Patent US3740792A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3740792A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Resilient hinging device for chairs and the like
Assignee: Individual
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Filing: 1971-04-06
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Granted: 1973-06-26
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Expires: 1991-04-06
Abstract
Abstract In a resilient hinge for chairs and the like, having an upper hinge part to be attached to the seat or back of the chair and pivoted on a bottom hinge part to be fixed to the bottom frame, with a biased spring member acting therebetween for resiliently opposing backward tilting, the spring member is capable of being displaced radially to the pivotal axis for adjusting the biasing torque, the spring member engaging an entraining slide guided in the fixed hinge part. Movement of the entraining slide is caused by operating a handle on a lever pivoted on an upwardly projecting cone on the fixed hinge part and having teeth engaging a rack guided in the fixed hinge part for motion parallel to the hinge axis and carrying studs engaging oblique slots in the entraining member so as to afford a force-increasing transmission of motion from the lever to the spring member. The handle extends substantially to the edge of the seat so as to be easily accessible. The cone is hollow for matching a column in the bottom frame of the chair. The spring member is composed of leaf springs bent into U-shape opening towards the rear and placed one outside the other. They are in mutual contact at the bend and at the ends of the respective inner springs, with the lengths of the springs increasing from the innermost to the outermost. The lower legs of the leaf springs are bifurcated with diverging inner edges and straddle the cone, and the upper legs have a substantially complementary taper.
Inventors
- 👤 P Werner
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 12:27
CPC Classifications
A; A47; A47C; A47C7/00; A47C7/36; A47C7/40; A47C7/44; A47C7/445; A47C3/00; A47C3/02; A47C3/025; A47C3/026; B; B60; B60N; B60N2/00; B60N2/02; B60N2/22; B60N2/2236
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
185 words
Resilient hinging device for chairs and the like, comprising a first hinge member for attachment to a seat or back of the chair, a second hinge member for attachment to a bottom frame of the chair, abutments on said second hinge member, said first hinge member being supported for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis on said second hinge member, a spring member acting between said first and second hinge members substantially tangentially to the pivotal axis and biased in a starting position of the first hinge member defined by the abutments, in which position the spring member can be displaced by an actuating member in a direction substantially radial to the pivotal axis and transversely of its acting direction for adjusting the biasing torque, characterized in that the actuating member comprises a lever supported on one of said hinge members for pivotal motion in a substantially horizontal plane, a force increasing mechanism, an entraining member mechanically connected to the spring member and supported for displacement in the direction of adjustment and said lever being connected via the force increasing mechanism to the entraining member.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
185 words
Resilient hinging device for chairs and the like, comprising a first hinge member for attachment to a seat or back of the chair, a second hinge member for attachment to a bottom frame of the chair, abutments on said second hinge member, said first hinge member being supported for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis on said second hinge member, a spring member acting between said first and second hinge members substantially tangentially to the pivotal axis and biased in a starting position of the first hinge member defined by the abutments, in which position the spring member can be displaced by an actuating member in a direction substantially radial to the pivotal axis and transversely of its acting direction for adjusting the biasing torque, characterized in that the actuating member comprises a lever supported on one of said hinge members for pivotal motion in a substantially horizontal plane, a force increasing mechanism, an entraining member mechanically connected to the spring member and supported for displacement in the direction of adjustment and said lever being connected via the force increasing mechanism to the entraining member.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
48 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the lever is, at its inner extremity, in entraining engagement with a slide guided in the direction of the hinge axis and engaging the entraining member for the spring member by a double stud and slot connection.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the stud and slot connections are self-arresting.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the lever is formed with a toothed wheel segment and the transversely movable slide with corresponding rack teeth.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the entraining member is guided in the second hinge member and transmits pressure between the latter and the spring member.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
45 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 1, in which the second hinge member is provided with a hollow cone for mounting on a column in the bottom frame of the chair, characterized in that the hollow cone projects upwards towards the first hinge member.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
39 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the lever is mounted in the second hinge member on the outside of the hollow cone and with its pivotal axis substantially in the axis of the cone.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that the portion of the spring member acting on the second hinge member is distributed substantially symmetrically on both sides of the cone.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
51 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the spring member is composed of a plurality of leaf springs curved in the plane normal to the hinge axis and placed in mutual engagement one outside the other, the outermost leaf spring engaging the hinge members at its ends.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
49 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the leaf springs have decreasing length and radii of curvature counted from the outermost to the innermost, the individual springs engaging the respective adjacent springs on the outside at their ends and at tHe bottom of the bends.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
26 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the springs are bent slightly more than 180* and loosely inserted one into the other.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
22 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the effective width of each spring decreases towards both ends thereof.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that the end portions of each spring have mutually complementary shapes.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
90 words
Resilient hinging device as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the spring member is composed of a plurality of leaf springs curved in the plane normal to the pivotal axis and placed in mutual engagement one outside the other, the outermost leaf spring engaging the hinge members at its ends, that the end portions of the springs at the end engaging the second hinge member are bifurcated with diverging inner edges and straddle said cone, and that their end portions at the opposite end have a substantially complementary taper.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-06-25 | 1976-12-25 | 1977-06-26 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-06-25 | 1980-12-25 | 1981-06-26 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-06-25 | 1984-12-25 | 1985-06-26 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |