Chair

Claim 2

A chair having a seat assembly for supporting a person sitting on the chair, the seat assembly including: a seat frame; sheet material that is stretched and secured in place relative to said frame to support a person sitting on the chair by tension forces in the sheet material; said sheet material including a bead along an edge thereof, said seat frame including an extruded section with a recess into which said bead is located, said bead being secured in said recess by means of a retaining member so as to secure said sheet material under tension to said seat frame, wherein said retaining member is extruded and has a constant, substantially T-shaped cross-sectional profile including a tongue portion which is shaped and sized so as to locate within the recess and retain the bead in place in said recess.

Claim 3

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said section of said seat frame is extruded from aluminum.

Claim 4

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said tongue portion of said retaining member seats against an inner face of the recess and acts to locate and retain the bead under a lip of the recess.

Claim 5

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said retaining member includes a head section adapted to cover said recess.

Claim 6

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said retaining member is extruded from polymer material.

Claim 7

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said sheet material includes a bead along at least a pair of opposing edges, said bead being located and retained in said recess of said extruded section to secure said sheet material in place relative to said frame.

Claim 8

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said sheet material is woven.

Claim 9

A chair according to claim 7 wherein said sheet material is woven from polyester elastomeric fibers.

Claim 10

A chair according to claim 1 wherein said sheet material has a front support portion and a rear support portion, said front support portion being of relatively high resistance to resilient deformation and said rear support portion being of relatively low resistance to resilient deformation such that weight of the person sitting on the chair causes differential deformation of said front and rear support portions whereby said rear support portion is deformed to a greater extent than said front support portion, the differential deformation on the front and rear support portions acting to locate the person's ischial tuberosity behind the front support portion thereby resisting forward movement of the person from the chair and thus retaining the sitter in a correct seating position.

Claim 11

A chair according to claim 9 wherein said rear support portion is 15 to 20 percent more compliant than said front support portion.

Claim 12

A chair according to claim 9 wherein said front support portion is stretched to a greater extent than said rear support portion.

Claim 13

A chair according to claim 9 wherein said forward support portion and rear support portion are formed from a unitary sheet material.

Claim 14

A chair according to claim 9 wherein said sheet material is woven.

Claim 15

A chair according to claim 13 wherein said sheet material is woven from polyester elastomeric fibers.

Claim 16

A chair according to claim 13 wherein said front support portion has more fibers per inch than said rear support portion.

Claim 17

A chair having a seat assembly for supporting a person sitting on the chair, the seat assembly including: a seat frame; sheet material that is stretched and secured in place relative to said frame to support a person sitting on the chair by tension forces in the sheet material; said sheet material including a bead along an edge thereof, said seat frame including an extruded section with a recess into which said bead is located, said bead being secured in said recess by means of a retaining member so as to secure said sheet material under tension to said seat frame, wherein said retaining member is extruded and has a constant, substantially T-shaped cross-sectional profile including a tongue portion which is shaped and sized so as to locate within the recess and retain the bead in place in said recess, said tongue portion seating against an inner face of the recess and acting to locate and retain the bead under a lip of the recess.

Claim 18

A chair having a seat assembly for supporting a person sitting on the chair, the seat assembly including: a seat frame; sheet material that is stretched and secured in place relative to said frame to support a person sitting on the chair by tension forces in the sheet material; said sheet material including a bead along an edge thereof, said seat frame including an extruded section with a recess into which said bead is located, said bead being secured in said recess by means of a retaining member so as to secure said sheet material under tension to said seat frame, wherein said retaining member is extruded and has a constant, substantially T-shaped cross-sectional profile including a tongue portion which is shaped and sized so as to locate within the recess and retain the bead in place in said recess, said tongue portion seating against an inner face of the recess and acting to locate and retain the bead under a lip of the recess.

Claim 19

A chair member according to claim 16 wherein said retaining member includes a head section adapted to cover said recess.

Claim 20

A chair according to claim 16 wherein said sheet material has a front support portion and a rear support portion, said front support portion being of a relatively high resistance to resilient deformation and said rear support portion being of relatively low resistance to resilient deformation such that weight of the person sitting on the chair causes differential deformation of said front and rear support portions whereby said rear support portion is deformed to a greater extent than said front support portion, the differential deformation of the front and rear support portions acting to locate the person's ischial tuberosity behind the front support portion thereby resisting forward movement of the person from the chair and thus retaining the sitter in a correct seating position.