SLIDE STRUCTURE OF CHAIR BACK ADJUSTING DEVICE

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/129,090 filed on Mar. 31, 2023.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a slide structure of a chair back adjusting device, and more particularly to a slide structure of a chair back adjusting device that simplifies an operation of assembling the slide so as to reduce the cost of the chair back adjusting device.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

To enhance comfortably of sitting on a chair, a chair back adjusting device 1 is often provided on a chair back of the chair, so that upward/downward adjustment of height of the chair back can be implemented with the chair back adjusting device 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, a chair back adjusting device 1 comprises a support plate 11, an adjustor 12 arranged on the support plate 11, and a slide 13 slidably sleeved on the support plate 11 and connected to the adjustor 12. A lower end of the support plate 11 is fixed to a lower side of a seat cushion (not shown in the drawing). An end of the adjustor 12 is fixed to the support plate 11, and the other end is fixed to the slide 13.

The adjustor 12 comprises a mounting board 121 and a slide board 122 slidable upwards/downwards on the mounting board 121. The mounting board 121 comprises a positioning peg 123, and the slide board 122 is provided with a plurality of positioning notches 124. The positioning peg 123, upon disengaging from the one of the positioning notches 124 in which it is originally located, is movable, either upwards or downwards, into another one of the positioning notches 124, in order to implement height adjustment of the slide board 122 along the mounting board 121.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slide 13 comprises a through opening 131 penetrating therethrough. An upper end of the slide 13 is fastened to and connected with the slide board 122. Two sides of the slide 13 are formed with a plurality of fastening apertures 132. The plurality of fastening apertures 132 are provided for receiving a chair back (not shown in the drawing) to fasten thereto. The slide 13 uses the through opening 131 to slidably sleeve over the support plate 11, and the slide 13, when sleeved on the support plate 11, also encloses the adjustor 12. As such, the slide board 122 of the adjustor 12, when conducting axial upward/downward height adjustment on the mounting board 121, simultaneously drives the slide 13 to slide, together therewith, for axial upward/downward movement on the support plate 11, thereby achieving an effect of height adjustment for the chair back.

As shown in FIG. 1, to ensure stability of the axial upward/downward sliding motion of the slide 13 on the support plate 11, a plurality of slide resisting members 134 having an effect of resistance against sliding are arranged to extend into the slide 13 at one side thereof. The slide resisting members 134 are implemented as a flexible tube made of a rubber material. The slide resisting members 134 are manually inserted, one by one, into through holes 133 that are pre-formed in the slide 13. Such a way of assembling the slide resisting members 134 in the slide 13 inevitably raises the fabrication cost of the slide 13, and also results in complication of the fabrication the slide 13.

Thus, it is a challenge to the chair manufacturers to provide a slide structure of a chair back adjusting device that effectively reduces the fabrication cost of the slide and makes the fabrication easy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a slide structure of a chair back adjusting device, which helps overcome the drawbacks of the prior art that the operation of assembling of the slide is complicated and tedious and thus resulting in an excessively high fabrication cost of the slide.

The primary technical solution adopted in the present invention is to provide a slide structure of a chair back adjusting device, wherein the chair back adjusting device comprises a support plate, an adjustor assembly arranged on the support plate, and a slide slidably sleeved on the support plate, and the slide comprises a through opening, and at least one slide resisting rib arranged at one side of interior of the through opening; the at least one slide resisting rib is in point contact engagement with an edge of the support plate; the at least one slide resisting rib is integrally formed with a sidewall of the slide; the at least one slide resisting rib comprises a base portion connected to the sidewall of the slide and an elastic portion extending from the base portion; and the elastic portion has an end that is away from the base portion and is formed with a terminal portion having an apex that form the point contact engagement with the edge of the support plate.

The efficacy that the present invention may achieve by adopting the primary technical solution is that operation of assembling a slide is simplified, and the cost of a chair back adjusting device can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a prior art chair back adjusting device.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a chair back adjusting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the chair back adjusting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing the chair back adjusting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial enlarged view showing a slide resisting rib of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For better understanding of the structure of the present invention, and also the efficacy that can be achieved thereby, a description will be provided below with reference to the attached drawings:

