US3357739A

US3357739A - Lounge chair

Info

Publication number: US3357739A
Application number: US545133A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward M Knabusch; Edwin J Shoemaker
Original assignee: La Z Boy Inc
Current assignee: La Z Boy Inc
Priority date: 1966-04-25
Filing date: 1966-04-25
Publication date: 1967-12-12
Anticipated expiration: 1984-12-12
Also published as: AU2439071A; DE1654296A1; DE1654296B2; NL6705575A; DE1964837U; AU436086B2; DE1654296C3; GB1148564A; NL147029B; BE697545A

Description

D60- 12, 1967 E. M. KNABUSCH ETAL 3,357,739

LOUNGE CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1966 ,far w mad N W Nfm w f J w Dec- 12, 1967 E. M. KNABuscH ETAL 3,357,739

LOUNGE CHAIR 6 Sheets-Shee 3 Filed April 25, 1966 Dec- 12, 1957 E. M. KNABuscH ETAL 3,357,739

LOUNGE CI'IAIR 6 Sheets-Shee': Z

Dec. 12, 1967 E. M. KNABuscH ETAL 3351739 LOUNGE CHAIR Filed April 25, 1966 6 Sheetsfshee''V 4 Dec- 12, 1967 E. M.\KNABuscH ETAL 3,357,739

LOUNGE CHR Filed April 25, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 DeC- 12; 1967 E. M. KNABuscH ETAL 3,357,739

LOUNGE CHAIR 6 Sheets-Sheet P,

Filed April 25, 1968 United States` Patent O 3,357,739 LOUNGE CHAIR Edward M. Knabusch and Edwin J. Shoemaker, Monroe, Mieli., assignors to La-Z-Boy Chair Company, Monroe, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Apr. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 545,133 16 Claims. (Cl. 297-69) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In general, the type of chair to which the present invention relates is one having a back and seat movable from an upright sitting position to a 'reclining position, and a leg rest movable from a retracted position to an extended position where it supports the userls legs. More particularly, the chair back is adapted to swing downwardly and rearwardly and the seat shif'ts upwardly and forwardly from a normal, sitting position to a more comfortable, reclining position. The leg rest is independently movable from a retracted, inactive position beneath t-he chair seat to an upward and forwardly extended position where it elevatingly support-s the users legs in either the sitting or reclining position.

Background of the nventon This invention relates generally to lounge chairs, and particularly to an improved reclining chair having an extendable leg rest.

In one popular version of this type of lounge chair, the retracted leg rest and the linkage mechanism movably su'pporting the leg rest are concealed by chair frame side panels which reach substantially to the floor. However, some modern decorating sc-hemes make it desirable that the chair be styled of-the-floor or, in other words, that the chair embody exposed legs supporting the chair frame up otf the floor. The latter chairs do not have deep side panels so that a conventional linkage mech'an-ism would present an unsightly appearance in that t'hey would be largely exposed for view below the bottom of the frame. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, the leg rest in these previous chairs retracts only to a substantially Vertical position benea'th the front portion of the chair seat. Were this arrangement used in the referred to modern chairs, the re'tracted leg rest would destroy the clean line appearance thereof. Thus, a strong need exists for an improved leg rest and leg rest linkage mechanism for modern lounge chairs of the type referred to wherein neither the retracted leg rest nor the linkage mechanism therefo-r a-re eX'posed in an unsightly manner and the overall chair appearance is clean and aesthetically pleasmg.

Summary o the invention The chair of the present invention provides a clean styling and pleasant appearance and is relatively easy to manipulate so that even when these chairs are fully reclined, the occupant can shift the chair seat and back to the sitting position without exerting a great deal of force. For off-the-floor lounge chairs, the leg rest linkage and back and seat mechanism are substantially concealed when said leg rest is re-tracted and the overall chair appearance is clean and aesthetically pleasing. The reclining back and forwardly movable seat is smooth in operation, easy to manipulate in any position, is light in weight, is rugged in construction and relatvely inexpensive to manufacture.

