US3848845A

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Publication number: US3848845A
Application number: US00241991A
Authority: US
Inventors: G Bogart
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-04-07
Filing date: 1972-04-07
Publication date: 1974-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 1991-11-19

Abstract

An adjustable seat for use in combination with a chair or like support whereby individuals with limited muscular control such as persons afflicted with arthritis or aged persons may be assisted without exertion on their part in moving from a sitting position to a standing position, and vice versa. The seat may be an integral part of the chair or a separate assembly which is placed thereon, and includes a body supporting part that is controllably automatically actuatable by the person tiltably, upwardly and forwardly toward the front of the chair in the direction the person normally moves in rising from a sitting position within the chair to a standing position. Conversely, the body supporting part may be controllably actuated by the person in the opposite direction when the person desires to be seated thereby in the chair.

Description

United States Patent [191 Bogart ADJUSTABLE SEAT ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: George A. Bogart, Cleveland, Ohio [52] US. Cl 248/393, 297/330, 297/DIG. 10 [51] Int. Cl... Fl6m 11/24,Fl6tn 13/00, B60n 1/02 [58] Field of Search 297/313, 330, DIG. 10;

[56] References Cited 9 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 5/1963 Bogart 248/393 5/1966 Gaffney 9/1972 Homier et al 248/394 Primary Examiner-Casmir A. Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmBaldwin, Egan, Walling & Fetzer Nov. 19, 1974 5 ABSTRACT An adjustable seat for use in combination with a chair or like support whereby individuals with limited muscular control such as persons afflicted with arthritis or aged persons may be assisted without exertion on their part in moving from a sitting position to a standing position, and vice versa. The seat may be an integral part of the chair or a separate assembly which is placed thereon, and includes a body supporting part that is controllably automatically actuatable by the person tiltably, upwardly and forwardly toward the front of the chair in the direction theperson normally moves in rising from a sitting position within the chair to a standing position.

Conversely, the body supporting part may be controllably actuated by the person in the opposite direction when the person desires to be seated thereby in the chair.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures ADJUSTABLE SEAT ASSEMBLY This invention relates in general to a new and novel seat assembly for use in combination with a chair or like support especially designed to assist a handicaped person, in rising from a sitting position in a chair to a standing position in front of the chair, and vice versa. The seat assembly, as herein shown, may be a separate structure adapted to be placed within a chair or like support or, if desired, this assembly may be constructed as an integral part of the chair support.

The seat assembly of the present invention is an improvement over the chair structure disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,091,426, the inventor of which is the applicants parent. Applicant is also aware of US. Pat. No. 3,250,569 directed to an elevator seat.

As will be hereinafter more apparent the primary object of the invention is to provide a mechanically operable seat assembly that provides an elevating and tiltable support to an individual who needs an independent powered lift to stand up or be seated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a seat assembly having an elevating lift during and at the same time the seat is being tilted forward, this motion being simultaneous and in proportion that offers comfort and independent support during the spatial displacement of the rising or lowering of the seat.

It is another object of the invention to provide a permanent means of mechanical assistance to those individuals who have lost muscular coordination permanently and would otherwise'need the physical assistance of another person to stand up or be seated.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a portable seat, the seat assembly of which is self-contained, and adapted to be supported in a chair or like support, the seat assembly being intended also to fit into portable folding wheelchairs and the like.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following specification and the drawings here in which are defined in the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a partial isometric view of the seat assembly of the present invention showing in particular the front elevation mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a side view in section showing the seat in an elevated position;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating the seat in a horizontal position at rest, and the gear and slide bar relationship in said position;

FIG. 3A is a view looking in the direction of the arrows 3A3A in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a general layout of the entire seat assembly with the body supporting seat at an intermediate elevatlon;

FIG. 4A is a view looking in the direction of thearrows 4A-4A in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view at an elevation along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

The tilting elevatable seat assembly of the present invention is indicated generally by thereference 10, FIG. 4, and is illustrated herein as a seat assembly that rises as it tilts by means of a motor driven screw 1, FIG. 5, extending from a gear box 2 acting as the output of the motor power source. The motor 1a and associated gear box 2 may be supported on any suitable base as shown at 2a. As seen in FIG. 5, anon-rotating nut 3 is locked in place on the screw 1 by a knurled press fit, thereby directly contacting the screw 1. This nut is housed in atravelling block 4, FIG. 5, havingrollers 5 suitably attached to the bottom thereof. Pins 6 extending outwardly from the sides ofblock 4 support one end movable link 7 thereon. As the screw turns in either direction, being controlled by any suitable switching mechanism (not shown), theblock 4,nut 3, and movable link 7 traverse forward and backward along the screw 1, said link rolling along thebase 2a on therollers 5. The opposite end of link 7 is pivotally connected by pin 11 to an L-shaped lifter arm 8, FIG. 4, intermediate its ends. One end of saidarm 8 is swingably connected to a bearing mount 9, carried onbase 2a, the opposite end of saidarm mounting rollers 22 adapted to roll along the undersurface ofseat 12.

In a manner hereinafter more clearly understood, when motor la and its gear drive 2 are actuated to rotate screw 1 to move link 7 to the left as seen in FIG. 4, thelifter arm 8 is swung counterclockwise about bearing mount 9 whereby theseat 12 is, in turn, tiltably swung upwardly and in a counterclockwise direction. Therollers 22 rollably move along the undersurface ofseat 12 during the movement to the right as viewed in FIG. 4.

