US20080252120A1

US20080252120A1 - Chair having shape memory sponge mounted on backrest

Info

Publication number: US20080252120A1
Application number: US11/982,540
Authority: US
Inventors: Yun-Kyoung Park
Original assignee: Elite Furniture Co Ltd
Current assignee: Elite Furniture Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-04-13
Filing date: 2007-11-03
Publication date: 2008-10-16
Also published as: EP1980177A1; CN101283866A; JP2008259811A; TW200840518A; KR100762716B1

Abstract

A chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest is invented that comprises a seat, a backrest, and a set of leg portions for supporting the seat and the backrest. The backrest includes a set of cut holes formed vertically to a given depth at both sides with respect to the center portion of the front surface thereof. A backrest cushion is inserted into each of the cut holes so as to protrude a given distance toward a user's back. The backrest cushion is formed of the shape memory sponge, and a fixing plate mounted at the rear side of each of the cut holes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chair, and more particularly, to a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest that can safely protect a user's spine and can be used by all people irrespective of their personal physique.
2. Related Prior Art
Generally, a chair, which is a piece of furniture for a user to sit on in their home or office, includes a seat for supporting the user's hips, a backrest connected to the seat to support the user's back, and a leg part for supporting the seat and the backrest.
Thus, the chair has been considered to be a tool on which a user can comfortably rest his or her body when he or she studies or works, but recently, it is considered to be a piece of furniture providing energizing and supportive feelings to the user so that he or she can obtain high study or work efficiencies. As a result, there have been proposed ergonomic chairs having a seat, a backrest, and a leg part wherein various techniques are adopted.
In particular, there have been proposed a variety of chairs having an improved backrest so as to protect a user's spine, since it is one of the most important regions in the human body.
However, the conventional chairs have a generally semi-circular backrest, which fails to safely support a user's spine and back, thereby making him or her feel uncomfortable while sitting thereon. Alternatively, they have two separated backrest portions, which unnecessarily makes the volume of the chair bulky, thereby decreasing the space utilization efficiency in an office and making the backrest portions easily broken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest wherein the backrest is provided with the shape memory sponge mounted on a portion abutting the user's spine, thereby safely protecting his or her spine and further making him or her feel comfortable while sitting thereon.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest wherein the shape memory sponge of the backrest abutting with a user's spine is improved so that even if the user moves in every direction, good contacting forces of the shape memory sponge with the user's spine are obtained.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest wherein the backrest is rigidly formed, without having any deformation, thereby preventing the backrest from being easily broken or damaged.
To accomplish the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest, the chair having a seat, the backrest, and a leg part for supporting the seat and the backrest, wherein the backrest includes a cut hole formed vertically to a given depth at both sides with respect to the center portion of the front surface thereof, a backrest cushion inserted into each of the cut holes in such a manner as to protrude to a given height toward a user's back, the backrest cushion being formed of the shape memory sponge, and a fixing plate mounted at the rear side of each of the cut holes.
According to the present invention, preferably, the backrest cushion is rounded along the front surface thereof such that a portion facing the user's spine is raised to a given height and curved toward the user's side at a predetermined curve radius.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the chair of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the chair of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, an explanation of a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be given with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the chair of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 1.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest, the chair including a seat 10 abutting the user's hips, a backrest 20 connected to the seat 10 at one side thereof and extended upwards so as to support the user's back, and a leg part 30 supporting the seat 10 and the backrest 20.
The seat 10 is formed by covering a soft and comfortable material on the horizontal surface abutting the user's hips, so as to provide a good feeling when the user sits thereon.
An arm rest 12 is formed on each side of the seat 10, for supporting the user's arms, so that when the user takes a rest or does not use his or her hands, he or she can sit on the chair comfortably.
The backrest 20 includes a backrest frame 22 having cut holes 22 a formed vertically to a given depth at both sides with respect to the center portion of the front surface thereof, an auxiliary back plate 24 inserted into each of the cut holes 22 a, and a backrest cushion 26 inserted into the auxiliary back plate 24 in such a manner as to protrude to a given height toward the user's back.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the backrest frame 22 is formed such that a portion abutting with the user's waist is rounded to a predetermined convex curve radius and a portion abutting with the user's back is rounded to a predetermined concave curve radius. Thus, when viewed from the sides, the backrest frame 22 takes a shape similar to an S shape or an inverted S shape in its entirety.
A fixing plate 28, which is made of plywood or PVC, is mounted on the rear side of the backrest frame 22.
The auxiliary back plate 24 is disposed between the backrest cushion 26 and the fixing plate 28 and is adapted to fit into the cut hole 22 a. The auxiliary back plate 24 is made of PVC, wood, or metal.
The auxiliary back plate 24 has a shape similar to a vessel opened at the front surface thereof, such that the front surface and both of the inner sides thereof come into close contact with the back surface and both sides of the backrest cushion 26, and the back surface and both of the outer sides thereof come into close contact with the front surface of the fixing plate 28 and the inner sides of the cut holes 22 a.
At this time, the auxiliary back plate 24 and the backrest cushion 26 come into close contact with each other by means of an environmentally friendly adhesive, and the auxiliary back plate 24 and the fixing plate 28 come into close contact with each other by means of bolts 40, which reduces the amount of environmental pollution in the factory making the chair and provides sanitary conditions to the user.
On the other hand, the auxiliary back plate 24 and the fixing plate 28 are fastened by means of the bolts 40, so that when the backrest 20 of the chair is viewed from the rear side thereof, the head portions of the bolts 40 are exposed to the outside. In this case, the user may snag clothing or scrape himself on the heads of the bolts 40, and the exposed bolt heads may detract from the outer appearance of the chair. To solve these problems, a rear plate 29 that has the same area as the backrest frame 22 is further provided on the rear side of the fixing plate 28, so as not to expose the head portions of the bolts 40 to the outside.
The rear plate 29 further serves to increase the overall strength of the chair so as to prevent the chair from being broken when the user takes an arbitrary posture on the chair.
The backrest cushion 26 is formed of a shape memory sponge which is called ‘memory foam’. As shown in FIG. 3, further, the backrest cushion 26 is rounded along the front surface thereof such that a portion near the user's spine is raised to a given height and curved toward the user's side at a predetermined curve radius.
The backrest cushion 26 is flat on the rear surface thereof, and when coupled to the auxiliary back plate 24 by means of an adhesive, it can be rigidly attached thereto. Also, the corner portions of the respective surfaces of the backrest cushion 26 are rounded, thereby making the user feel comfortable while sitting thereon.
The leg part 30 has a plurality of support legs 32 formed at a given angle, each of the support legs 32 having a caster 32 a mounted thereon for moving the chair in every direction, and has a hydraulic rod 34 disposed at the top side of the central portion of the support legs 32 in such a manner as to abut with the bottom surface of the seat 10 for adjusting the height of the seat 10.
On the other hand, the chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest is not limited to the first embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, but may be applied to the second embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the chair of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A′ of FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B′ of FIG. 5.
According to the second embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest, the chair including a seat 10 abutting with the user's hips, a backrest 20 connected to the seat 10 at one side thereof and extending upwardly so as to support the user's back, and a leg part 30 supporting the seat 10 and the backrest 20.
The backrest 20 includes a backrest frame 22 connected to the seat 10 in such a manner as to extend upwards, the backrest frame 22 having a concave recess 22 b formed vertically to a given depth on both sides with respect to the center portion of the front surface thereof, and a backrest cushion 26 inserted into each of the concave recesses 22 b in such a manner as to protrude a given distance toward the user's back. At this time, the backrest cushion 26 and the concave recess 22 b are coupled by means of bolts, so that the head portions of the bolts are exposed to the rear surface of the concave recess 22 b.
In the same manner as the backrest cushion as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the backrest cushion 26 as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 is formed of the shape memory sponge and is rounded along the front surface thereof such that a portion near the user's spine is raised to a given height and curved toward the user's side at a predetermined curve radius.
On the other hand, the seat and the leg part of the chair as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 have the same structure as conventional practices, and an explanation of them will be omitted for the brevity of the description.
As set forth in the foregoing, according to the present invention, there is provided a chair having a shape memory sponge mounted on a backrest wherein a backrest cushion is made of the shape memory sponge, which allows the chair to be provided to all people irrespective of their personal physique and prevents the backrest cushion from becoming flat or compressed after a long period of usage, as the shape memory sponge senses the weight and body temperature of the user and is appropriately varied in accordance with the shapes of the human body.
Moreover, the backrest cushion is rounded along the front surface thereof such that a portion near the user's spine is raised to a given height and curved toward the user's side at a predetermined curve radius, which stably protects the user's spine and gives high supporting forces even when the user moves in every direction, thereby making him or her feel comfortable while sitting thereon.
Further, an auxiliary back plate on which the backrest cushion is attached is fastened to a fixing plate by means of bolts, so that the backrest cushion can be easily replaced with a new one, if necessary, thereby making more efficient use of resources.
In addition, a rear plate is further provided to cover the fixing plate having the head portions of the bolts exposed to the outside, thereby ensuring the safety of the user and also improving the outward appearance of the chair.
Furthermore, the backrest cushion is stably fixed on the backrest frame and the fixing plate, thereby overcoming the problem that the backrest is often broken in the conventional practices.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1-7. (canceled)

