Furniture member with wall-proximity mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9986832-B2
Application number	US-201615174060-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2016
Priority date	Jun 6, 2016
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A furniture member may include a base frame, a seat assembly, a drive rod, a legrest mechanism, and a wall-proximity mechanism. The seat assembly is supported by the base frame and includes a seat frame, a seat bottom, a seatback and a legrest. The legrest is movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between a retracted position and an extended position. The seatback is movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between an upright position and a reclined position. The drive rod is rotatably mounted to the seat frame. The legrest mechanism is attached to the legrest and the seat frame and is driven by the drive rod. The wall-proximity mechanism is connected to the base frame and to the seat assembly and tilts the seat frame rearward relative to the base frame and translates the seat frame forward relative to the base frame.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A furniture member comprising:
a base frame;
a seat assembly supported by the base frame and including a seat frame, a seat bottom, a seatback and a legrest, the legrest movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between a retracted position and an extended position, the seatback movable relative to the base frame and seat frame independently of the legrest between an upright position and a reclined position;
a drive rod rotatably mounted to the seat frame;
a legrest mechanism attached to the legrest and the seat frame and driven by the drive rod to move the legrest between the retracted and extended positions; and
a wall-proximity mechanism connected to the base frame, the seat assembly and the drive rod to tilt the seat frame rearward relative to the base frame and translate the seat frame forward relative to the base frame in response to rotation of the drive rod and movement of the seatback between the upright and reclined positions, the wall-proximity mechanism including a first motion link and a second motion link that are mounted to the base frame and pivotable relative to the base frame about first and second rotational axes, respectively, the first and second rotational axes extend through the base frame and are fixed relative to the base frame,
wherein the wall-proximity mechanism includes a first linkage including the first and second motion links, a first cross member pivotably connected to intermediate portions of the first and second motion links, first and second control links pivotably connected to second ends of the first and second motion links, respectively, a second cross member having ends pivotably connected to ends of the first and second control links, a first connecting link pivotably connected to one of the ends of the second cross member, a second connecting link pivotably connected to an intermediate portion of the second cross member and pivotably connected to the first motion link, a crank link rotationally fixed to the drive rod and pivotably connected to a third connecting link that is also pivotably connected to the first connecting link, and first and second mounting links fixedly attached to the seat frame, the first mounting link pivotably connected to an intermediate portion of the first connecting link, the second mounting link pivotably connected to the second cross member.

2. The furniture member of claim 1 , wherein the wall-proximity mechanism includes a second linkage including a first pull link, a second pull link, and a third pull link, the first pull link pivotably connected to the base frame and to the second pull link, the second pull link is pivotably coupled to the drive rod and pivotably coupled to the third pull link, the third pull link is pivotably coupled to the seat bottom.

3. The furniture member of claim 2 , wherein the first pull link is rotatable relative to the base frame about a third rotational axis that extends through the base frame and is fixed relative to the base frame.

4. The furniture member of claim 1 , wherein the wall-proximity mechanism is non-slidably and non-rollingly connected to the seat bottom and to the base frame.

5. The furniture member of claim 1 , wherein the legrest mechanism includes a pantograph linkage connected to the drive rod.

6. The furniture member of claim 1 , further comprising a friction-slide mechanism including a lever fixedly attached to the seatback and a slide member fixedly attached to the seat bottom, the lever including a protrusion slidably received within a curved slot formed in the slide member.

7. The furniture member of claim 6 , wherein the lever rotatably engages the slide member at a location that is spaced apart from the protrusion and the curved slot.

8. The furniture member of claim 7 , further comprising means for adjusting a frictional force between the lever and the slide member.

9. The furniture member of claim 1 , further comprising a joint assembly rotatably coupling two links and including a bushing disposed between the two links, the bushing including a central aperture that is aligned with apertures in the two links, an inner annular flange surrounding the central aperture, and an outer annular flange surrounding the inner flange.

10. The furniture member of claim 9 , wherein the bushing provides clearance for the two links to move relative to each other, and wherein the two links have continuous cross-sectional profiles that extend the entire longitudinal lengths of the two links.

11. The furniture member of claim 9 , wherein the inner annular flange has a first thickness and the outer annular flange has a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness, the first and second thicknesses are measured in a direction parallel to an axis about which the two links are rotatably coupled, the difference between the first and second thicknesses of the inner and outer annular flanges locally deforms the two links.

12. The furniture member of claim 11 , further comprising a rivet extending through the central aperture and the apertures in the two links.

13. The furniture member of claim 12 , wherein the two links include cup-shaped cross-sectional profiles that extend the entire longitudinal lengths of the two links.

14. The furniture member of claim 13 , wherein one of the two links includes the first motion link or the second motion link.

15. A furniture member comprising:
a base frame;
a seat assembly supported by the base frame and including a seat frame, a seat bottom, a seatback and a legrest, the legrest movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between a retracted position and an extended position, the seatback movable relative to the base frame and seat frame between an upright position and a reclined position;
a drive rod rotatably mounted to the seat frame;
a legrest mechanism attached to the legrest and the seat frame by a first plurality of links, the legrest mechanism driven by the drive rod to move the legrest between the retracted and extended positions;
a wall-proximity mechanism connected to the base frame and to the seat assembly by a second plurality of links to tilt the seat frame rearward relative to the base frame and translate the seat frame forward relative to the base frame; and
a joint assembly rotatably coupling two links from among the first and second pluralities of links, the joint assembly including a bushing disposed between the two links, the bushing including a central aperture that is aligned with apertures in the two links, an inner annular flange surrounding the central aperture, and an outer annular flange spaced radially outward from the inner flange by an annular body, the outer annular flange radially surrounding the inner flange such that both of the inner and outer annular flanges engage both of the two links and provide clearance between the two links.

16. The furniture member of claim 15 , wherein the bushing provides clearance for the two links to move relative to each other, and wherein the two links have continuous cross-sectional profiles that extend the entire longitudinal lengths of the two links.

17. The furniture member of claim 15 , wherein the inner annular flange has a first thickness and the outer annular flange has a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness, the first and second thicknesses are measured in a direction parallel to an axis about which the two links are rotatably coupled, the difference between the first and second thicknesses of the inner and outer annular flanges locally deforms the two links.

18. The furniture

Assignees

• La Z Boy Inc

Inventors

• Lapointe Larry P
• Marshall Richard E

Classifications

• A47C1/034 Primary

  the parts including a leg-rest or foot-rest (A47C1/037 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A47C1/0355

  actuated by linkages, e.g. lazy-tongs mechanisms · CPC title

• A47C1/0352

  characterised by coupled seat and back-rest slidingly movable in the base frame, e.g. by rollers · CPC title

• A47C1/03211 Primary

  by electric motors · CPC title

• A47C1/027

  by means of clamps or friction locking members · CPC title