Reclinable seat

Abstract

A reclinable chair is provided which has a seat rest, a backrest; a footrest; two side arm portions; and a reclining mechanism arranged to move at least one of the backrest and the footrest from a substantially upright position into a reclined position. The reclining mechanism is mounted to the side arm portions. The reclining mechanism includes an extendable member which acts on a footrest support to move the footrest from a substantially upright position to a reclined position. A linkage bar may be provided to connect the footrest support to a backrest support so that a single driving mechanism causes movement of the footrest into the reclined position and simultaneously causes movement of the backrest into a reclined position. Alternatively, the linkage bar may be omitted so that only the footrest is reclinable. Other advantageous features include adjustable substantially upright and reclined positions for the backrest, a tiltable seat rest, a tiltable headrest and a removable container for rubbish or other objects located under the seat rest.

1 . A reclinable seat, comprising:
 a seat rest;   a backrest;   a footrest,   two side portions; and   a reclining mechanism arranged to move at least one of the backrest and the footrest from a substantially upright position into a reclined position,   wherein the reclining mechanism is mounted to at least one of the side portions.   
     
     
         2 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the reclining mechanism includes a mounting body which is fixably connected to one of the side portions. 
     
     
         3 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 2 , wherein the reclining mechanism includes a footrest support which is movable relative to the mounting body between a substantially upright position and a reclined position. 
     
     
         4 . The reclinable seat of  claim 3 , wherein the reclining mechanism includes an extendable member which acts on the footrest support to move the footrest support between the substantially upright position and the reclined position. 
     
     
         5 . The reclinable seat of  claim 4 , wherein the extendable member is a piston rod of a piston and cylinder assembly. 
     
     
         6 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 2 , wherein the reclining mechanism includes a backrest support which is movable relative to the mounting body between a substantially upright position and a reclined position. 
     
     
         7 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the reclining mechanism includes a footrest support which is movable between a substantially upright position and a reclined position, and a backrest support which is movable between a substantially upright position and a reclined position. 
     
     
         8 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 1 , further comprising a motor which drives the reclining mechanism. 
     
     
         9 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 1 , further comprising a user operable control affixed to one of the side portions for operating the reclining mechanism. 
     
     
         10 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 6 , wherein the footrest support and the backrest support are interconnected so that a reclining movement of the footrest support causes a simultaneous reclining of the backrest support. 
     
     
         11 . A reclinable seat comprising:
 a seat rest;   a backrest;   a footrest;   two side portions; and   a reclining mechanism which is arranged to move the footrest from a substantially upright position into a reclined position and to simultaneously move the backrest from a substantially upright position into a reclined position using a single driving mechanism.   
     
     
         12 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 10 , wherein the footrest support and the backrest support are interconnected by a linking bar. 
     
     
         13 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 2 , including a backrest support, wherein a substantially upright position of the backrest may be selected by fixably attaching the backrest support to one of a plurality of attachment points on the mounting body. 
     
     
         14 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 12 , wherein a substantially upright position of the backrest may be selected by fixably attaching the backrest support to one of a plurality of attachment points on the linking bar. 
     
     
         15 . The reclinable seat of  claim 1  wherein the reclining mechanism includes a mounting body which is fixably connected to one of the side arm portions, the mounting body including a seat rest support for the seat rest, a backrest support connected to the mounting body by a first connection, a footrest support pivotally connected to the mounting body by a pivotal second connection, and an actuating mechanism having a first part fixably connected to the mounting body, and an extendable member connected to the footrest support by a pivotal third connection, the extendable member being movable between a retracted position in which the footrest support is disposed in a substantially upright position and an extended position in which the footrest support is disposed in a reclined position. 
     
     
         16 . The reclinable seat of  claim 15 , wherein the first connection is a pivotal connection, allowing the backrest support to move pivotally relative to the mounting body and seat rest support, and the reclining mechanism includes a linkage bar having one end pivotally connected to a lower end of the backrest support by a fourth, pivotal connection and its opposite end connected to the footrest support by a pivotal fifth connection, whereby movement of the footrest support between the substantially upright position and the reclined position causes a simultaneous movement of the backrest support between a substantially upright position and a reclined position. 
     
     
         17 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 1 , wherein the reclining mechanism includes a driving mechanism connected to one of the side portions, and a driven mechanism connected to the other of the side portions. 
     
     
         18 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 2  wherein the mounting body includes a seat rest support for the seat rest, and the seat rest is connected to a seat pivoting bracket which is pivotally connected to the mounting body to allow the seat rest to tilt relative to the mounting body. 
     
     
         19 . The reclinable seat of  claim 6 , wherein the backrest is provided with an articulating headrest that can be tilted forwardly as the backrest is reclined. 
     
     
         20 . A reclinable seat, comprising:
 a seat rest;   a backrest;   a footrest,   two side portions; and   a reclining mechanism arranged to move at least one of the backrest and the footrest from a substantially upright position into a reclined position,   wherein the seat rest is tiltable to allow access to a region underneath the seat rest.   
     
     
         21 . The reclinable seat according to  claim 1 , further comprising a removable container in a region underneath the seat rest. 
     
     
         22 . A reclinable seat, comprising:
 a seat rest;   a backrest;   a footrest;   two side portions; and   a reclining mechanism arranged to move at least the footrest from a substantially upright position into a reclined position, and   a removable container in a region underneath the seat rest, wherein the container is removable when the footrest is moved from a substantially upright position into a reclined position.   
     
     
         23 . The reclinable seat of  claim 22 , wherein the container includes an inclined upper surface.