Brief descriptn o the drawngs lFI'GURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a lounge chairhembodying the present invention and shown in ICC` the normal, sitting position and with the leg rest retracted;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan, sectional View of the chair of FIG. l illustrating the supporting and mo'tivating linkage construction of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along the line 3-43 thereof;

PIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 3 taken Within the circle 4;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along t'he line 5-5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along the line 6-6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along the line 7-7 thereof; V

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 9 taken along the line 8-8 thereof;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the chair back and sealt in a reclining position and the leg rest extended;

FIG. ll) is a perspec't'ive view illustrating a portion of the link'age as positioned in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the linkage system for supporting the back and seat as illustrated in F-lG. 9, and

PIG. 12 is a view in continuation of the linkage svstem of FIG. 11 for supporting the foot rest.

Description o the preerred embodiment Broadly described, the present invention includes a lounge chair having a seat, back and leg rest, first linkage means supporting said leg rest for m'ovement of said leg rest from a retracted position tucked under said seat to an extended position spaced forwardly and upwardly therefrom, said first linkage means constructed to maintain said leg rest nearly parallel to itself throughout its movement.

|In addition, the present invention includes a lounge chair comprising, a lbase, a seat and a back, linkage means supporting vsaid seat an-d back for conjoint movement relative to said base from a sit'ting Iposition to a reclining position where said seat and back are spaced upwardly and forwardly, and downwardly and rearwardly, respectively from said sitting position, said linkage means including crank'means pivoted on said base,rsaid cr'ank means pivoting from a first to a second position against the weight of an occupant seatedy on said sealt during movement of said seat and back to said reclining position, said crank means pivoting 'from said second to said rst position and being assisted 'by the weight of said occupant during movemen't of said seat and back to said si'tting position.

Refer-r'ing now more specifically to the drawings, a lounge chair embodying the present invention is shown generally at 2-1 in IFIGS. 1 an-d 3 and is seen to include a base frame 2'3 comprising a pair of

side members

25, 27 each of which is fixed to a pair of upstanding front and rear posts 29, 31. A rear rail 33 extends between and rigidly in-terconnects the rear posts -31 and a cross rail 32 interconnects Ithe side members '25, 27. Front and rear legs 35, 37 Whic'h 'are fixed to or form a part of the posts 29, 31, respectively, depend therefrom and elevatingly support the base frame 2'3 off the floor. The upper ends of each pair of front and rear posts 29, 31 may be interconnected by arm rests (not shown) and 'the arm res'ts, the posts 29, 3'1 and the

side members

25, 27 may be covered and finished as shown in FIG. 1. Sutable reinforcing members may be used to rigidify the joints between the interconnected frame members as is customary.

An interconnected chair back and seat 39, 41 are supported 'upon the base frame 23 for m'ovemen-t from an upright si'tting position as seen in FIGS. 1-3, to a reclining position as seen in FIG. 9. The chair back 39 is seen to include a rectangular frame having side rails 43, 45 interconnected by a top rail (not shown) and a bottom rail 47. Each of the side rails 43, 45 is supported on the base frame 23 by a linkage which comprises a generally S- shaped lever 49 fixed to the side rails 43, 45 by screws 51 and connected by a pivot '3 to an arm 55 fixed to each of the rear posts 31 by screws 57. Thus, the chair back 39 can swing relative to the base 23 about a horizontal axis passing through the pivots 53 between the positions illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 9.

The seat 41 comprises a pair of side rails 59, 61 inter' connected by front and rear rails 63, 65. The seat 41 is interconnected wtih the chair back 39 by a pair of brackets 67 fixed to the seat side rails 59, 61, respectively, by screws 69 and connected by pivots 71 to an intermediate portion of the levers 49, respectively. The lower end of each lever 49 is connected by pivots 73 to a rear end of a pair of links 75, the forward ends of which are connected to one arm of a pair of bell cranks 77, respectively, by pivots 79. The other arm of each bell crank 77 is connected by a pivot S0 to an arm 81 fixed to each of the

base side members

25, 27 by screws 82.

