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US 6,533,355 B2Granted
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
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims28
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 between upper and lower limits of vertical travel;
- 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 extend about a circumference of said gear and continuously mesh with said rack teeth during raising and lowering of said chair component between said upper and lower limits of travel 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 out of engagement during raising of said chair component to permit rotation of said gear and movable toward each other into engagement to prevent rotation of said gear which prevents lowering of said chair component by said meshing of said gear teeth and said rack teeth, 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 to move 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 in opposite vertical directions;
- and
- a height adjustment mechanism interconnected between said movable furniture component and 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 during movement of said movable furniture component in both of said opposite vertical directions such that said gear rotates in response to relative vertical movement between said rack member and said gear assembly, said housing further including a locking member which is engagable with said gear to prevent gear rotation such that said gear prevents movement of said rack, said gear being shiftable vertically away from said locking member during lifting of said movable furniture component wherein gear rotation is permitted and back toward said locking member after lifting of said movable furniture component wherein gear rotation is prevented.
1 more element
An article of furniture comprising:
- a fixed support member;
- a movable furniture component which is manually movable relative to said fixed support member;
- and
- a position adjustment mechanism interconnecting said movable furniture component to said fixed support member, said position 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 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 raising of said movable furniture component, said housing including a locking member which is removably engaged with said gear to prevent gear rotation and maintain said movable furniture component at a selected elevation and disengagable from said gear during manual movement of said movable furniture component such that noise-generating contact is avoided between said gear and said locking member, said housing further including a clicker member engagable with said rack member to produce audible clicking sounds during raising of said movable furniture component.
1 more element
An article of furniture comprising:
- a fixed support member;
- a movable furniture component which is manually movable relative to said fixed support member along an adjustment path;
- and
- a position adjustment mechanism interconnected between said movable furniture component and said fixed support member, said position adjustment mechanism including a rack disposed on one of said fixed support member and said movable furniture component and extending along said adjustment path, and a gear assembly which is disposed on the other of said fixed support member and said movable furniture component, said gear assembly having a rotatable gear meshing with said rack such that said gear rotates in response to relative movement between said rack and said gear assembly during manual movement of said movable furniture component, said gear assembly further including a locking member which is removably engaged with said gear in locked engagement to prevent gear rotation wherein said gear supports a weight of said movable furniture component on said fixed support member through said meshing of said gear with said rack, said gear and said locking member being automatically disengaged from each other by manual movement of said movable furniture component and reengaged in said locked engagement upon a release of said movable furniture component, said gear assembly further including a disengagement member which is movable between an operative position which maintains said gear and said locking member disengaged to permit lowering of said chair component and an inoperative position to permit said gear and said locking member to permit said automatic disengagement during raising of said chair component.
1 more element
A chair comprising:
- a fixed support member;
- a movable furniture component which is manually movable relative to said fixed support member along a vertically-elongate adjustment path;
- and
- a position adjustment mechanism interconnected between said movable chair component and said fixed support member, said position adjustment mechanism including a rack disposed on said fixed support member and extending along said adjustment path, and a gear assembly which is disposed on said movable furniture component, said gear assembly having a rotatable gear meshing sidewardly with said rack such that said gear rotates in response to relative vertical movement between said rack and said gear assembly during manual movement of said movable furniture component, said gear assembly further including a locking member which is engageable with said teeth of said gear in a locking position wherein said gear supports the weight of said movable furniture component on said fixed support member through said meshing of said gear with said rack, said locking member and said gear being relatively movable such that said locking member is displaceable to an unlocked position to permit rotation of said gear and allow for said manual movement of said movable furniture component, said locking member being automatically disposed in said locked position upon a release of said movable furniture component, and said gear assembly further including a disengagement member which is movable between an operative position and an inoperative position, said disengagement member when in said inoperative position permitting movement of said locking member between said locked and unlocked positions such that said movable furniture component is movable only in a first direction along said adjustment path, said disengagement member when in said inoperative position maintaining said locking member in said unlocked position relative to said gear to permit movement of said movable furniture component along said adjustment path in a second direction opposite to said first direction.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.