US972859A - Adjustable chair. - Google Patents

Description

A. N. HORNUNG.

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR.

APPLIOATION'HLED Nov. 11, 190s.

Patented 001;. 18, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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WII'lIEE EE.: Wm l ANTON N. HRNUNG, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 11, 1908.

Patented Oct. 18, 1910. Serial No. 462,108.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTON N. HORNUNG, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Chairs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to adjustable chairs, particularly to that class in which hydraulic mechanism is employed, and contemplates improved means `whereby the raising and lowering and the back and forth tilting of the chair may be effected. In this art it has constantly been the purpose to secure an arrangement whereby the various desired adjustments could be effected through the medium of a single operating lever, and to obtain this result it was found necessary to employ quite complicated and intricately assembled structures.

It is the object of my invention, to provide a device which will comprise a minimum number of simply constructed and easily assembled parts and wherein the various mechanisms will have positive and detinite actuation. With these ends in view, I`

have constructed an arrangement wherein the actuating lever has a determined stroke in which to operate the hydraulic pump mechanism to raise the chair. Further, in accordance with my invention, I provide means whereby a supplementary movement at one end of this stroke will effect the lowering of the chair while an additional movement at the other end of the stroke will effect the release of the mechanism which normally maintains the chair rigid to permit the tilting thereof.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevational view illustrat ing an adjustable chair embodying the features of my invention, parts being broken away to disclose parts which will be referred to specifically; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts to which my invention is particularly directed. Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the upper end thereof. Fig. 4 is a detail view in cross section on the line 44 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view, on a slightly enlarged scale, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 6 is therefore, i

a cross sectional view taken on the line mof Fig. 5, and looking in the direction of the arrows 6, 6. Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on the line of Fig. 5, and looking in the direction of the arrows 7 7. Fig. 8 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 5, and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Like reference characters are applied to the same parts throughout the various iigures.

The adjustable chair of my invention is primarily supported upon a stationary base 9 which is provided with the upwardly extending cylindrical housing 10 which, as will be noted, incloses and forms supporting means for the adjusting mechanism which terminates in a plate 11. Upon this plate is rigidly secured the seat 12 which has secured thereto the upwardly extending arms 13 and 14. To the arm 13 at 15 is pivotally secured the back member 16 which is provided, as usual in this kind of a chair, with the pivotally mounted head rest 17.

To the arl.r 14 is pivotally secured at 18, the rocking lever 19 which extends upwardly from-.its point to be pivot-ally connected at 20 to the arm 21, which in turn is pivotally connected at 22 to the back 16, and downwardly to carry the front rest member 23 and the auxiliary foot-board 24. It is evident that the various pivotal connections which have been described will admit of the simultaneous movement of the back, arm and foot-rest member as a resistant structure into and out of reclining position to different desired degrees.

Referring now particularly to the adjusting mechanism, the first member to be considered is the outer cylinder 25, which is firmly supported in the housing 16 as follows: At its upper end this cylinder is provided with the outwardly extending flange 26, which rests upon the top of the cylindrical housing 16, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5, and is held in place by the connecting bolts 27, which pass through registering openings in the flange and base 9 respectively. Within this cylinder 25 is operatively disposed the plunger cylinder 28 which is enlarged at its upper end into a squared portion 29 for a purpose hereinafter referred to, and terminates in the plate 11, which has been mentioned before. This plate has the notches 30, 30 for the reception of bolts having threaded engagement with the under side of the seat 12.

The cylinder 28, is provided, in its bottom wall, with a concentrically disposed valve 31 which is vertically guided by the engagement of the central pin 32 thereof within the cross-piece 33 which is secured to the annular ridge 34 on the under side of the plunger cylinder. The valve is further guided by the radial strips 35 which engage in the central part in the plunger and is held against its seat 36 by means of the helical spring 37, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The upper side of the bottom wall of the plunger cylinder is provided with the annular boss 38 which has the radial grooves 39 for a purpose hereinafter explained, the pin 32 of the valve extending slightly above the boss, as shown in Fig. 5, to secure its direct mechanical operation as will be pointed out.