8. A chair having a seat, a backrest, a pair of arm rest and a set of legs for supporting the seat and the backrest, the chair comprising:

a pair of backrest cushions (26) forming a shape memory sponge or foam having a rectangular pad shape with rounded top and bottom corners, a curved front surface being bumped-up nearby an inner edge and smoothly curved down to an outer edge and a flat rear surface,

a backrest frame (22) forming a spine-shaped surface curvature with a pair of cut-out holes (22 a) being symmetrically arranged with respect to a center line of said backrest (20). the cut-out holes (22 a) having a same shape of the backrest cushions (26),

a pair of auxiliary back plates (24) forming a concave basin having a same shape of the backrest cushions (26) for installing inside thereof, and for inserting into the cut-out holes (22 a) of the backrest frame (22),

a fixing plate (28) forming the spine-shaped surface curvature for mounting behind the backrest frame (22), and

a rear cover plate (29) forming the spine-shaped surface curvature for mounting behind the fixing plate (28) to decoratively cover the backrest (20),

wherein a contour line of the front surfaces of the backrest cushions (26), which is bumped-up and smoothly curved down has a preset curvature to comfortably contact with a user's spine.

9. The chair according to claim 8, wherein said backrest cushions (26) and said auxiliary back plates (24) are bonded each other by means of environmentally friend adhesive, and said auxiliary back plates (24) and said fixing plate (28) are fastened each other by means of bolts.

10. A chair having a seat, a backrest and a set of legs for supporting the seat and the backrest, the chair comprising:

a pair of backrest cushions (26) forming a shape memory sponge or foam having a rectangular pad shape with rounded top and bottom corners, a curved front surface being bumped-up nearby an inner edge and smoothly curved down to an outer edge and a flat rear surface, and

a backrest frame (22) forming a pair of concaved recesses, which are symmetrically arranged with respect to a center line of the backrest (20) for installing said backrest cushions (26) inside thereof;

11. The chair according to claim 10, wherein said backrest cushions (26) are fastened to the concaved recesses by means of bolts.