Reclining chair with foot and leg rest

Abstract

An actuator assembly is provided for use with a chair to actuate movement of the chair leg rest in response to recline of the backrest. The backrest drives translational motion of an actuator rod that is pivotingly connected at its upper end to the backrest. The rod passes through a linear slide bearing block that is pivotingly connected to the rear end of the seat. The rod is connected at its lower end to a linkage mechanism that actuates movement of the leg rest. The pivot point for the slide bearing block is off-center or offset relative to a central location thereof. This offset pivot connection produces an asymmetrical pivoting action in the slide bearing block. Each side of the chair is equipped with an identical arrangement of actuating-related components to provide a stable system.

1 . A chair, comprising: 
 a seat;    a movable backrest coupled to the seat;    a movable leg rest;    a linkage mechanism to operatively actuate movement of the leg rest;    an actuating rod pivotingly connected at one end to the backrest at a rearward portion thereof and connected at another end to the linkage mechanism; and    a slide bearing device adapted to slidingly carry and receive the actuating rod therethrough, the slide bearing device being pivotingly connected to the seat at an off-center location of the slide bearing device to facilitate asymmetric operative pivoting thereof.    
   
   
       2 . The chair of  claim 1 , wherein backrest is pivotably coupled to the seat, the actuating rod and the linkage mechanism being interconnected with one another and the leg rest and the backrest being interconnected with one another in a manner such that a backward, reclining movement of the backrest simultaneously results in a controlled movement of the leg rest toward a fully extended position.  
   
   
       3 . The chair of  claim 1 , wherein the slide bearing device is configured as a pivotable floating fulcrum, the floating fulcrum being configured for moving in a forward direction toward the leg rest in response to a reclining action of the backrest.  
   
   
       4 . The chair of  claim 1 , wherein the actuating rod displays a degree of interfering frictional contact with the slide bearing device, the degree of interfering fractional contact thereby imparting cam movement to the slide bearing device during operation.  
   
   
       5 . The chair of  claim 4 , wherein the slide bearing device is thereby configured for at least one of an angular, rotational, and arcuate pivoting motion during operation to thereby further actuate extension and relocation of the leg rest.  
   
   
       6 . The chair of  claim 1 , wherein the actuating rod is pivotably connected to the backrest via a backrest stanchion.  
   
   
       7 . The chair of  claim 1 , wherein the linkage mechanism includes a leg rest rod, the leg rest rod being pivotably connected at opposing ends thereof to the leg rest and the actuating rod, respectively, the leg rest being further pivotably attached to the seat.  
   
   
       8 . The chair of  claim 7 , wherein the linkage mechanism further includes a vertical bar, the vertical bar being pivotably connected at opposing ends thereof to the leg rest rod and the seat, respectively.  
   
   
       9 . The chair of  claim 8 , wherein the vertical bar is adjustably mounted relative along a length of the leg rest bar, a positioning of the vertical bar relative to the leg rest bar thereby resulting in an adjustment in a range of at least one of a height and a degree of extension achievable with the leg rest.  
   
   
       10 . The chair of  claim 1 , wherein the actuating rod includes a variable upper rod portion and a variable lower rod portion, the variable upper rod portion extending upwardly from the slide bearing device toward a pivot connection with the backrest, the variable lower rod portion extending downwardly from the slide bearing device toward a connection with the linkage mechanism, the variable upper rod portion having a corresponding variable upper portion length, the variable lower rod portion having a corresponding variable lower portion length, the actuating rod being mounted such that the variable upper portion length decreases and the variable lower portion length increases upon reclining of the backrest.  
   
   
       11 . A chair, comprising: 
 a seat;    a movable backrest movable relative to the seat;    a movable leg rest pivotably coupled to the seat;    a linkage mechanism configured for operatively actuating movement of the leg rest;    an actuating rod pivotingly coupled at one end thereof to the backrest and pivotably connected at another end thereof to the linkage mechanism; and    a slide bearing device adapted to slidingly carry and receive the actuating rod therethrough, the slide bearing device being pivotingly connected to the seat at an off-center location of the slide bearing device to facilitate asymmetric operative pivoting thereof.    
   
   
       12 . The chair of  claim 11 , wherein the backrest is pivotably coupled to at least one of the actuating rod and the seat.  
   
   
       13 . The chair of  claim 12 , wherein the backrest is pivotably coupled to both the actuating rod and the seat.  
   
   
       14 . The chair of  claim 12 , wherein the backrest is pivotably coupled to the actuating rod.  
   
   
       15 . The chair of  claim 11 , further comprising a lock mechanism operatively associated with the slide bearing device, the lock mechanism being configured for selectively preventing relative movement between the seat and the slide bearing device.