Referring firstly to FIGS. 2 and 3, the present invention provides a slide structure of a chair back adjusting device. One end of the chair back adjusting device 2 is attachable to a lower side of a seat cushion A1 of a chair A, and the other end of the chair back adjusting device 2 is arranged to allow a chair back A2 to attach thereto. The chair back adjusting device 2 comprises a support plate 3, an adjustor assembly 4 arranged on the support plate 3, and a slide 5 slidably sleeved on the support plate 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a lower end of the support plate 3 is fixed to the lower side of the seat cushion A1, and more specifically, the lower end of the support plate 3 is fixed by a fastener element S to a control adjusting device A3 that is operable to control an elevation angle and a height of the chair.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the adjustor assembly 4 comprises a mounting board 41 and an adjusting board 42 that is slidable upward and downward on the mounting board 41. The adjustor assembly 4 is arranged such that by means of a lower end of the mounting board 41 being fixed by a fastener element S1 to the support plate 3, am effect of positioning the adjustor assembly 4 on the support plate 3 is achieved. The adjusting board 42 of the adjustor assembly 4 is slidably fit on the mounting board 41. The mounting board 41 comprises a positioning peg 411, and the adjusting board 42 comprises a plurality of positioning notches 421. The positioning peg 411 is disengageable from the positioning notches 421 to allow the adjusting board 42 to conduct an axial upward/downward sliding motion on the mounting board 41 by taking the mounting board 41 as a guide axis for sliding. The positioning peg 411 is engageable with and receivable into the positioning notches 421 to realize locating after the axial upward/downward sliding motion of the adjusting board 42 conducted on the mounting board 41. More specifically, the adjustor assembly 4 uses disengagement or engagement of the positioning peg 411 from or with the positioning notches 421 to realize axial upward/downward height adjustment of the adjusting board 42 on the mounting board 41, and also to achieve positioning after the height adjustment.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the slide 5 comprises a through opening 51 penetrating therethrough. An upper end of the slide 51 is fixed to and connected with the adjusting board 42 of the adjustor assembly 4 fastener elements S2, so that the slide 5 is capable of axial upward/downward height adjustment, in a manner of being in synchronization with the adjusting board 42 of the adjustor assembly 4, along the mounting board 41, and also achieving positioning after the height adjustment. Two opposite sides of the slide 5 are formed with a plurality of fastening apertures 52, and the plurality of fastening apertures 52 receive the chair back A2 to fasten thereto. The slide 5 includes the through opening 51 to slidably sleeve on the support plate 3, and more specifically, the slide 5, when being sleeved onto the support plate 3, also encloses and is slidably sleeved on the adjustor assembly 4, so that two opposite sides of the slide 5 internal of the through opening 51 are set in contact engagement with the support plate 3, and therefore, the slide 5, when sliding axially upwards and downwards along the support plate 3, would ensure an effect of stable sliding. As such, when the adjusting board 42 of the adjustor assembly 4 is conducting an axial upward/downward height adjustment on the mounting board 41, the slide 5 is also driven to simultaneously slide axially upwards and downwards on the support plate 3, so as to allow the chair back A2 fulfill an effect of height adjustment and positioning.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the slide 5 is provided, in a manner of being integrally formed therewith, with at least one slide resisting rib 53 arranged on one side (the left side in the drawings being taken as an example for illustration) thereof internal of the through opening 51. In the present invention, a plurality of slide resisting ribs 53 arranged in a manner of being spaced from each other in an upward-downward direction is taken as an example for illustration. The slide 5 is often made of a plastic material, and is thus formed as an integrally formed one piece through injection molding. Since the slide 5 is generally made of a plastic material, the slide resisting rib 53 possesses a certain degree of elasticity and provides an effect of resistance against sliding, so that when it is desired to adjust the height of the chair back A2, the positioning peg 411 is first caused to disengage from the positioning notches 421, and then, the chair back A2 is pulled to cause the adjusting board 42 of the adjustor assembly 4 to conduct an axial upward/downward height adjustment on the mounting board 41, and the slide 5 is also simultaneously caused to conduct an axial upward/downward sliding motion on the support plate 3, so as to realize the effect of adjusting height of the chair back A2. Also, after the chair back A2 is adjusted to a desired height, the positioning peg 411 is fit into the positioning notches 421 to have the chair back A2 positioned at the desired height.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5, the slide resisting rib 53 is formed by integrally extending from a sidewall 5a of the slide 5 so as to form a one-piece structure. The slide resisting rib 53 comprises a base portion 531 connected to the sidewall 5a and an elastic portion 532 extending from the base portion 531. The elastic portion 532 has an end that is away from the base portion 531 and is formed with a terminal portion 533 that has an apex (not labeled) facing an edge of the support plate 3 and forming point contact with the edge of the support plate 3. In an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal portion 533 has a width D that is greater, namely wider, than a width D1 of the base portion 531. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the width D of the terminal portion 533 is about 1.2-1.5 times of the width D1 of the base portion 531, in order to ensure a desired effect of elasticity and durability for the slide resisting rib 53. The elastic portion 532 of the slide resisting rib 53 and the sidewall 5a of the slide 5 are spaced from each other to define a preset gap therebetween. The gap between the elastic portion 532 and the sidewall 5a of the slid 5 is defined as an elastic moving space P in the present invention. In the present invention, the elastic moving space P is made in the form of an elongated diverging slot having a closed end and an open end, namely the elastic moving space P has one closed end P1 and one open end P2. A width of the gap adjacent to the open end P2 between the elastic member 532 and the sidewall 5a of the slide 5 is greater than a width of the gap adjacent to the closed end P1 between the elastic member 532 and the sidewall 5a of the slide 5, so that when the terminal portion 533 of the slide resisting rib 53 is pressed or pushed by the support plate 3, a sufficient space is preserved for movement of the entirety of the elastic portion 532 toward the sidewall 5a of the slide 5, namely the effect of elasticity of the elastic portion 532 is ensured.

The efficacy of the present invention is that a chair back adjusting device 2 comprises a support plate 3, an adjustor assembly 4 arranged on the support plate 3, and a slide 5 slidably sleeved on the support plate 3, wherein the slide 5 comprises a through opening 51, and at least one slide resisting rib 53 is arranged, in a manner of being integrally formed therewith, at one side of interior of the through opening 51; the slide resisting rib 53 is arranged by being integrally formed with a sidewall 5a of the slide 5; the slide resisting rib 53 comprises a base portion 531 connected to the sidewall 5a of the slide 5 and an elastic portion 532 extending from the base portion 531, and the elastic portion 532 has an end that is away from the base portion 531 and is formed with a terminal portion 533; and as such, operation of assembling the slide 5 is simplified to thereby reduce the cost of the chair back adjusting device 2.