Control mechanism for seating unit

Abstract

A seating unit includes a base, a reclineable back, a seat, and a control operably supporting the back and the seat on the base for movement between upright and recline positions. The control includes a pair of flexible support members and a link that combine to operably support the seat and back for synchronous movement on the base upon recline. The flexible support member is stiff in a vertical direction for carrying a combined weight of the one component and of the seated user, but flexible in a horizontal direction to permit a swinging movement of its ends upon recline. The link is rigid and pivoted to the base for movement about a horizontal axis and also pivoted to the one component. By this arrangement, the flexible member and the link move the one component along a defined path during recline of the back.

1 . A control for a seating unit, comprising: 
 a control housing;    first and second mechanisms in the control housing for controlling adjustment features on the seating unit; and    a first handle for controlling the first mechanism; and    a second handle for controlling the second mechanism, the second handle abutting the first handle to limit movement of the second handle.    
   
   
       2 . The control defined in  claim 1 , wherein one of the first and second mechanisms comprise a height adjustment mechanism.  
   
   
       3 . The control defined in  claim 2 , wherein a second of the first and second mechanisms comprise an adjustable spring mechanism.  
   
   
       4 . The control defined in  claim 1 , wherein one of the first and second handles includes a projection that engages the other of the first and second handles.  
   
   
       5 . The control defined in  claim 4 , wherein the first handle is pivoted about a first axis and the second handle is pivoted about a second axis, the first and second axes being spaced from each other such that they are not co-linear.  
   
   
       6 . A method of controlling adjustment in a control of a seating unit, comprising steps of: 
 providing a control housing with first and second mechanisms in the control housing for controlling adjustment features on the seating unit;    providing first and second handles for controlling adjustment of the first and second mechanisms, respectively;    adjusting the first handle for controlling the first mechanism; and    adjusting the second handle for controlling the second mechanism, the second handle being biased toward a home position where the second handle abuts the first handle to limit movement of the second handle in the home position.