Reclinable office chair

Abstract

A reclinable office chair includes a reclination adjustment unit disposed at the bottom of the office chair. The reclination adjustment unit balances itself on the floor properly, resiliently and steadily. The office chair tilted in a forward-backward direction and/or a left-right direction displays directional stability relative to the floor in a manner not to lose the directional stability even when a sitter tilts in any direction, thereby allowing the office chair to provide a comfortable seat for the sitter to sit on, regardless of whether the office chair is upright or tilted in any direction.

Claims

1. A reclinable office chair, underpinned by a floor while being tilted in one of a forward-backward direction and a left-right direction, with an annular receiving region concavely defined in a space on an upward side of a base of the reclinable office chair and with a reclination adjustment unit disposed at a bottom of the reclinable office chair, wherein the reclination adjustment unit comprises a bottom base, a connecting element, carrying elements, and a concealing element, wherein limiting segments extend outward from the carrying elements and are confined to between the bottom base and the connecting element, wherein the connecting element and the bottom base are separated by a flexible distance, wherein hook portions and block portions extend downward from the concealing element to an extent to clamp the connecting element from above and below, wherein a through hole is centrally disposed at the concealing element and penetrable by an upright support portion of the reclinable office chair and a sleeve segment coupled to a lower segment of the upright support portion, wherein the upright support portion and the sleeve segment are inserted into and are connected to an opening centrally disposed at the connecting element, wherein the reclinable office chair tilted in one of the forward-backward direction and the left-right direction displays directional stability relative to the floor in a manner not to lose the directional stability even when a sitter tilts in any direction, thereby allowing the reclinable office chair to provide a seat for the sitter to sit on, regardless of whether the office chair is upright or tilted in any direction.

2. The reclinable office chair of claim 1, wherein the limiting segments, which extend outward from the carrying elements and are confined to between the bottom base and the connecting element, are each provided in a form of a threaded bolt segment for penetrating apertures of the bottom base below and apertures of the connecting element above and undergo directional engagement with washers and screwing components, and wherein each carrying element gives a resilient support effectuated and maintained between the connecting element and the bottom base.

3. The reclinable office chair of claim 1, wherein the hook portions and the block portions, which extend downward from the concealing element to clamp the connecting element from above and below, interlace with each other, thereby imposing a balanced directional limitation upon the connecting element from above and below.

4. The reclinable office chair of claim 1, wherein each carrying element is confined to between the bottom base and the connecting element, is centrally constricted, and has upper and lower ends protruded, and wherein the reclination adjustment unit not only maintains resilient deformation but is also subjected to no excessive hindrance whenever the reclinable office chair is tilted in any direction.

5. The reclinable office chair of claim 1, wherein the limiting segments, which extend outward from the carrying elements and are confined to between the bottom base and the connecting element, are formed integrally with and implanted in portions of the carrying elements, respectively.

6. The reclinable office chair of claim 1, wherein the reclination adjustment unit comprises recesses and ribs, with the recesses concavely formed low at the bottom base, and with the ribs disposed at the bottom base and separated by a distance to form joint pipe segments, allowing an end of a non-slip pad to be admitted into a corresponding one of the joint pipe segments.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a bottom base and related components of an office chair viewed from below according to the present invention;

(2) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom base and related components of the office chair when assembled and viewed from below according to the present invention;

(3) FIG. 3 is a perspective view which shows the bottom of the office chair coupled to a reclination adjustment unit according to the present invention;

(4) FIG. 4 is a top view which shows the bottom of the office chair coupled to the reclination adjustment unit according to the present invention;

(5) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 50-50 of FIG. 4;

(6) FIG. 5-1 is an enlarged view of the reclination adjustment unit with reference to FIG. 5;

(7) FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view which shows the lateral tilt of the office chair whose bottom is coupled to the reclination adjustment unit according to the present invention;

(8) FIG. 6-1 is an enlarged view of the reclination adjustment unit tilted and sunk with reference to FIG. 6;

(9) FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 70-70 of FIG. 4;

(10) FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view which shows the reclination adjustment unit coupled to the bottom of the office chair tilted forward and backward according to the present invention; and

(11) FIG. 9 (prior art) is a front view of a conventional office chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

