Steelcase Inc.

Jonathan B Hadley

Kurt R Heidmann

Gordon J Peterson

Robert J Battey

Adam C Bedford

Eric Johnson

Gary L Karsten

Thomas B Eich

Jeffrey A Hall

Christopher J Norman

David A Bodnar

Garet Glenn Nenninger

Amy Carol Buckalter

David Oscar Iverson

Jennifer Kristy Geister

Brian J Carney

Roland David Horth

Jennifer K Geister

A vertically adjustable armrest includes a tubular support constructed for attachment to a chair, an armrest assembly telescopingly positioned in the tubular support, the armrest assembly including a sleeve and a post, the sleeve including an opening adapted to receive an operative member on one side, and the post including positional detents extending down the length of a first vertical surface. The height adjustment mechanism is slidably received in the armrest assembly and includes an actuator rod having an angled ramp, an inclined surface, and a pair of angled surfaces, a locking member having teeth which are biased to selectively mate with the post detents, an inclined surface, and at least one pair of lateral followers. The actuator rod operatively engages the locking member with the inclined wedge mateably engaged with the inclined surface and the angled surfaces slideably engaged with the lateral followers.

Height adjustable armrest

A seating unit includes a back support with a perimeter frame defining an opening, and a plurality of resilient members spanning the opening. An upholstery cover extends over and covers the resilient members and a front of the perimeter frame. A bow-tie-shaped lumbar device is positioned between the cover and sides of the perimeter frame for vertical adjustment. The lumbar device includes a body with end sections defining a greater dimension than a middle of the body. Upper and lower edges of the end sections are thin and serve to wedgingly slip between the cover and the resilient members in a manner leading the middle over irregular surfaces between the resilient members. A thick area between the upper and lower edges causes a change in lumbar support force and shape as the lumbar device is adjusted. Handles are attached to the body by stretchable fabric.

Seating unit with adjustable lumbar device

A seating unit includes a base, a seat, a back, and a control operably supporting the seat and the back on the base for movement between upright and recline positions. The control includes a spring providing a biasing supporting force to the back during recline, and further includes a booster mechanism for increasing the supporting force, and still further includes a stop member and a selector device for activating and deactivating the booster mechanism. The selector device is easily movable with a low effort that is independent from friction generated by internal components of the booster mechanism. The stop member is linearly slidably mounted atop a control housing for selectively engaging the booster mechanism and the link for movement between a disengaged position, a booster-engaged position, a partial-recline position, and a recline-prevented position.

Combined tension and back stop function for seating unit

A back construction for seating includes a back frame having an elongated section and a non-uniformity caused by a molding gate in a center of the elongated section. An aesthetic cover is configured to overlay a portion of the elongated section and snappingly engages the elongated section to cover the non-uniformity. A back shell is connected to the back frame by a connection that includes internal connecting structure providing strength to the connection. A housing surrounds the internal connecting structure too provide an aesthetic appearance to the connection. The back shell has a channel defined along its bottom edge, and an elongated bracket has an intermediate section shaped to fit into the channel. The bracket is retained in the channel by a nose-shaped top edge and bottom screws, such that the bracket is easily assembled yet securely held.

Back construction

A door structure includes a frame defining glazing channels in which a glazing panel is mounted, and a plurality of hinge lugs which project outwardly from a major planar surface of the frame, with each of the lugs including an aperture for receiving a vertically arranged pivot pin and each of the lugs having a thickness which is less than a horizontal dimension of the lug which passes through the aperture. The door structure includes an extremely compact hinge which provides an aesthetically desirable appearance in which the structural support for the door is visually minimized. Also, there is a door structure including a frame having confronting glazing channels which define a vertical glazing plane which is oblique to a vertical plane defined by the frame, and a glazing panel secured within the glazing channels with the glazing panel being located in a vertical plane which is oblique to the vertical plane defined by the frame. This structure provides a strikingly unique and aesthetically desirable appearance.

Facade door

Growing community of inventors

Holland, MI, United States of America

Jonathan B Hadley