Mississippi Patent of the Month – July 2022
VIP Luxury Seating, LLC started out with a dream for reclining cinema chairs. With some R&D and testing, the company opened exciting new worlds for movie-goer satisfaction across the nation. Since then, they have focused their sights on the continual improvement and elevation of luxury seating.
Part of this mission is the improvement of existing features. Recliners are common these days, using a pull mechanism to move the chair into its laid back position. An actuator is used to drive this motion. In VIP Luxury’s experience, these mechanisms could be improved to create greater control and reduced electrical load. For these reasons, the company designed and patented a novel mechanism for these actuating motion furniture.
Their design has the actuator in a different position with respect to the rest of the components. The base of the actuator is positioned nearer to the rear pivot link and the driving end of the actuator connects to the front motor drive tube on the ottoman drive link. This design works for any actuator type – electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic etc. When the actuator is retracted, the front motor drive tube is pulled backward, pulling the ottoman link back to retract the assembly.
This improved mechanism improves the drive characteristics of the mechanism by controlling the linkage closer to the center of the arrangement. This improved control also decreases the electrical load on a linear actuator, creating power savings and improving the overall lifespan of the actuator.
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