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US 2006/0131942 A1Published application
Delayed gas spring chair
AssigneeHumanscale Corporation
InventorsRobert King, Thomas Latone
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention provides a gas spring adapted for automatically re-adjusting to a predetermined position, the gas spring incorporating a delay mechanism so that the automatic re-adjustment is delayed by a predetermined amount of time. In one embodiment, the delay mechanism comprises a delay valve that. The invention further provides articles incorporating such a delay gas spring, such as a height adjustable chair.
Claims50
A height adjustable chair comprising:
- a) a gas spring comprising an upper end and a lower end and further comprising a release button operably movable between a locked position where the gas spring is locked and non-height adjustable, and an actuated position where the gas spring is released and height adjustable;
- b) a pedestal comprising:
- i. a substantially vertical elongate tubular casing having an upper end and a lower end, said upper end of said tubular casing being associated with said lower end of said gas spring;
- ii. a plurality of arms radiating out from said lower end of said tubular casing;
- and
- iii. a plurality of castors, said castors mounted at the end of said radiating arms;
- c) a seat including a control housing supported on said pedestal and connected to said upper end of said gas spring for assisted vertical height adjustment, said seat including an actuator constructed to selectively move the release button of said gas spring from the locked position to the actuated position;
- d) a first piston slidably received within said gas spring;
- e) a second piston slidably received within said gas spring;
- f) a check valve disposed within said first piston;
- and
- g) a delay valve disposed within said first piston, said delay valve being adapted to meter flow of a fluid within said gas spring at a rate sufficient to automatically re-adjust said chair to a predetermined height after a time of about 5 minutes to about 30 minutes.
9 more elements
A height adjustable chair comprising:
- a gas spring being manually length adjustable between a fully extended position and a fully retracted position;
- and
- a delay mechanism associated with said gas spring, said delay mechanism being adapted for causing said gas spring to automatically re-adjust to a predetermined position after a predetermined interval.
An automatically re-adjustable gas spring comprising:
- a) a casing having a first end and a second end;
- b) a piston rod axially disposed in said casing and protruding from said first end of said casing;
- c) a first piston attached to said piston rod, said first piston being slidably moveable within said casing between said first end and said second end of said casing;
- d) a second piston slidably moveable within said casing between said first piston and said second end of said casing;
- e) a first fluid chamber disposed between said first end of said casing and said first piston;
- f) a second fluid chamber disposed between said first piston and said second piston;
- g) a gas chamber disposed between said second piston and said second end of said casing;
- h) a check valve assembly disposed within said first piston, said check valve being adapted for allowing one-way flow of a fluid from said second fluid chamber to said first fluid chamber;
- and
- i) a delay valve assembly disposed within said first piston, said delay valve being adapted for allowing controlled flow of said fluid from said first fluid chamber to said second fluid chamber.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.