SEATING FURNITURE

Abstract

A seating furniture includes a seat with a seat surface, a pedestal and a tilt mechanism. The tilt mechanism is disposed between the pedestal and the seat and permits an inclination of the seat surface of the seat relative to the horizontal. In addition, the tilt mechanism has a lower bearing block mounted to the pedestal, and an upper bearing block fixedly connected to the seat. The lower bearing block has a convexly curved lower bearing surface on its upper side facing the upper bearing block, and the upper bearing block has a concavely curved upper bearing surface on its lower side facing the lower bearing block. The lower and upper bearing surfaces have substantially corresponding radii of curvature, so that the upper bearing block can be moved relative to the lower bearing block along the upper bearing surface. A tilt mechanism for seating furniture is also provided.

Claims

1-13. (canceled)

14. A seating furniture, comprising: a seat having a seat surface; a pedestal; and a tilt mechanism disposed between said pedestal and said seat and configured to allow said seat surface of said seat to tilt relative to the horizontal; said tilt mechanism including a lower bearing block mounted on said pedestal and an upper bearing block fixedly connected to said seat; said lower bearing block including an upper side facing towards said upper bearing block and a convexly curved lower bearing surface on said upper side; said upper bearing block including a lower side facing towards said lower bearing block and a concavely curved upper bearing surface on said lower side; said lower bearing surface of said lower bearing block and said upper bearing surface of said upper bearing block having substantially identical radii of curvature; and said upper bearing block being moveable relative to said lower bearing block along said upper bearing surface.

15. The seating furniture according to claim 14, wherein said tilt mechanism includes an intermediate element disposed between said lower bearing surface and said upper bearing surface for reducing a sliding resistance between said lower and upper bearing surfaces in a relative movement between said lower and upper bearing blocks.

16. The seating furniture according to claim 15, wherein said intermediate element of said tilt mechanism is placed on said lower bearing surface and has an upper side with a reduced sliding resistance facing towards said upper bearing surface.

17. The seating furniture according to claim 15, wherein said intermediate element of said tilt mechanism has upper and lower sides, and said intermediate element is convexly curved on said upper side and is concavely curved on said lower side facing towards said lower bearing surface.

18. The seating furniture according to claim 15, which further comprises: an operating lever being operable by a user; said pedestal including a pillar having a gas spring being operable by said operating lever; and said intermediate element of said tilt mechanism forming a stop for a movement of said operating lever.

19. The seating furniture according to claim 14, wherein said tilt mechanism includes a housing at least partially containing said lower bearing block and said upper bearing block.

20. The seating furniture according to claim 19, wherein said housing of said tilt mechanism is fixedly connected to said upper bearing block and is movable relative to said lower bearing block.

21. The seating furniture according to claim 19, which further comprises: an operating lever; said pedestal including a pillar having a gas spring; and said housing of said tilt mechanism having a housing opening for passage of said operating lever for operating said gas spring of said pillar.

22. The seating furniture according to claim 14, wherein said tilt mechanism includes at least one elastic element generating a spring effect opposing said relative movement between said lower and upper bearing blocks.

23. The seating furniture according to claim 22, which further comprises a housing at least partially containing said lower bearing block and said upper bearing block, said at least one elastic element of said tilt mechanism being disposed between said lower bearing block and said housing.

24. The seating furniture according to claim 14, wherein said tilt mechanism allows different maximum tilt angles in various tilt directions.

25. A tilt mechanism to be disposed between a pedestal and a seat of a seating furniture for allowing a seat surface of the seat to tilt relative to the horizontal, the tilt mechanism comprising: a lower bearing block to be mounted to the pedestal and an upper bearing block to be fixedly connected to the seat; said lower bearing block having an upper side facing towards said upper bearing block and a convexly curved lower bearing surface on said upper side; said upper bearing block having a lower side facing towards said lower bearing block and a concavely curved upper bearing surface on said lower side; said lower bearing surface of said lower bearing block and said upper bearing surface of said upper bearing block have substantially identical radii of curvature; and said upper bearing block being moveable relative to said lower bearing block along said upper bearing surface.

26. The tilt mechanism according to claim 25, which further comprises an intermediate element disposed between said lower bearing surface and said upper bearing surface for reducing a sliding resistance between said lower and upper bearing surfaces in a relative movement between said lower and upper bearing blocks.

27. The tilt mechanism according to claim 26, wherein said intermediate element is placed on said lower bearing surface and has an upper side with a reduced sliding resistance facing towards said upper bearing surface.

28. The tilt mechanism according to claim 26, wherein said intermediate element has upper and lower sides, and said intermediate element is convexly curved on said upper side and is concavely curved on said lower side facing towards said lower bearing surface.

