Adjustable chair

Abstract

Title: Adjustable Chair The invention relates to a chair (100) comprising: a frame (200); a seat (300) defining a seating surface; a backrest (400) having a lower end (410), characterized in that a first end (320) of the seat (300) is a first distance D from the lower end (410) of the backrest (400), and the second end (330) of the seat (300) is a second distance d from the lower end (410) of the backrest (400) between 32% and 45% of the first distance D, the lower end (410) of the backrest (400) being offset from the seating surface by a height h greater than or equal to 95 mm. Figure for the abstract: Fig. 1

Description

Title of the invention: Evolutionary chair

[0001] The field of the invention is that of the design and manufacture of furniture.

[0002] More specifically, the invention relates in particular to an evolving chair.

[0003] The evolving chairs can adopt different positions to allow their user to find a comfortable position.

[0004] The use of evolving chairs is particularly beneficial for people suffering from pathologies which force them to change position frequently.

[0005] For example, people suffering from lower back pain, pudendal or inferior cluneal neuralgia, cancers of the small pelvis and their radiation consequences and coc-cygodynia, cannot maintain a sitting position for a prolonged period.

[0006] However, some diagnoses take a long time because they are not known to date. For example, it is estimated that it takes around seven years to diagnose pudendal neuralgia.

[0007] In the professional environment, people with pudendal neuralgia may therefore exhibit behavior that is socially poorly perceived by others.

[0008] During a professional meeting, a person affected but not diagnosed cannot maintain a sitting position for more than a quarter of an hour, otherwise they will suffer intensely, inevitably affecting their concentration.

[0009] Often this can result in the need for these people to remain standing for a long time, creating discomfort among other colleagues.

[0010] Therefore, it is common for people who are affected but not diagnosed to be reassigned because they are unfit for their seated workstation, or even dismissed, in the worst case scenario, because their behavior is misunderstood by other people.

[0011] Furthermore, the private life of people affected but not diagnosed can also be difficult since relatives may doubt the sincerity of the pain felt, the pathology not being identified and not visible on medical imaging.

[0012] People who are affected but not diagnosed may then feel rejected and become socially isolated.

[0013] All of this can then lead people who are affected but not diagnosed to reactive depression.

[0014] In the worst case, due to the intensity of the pain and the incomprehension of relatives in the face of this pain, which is imperceptible to them, people affected but not diagnosed may be wrongly interned in psychiatric hospitals, or even have their lives threatened.

[0015] However, when people are diagnosed with neuralgia pudendal, their daily life remains a constant struggle.

[0016] Indeed, the furniture, and in particular the seating furniture, is not suitable for allowing them to maintain normal or almost normal behavior.

[0017] Normal behavior is understood to mean being able to remain seated for several minutes, or even several hours, without having to get up or change position frequently.

[0018] Although adaptive seats exist on the market, they are not suitable for certain pathologies, notably pudendal neuralgia.

[0019] Indeed, for people suffering from pudendal neuralgia, adopting a sitting position causes significant pain in the perineum and / or buttocks.

[0020] For information, sufferers have compared this neuropathic pain to a permanent bite on the penis by an animal or to an incessant swarming in the rectum.

[0021] The pain-relieving position that can be adopted by people affected by adaptive seats helps to partially alleviate the suffering endured during the day.

[0022] However, existing adaptive seats do not allow people with disabilities to maintain a sitting position for a significant period of time.

[0023] The invention aims in particular to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0024] More specifically, the invention aims to propose a chair allowing users suffering from one of the aforementioned pathologies to maintain a prolonged sitting position.

[0025] The invention also aims to provide such a chair which is adaptable depending on the position of use desired by the user.

[0026] The invention further aims to provide such a chair which is adaptable to users of different sizes.

[0027] These objectives, as well as others which will appear subsequently, are achieved thanks to the invention which relates to a chair comprising: - a frame; - a seat mounted on the frame, the seat defining a seating plane on which a user can sit; - a backrest mounted on the frame and intended to extend transversely to the seat, in which the seat has a first end intended to come into contact with the back of the users' knees, and a second end opposite the first end and oriented towards the backrest, the backrest having a lower end oriented towards the seat,

[0028] characterized in that the first end of the seat is distant from the vertical line of the lower end of the backrest by a first distance D, measured on the seat plane, and the second end of the seat is distant from the plumb line of the lower end of the backrest by a second distance d, measured on the seat plane, the second distance d being between 32% and 45% of the first distance D,

[0029] and in that the lower end of the backrest is spaced from the seat plane by a height h greater than or equal to 95 mm.

