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US 11,690,457 B2Granted
Chair with flexible internal support
AssigneeHNI Technologies Inc.
InventorJohn Koch
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a chair back assembly with an outer frame and an inner frame, wherein the outer frame is manufactured of different material than the inner frame to allow for a variety in support throughout the chair back assembly, resulting in localized support throughout the back of the chair. The availability of localized support results in an improvement in comfort and may also improve production in embodiments utilizing a foam covering. Specifically, the inner frame of the chair back assembly may include at least one vertical member and at least one horizontal member to provide additional support to the user.
Claims16
A chair back assembly, the chair back assembly comprising:
- an outer frame defining an open central region and being formed of a frame material;
- an inner frame coupled to the outer frame defining a central longitudinal axis and a central latitudinal axis, the inner frame extending across the open central region of the outer frame, the inner frame formed of a web material including a crossing-pattern of inner frame elements that define a plurality of closed cells that are symmetric in shape about the central longitudinal axis of the inner frame, the frame material being relatively more rigid than the web material, the inner frame elements including a first vertical frame element and a second vertical frame element, the first and second vertical frame elements diverging from one another in a downward direction from a top of the inner frame toward a bottom of the inner frame;
- a foam layer enveloping the outer frame and the inner frame and filling the closed cells of the inner frame;
- and
- wherein each of the plurality of closed cells are defined by a width, and the width of at least four closed cells of the plurality of closed cells on at least one side of the chair back assembly consistently decrease from a top surface to a bottom surface of the chair back assembly.
2 more elements
A chair back assembly, the chair back assembly comprising:
- an outer frame defining an open central region and being formed of a frame material, the outer frame having at least a top side and a bottom side;
- an inner frame coupled to the outer frame defining a central longitudinal axis and a central latitudinal axis, the inner frame extending across the open central region of the outer frame, the inner frame formed of a web material including a crossing-pattern of inner frame elements that define a plurality of closed cells that are symmetric in shape about the central longitudinal axis of the inner frame, the frame material being relatively more rigid than the web material, the web material having a top portion coupled with the outer frame only at a laterally central portion of the top side of the outer frame;
- a foam layer enveloping the outer frame and the inner frame and filling the closed cells of the inner frame;
- and
- wherein each of the plurality of closed cells are defined by a width, and the width of the plurality of closed cells on at least one side of the chair back assembly consistently decrease from a top surface to a bottom surface of the chair back assembly.
2 more elements
A chair back assembly, the chair back assembly comprising:
- an outer frame defining an open central region and being formed of a frame material;
- an inner frame coupled to the outer frame defining a central longitudinal axis and a central latitudinal axis, the inner frame extending across the open central region of the outer frame, the inner frame formed of a web material including a crossing-pattern of inner frame elements that define a plurality of closed cells that are symmetric in shape about the central longitudinal axis of the inner frame, the frame material being relatively more rigid than the web material, wherein the inner frame elements include a first vertical frame element and a second vertical frame element, the first and second vertical frame elements diverging from one another along a portion of each closed cell in the plurality of closed cells;
- a foam layer enveloping the outer frame and the inner frame and filling the closed cells of the inner frame;
- and
- wherein each of the plurality of closed cells are defined by a width, and the width of the plurality of closed cells on at least one side of the chair back assembly consistently decrease from a top surface to a bottom surface of the chair back.
2 more elements
A chair back assembly, the chair back assembly comprising:
- an outer frame defining an open central region and being formed of a frame material;
- an inner frame coupled to the outer frame defining a central longitudinal axis and a central latitudinal axis, the inner frame extending across the open central region of the outer frame, the inner frame formed of a web material including a crossing-pattern of inner frame elements that define a plurality of closed cells that are symmetric in shape about the central longitudinal axis of the inner frame, the frame material being relatively more rigid than the web material;
- a foam layer enveloping the outer frame and the inner frame and filling the closed cells of the inner frame;
- and
- wherein each of the plurality of closed cells are defined by a width, and the width of the plurality of closed cells on at least one zone of the chair back assembly consistently increase from a top surface to a bottom surface of the chair back assembly.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.