When the chair back 39 swings rearwardly or in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 3, the levers 49 swing in a counterclockwise direction about the pivots 53 and move the links 75 forwardly to pivot the bell cranks 77 also in a counterclockwise direction about the pivots 80 to the position shown in FIG. 9. The vertexes of the bell cranks 77 are pivoted by bolts 83 to one end of a pair of curved levers 85, the other ends of which are connected by pivots 87 to a pair of mounting brackets 89 fixed to the seat side rails 59, 61, respectively, by screws 91.

Thus, counterclockwise movement of the S-shaped levers 49 about the pivots 53 causes the rear end of the seat 41 to swing upwardly and forwardly by virtue of the pivot connections 71 with the brackets 67 fixed to the seat side rails 59, 61. In addition, the links 75 move forwardly with counterclockwise movement of the levers 49 causing the bell cranks 77 to turn in a counterclockwise direction about the pivots 80, as seen in FlG. 3. This, together with the upward and forward movement of the seat 41 caused by the levers 49 acting on the brackets 67 through the pivots 71 causes the crank vertexes and the levers 85 to swing upwardly and forwardly against the weight of an occupant seated in the seat 41. This prevents the chair from reclining too rapidly and gives the occupant the necessary feel for comfortable use. The result is that the seat 41 is translated upwardly and forwardly from the position illustrated in FIG. 3 to that illustrated in FIG. 9. When rearward force is applied to the seat 41, it returns to the FIG. 3 position, moving downwardly and rearwardly in reverse fashion to that described above. This movement is assisted by the weight of the occupant seated in the seat 41 acting downwardly on the levers 85 and on the vertexes of the cranks 77. 'Ibis crank movement acts rearwardly on the links 75 and swings the levers 49 in a clockwise direction about the pivots 53 to reposition the chair back 39 as shown in FIG. 3.

A leg rest, indicated generally at 93 includes a leg rest panel 94 supported for movement from a retracted position shown in FIG. 3, to an extended position shown 'in FIG. 9. According to the present invention, the leg rest panel 94 is movable independently of the position of the back 39 and seat 41 and when retracted, is beneath and nearly parallel to the chair seat 41. Furthermore, the panel 94 along with the supporting and motivating linkage mechanism therefor is essent-ially concealed beneath the seat 41 and within the base frame 23 when the leg rest is retracted so that the chair has a clean line and aesthetically pleasing appearance.

The leg rest panel 94 is movably supported by a pair of linkages 95, 97, one on either side of the chair seat 41 (FIG. 2). Although the linkage 95 is reversed with respect to linkage 97,'the two are in all other respects -identical so that a description of linkage 97 will suflice here.

It is to be understood that like numerals in the drawings refer to like parts in linkage 95.

The linkage 97 includes a primary lever 99 connected at one end to the bracket 89 by a pivot 101. The other end of the primary lever 99 is provided with a slot 103 having lateral edges 104, 106 loosely receiving a tab punched out of a secondary lever 107 connected to the primary lever 99 behind the slot 103 by a pivot 109.

A pair of scissor links 111,113 are connected by a pivot (FIG. 3). The link 111 is connected at one end to the secondary lever 107 by a pivot 117 while the link 113 has one end pivotally carried by the pin 87 on the bracket S9. The other ends of the scissor links 111, 113 are connected to one end of a bell crank 119 and one end of a lever 121 by

pivots

123, 125, respectively. The bell crank 119 has its vertex connected to the lever 121 by a pivot 127 and its other end connected to one end of a short link 129 by a pivot 131. The other ends of the short link 129 and lever 121 are connected by

pivots

133, 135, respectively, to a bracket 137 fixed to the leg rest panel 94 by screws 141.