29. The tilt mechanism according to claim 26, which further comprises: an operating lever being operable by a user for operating a gas spring of a pillar of the pedestal; said intermediate element forming a stop for a movement of said operating lever.

30. The tilt mechanism according to claim 25, which further comprises a housing at least partially containing said lower bearing block and said upper bearing block.

31. The tilt mechanism according to claim 30, wherein said housing is fixedly connected to said upper bearing block and is movable relative to said lower bearing block.

32. The tilt mechanism according to claim 30, which further comprises: an operating lever; said housing of said tilt mechanism having a housing opening for passage of said operating lever for operating a gas spring of a pillar of the pedestal.

33. The tilt mechanism according to claim 25, which further comprises at least one elastic element generating a spring effect opposing said relative movement between said lower and upper bearing blocks.

34. The tilt mechanism according to claim 33, which further comprises a housing at least partially containing said lower bearing block and said upper bearing block, said at least one elastic element being disposed between said lower bearing block and said housing.

35. The tilt mechanism according to claim 25, wherein the tilt mechanism allows different maximum tilt angles in various tilt directions.

Description

[0025] The above and other advantages, features and application possibilities of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which, mostly schematically:

[0026] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a seating furniture according to an embodiment of the invention; and

[0027] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a tilt mechanism according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0028] FIG. 1 exemplarily shows an office or school chair as a seating furniture 10 of the invention.

[0029] The seating furniture 10 comprises a seat 12 having a seat surface 12a and a backrest 12b. In this embodiment, the seat surface 12a and the backrest 12b are designed in the form of a common seat shell; In other embodiments of the invention, the seat surface 12a and the backrest 12b may also be designed as separate components connected to each other. In this embodiment, the seat 12 is made of a plastic material; in other embodiments of the invention, other materials or combinations of materials may also be used.

[0030] The seat 12 is mounted on a seat carrier 13 and supported on a pedestal 14. In this embodiment, the pedestal 14 comprises a pedestal base 16 having a plurality of arms and casters 18. In the middle of the pedestal base 16, the pedestal 14 has a pillar 20. In this embodiment, the pillar 20 is equipped with a gas spring so that the seating furniture 10 is adjustable in height.

[0031] A tilt mechanism 24 is provided between the pedestal 14 and the seat 12 or the seat carrier 13. This tilt mechanism 24 allows the seating surface 12a of the seat 12 tilt relative to the horizontal in a plurality of directions, in particular in a front/rear direction of the seat surface 12a and a right/left direction of the seat surface 12a (either continuously in the circumferential direction or in discrete directions) so that an ergonomic sitting can be achieved for a user of the seat furniture 10.

[0032] The structure and operation of such a tilt mechanism are explained below in more details referring to a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to FIG. 2.

[0033] FIG. 2 shows an upper end of the pillar 20 of the pedestal 14, which is equipped with a gas spring, and an inner end of a corresponding operating lever 22 for the gas spring, with which a user can operate the gas spring to change the length of the pillar 20 and thus the height of the seat surface 12a as he wishes.

[0034] The tilt mechanism 24 comprises a lower bearing block 26 made of metal, for example. This lower bearing block 26 is mounted on the upper end of the pillar 20, for example placed by press-fitting. On its upper side facing towards the seating surface 12a, the lower bearing block 26 has a central projection 27 which is provided with a convex curved lower bearing surface 28. This lower bearing surface 28 is designed particularly as a spherical shell section with a predetermined radius of curvature.

[0035] The tilt mechanism 24 further comprises an upper bearing block 30 made of metal, for example. On this upper bearing block 30, the seat carrier 13 and thus the seat 12 are mounted, for example by means of a screw connection. At its lower side facing towards the lower bearing block 26, the upper bearing block 30 is formed with a central recess 31 which is provided with a concave curved upper bearing surface 32. This upper bearing surface 32 is designed particularly as a spherical shell section with a predetermined radius of curvature which is substantially identical to the radius of curvature of the lower bearing surface 28 of the lower bearing block 26. The upper bearing surface 32 is preferably formed as a full-surface bearing surface (in contrast to annular bearing surfaces, for example).

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2, the lower and upper bearing surfaces 28, 32 are slightly spaced apart from each other. In this preferred embodiment, an intermediate member 34 in the form of a sliding cap is inserted between the lower bearing surface 28 at the lower bearing block 26 and the upper bearing surface 32 at the upper bearing block 30.

[0037] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the intermediate element 34 is placed on the lower bearing surface 28 of the lower bearing block 26. The intermediate element is curved convexly on its upper side facing towards the upper bearing surface 32 and curved concavely on its lower side facing towards the lower bearing surface 28. The radii of curvature of the intermediate element 34 are substantially identical to the radii of curvature of the bearing surfaces 28, 32. The upper side of the intermediate element 34 preferably forms an at least almost full-surface bearing surface.

