Patent ID: 7040709

Claim:
A seating unit comprising: a base assembly having an energy source associated therewith; a seat on the base assembly; a back support operably interconnected to the energy source for movement between an upright position and a reclined position, the back support including a back frame and a back shell; the back frame comprising an inverted U-shaped frame member and having a first attachment coupling an upper area of the back shell to the back frame, and a plurality of pivotal second attachments for pivotally coupling the lower area of the back shell to the back frame; and the back shell comprising a resiliently flexible polymeric sheet shaped to and adapted to support a back of a seated user, with a semi-rigid lower area, a flexible central area disposed above the lower area, and a semi-rigid upper area disposed above the central area, the flexible central area of the back shell including a plurality of vertically spaced apart slots in said sheet extending generally horizontally across a portion of the central area and terminating prior to the perimeter edge of said sheet.