Herman Miller, Inc.

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

Douglas M Van De Riet

Johann Burkhard Schmitz

Claudia Plikat

Christopher C Hill

Jeff Weber

Nicolai Neubert

Todd D Krupiczewicz

Chad D Aerts

Shane M Ramsdell

John F Aldrich

James D Slagh

Jeffrey R Oberlin

Jason W Carpenter

Roland R Zwick

Carola E Zwick

Jeffrey A Weber

Robert Donald Lorenz

Office chair

Chair

A height adjustable arm rest assembly for use on a chair, the arm rest assembly includes a support member, an arm rest member, a locking mechanism attached to one of the support member and the arm rest member, and a substantially continuous engagement surface on the other of the support member and the arm rest member. The support member is attached to the chair and extends substantially upward therefrom. The arm rest member is movably attached to the support member and extends substantially coaxially therewith. The locking mechanism is attached to one of the support member and the arm rest member in order to secure the arm rest member in a selected vertical position relative to the support member. The locking mechanism includes an actuation member, a link connected to the actuation member, and a cam pivotably connected to the link. The cam has a front portion and a rear portion. The rear portion is received within a recess in one of the support member and the arm rest member. The recess is sized slightly larger than the rear portion of the cam in order to allow the cam to pivot about a generally horizontal axis through the rear of the cam. The cam is pivotable from a first position to a second position within the recess. A substantially continuous engagement surface is located on the other of the support member and the arm rest member.

Height adjustable arm rest assembly

An adjustable arm rest assembly for use on a chair including an arm rest post and an arm rest support surface. According to one aspect of the invention, the support surface is pivotably attached to a top surface of the arm rest post. The support surface includes a front portion and a rear portion and is pivotable about a pivot axis that extends in parallel with the seat back of the chair. A locking element is attached to one of the arm rest post and the support surface. The locking element includes a front portion and a rear portion with the front portion including a first mating element. The front portions of the support surface and locking element are farther from the seat back than the rear portions. A guide member is attached to the other of the arm rest post and the support surface. The guide member is located adjacent the front portion of the locking element and is adapted to receive the first mating element into one of a plurality of second mating elements. The locking element and the guide member are movable with respect to one another so that the support surface may be secured in a selected position relative to the arm rest post.

Adjustable arm rest assembly

A panel (12) is mounted to a partition (10) by a hinge (50). The panel (12) includes a support member (118) which is pivotably mounted to a bracket (102) on the panel (12). The support member (118) includes a pedestal (120) which is adapted to engage the partition (10) to hold the panel (12) in an open position.

Hinged wire management cover panel

A sensor tip (10) for use in a robotic hand has a three-dimensional compliant elastomeric body (12) with an outer boundary (22) having a circular base (24) and a convex surface (26) extending therefrom. Four strain transducers (14, 16, 18, and 20) produce electrical signals indicative of the strain at various positions near the boundary of the elastomeric body (12) resulting from forces exerted upon the sensor tip (10) by an object which the robotic hand is manipulating. The transducers (14, 16, 18, and 20) are positioned about the convex surface (26) so as to produce signals that may be decoupled to determine the normal and tangential forces and the applied torque. A signal amplifier (34) and computer (36) may be incorporated for the decoupling of the signals produced by the transducers (14, 16, 18, and 20) into the four components. The sensor tip can be produced at relatively low cost, requiring only low precision manufacturing processes.

Multiple-degree-of-freedom sensor tip for a robotic gripper

Growing community of inventors

Holland, MI, United States of America

Douglas M Van De Riet