In` use, when the primary lever 99 of linkage 97 is turned in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 101 as seen in FIG. 3, identical turning movement is imparted to primary lever 99 of l-inkage 95 by a generally U-shaped bar 140 fixed to the primary levers 99 by screws 142. Both linkages 95, 97 act identically therefore and again a description of linkage 97 will suffice. Thus, the primary lever 99 transmits a similar turning motion to the secondary lever 107 through the pivot 109 and the tab 105. This, in turn, swings the scissor link 111 in a forward or right-hand direction and the scissor link 113 turns in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 87 as seen in the figure. The scissor action of the links 111, 113 is transmitted to the lever 121, the bell crank 119 and the short link 129 to translate the bracket 137 on the leg rest panel 94 from the position shown in FIG. 3 to a generally horizontal, extended position disposed outwardly and upwardly therefrorn as seen in FIG. 9 where another tab 144 punched out of the secondary lever 107 engages an edge 146 on the scissor link 111. During this action, the leg rest panel 94 does not turn to any great extent but remains nearly parallel to itself and a significantly small motivating force is needed to effect leg rest manipulation.

With the parts 'in the position shown in FIG. 9, the edge 104 of slot 103 is engaged with the tab 105 and the arrangement of the pivot 101 for the primary lever 99 and the pivot 117 is in over toggle relationship to the pivots 109 and so as to lock the leg rest in this position. When the primary lever 99 is turned in a clock- Wise direction from the position seen in FIG. 9, it pivots slightly with respect to the secondary lever 107 about the pivot 109 until the edge 106 of the slot 103 engages the tab 105. Continued turning movement of the primary lever 99 in this direction moves the secondary lever 107 and pivot 117 downwardly therewith and breaks the toggle relationship between the

pivots

109 and 125 and thereafter the leg rest panel 94 is easily returned to the retracted position shown in FIG. 3 Where the tab 144 on the secondary lever 107 engages another edge 148 on the scissor link 111.

By providing a lost-motion connection formed by the slot 103 and tab 105 in the primary lever 99 and secondary lever 107 so that the primary lever 99 can pivot slightly relative to the secondary lever 107 and the slot edge 106 can thereafter act downwardly on the tab 105, the force available to break the toggle relationship between the pivots 101, 117 is `greatly increased and the required combined effective length of the levers 99, 107 is considerably less than it would be were only a single lever used between pivots 101, 117. This is important since now the lower end of the secondary lever 107 protrudes only slightly if at all below the base frame 23 when the leg rest 93 is retracted (FIG. 3) and cannot be seen by anyone either sitting or standing in a room in which the chair is located.

Means is provided to take up slack in the leg rest linkages 95, 97 and resiliently hold the leg rest panel 94 in both the retracted and extended positions illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 9. To this end, a pair of generally C-shaped links 143 each has one end thereof attached to a depending ear 145 on respective ones of the primary levers 99 by pivots 147. The other end of each link 143 has one end of a tension spring 149 hooked thereto, the other end of which is anchored to a respective one of the brackets 67.

When the leg rest panel 94 is retracted, as seen in FIG. 3, the Springs 149 exert a rearward or left-hand directional pull on the links 143 tending to turn the primary levers 99 about the pivots 101 in a clockwise direction as seen in the figure. Force components are transmitted through the linkages 95, 97 to take up any slack therein and the leg rest is resiliently held tightly in this retracted position. Also, when the leg rest panel 94 is extended as shown in FIG. 9, the springs 149 again pull rearwardly on the links 143, this time tending to turn the primary levers 99 in a counterclockwise direction about the pivots 101. Force components now transmitted through the linkages 95, 97 resiliently hold the leg rest panel 94 in this extended position.

