US 6,347,777 B1Granted

Seat adjustment apparatus

AssigneeHoist Fitness Systems, Inc.

InventorsRandall T. Webber, George M. Zink, Christopher E. Brennan

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Abstract

An adjustment apparatus for adjusting the position of a back pad or seat pad of a seat has an inner tube with a series of spaced openings for securing at one end to the back or seat pad, and an outer tube telescopically engaged over the inner tube and secured to a support frame of the seat. The outer tube has a pinning opening for alignment with a selected one of the openings in the inner tube. A lever is pivotally secured on a pivot bracket on the outer tube for rotation about a pivot axis with a first end portion of the lever projecting over the pinning hole, and a pinning button projecting from the first end portion towards the pinning hole. The lever is movable between an operative position in which the pinning button extends through the pinning hole and an aligned hole in the inner tube to secure the tubes together, and a retracted position in which the pinning button is spaced from the pinning hole. The width of the lever is greater than that of the pivot bracket, so that the lever extends over and completely covers the pivot bracket, avoiding potential pinch areas.

Claims24

Dependent claims

An adjustment apparatus, comprising:

an inner tube having a series of spaced openings;
an outer tube telescopically engaged over the inner tube, the outer tube having a pinning opening for alignment with a selected one of the openings in the inner tube;
a pivot bracket of predetermined width mounted on the outside of the outer tube at a location spaced a predetermined distance from the pinning opening;
a lever having a central portion pivotally secured over the pivot bracket for rotation about a pivot axis, and opposite first and second end portions projecting in opposite directions from the central portion, the lever having a transverse width greater than the width of the pivot bracket, the first end portion of the lever projecting over the pinning hole;
a pinning button projecting from the first end portion towards the pinning hole, the lever being movable about said pivot axis between an operative position in which the pinning button extends through the pinning hole and an aligned hole in the inner tube to secure the tubes together, and a retracted position in which the pinning button is spaced from the pinning hole;
a biasing device urging the lever towards the operative position, the second end portion of the lever comprising a handle portion for pressing by a user to release the inner tube from the outer tube to permit relative movement between the tubes;
the central, first, and second end portions of the lever all being flat, the first end portion extending at a predetermined angle in a first direction from the central portion, and the second end portion extends at a predetermined second angle in a second direction from the central portion;
and
the first and second angles are the same and the first and second end portions are parallel;
the pinning button projecting in a direction perpendicular to the first end portion.

7 more elements

An adjustment apparatus, comprising:

an inner tube having a series of spaced openings;
an outer tube telescopically engaged over the inner tube, the outer tube having a pinning opening for alignment with a selected one of the openings in the inner tube;
a lever pivotally secured to the outer tube for rotation about a pivot axis spaced outwardly from the tube, the lever having an intermediate portion and opposite first and second end portions projecting in opposite directions from the intermediate portion, the first end portion of the lever projecting over the pinning hole, and having a pinning member projecting from the first end portion towards the pinning hole;
the lever being rotatable about said pivot axis between an operative position in which the pinning member extends through the pinning hole and an aligned hole in the inner tube to secure the tubes together, and a retracted position in which the pinning member is spaced from the pinning hole;
and
a biasing device urging the lever towards the operative position, the second end portion of the lever comprising a handle portion for pressing by a user to release the inner tube from the outer tube to permit relative movement between the tubes;
and
each portion of the lever being flat and the first and second end portions being bent at a predetermined angle to the intermediate portion whereby the first end portion is flat against the tube in the operative position.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.