Inside the plunger 28 is operatively disposed the reciprocating piston 40, which engages the cylinder at the top and bottom thereof and has the intermediate conical portion 41. The piston is hollow as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5 and is provided in the' top wall thereof with openings 42, 42 and in the bottom wall thereof with an opening 43 for the passage of fluid. The opening 43 is controlled by the valve 44 which is pivoted at 45 in the bosses 46, 46 on the plunger and normally held in its closed position by the helical spring 47. The valve member 44 is spread, as shown in Fig. 6, to escape the central boss 48 which, as wlll be described, engages the pin 32 to open the valvel 31. lThe limit of reciprocation of the piston is not defined by the natural stroke of the crank later referred to, but has positive stop means at either end thereof for that purpose. The downward movement of the piston ceases when the bosses 46 thereon strike the annular boss 38. The upward movement thereof is limited as follows: The resultant stroke of the piston 1s less in length than the conical portion of the piston and at this conical portion the plunger cylinder is provided with the side openings 49, 49 in which are loosely disposed the wedge blocks 50, 50, which are tapered to correspond to the slant of the cone. It is apparent that in its upward movement the piston will at some point be wedged into inertness, thus defining the stroke.

The piston 40 is connected by means of a connecting rod 51 with a crank 52 operating in the enlarged housing 29 and secured upon the main shaft 53 by means of a set bolt 54, this main shaft being mounted in thehousing and in the downwardly extending portion 55 on the plate 11 and provided at its outer end with a securely mounted operating lever 56. The connecting rod is connected with the piston as follows: The rod passes through an enlarged central opening 57 in the piston and is provided at its lower end with a nut 58 between which and the inside of the upper wall of the piston the helical spring 59 is disposed. A shoulder 60 which engages the piston proper is provided upon the rod and guides 61, 61 are provided for obvious purposes.

The plunger cylinder 28 is to be partly filled with some fluid, oil being preferable. The operation of this hydraulic pumping mechanism is as follows: The pumping stroke of the operating lever 56 is slightly less than that which would effect the complete downward movement of the piston. In other words, the pumping stroke does not bring the boss 48 into engagement with the pin 32. Thus, upward movement of the piston would cause the fluid to open the valve 44 and pass through the opening 43 into the plunger' cylinder below the piston. The next downward stroke of the piston forces the fluid accumulated therebelow to open the valve 31, the valve 44 then being closed, and pass through the port controlled thereby into the outer cylinder 25, t-hus raising the plunger cylinder 28 and the chair carried thereby. The plunger then being incumbent upon the fluid it is clear that the fluid will close the valve 31. To assist this action the valve 31 is hollowed out on the under side as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, thus directing the fluid to exert the forcel in the most effective direction. The under side of the plunger cylinder is also hollowed,-

as before stated, and for the same purpose. ln the succeeding upward stroke of the piston another volume of fluid will flow therebelow and the downward stroke will force that volume into the outer cylinder to still further raise the plunger, and so on until the desir-ed height of the chair has been reached.

lVhen it is desired to lower the chair the operating lever is turned down to its fullest extent, that is, until the boss 48 on the under side of the plunger strikes the pin 32 on the valve, thus opening the same to the extent determined by the positive engagement of the bosses 46, 46 with the annular boss 38 on the plunger cylinder. It may here be noted that the grooves 39 are for passage of oil. At t-he same time the downwardly extending portion 44a on the valve 44 strikes the bottom of the cylinder and, both valves being thus opened by positive and direct mechanical engagement, the fluid may passl upwardly therethrough int-o the plunger cylinder and above the piston in consequence of the pressure caused by the weight of the chair, and, probably, an occupant thereof. Thus the chair may gradually descend until the plunger cylinder' strikes the bottom of the outer cylinder.