[0038] The central projection 27 of the lower bearing block 26 is formed with at least one recess 38. The intermediate element 34 is formed with at least one projection 36 which can engage into the at least one recess 38, on its lower side. Thus, the intermediate element 34 can be fixed by press-fitting to the projection 27 of the lower bearing block 26. Alternatively or additionally, for example, an adhesive bond may be used. Alternatively, the intermediate element 34 may also be placed only loosely on the lower bearing surface 28 or loosely placed on the lower bearing surface 28 and then glued to this.

[0039] On its upper side, the intermediate element 34 has a reduced sliding resistance. That is, the sliding resistance between the upper side of the intermediate member 34 and the upper bearing surface 32 is reduced compared to the sliding resistance between the upper bearing surface 32 and the lower bearing surface 28. For this purpose, the intermediate element 34 is preferably made of a plastic material; in addition, the upper side of the intermediate element 34 may be specifically prepared and/or coated.

[0040] The projection 36 of the intermediate member 34 projecting into the recess 38 of the projection 27 of the lower bearing block 26 serves, as illustrated in FIG. 2, at the same time as a stop for the inner end of the operating lever 22 for the gas spring of the pillar 20. Thus, the intermediate element 34 limits the route of the operating lever 22 and prevents its abutment against the lower bearing block 26. In this way, noises caused by the abutment of the operating lever 22 with the lower bearing block 26, which are usually both made of metal, can be prevented.

[0041] The lower bearing block 26 and the upper bearing block 30 are surrounded by a housing 40. The housing 40 is made of metal or plastic, for example. The housing 40 is part of the tilt mechanism 24 and mounted on the upper bearing block 30.

[0042] In this embodiment, the housing 40 has a housing opening 44 for passing the operating lever 22 for the gas spring.

[0043] The lower bearing block 26 comprises a circumferential projection 43 and the housing 40 comprises a lower housing wall 45 as the lower boundary of the housing 40. The tilt mechanism 24 further comprises at least one elastic element 42, which is formed as an annular spring block made of an elastic material, in this embodiment. This elastic element 42 is positioned between the lower side of the circumferential projection 43 of the lower bearing block 26 and the lower housing wall 45 of the housing 40.

[0044] When the user moves his weight on the seating surface, the upper bearing block 30 of the tilt mechanism 24, which is fixedly connected to the seating surface 12a via the seat carrier 13, moves along its upper bearing surface 32 relative to the intermediate element 34 and thus relative to the lower bearing block 26. By this, the seat surface 12a tilts relative to the horizontal.

[0045] Due to the intermediate element 34 between the two corresponding bearing surfaces 28, 32, this tilting movement is smooth-running and quiet-running.

[0046] In other embodiments, it is also possible to omit the intermediate element 34 between the bearing surfaces 28, 32 of the two bearing blocks 26, 30. In this case, at least one of the two bearing surfaces 28, 32 is preferably treated or coated in order to reduce a sliding resistance between the two bearing surfaces 28, 32.

[0047] During this tilting movement, the housing 40 of the tilt mechanism 24, which is fixedly connected to the upper bearing block 30, is also moved relative to the lower bearing block 26. As consequence, the elastic element 42 is compressed on one side and thus generates a spring force opposing the tilt. The maximum tilt is given by the maximum compression of the elastic element 42. An abutment of the housing 40 against the lower bearing block 26 is also prevented by the elastic member 42. In addition, the elastic element 42 supports a return of the seat surface 12a to the neutral position.

[0048] The elastic element 42 may also have different elastic properties along its circumference, in particular different maximum degrees of compression. Thus, it is easily possible that the seat surface 12a has different maximum tilt angles in various tilt directions. For example, the tilt mechanism 24 allows the seating surface 12a of the seat 12 to tilt in the front/rear direction of the seat surface 12a by about 8 degrees at maximum relative to the horizontal, tilt in the right/left direction of the seat surface 12a by about 3.5 degrees at maximum relative to the horizontal.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0049] 10 seating furniture

[0050] 12 seat

[0051] 12a seat surface

[0052] 12b backrest

[0053] 13 seat carrier

[0054] 14 pedestal

[0055] 16 pedestal base

[0056] 18 casters

[0057] 20 pillar, esp. having a gas spring

[0058] 22 operating lever, esp. gas spring lever

[0059] 24 tilt mechanism

[0060] 26 lower bearing block

[0061] 27 projection

[0062] 28 convex curved lower bearing surface

[0063] 30 upper bearing block

[0064] 31 recess

[0065] 32 concave curved upper bearing surface

[0066] 34 intermediate element

[0067] 36 projection

[0068] 38 recess

[0069] 40 housing

[0070] 42 elastic element, esp. spring block

[0071] 43 circumferential projection

[0072] 44 housing opening

[0073] 45 lower housing wall