referring to fig1 - 3 , a reclining furniture item 10 constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment includes a schematically illustrated backrest 12 and seat 14 . a footrest 16 is connected for extension and retraction in a manner to be described below . in this preferred embodiment , furniture item 10 is configured such that the backrest 12 , seat 14 and footrest 16 move with respect to a base member 18 and by way of a reclining mechanism 20 between the fully upright position shown in fig1 and respective intermediate reclined and fully reclined positions shown in fig2 and 3 . it will be appreciated that many other mechanism configurations , including two - way and three - way mechanisms , may incorporate one or more features of this invention . it will also be understood that , as in the typical case , two reclining mechanisms will be used in a given item of furniture . these mechanisms will be mounted on opposite sides of seat 12 and will be mirror images of one another . only a description of one mechanism 20 will be detailed herein with the understanding that another mirror image mechanism is connected on the opposite side of furniture item 10 . reclining mechanism 20 includes a seat link or plate 22 connected for movement with seat 14 and backrest linkage 24 connected for movement with backrest 12 . an s - shaped bar 30 has a front end connected by a pivot 32 to a support bracket 34 affixed to footrest 16 . a second , opposite end of the s - shaped footrest support bar 30 includes a roller 36 connected for rotation therewith . roller 36 is contained on a track which is preferably configured as a slot 38 contained within seat link 22 . s - shaped footrest support bar 30 is further supported and guided at a front end of seat link 22 by upper and lower rollers 40 , 42 . these rollers engage footrest support bar 30 as it moves between retracted and extended positions as explained further below . a spring 44 is connected to a portion 46 of bracket 34 and further connected to a stud 48 extending from footrest support bar 30 . spring 44 is disposed above pivot 32 between bracket 34 and support bar 30 in essentially an on - center position when footrest 16 is in a retracted position . spring 44 moves to an over - center position under the weight of a seat occupant &# 39 ; s legs as footrest 16 moves to the extended position as shown in fig2 . once in this position , footrest 16 can float in a spring - biased manner as shown in phantom in accordance with leg movement of the seat occupant . backrest linkage 24 includes a link 50 rigidly secured by fasteners 52 to a seat supporting tube structure 54 . a pivoting backrest link 56 is rigidly affixed to backrest 12 by fasteners 58 and includes a pivot 60 at one end secured to link 50 . another link 62 has one end pivotally secured to backrest link 56 at a pivot connection 64 and has an opposite , lower end connected with a link 66 at a pivot connection 68 . link 66 is generally l - shaped and includes a pivot connection 70 with link 50 . a lower end of link 66 is connected with a further link 72 at a pivot connection 74 . link 72 is connected at a front end to a base plate or link 76 by a pivot connection 78 . another base link 80 is rigidly affixed to base link 76 and serves to support seat link 22 and the attached seat 14 . forward and rearward movement of seat 14 with respect to base links 76 , 80 is provided by front and rear rollers 82 , 84 riding in respective front and rear tracks or slots 86 , 88 contained in base link 80 . as will be discussed below , this movement takes place between the t . v . or intermediate reclined position and the fully reclined position . it will be appreciated that rear roller 84 also moves independently of front roller 82 when going from the fully upright position ( fig1 ) to the t . v . or intermediate reclined position ( fig2 ). front roller 82 is connected to seat link 22 , while rear roller 84 is connected to a link 90 attached with seat link 22 by a pivot connection 92 . as further shown in fig1 and 2 , a rocker element 94 is rigidly affixed to base link 76 and allows rocking motion of the backrest 12 , seat 14 and footrest 16 with respect to base 1 8 when furniture item 10 is in the fully upright position shown in fig1 . as further shown in fig2 front and rear rollers 100 , 102 are provided to prevent rocking motion when furniture item 10 is moved into the intermediate reclined or t . v . position . in the t . v . position , rear roller 102 will engage a ramp 104 affixed to base member 18 and front roller 100 will directly engage base member 18 . rear roller 102 is connected to link 90 , while front roller 100 is connected to a link 106 . link 106 is part of an overall linkage assembly which further includes links 108 and 110 connected so as to actuate roller 100 from the position shown in fig1 to the position shown in fig2 upon movement from the fully upright position ( fig1 ) to the intermediate reclined or t . v . position ( fig2 ). link 106 is pivotally connected to base link 80 at pivot connection 112 and link 108 is connected by respective pivot connections 114 , 116 to links 106 and 110 . link 110 is pivotally connected at an opposite end to base link 80 by a pivot connection 118 . an extension spring 120 extends between an upper end of link 106 and a mid - portion of link 110 . this serves to pivot roller 100 to the disengaged position shown in fig1 when mechanism 20 is moved from the intermediate reclined position or t . v . position to the fully upright position . a drive tube or torque tube which is typically connected to a handle for operation by a seat occupant engages an upper surface of link 110 . it will be appreciated that actuation members or assemblies other than handles may be utilized . during movement from the fully upright position shown in fig1 to the t . v . position shown in fig2 seat link 22 will drop downward thereby pressing drive tube 130 against link 110 and rotating link 110 clockwise about pivot 118 . this moves link 106 and roller 100 to the locking position shown in fig2 . drive tube 130 rotates within a bushing contained within seat link 22 . drive tube 130 further serves to actuate footrest 16 between the retracted and extended positions upon rotation by the seat occupant as will be described below . fig4 - 6 respectively illustrate the fully upright , intermediate reclined or t . v . and fully reclined positions of mechanism 20 from an outside or opposite side perspective . this better illustrates the actuating structure 140 for footrest 16 . actuating structure 140 preferably comprises links 142 , 144 , 146 connected for movement with a handle link 148 . handle line 148 is affixed for rotation with drive tube 130 and drive tube 130 may be connected with a handle ( not shown ), as described above , which is rotated by a seat occupant . a link 150 interconnects