to the chair and to allow pivoting of the body relative to the chair; a second pivotable connection near the second end of the body and adapted to connect to the headrest and to allow pivoting of the headrest relative to the body, each of the first and second pivotable connections being independently pivotable relative to the other; and a selectively releasable locking mechanism configured to retain the body in selected angular positions relative to the chair and relative the headrest, the locking mechanism being configured to allow one-handed actuation and comprising interleaving plate members that can be clamped in frictional contact with each other; wherein the interleaving plate members comprise a set of first plate members pivotally connected adjacent the first pivotable connection and a set of second plate members pivotally connected adjacent the second pivotable connection, the first plate members extending towards the second plate members with portions of said second plate members being interleaved with portions of said first plate members, and the locking mechanism being configured to clamp the interleaved first and second plate members into locking frictional contact to hold them against movement relative to each other, thereby locking the body in the selected angular positions.