As described above, it is imperative from an appearance standpoint that the linkages 95, 97 be concealed within the chair base 23 and not hang therebelow sufficiently where they can be seen. In addition to the primary and secondary lever arrangement 99, 107 described above, the leg rest linkages 95, 97 are supported by the seat 41 through the brackets 89 instead of by the chair base frame as is common in the prior art. This elevates location of the entire llinkages 95, 97 within the base frame 23 so that they then protrude only slightly below the frame 23 and are not visible to anyone either sitting or standing in a room in which the chair is located. The linkages 95, 97 are manipulated by turning a handle 153 convenient'ly located along the side of the chair 21. The manipulating handle necessarily is turnably supported by the base frame 23 and in order to transmit movement from the handle 153 to the linkages 95, 97, a novel universal driving linkage indicated generally at 151 interconneets the handle 153 and the linkage 97.

The manipulating handle 153 is secured by a pin 155 to a tubular shaft 157 rotatably supported in the base frame rail 25 by a bushing 159 extending through an opening 161 in the rail 25 and held in place by a collar 163 and screws 165. A pair of

nylon bearings

167, 169 is pressed in the ends of the bushng 159 and engages the shaft 157 to permit easy turning movement thereof. A trim collar 171 may be provided between the louter face of the base frame rail 25 and the handle 153.

The inner end of the tubular shaft 157 is crimped to snugly receive a folded mid-section of a pin 172 having its outer ends 173, 175 extending outwardly in diametrically opposed relation to the axis of the tubular shaft 157. If desired, the tube 157 and the folded pin section are spot welded. A primary transmission shaft 177 is disposed in general axial alignment with the tubular shaft 157 and similarly has one end thereof crimped to snugly receive a folded mid-section of a pin 178 having its outer ends 179, 181, extending outwardly in diametrically opposed relation to the aXis of the shaft 177. The outer ends 173, 175 of the pin 172 are coplanar with and angularly offset 90 relative to the outer ends 179, 181 of the pin 178 and are interconnected in spoke-like relation by a clip 183. The clip has four, radially extending, cylindrical openings 185 therein, each one being angularly offset 90 relative to adjacent ones of the openings and slidably receiving a respective one of the outer ends 173, 175, 179, 181 of the

pins

172, 178 so that the tubular shaft 157 and primary transrnission shaft 177 rotate conjointly and the shaft 177 can swing relative to the shaft 157 about an axis defined by the outer ends 179, 181 of the pin 178.

The other end of the primary transmission shaft 177 is pivotally interconnected with one end of a secondary transmission shaft 187 by a bolt 189 and nut 191. A fork 193 is secured Within the primary shaft 177 and has outwardly extending parallel legs 195 receiving a projecting plate 197 of a plug 199 secured within the secondary shaft 187. The bolt 189 extends through aligned openings in the fork legs 195 and the plate 197 providing for conjoint rotation between the shafts 177, 187 and permitting relative pivotal movement therebetween about the bolt 189 as an axis, which axis is parallel to that defined by the outer ends 179, 181 of the pin 182. Suitable nonfriction material 201 may be position-ed between the fork legs 195 and the plate 197 to facilitate easy pivotal movement therebetween.

The other end of the secondary transmission shaft 187 is connected to the primary lever 99 of linkagel 97 in a fashion similar to the connection between the shaft 157 and the primary transmission shaft 177.`Thus, the end of the secondary shaft 187 is crimped to snugly receive a folded midsection of a pin 202 having outer ends 203, 205 extending radially outwardly of the axis of the shaft 187 in diametrically opposed relation (FIG. 4). The primary lever 99 has a laterally offset web 207 attached to the pivot 101 and an opposed pair of laterally extending flanges 209, 211, one on either side of the web 207. A straight pin 213 extends through an opening in the fiange 209 and has a laterally offset extension 214 fixed to the primary lever 99 by the screw 142. The pin 113 is coplanar with the outer ends 203, 205 of the pin 202 and is interconnected therewith in spoke-lillre relation by a clip 219 substantially lidentical to the clip 183. The secondary transmission shaft 187 and the primary lever 99 are therefore interconnected for conjoint rotation and the shaft 187 can pivot relative to the lever 99 about an axis defined by the outer ends 203, 205 of the pin 202.."I`his axis is parallel to the axis of the bolt 189 and that defined by the outer ends 179, 181 of the pin 178 so that When i the Operating handle 153 is turned in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 1, the shaft` 157 turns conjointly therewith causing the transmission shafts 177, 187 to turn about an axis passing through the center of the

clips

183, 219. During this movement, the remote ends of the transmission shafts 177, 187 pivot about the axes defined by the pin ends 179, 181 and 203, 205, respectively, and the primary lever 99 is turned about the pivot 101 under a force proportional to a lever arm defined by the distance between the axes of the shaft 157 and the pin 101.