The extent of tilting motion given toseat 12 may be controlled by a suitable conventional electrical control adapted to selectively reversably energize the motor la to affect the rotation of the screw 1.

A seat lifting or elevating mechanism is also incorporated into the seat assembly for elevating saidseat 12 at the same time it is tiltably moved, and for this purpose a pair of elevating mechanisms are utilized (left and right hand respectively) as identified in their entirety in FIG. 1 by thereference numeral 30.

Theelevating mechanisms 30 are interconnectable between thebase 2a and theseat 12 and may be spaced apart at any desired distance, and although they operate simultaneously by the same power source, they are independent of each other as to mechanical connection. As seen particularly in FIG. 1, each mechanism includes an L-shaped plate 13 mounted in an upright position on the top surface ofbase 2a. Anelongated gear rack 14 is mounted on theplate 13 extending upwardly therefrom. Abar 15 is likewise fastened in an upright position onplate 13 in spaced relation torack 14 definingspaceway 15a therebetween.

An L-shaped riser bar 18 is disposed in saidspaceway 15a, itsupright arm 18a being slidably disposed adjacent the wall ofbar 15 and has alinear gear train 18b formed thereon. The remaining arm of saidbar 18 has its free end pivotally attached to the underside of theseat 12 adjacent the front edge of said seat by means ofpin 21.

Abar 17 is telescopically carried withinarm 19, the latter being preferably formed in section to slidably retain saidbar 17 within the same. As seen in FIG. 1, the upper end ofarm 19 is pivotally anchored bypin 20 to the underside of theseat 12 rearwardly of thepin 21.

Aspur gear 16 is rigidly attached to one end of thebar 17 and is disposed to be in meshing engagement with therack 14 and thegear train 18b onbar 18.

The seat tilting assembly previously described is operable to cause theseat 12 to reversibly swing or tilt onpin axes 21 as best seen in FIG. 2 between a raised or elevated position and a lowered position, as seen in FIG. 1.

As the motor la and associated screw drive 1 actuate to swing theseat 12 counterclockwise aboutpin 21 by way of the connecting lever 7 andbar 8, thearm 19 is also pivoted counterclockwise about the axes ofgear 16 thus giving rotational leverage to slidebar 17, the latter telescoping therein.

With thegear rack 14 being stationary thesupport bar 18 is free to climb upwardly onrack 14 from its FIG. 1 position toward its FIG. 2 position. With thegear 16 rigidly attached to the end ofbar 17, said gear climbs therack 14 to result in simultaneously forcing theriser bar 18 to likewise slidably move vertically upwardly toward the FIG. 2 position.

As a result, the seat is raised upwardly from its FIG. 1 to its FIG. 2 position while simultaneously tilted counterclockwise aboutpin mounting 21 thereby to result in a combination elevating and tilting movement being given to saidseat 12 which is highly successful in assisting a person seated thereon to be raised to a standing position in front of the seat.

Conversely, with theseat 12 in its FIG. 2 position, a person may lean slightly upon said seat while energizing motor a to swing said seat toward its FIG. 1 or lowered position whereby the aforesaid combination movement of said seat reversibly lowering and swinging to its said FIG. 1 position is effective to comfortably assist the person in moving to a seated position on saidseat 12.

In tilting theseat 12 from a horizontal position, FIG. 3, to a full vertical 90position thegear 16 actually only rotates 90. In doing so the linear rise of thebar 17 is 180 of the circumference of saidgear 16. This is accomplished by the fact that the fulcrum point of thegear 16, FIG. 2, is at the point of contact with thestationary gear rack 14, FIG. 2, and not the center of the gear. A duality of motion takes place. The gear actually moves upward forcing, by direct contact, themovable riser bar 18 to move up in the same direction at the same time converting l80of the gears circumference to a vertically linear displacement of this dimension.

Adjustments may be attained in the assembly by inserting thegear 16 into the mechanism at various positions on therack 14. This selection makes theseat 12 higher or lower in its initial horizontal position. The selective size of the gear used also gives unlimited adjustments as to the amount of lift required.

As'before mentioned, the seat assembly herein may be constructed as a separate unit, or it may be made as an integral part of a conventional chair unit taking its position therein in place of the usual seat therefor.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of seat assembly, it will be realized that the same is susceptible to various modifications and adjustments of parts without departing from the inventive concepts thereof as are defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable seat assembly comprising a base, a seat member disposed above said base, drive means for swinging and elevating said seat relative to said base, bar means connectable with said base being movable in direction generally perpendicular to said base, means pivotally connecting said bar means to said seat, lever means comprising a first lever and a second lever operatively connected to each other in telescopic relation, the first lever being operatively connected to the bar means and the second lever being operatively connected to said seat, said drive means being operatively connected to said seat and actuable to swing said seat about said bar means pivotal connection, and said lever means being movable with said seat and operable to move said bar means relative to said base effective with said drive means to simultaneously swing and elevate said seat.

2. An adjustable seat assembly as defined in claim 1 and wherein the bar means is provided with a gear rack and the first lever has gear means for meshing engagement with said rack whereby movement of said lever means causes the bar means to move relative to the base.

3. An adjustable seat assembly as defined in claim 1 and wherein swinging of the seat by said drive means causes said first lever to move telescopically relative to said second lever affecting the movement of said bar means to simultaneously swing and elevate said seat.