US 2002/0140266 A1Published application

Height-adjustment mechanism for a chair

AssigneeHaworth, Inc.

InventorsMichael D. Broekhuis, Patrick C. Nelson, Richard N. Roslund JR., Stephen J. Simpson

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A height adjustment mechanism in a chair operates automatically by raising and lowering a chair component such as a chair back. The height adjustment mechanism is provided on a chair back or other chair support and includes a gear which engages a rack member that is vertically movable relative thereto in response to movement of the chair back. A locking member is provided which engages the gear to prevent downward movement of the chair back while still permitting upward movement of the chair back. A disengagement member also is provided to separate the gear and the locking member and maintain the gear in a disengaged position that permits lowering of the chair back.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A chair comprising:

a seat assembly for supporting a user thereon;
an upright supported on the seat assembly which projects upwardly;
a body supporting chair component which is movably supported on said upright to permit adjustment of the height of the chair component;
and
a height adjustment mechanism connecting said chair component and said upright together, said height adjustment mechanism including a gear assembly on one of said upright and said chair component and a rack member supported on the other of said upright and said chair component, said rack member including a vertically elongate rack defined by a plurality of rack teeth, and said gear assembly having a gear housing and a gear which is rotatably supported on said gear housing, said gear having gear teeth which mesh with said rack teeth wherein said gear rotates in response to relative vertical movement between said rack and said gear assembly, said gear assembly further including a locking member which is engagable with said gear to prevent rotation thereof wherein said gear and said locking member are movable away from each other during raising of said chair component to permit rotation of said gear and toward each other to prevent rotation of said gear and prevent lowering of said chair component, said gear assembly further including a disengagement member which is movable between an operative position which maintains said gear and said locking member separated to permit lowering of said chair component and an inoperative position to permit said gear and said locking member toward and away from each other during raising of said chair component.

2 more elements

An article of furniture comprising:

a fixed support member;
a movable furniture component which is movable vertically relative to said fixed support member;
and
a height adjustment mechanism connecting said movable furniture component to said fixed support member, said height adjustment mechanism including a rack member fixedly connected to one of said fixed support member and said movable furniture component and a gear assembly which is fixedly connected to the other of said fixed support member and said movable furniture component, said rack member having a vertically elongate rack comprising a vertical row of rack teeth, and said gear assembly including a housing having a rotatable gear supported thereon, said gear having gear teeth which mesh with said rack teeth such that said gear rotates in response to relative vertical movement between said rack member and said gear assembly during lifting of said movable furniture component, said housing further including a locking member which is engagable with said gear to prevent gear rotation and said gear being shiftable vertically away from said locking member during lifting of said movable furniture component and back toward said locking member after lifting of said movable furniture component.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.