Turning movement of the primary lever 99 effects manipulation of the lin-kage 97 as described above and linkage 97 interconnected therewith by the U-shaped bar '140 fastened to the primary levers 99 of these two linki ages by screws 142 so that by turning the manipulating handle 153 as described, the leg rest panel 94 is extended to the position shown in FIG. 9. When the handle 153 is turned in a clockwise direction, the parts m0ve-in the opposite direction and the leg rest panel 94 is retracted to the FIG. 3 position. v

When the Chair back 39 and seat 41 are reclined, as shown in FIG. 9, the seat 41 moves upwardly and forwardly relative to the chair base 23. This movement displaces the axis of the pivots 101 for the primary levers 99 relative to the axis of the tubular shaft 157. Thus,

when the seat 41 is reclined, the transmission shafts 177, 187 straighten somewhat by pivoting action thereof about the bolt 189 and about the axes of the outer pin ends 179, 181 and 203, 205, respectively. In this reclined position of the seat 41, the leg rest panel 94 is fully movable from a retracted to an extended position by turning the manipulating handle 153 in the same manner and with the same ease as described above.

Thus, by the foregoing there has been disclosed an improved reclining chair calculated to fulfill the inventive objects set forth above and while a preferred embodiment of the invetnion has been illustrated and described above in detail, various additions, substitutions, modifications and omissions may be made thereto Without departing from the spirit of the invention as encompassed by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A lounge chair having a seat, a back and a substantially horizontal leg rest panel, a first linkage means at each side of the seat for solely supporting said leg rest panel for movement from a retracted position tucked under said seat to an extended position spaced forwardly and upwardly therefrom, said first linkage means being tso constructed and arranged as to maintain said leg rest platform substantially horizontal in all of its positions, a base, and driving means supportably carried by said base for motivating said first linkage means, universal means interconnecting said driving means and said first linkage means.

2. A lounge chair having a seat, a back and a substantially horizontal leg rest panel, and first linkage means at each side of the seat for solely supporting said leg rest panel for movement from a retracted position tucked under the seat to an extended position spaced forwardly and upwardly therefrom, said first linkage means being so constructed and arranged as to maintain said leg rest platform substantially horizontal in all of its positions, a base, driving means carried by said base for motivating said first linkage means, said first linkage means, having pivotal means supported by said seat and said driving means includes shaft means rotatably supported by said base.

3. A lounge chair as defined in claim 1 wherein said universal means includes first and second shaft means pivotally interconnected at one end and having their other ends pivotally interconnected with said driving means and said first linkage means, respectively.

4. A lounge chair as defined in claim 3 wherein said first and second shaft means, said first shaft means and said driving means, and said second shaft means and said first linkage means are relatively pivotable -about parallel axes.

5. A lounge chair as defined in claim 1 wherein said first linkage means includes extendable link means pivoted to said seat and connected -to said leg rest, a first and second lever pivotally connected to said seat and extendable link means, respectively, and lost-motion means interconnecting said first and second levers.

6. A lounge chair as defined in claim 5 wherein said lost-motion means includes a slot formed in one of said levers, means fixed to the other of said levers loosely received in said slot, and pivot means interconnecting said first and second levers.

7. A lounge chair as defined in claim 1 wherein said first linkage means includes extendable link means having hinge means pivoted to said seat and a portion connected to said leg rest and wherein said universal means is connected for conjoint rotation with said lever means.