(12) Referring to FIG. 3, a reclinable office chair is provided by the present invention and in the form of a tall office chair 8 which comprises a support portion 1, a bottom base 2 coupled to the lower end of the support portion 1, and a seat portion 3 disposed on the upper end of the support portion 1. The arrangement of the aforesaid components is not claimed by the present invention. To allow the office chair 8 in operation to be steadily underpinned by the floor while being tilted in a forward-backward direction and/or a left-right direction (as shown in FIG. 1), the reclinable office chair of the present invention is characterized in that: an annular receiving region 21 (shown in FIG. 5) is concavely defined in a predetermined space on the upward side of the bottom base 2 of the office chair 8 such that a reclination adjustment unit 7 is disposed at the bottom of the office chair 8. The reclination adjustment unit 7 comprises a bottom base 2, a connecting element 4, carrying elements 5, and a concealing element 6.

(13) Limiting segments 51 extend outward from the carrying elements 5 and are confined to between the bottom base 2 and the connecting element 4, such that the connecting element 4 and the bottom base 2 are separated by an appropriately flexible distance (shown in FIG. 5-1). Hook portions 61 and block portions 62 extend downward from the concealing element 6 to a predetermined extent to clamp the connecting element 4 from above and below (as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5-1). A through hole 63 is centrally disposed at the concealing element 6 and penetrable by the support portion 1 and a high-toughness sleeve segment 11 coupled to the lower segment of the support portion 1. Hence, the support portion 1 and the sleeve segment 11 are inserted into and thus properly, tightly connected to an opening 41 centrally disposed at the connecting element 4.

(14) The limiting segments 51, which extend outward from the carrying elements 5 and are confined to between the bottom base 2 and the connecting element 4, are each provided in the form of a threaded bolt segment to bring the advantage as follows: threaded bolt segments penetrate apertures 22 of the bottom base 2 below and apertures 42 of the connecting element 4 above and undergo directional engagement with washers 52 and screwing components 53 (as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5-1), such that each carrying element 5 gives an appropriate resilient support effectuated and maintained between the connecting element 4 and the bottom base 2. The hook portions 61 and the block portions 62, which extend downward from the concealing element 6 to properly clamp the connecting element 4 from above and below, interlace with each other, thereby imposing a balanced directional limitation upon the connecting element 4 from above and below, as well as laterally.

(15) Each carrying element 5 confined to between the bottom base 2 and the connecting element 4 is centrally constricted and has its upper and lower ends slightly protruded (as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 5-1). Hence the reclination adjustment unit 7 not only maintains appropriate, resilient deformation but is also subjected to no excessive hindrance whenever the office chair 8 is tilted in any direction (as shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 8). The limiting segments 51, which extend outward from the carrying elements 5 and are confined to between the bottom base 2 and the connecting element 4, are less tough than the carrying elements 5 and the sleeve segment 11 and are formed integrally with and thus implanted in predetermined portions of the carrying elements 5, respectively. The reclination adjustment unit 7 further comprises recesses 23 (shown in FIG. 1) and ribs 24. The recesses 23 are concavely formed low at the bottom base 2. The ribs 24 are disposed at the bottom base 2 and separated by a predetermined distance. The ribs 24 form joint pipe segments 25. One end of a non-slip pad 26 is tightly admitted into a corresponding one of the joint pipe segments 25 (as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 6-1).

(16) The reclination adjustment unit 7 (shown in FIG. 3) disposed at the bottom of the office chair 8 has advantages described below. The reclination adjustment unit 7 balances itself on the floor properly, resiliently and steadily (shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7). As soon as the office chair 8 is tilted in a forward-backward direction (shown in FIG. 8) and/or a left-right direction (shown in FIG. 6), the carrying elements 5 sink obliquely into the receiving region 21 of the bottom base 2 (shown in FIG. 6-1) under a downward external force. Meanwhile the lower segment of the upright support portion 1 is limited by the middle of the connecting element 4 connected to one end of each carrying element 5. Hence, not only does the tilt of the support portion 1 fall within a range of safe inclinations, but the office chair 8 thus tilted also displays directional stability relative to the floor in a manner not to lose the directional stability even when the sitter tilts in any direction. Accordingly, the office chair 8 provides a comfortable seat for a user to sit on, regardless of whether the office chair 8 is upright or tilted in any direction.