[0030] The ratio between the first distance D and the second distance d ensures that the user's buttocks are in the air regardless of the user's height.

[0031] Furthermore, this ratio being combined with the height h of the lower end of the backrest relative to the seat plane, neither the backrest nor the seat risks causing compression of the pudendal or inferior cluneal nerve, the perineum or the coccyx of the user, which would cause pain.

[0032] By using a chair according to the invention, the user can therefore maintain a seated position for longer than with a conventional chair.

[0033] According to an advantageous aspect, the first distance D is between 250 mm and 420 mm.

[0034] Advantageously, the first distance D is between 310 mm and 355 mm.

[0035] These value ranges of the first distance D allow the chair to be adapted to users of different sizes.

[0036] In other words, the same chair can be adapted to both small and large users.

[0037] According to another advantageous aspect, the chassis comprises a frame and a base, the frame being mounted to move relative to the base by means of height adjustment means.

[0038] The height adjustment means make it possible to change the position of the seat relative to the floor on which the chair rests, so that the user can change position as desired when using the chair.

[0039] According to another advantageous aspect, the frame comprises a first part and a second part, the second part being rotatable relative to the first part.

[0040] In combination with the height adjustment of the seat, the articulation between the first part and the second part of the frame makes it possible to maintain a substantially seated position for the user, without the chair risking causing pain.

[0041] More specifically, this allows the evolving nature of the sitting position for the user who can then remain less static than in a “classic” sitting position. This also offers users suffering from lower back pain a possible variation angulation of the lumbar lordosis allowing muscular relaxation (in particular the quadratus lumborum, iliopsoas and paravertebral muscles), by variation of the relationship that exists between the sacral slope and the fifth lumbar, the angle of the coxo-femoral joints, as well as their repercussion at the level of the sacroiliac joints.

[0042] According to another advantageous aspect, the seat is mounted to move relative to the first part of the frame.

[0043] This makes it possible to adjust the seat depth of the chair according to the user using it, in order to obtain the desired comfort, for example.

[0044] According to another advantageous aspect, the chair also comprises a knee rest intended to be secured to the base of the chassis.

[0045] The knee rest makes it possible to limit the user's fatigue when using the chair in a so-called standing or semi-standing position, that is to say when the seat is as far away from the ground as possible and inclined as much as possible in relation to the ground.

[0046] Thus, the user can use his knees to support part of his weight so as to relieve his feet.

[0047] According to another advantageous aspect, the height adjustment means comprise a plate, the frame being rotatably mounted on said plate.

[0048] The plate allows the frame, and therefore the seat, to pivot relative to the ground in order to adapt the comfort of the chair to the position of use desired by the user.

[0049] According to another advantageous aspect, the height adjustment means comprise a jack, the plate being mounted at a free end of a rod of the jack.

[0050] The use allows to modify the height of the seat in relation to the ground in a simple and safe manner.

[0051] Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, given by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, and the appended drawings described below.

[0052] [Fig-1] [Fig.l] is a perspective representation from above of a chair according to the invention.

[0053] [Fig.2] [Fig.2] is a schematic representation in side view of the chair according to the invention, according to a first adjustment mode.

[0054] [Fig.3] [Fig.3] is a schematic side view of the chair according to the invention, according to a second adjustment mode.

[0055] [Fig.4] [Fig.4] is a schematic rear perspective representation of the chair according to the invention, in a raised configuration.

[0056] [Fig.5] [Fig.5] is a schematic representation in perspective from above of a knee rest of the chair according to the invention.

[0057] Figures 1 to 4 illustrate a chair 100 according to the invention.

[0058] The 100 chair includes: a 200 chassis; a 300 seat; a 400 backrest.

[0059] Optionally, as shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5, the chair 100 may also include a knee rest 500.

[0060] With reference to [Fig. 1], the seat 300 is mounted on the chassis 200.

[0061] Similarly, the backrest 400 is mounted on the chassis 200.

[0062] As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the seat 300 defines a seating plane 310 on which a user can sit.

[0063] Similarly, the backrest 400 defines a backrest plane 405 against which the user can rest his back.

[0064] The backrest 400 is intended to extend transversely to the seat 300.