8. A lounge chair as defined in claim 7 wherein said universal means includes a shaft means, pin means extending dametrically of said shaft means and rotatable therewith, clip means interconnecting said pin means and said lever means for conjoint rotation and allowing said shaft means to pivot relative to said lever means about an axis defined by said pin means.

9. A lounge chair as defined in claim 7 wherein said universal means includes shaft means, first pin means extending dametrically of said shaft means and rotatable therewith, second pin means extending dametrically of the pivot axis of said lever means and angularly offset from said first pin means and pivotable with said lever means, clip means interconnecting said first and second pin means for conjoint rotation and allowing said shaft means to pivot relative to said lever means about an axis defined by said first pin means.

10. A lounge chair as defined in claim 1 wherein said universal means includes shaft means, pin means extending dametrically of said shaft means and rotatable therewith, clip means interconnecting said pin means and said driving means for conjoint rotation and allowing said shaft means to pivot relative to said driving means about an `axis defined by said pin means.

11. A lounge chair as defined in claim 1 wherein said universal means includes shaft means, first pin means extending dametrically of said shaft means and rotatable therewith, said driving means including rotatable means, second pin means extending diametrically of the axis of rotation of said rotatable means and angularly offset from said first pin means and rotatable with said rotatable means, clip means interconnecting said fi-rst and second pin means and said driving means for conjoint rotation and allowing said shaft means to pivot relative to said driving means about an axis defined by said first pin means.

12. A lounge chair as defined in claim 3 wherein said first and second shaft means each has rigid means secured for rotation therewith, and a 'pivot pin interconnecting said rigid means.

13. A lounge chair comprising a base, a seat and a back, linkage means supporting said seat and back for conjoint movement relative to said base from a sitting position to a reclining position, said linkage means including a crank having angularly spaced arms one of which is pivoted to said base, a link in said linkage means pivoted to the seat and to the intermediate portion on said crank, a second link in said linkage means pivoted to the back and to said other crank arm, the tilting of the back rearwardly moving said crank arm to 'raise and advance said seat forward.

14. A lounge chair as defined in claim 13 wherein said crank pivoting counterclockwise during movement from said sitting to reclining position and clockwise during movement of the seat and back from reclining lto sitting position.

15. A lounge chair as defined in claim 13 wherein said crank is below said seat and its counterclockwise movement raises its intermediate portion, the link and seat.

16. A lounge chair as defined in claim 13 wherein a pair of said linkage means is supported on each side of said seat and back and pivotally supported on said base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,95l,793 3/1934 Herman 297-78 2,046,644 7/1936 Martin 297-81 426,602 4/1890 Muhl 297-68 953,872 4/1910 Urba 297- 2,126,098 8/1938 Ducrot 297-318 2,677,412 5/1954 Thomas 297--318 X 3,099,487 7/1963 Knabusch et al 297-69 X 3,235,307 2/1966 Knabusch et al. 297-69 X 3,269,769 8/1966 Mizelle 297-322 X FOREIGN PATENTS 198,879 4/1920 Canada. 602,342 12/ 1925 France.

JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examim'rg

Claims

1. A LOUNGE CHAIR HAVING A SEAT, A BACK AND A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL LEG REST PANEL, A FIRST LINKAGE MEANS AT EACH SIDE OF THE SEAT FOR SOLELY SUPPORTING SAID LEG REST PANEL FOR MOVEMENT FROM A RETRACTED POSITION TUCKED UNDER SAID SEAT TO AN EXTENDED POSITION SPACED FORWARDLY AND UPWARDLY THEREFROM, SAID FROM LINKAGE MEANS BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED AS TO MAINTAIN SAID LEG REST PLATFORM SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL IN ALL OF ITS POSITIONS, A BASE, AND DRIVING MEANS SUPPORTABLY CARRIED BY SAID BASE FOR MOTIVATING SAID FIRST LINKAGE MEANS, UNIVERSAL MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID DRIVING MEANS SAID FIRST LINKAGE MEANS.