Armrest assembly and chair including same

Abstract

An armrest assembly, includes: an armrest support pad configured to support an arm of a user and perform sliding movement in a forward and backward direction and swinging movement in a leftward and rightward direction on an upper end of an armrest support; and a spindle guide unit secured to the upper end of the armrest support, and configured to guide the sliding movement and the swinging movement of the armrest support pad. The sliding movement and the swinging movement of the armrest support pad are guided, with the armrest support pad gear-engaged with the spindle guide unit.

1 . An armrest assembly, comprising:
 an armrest support pad configured to support an arm of a user and perform sliding movement in a forward and backward direction and swinging movement in a leftward and rightward direction on an upper end of an armrest support; and   a spindle guide unit secured to the upper end of the armrest support, and configured to guide the sliding movement and the swinging movement of the armrest support pad,   wherein the sliding movement and the swinging movement of the armrest support pad are guided, with the armrest support pad gear-engaged with the spindle guide unit.   
     
     
         2 . The armrest assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the spindle guide unit comprises:
 a disk body panel having a circular plate shape and secured horizontally to the upper end of the armrest support; and   a pair of damping pinion gear sets hooked to the disk body panel in a sliding manner, and gear-engaged with the armrest support pad to damp an external manipulation force applied by the user.   
     
     
         3 . The armrest assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the armrest support pad comprises:
 an upper pad configured to directly support the arm of the user; and   a lower pad disposed between a lower portion of the upper pad and an upper portion of the armrest support,   wherein the pair of damping pinion gear sets are respectively engaged with a pair of rack gears formed at left and right opposite ends of a rack guide slot formed in the lower pad, the rack guide slot being elongated in the forward and backward direction and vertically penetrating through the lower pad.   
     
     
         4 . The armrest assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the disk body panel has a diameter greater than a left-right width of the rack guide slot. 
     
     
         5 . The armrest assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the pair of damping pinion gear sets are coupled to the disk body panel by an insertion operation through left and right rail recesses formed by cutting out portions of an outer circumferential surface of the disk body panel. 
     
     
         6 . The armrest assembly of  claim 3 , wherein each of the pair of damping pinion gear sets comprises:
 a damping body coupled to the disk body panel and having damping fluid received therein; and   a damping gear coupled to a lower portion of the damping body via a damping shaft, the damping gear being rotatably formed with pinion gear teeth that are engaged with a corresponding one of the pair of rack gears of the lower pad.   
     
     
         7 . The armrest assembly of  claim 6 , wherein a portion of the damping shaft of the damping gear that extends into an interior of the damping body is provided with a plurality of damping blades configured to generate friction with the damping fluid when the damping gear rotates. 
     
     
         8 . The armrest assembly of  claim 6 ,
 wherein the damping body is formed to have a diameter greater than a diameter of the damping gear, and   wherein, when the damping body is inserted into a corresponding one of the left and right rail recesses formed in the disk body panel, a lower peripheral surface of the damping body is supported on a stepped rail surface formed in the corresponding one of the left and right rail recesses, the stepped rail surface being formed to have a size greater than the diameter of the damping gear and less than the diameter of the damping body.   
     
     
         9 . The armrest assembly of  claim 6 , wherein the disk body panel is provided with a pair of hook latches configured to latch and retain the damping body to prevent the damping body, after being inserted into a corresponding one of the left and right rail recesses, from being removed outward. 
     
     
         10 . The armrest assembly of  claim 3 ,
 wherein the armrest support pad further includes a moving guide panel disposed below the lower pad and formed with a predefined moving hole through which a region surrounding a coupling end, by which the spindle guide unit is coupled to the armrest support, is exposed,   wherein the armrest support pad is configured to perform the sliding movement and the swing movement in conjunction with the moving guide panel, the sliding movement and the swing movement being restricted within a range defined by the moving hole.   
     
     
         11 . A chair comprising the armrest assembly according to  claim 1 .