BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In some environments the movement of a seated occupant includes a reaching movement while remaining seated, such as a seated worker on a production line.

Some chairs are provided with a swivel action which may only partly assist the seated occupant in the reaching movement while other chairs may be provided with castors which allow movement of the whole chair which may be cumbersome in some situations.

If the reaching movement is repetitive or frequent, these two degrees of freedom of movement may not be appropriate for some seated occupants leading to uncomfortable reaching movements, accompanied by a bad sitting posture during the movement, which may lead to problems with the back.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a chair including a seat, a mounting shaft, a shaft coupling, and a base, wherein the mounting shaft is coupled to the base so the mounting shaft may swivel and may tilt to various degrees in a forward and sideward direction and is prevented from tilting in a rearward direction to any substantial extent.

A preferred embodiment of the invention provides a chair that includes a seat fixed to a mounting shaft that is coupled to a base by means of a slewing coupling. The coupling is configured to allow tilting of the seat and mounting shaft relative to the base from a substantially vertical axis. Preferably the

coupling is configured to prevent the seated occupant tilting the seat in a rearward direction in relation to the seated occupant, and the coupling includes a cam which defines the range and pattern of tilt. Additionally the coupling may be configured to allow swivelling of the seat and mounting shaft.

The mounting shaft also may be biased to a substantially vertical position by a resilient means such as a spring, to assist the seated occupant to maintain an upright seated position, and to assist in the return of the seat to an upright position at the end of a reaching movement by the seated occupant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to an embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a chair embodying the invention biased in an upright position;

Fig. 2 is an illustration of a chair embodying the invention in a tilted position;

Fig. 3A is a part cross sectional view of a coupling suitable for coupling the mounting shaft and base of the chair depicted in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3B is a plan view of a cam suitable for use in the coupling depicted in Fig. 3A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The chair 1 in Figs. 1 and 2 includes a seat 2 fixed to a mounting shaft 3 which is enveloped by a shaft

column 5 and coupled to a base fitting 32 on a base 4 by means of a coupling 34 illustrated in Figs. 3A and 3B. The shaft column 5 is fixed to the mounting shaft 3 to prevent the shaft column 5 rotating relative to the mounting shaft 3.

The chair 1 is provided with a coil spring 6 which biases the seat 2 and mounting shaft 3 to an upright position as illustrated in Fig. 1 and depicted by a vertical axis 7. The seat 2 and mounting shaft 3 may be tilted relative to the vertical axis 7 as illustrated by a tilted axis 20 in Fig. 2, against the bias exerted by the coil spring 6. If the tilting force exerted by a seated occupant (not shown) is removed, then the seat 2 and the mounting shaft 3 will return to an upright position depicted by the vertical axis 7 in Fig. 1 and 2.

The coupling 34 in Fig. 3A couples the mounting shaft 3 to the base fitting 32 by means of a rod end bearing 31 allowing rotation and slewing of the mounting shaft 3 relative to the base fitting 32. The degree and pattern of slewing of the mounting shaft 3 relative to the base fitting 32 is predetermined by a cam 33 fixed to the mounting shaft 3.

The coil spring 6 is engaged with the base fitting 32 and a thrust race 30 fitted to the shaft column 5. The thrust race 30 provides bearing assisted rotation of the shaft 3 relative to the base fitting 32.

The illustrated cam 33 will prevent a seated occupant (not shown) on the chair 1 tilting the seat 2 to a substantial extent in a rearward direction. For this purpose the lobe portion of the cam surface 35 is orientated towards the front of the seat 2, so that upon rearward tilting of the chair it will contact an

inner surface of the base fitting 32 thereby restricting or prohibiting rearward titling of the seat 2 and the mounting shaft 3. On the other hand, the remaining surface of the cam 33 will allow more extensive forward and sideways tilting or combined forward and sideways tilting.

Therefore in use a chair in accordance with the invention may tilt within predetermined limits and pattern, while being free to swivel thereby assisting a seated occupant during a reaching movement.

In a further contribution to the ergonomics of the chair in its preferred form, the seat 2 is tilted forwardly to throw more of the seated occupant's weight onto the seated occupant's feet than would occur if the seat was substantially horizontal. The seated occupant's feet will thus form a tripod with the chair, providing a stable base for the seated occupant's sitting position and reaching movements.

It is to be understood that the invention has been described with reference to an embodiment only for the purpose of illustration and is not intended to be confined to that embodiment.