actuating structure 140 with link 90 extending to the opposite side of mechanism 20 . more specifically , link 142 is pivotally connected to roller 36 at an upper end and connected to link 144 by a pivot connection 152 at a lower end . link 144 is connected by a pivot connection 1 54 to seat link 22 . another pivot connection 156 connects link 144 to link 150 . a pivot connection 157 connects an opposite end of link 150 to link 90 . a pivot connection 158 disposed approximately midway along link 144 connects link 144 with link 146 . link 146 is connected to handle link 148 by a pivot connection 160 . an extension spring 162 is connected between link 146 and drive tube 130 and serves to lock actuating structure 140 in the position shown in fig4 to thereby lock mechanism 20 in the fully upright position . fig7 a - 7c illustrate the mounting and various possible movements of footrest 16 at the end of footrest support bar 30 . as previously mentioned , footrest 16 is mounted on a support bracket 34 connected for pivotal movement on the end of support bar 30 by way of pivot 32 . as shown in fig7 a , with footrest 16 in the retracted position , spring 44 is essentially on - center with pivot 32 . as footrest 16 is extended , spring 44 moves to an over - center position as shown in fig7 c thereby automatically flipping footrest 16 into a leg supporting position in the direction of arrow 166 ( fig7 a ). in this position , spring 44 and pivot connection 32 allow a floating , pivoting motion in the clockwise direction of arrow 168 to provide more comfortable leg support to the seat occupant . as further shown in fig7 b , footrest 16 is further affixed to a mounting plate or other member 170 having a mounting portion 172 . mounting portion 172 is connected by a pivot 174 to a portion 176 of footrest bracket 34 . a second spring 178 extends from a hole 180 in bracket portion 176 to a tab 182 disposed on mounting plate 170 . this provides the counterclockwise spring - biased movement referenced by arrow 184 in fig7 b . this allows a rear edge 16 a of footrest 16 to rotate outward from the furniture item with respect to a front edge 16 b when footrest 16 is in the retracted , vertically oriented position . therefore , footrest 16 will pivot away from any object or body part entrapped between footrest 16 and the remainder of the furniture item when moving into the fully upright position . this pivoting motion occurs without interference from the remainder of furniture item 10 ( fig1 ). operating furniture item 10 to move between three different positions will be understood generally with reference to fig1 - 6 . in the fully upright position shown in fig1 and 4 , footrest 16 is maintained in a generally vertical orientation , but may pivot as shown in fig7 b . in this embodiment , furniture item 10 is shown as a rocker and may rock back and forth on element 94 when in the fully upright position . to move furniture item 10 to the intermediate reclined or t . v . position shown in fig2 and 5 , the seat occupant rotates a handle affixed to drive tube 130 to thereby rotate handle link 148 clockwise , as viewed in fig4 to the position shown in fig5 . as further shown in fig2 rollers 100 , 102 move into engaged positions in front of and behind rocker 94 to prevent rocking motion in both the intermediate and fully reclined positions . the rotation of handle link 148 pulls link 146 forward and rotates link 144 counterclockwise about pivot 154 . at the same time , roller 36 attached with link 142 travels along slot 30 until reaching the front end slot 30 as shown in fig5 . as further shown in fig5 the above - described movement of actuating structure 140 extends footrest support bar 30 and footrest 16 as best shown in fig2 . footrest 16 initially moves downward and then moves in an upward arc to the extended position . during extension , footrest 16 is also pivoted about pivot connection 32 to the generally horizontal orientation shown in fig2 . this occurs by the over - center spring action discussed in connection with fig7 a and 7c . during the extension of footrest support bar 30 , the s - shape of bar 30 in concert with the shape of slot 38 imparts a natural and comfortable movement to footrest 16 between the retracted and extended positions . to further move mechanism 20 into the fully reclined position shown in fig3 and 6 , the seat occupant applies reward pressure against backrest 12 ( fig1 ) thereby pivoting backrest link 56 as shown in fig3 . through the backrest linkage 24 and the connection with base link 76 provided through link 72 , this forces seat link 22 and the attached link 90 and rollers 82 , 84 to move in a forward direction . rollers 82 , 84 travel up tracks 86 , 88 , while roller 102 travels up ramp 104 . at the same time , drive tube 130 travels upward on link 110 . the full reclining movement is stopped when rollers 82 , 84 reach the ends of respective tracks 86 , 88 . to move back into the intermediate reclined or t . v . position , the seat occupant releases their weight from backrest 12 and , to move into the fully upright position , the handle ( not shown ) and the connected drive tube are rotated in a direction opposite to the actuating direction . this reverses the arc - shaped extension motion of footrest 16 . also , toward the end of its retraction , footrest 16 will move briefly upward to tuck underneath seat 14 in a generally vertical orientation . while the present invention has been illustrated by a description of a preferred embodiment and while this embodiment have been described in considerable detail in order to describe the best mode of practicing the invention , it is not the intention of applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail . as some examples , the various linkage configurations , connections , etc ., may differ significantly from mechanism to mechanism . a connection between two elements need not be a direct connection but may be a connection made through other structure . also , with respect to the s - shaped section of the footrest support bar or the contemplated s - shaped track , although the preferred support bar is shown with an overall gradual , continuously curving s - shape , this term is meant to include other generally s - shaped configurations , including those having straight end portions , for example , or other curving portions . in combination with the curved track , the disclosed configuration is deemed to provide a desirable footrest movement . the configuration also functions well if the track is generally straightened except for a downwardly curved front end portion . other combinations of curved track and support bar sections , for example , in combination with a linkage assembly may work as well while retaining the general inventive apparatus and method . additional advantages and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art .