evase@ In order to control the tilting of the chair l to allow the occupant to assume a reclining position, the following construction is provided: An auxiliary shaft 62 is mounted parallel to the main shaft 53 in the downwardly extending lug 55 and auxiliary housing 63, its engagement with the housing being a screw engagement whereby rotation thereof will edect a translatory movement. Inside the auxiliary housing 63 are mounted the clamping blocks 64, 64 with one of which the end of the shaft 62 has effective engagement as shown in Fig. 3. The other block 64 is adjustably held in position by the set bolt 65 engaging therewith and having threaded engagement with the housing. A stout spring 66 is coiled about the shaft 62 and its terminals are respectively connected with the shaft and with the plate ll, as shown, this spring tending to revolve the shaft in a direction whereby it will force the clamping members together to tightly grasp the sliding rod 67` disposed therebetween. This rod, as shown, in Fig. l, is pivoted at 68 to the foot-rest member 23 and it is, therefore apparent that clamping the rod will positively determine the position of the back and foot-rest arrangement.

In view of the fact that the spring 66 normally holds the rod rigidly, it is clear that means must be provided to release the rod when it is desired to tilt the back and footrest structure. To this end, I provide the shaft 62 with an arm 69 rigidly secured thereto and extending toward the shaft 53. Rigidly secured upon the shaft 53 is a cam arm which is arranged to engage the arm 69 and to move the same against the tension of the spring 66, which movement will obviously effect the release of the rod. As has been pointed out, the movement of the piston L t0 is limited by the wedging action between the conical portion thereof and the blocks 50, 50 and the point at which this wedging action takes place is so predetermined that further actuation of the operating lever permitted by the compression of the stout spring 59, will serve to effect the releasing action just described. Thus the parts are so arranged that the cam arm 70 just engages the arm G9 when the piston has reached the upper limit of its movement, and further movement of the operating lever will throw the parts into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4.

Resuming the operation briefly, it is this: The pumping strolre raises the chair as above described; an additional movement of the lever in the direct-ion of the arrow a, (Fig. 5), causes the valve and piston mechanism to come together to lower the chair as has been explained; an additional movement of the operating lever in the direction of the arrow b, after the piston has reached its stop, effects movement of the auxiliary shaft in the direction of the arrow c. This releases the clamping mechanism and the chair may be tilted to any desired degree. Removing the'force from the operating lever allows the spring 66 to act and the tilting parts of the chair will again be rigidly clamped in position.

It is clear that the plunger cylinder, which carries the chair, may be rotated at will, relative to the outer cylinder, which is rigid with the base, in whatever position the plunger may be brought by the pumping mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire covered by Letters Patent, is: l

l. In an adjustable chair, having tilting parts, in combination, a main shaft, a hydraulic pump operatively connected with said main shaft, an auxiliary shaft, a clamp controlled by said auxiliary shaft for controlling said tilting parts, and means whereby said main shaft may affect said auxiliary shaft during part of its operation.

Q. In an adjustable chair, having tilting parts, in combination, a hydraulic pump for raising the chair, an operating shaft, yielding connection between said shaft and said pump, a clamp for controlling said tilting parts, an auxiliary shaft for operating said clamp, and means whereby said operating shaft may actuate said auxiliary shaft to operate said clamp against the tension of said yielding connection.

3. In an adjustable chair having tilting parts, in combination, a hydraulic pump for raising 'the chair, an operating shaft, an operating lever therefor, yielding connection between said shaft and said pump, a rod extending from said tilting parts, a clamp for said rod, an auxiliary shaft for operating said clamp, means for positively limiting the movement of said pump, and means whereby said operating shaft may actuate said auxiliary shaft to affect said clamp to release said rod after said pump has come to rest.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANTON N. HORNUNG.

Witnesses IGNoz Doi-livin., GEO. S. Pixies.

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