Patent ID: 7896437

Claim:
A rocker chair base assembly, comprising: a pair of parallel-spaced longitudinal rails, each rail including an upper engagement surface and side regions; a pair of unitary, single piece composite cam members, each formed of: a rigid body having an upper portion and a lower portion, the lower portion including a lower contact surface presenting an arcuate longitudinal profile enabling rolling contact on the upper engagement surface of one longitudinal rail of the pair of longitudinal rails; and a vertically oriented web spanning between the upper portion and the lower portion, wherein the web includes a plurality of strengthening ribs, each of the plurality of strengthening ribs extending from the upper portion to a location near the lower portion, wherein each of the plurality of strengthening ribs does not extend downwardly to the lower contact surface; a first set of angle cross members interconnecting said pair of cam members, wherein each of said first set of angle cross members is disposed below the upper portion of each of said cam members; a second set of angle cross members interconnecting said pair of longitudinal rails, each having opposed longitudinal end regions, wherein each of said second set of angle cross members is disposed at a lower elevation than each of said first set of angle cross members, wherein each of said cam members further includes: a set of projecting sleeves extending laterally from the rigid body at a location generally above the lower contact surface, each sleeve of the set of projecting sleeves being configured to present a mating angle profile for slidably receiving therein and securely attaching with the longitudinal end regions of the first set of angle cross members, thereby interconnecting one composite cam member of the set of composite cam members with another composite cam member of the set of composite cam members and positioning the first set of angle cross members generally above the second set of angle cross members; and at least one rocker spring assembly including at least one spring coil, each rocker spring assembly being securely coupled with the first set of angle cross members and the set of projecting sleeves of the respective composite cam member and the second set of angle cross members; wherein a lower portion of the at least one spring coil of the at least one rocker spring assembly is disposed at a lower elevation than the engagement surface of each longitudinal rail such that a vertical midpoint of the spring coil lies in a horizontal plane defined by the engagement surface of each longitudinal rail when the assembly is in a neutral position; and wherein the at least one rocker spring assembly serves to regulate a rocking motion by the set of composite cam members on the pair of longitudinal rails and to couple the set of composite cam members to the second set of angle cross members for securely positioning the set of cam members on the pair of longitudinal rails.