[0065] The backrest 400 may also be provided with a strip of elastic fabric allowing users to wedge a hot water bottle or a cold gel pack. Users can then apply their back, and more particularly the part of the back in which the thoracolumbar hinge is located, against the strip of elastic fabric and therefore against the hot water bottle or the gel pack, in order to influence, by heat or cold, the neurovegetative nature of the radiating pain in the back (described in Maigne's syndrome), the buttocks and / or the genitals.

[0066] As illustrated by Figures 2 and 3, the seat 300 and the backrest 400 form an obtuse angle between them, that is to say an angle greater than 90°.

[0067] More particularly, it is the seat plane 310 and the backrest plane 405 which define, between them, an obtuse angle, that is to say an angle greater than 90°.

[0068] Of course, the seat 300 is intended to receive a lower part of the body of a user and the backrest 400 is intended to receive an upper part of the body of the user, that is to say his back.

[0069] The demarcation between the lower part and the upper part of the user's body is conventionally located at the level of the belt.

[0070] With reference to [Fig. 1], the chassis 200 comprises a frame 210 connected to a base 220 by means of height adjustment means 230.

[0071] The frame 210 is thus movable relative to the base 220. More specifically, the frame 210 is movable in translation relative to the base 220.

[0072] The base 220 has a substantially spider shape having a plurality of legs 221 connected to each other at a base 222.

[0073] The frame 210 has a first part 211 and a second part 212 which are movable relative to each other, along an axis of rotation R.

[0074] In other words, the second part 212 of the frame 210 is rotatable by relative to the first part 211 around the axis of rotation R.

[0075] To allow the mobility of the second part 212 relative to the first part 211, the frame 210 comprises pivoting means 213 making it possible to authorize or, on the contrary, to block the rotation of the second part 212 relative to the first part 211.

[0076] As illustrated by Figures 1 to 4, the seat 300 is integral with the first part 211 of the frame 210, and the backrest 400 is integral with the second part 212 of the frame 210.

[0077] Still with reference to [Fig.l], the height adjustment means 230 are in the form of a jack 231 comprising a body 2311 and a rod 2312 movable in translation relative to the body 2311, along a translation axis T.

[0078] At a free end located outside the body 2311, the rod 2312 carries a plate 232.

[0079] The first part 211 of the frame 210 is connected to the plate 232.

[0080] More specifically, as illustrated by [Fig.4], the first part 211 of the frame 210 is rotatably mounted on the plate 232 around an axis of inclination I.

[0081] Thus, the seat can be inclined relative to a floor S on which the chair 100 rests, so as to accompany a user of the chair 100 in different sitting positions, as will be explained below.

[0082] To control the inclination and manage the height of the seat 300, the height adjustment means 230 comprise a lever 233 connected to the plate 232.

[0083] Depending on the direction of manipulation of the lever 233, as is conventionally known, it is possible to authorize or, on the contrary, to prohibit the inclination of the seat 300 around the inclination axis I and / or to authorize the height adjustment of the seat 300 relative to the ground S on which the chair 100 rests, by translation of the rod 2312 of the jack 231 in the body 2311.

[0084] As illustrated by Figures 2 and 3, the seat 300 has a first end 320 and a second end 330.

[0085] The first end 320 is intended to come into contact with the back of the users' knees and the second end 330 is oriented towards the backrest 400.

[0086] With reference to [Fig.4], the seat 300 is movable relative to the first part 211 of the frame of the armature 210.

[0087] According to a first embodiment, the seat 300 is movable in translation on the first part 211 of the frame 210.

[0088] According to a second embodiment, the seat 300 is rotatable relative to the first part 211 of the frame 210 around an axis of rotation intended to extend parallel to the translation axis T.

[0089] Finally, according to a third embodiment, the seat 300 is independent of the frame 210, in which case it can be removed from the frame 210 and then repositioned. on the 210 frame.

[0090] The mobility of the seat 300 on the frame 210, and more precisely on the first part 211 of the frame 210, makes it possible to modify the seat depth according to the size of the user.

[0091] Thus, according to the first embodiment, it is sufficient to slide the seat 300 on the first part 211 of the frame 210 to adjust the seat depth.

[0092] According to the second embodiment, the pivoting of the seat 300 is offset relative to the center of the seat 300, which allows, during the 180° rotation, the first end 320 of the seat 300 to be moved forward or backward relative to the backrest 400.

[0093] According to this second embodiment, at each rotation of the seat 300 by 180°, the first end 220 and the second end 330 of the seat are swapped.

[0094] According to the third embodiment, the seat 300 is detached from the frame 210 to be pivoted in the same way as for the second embodiment, then is repositioned on the first part 211 of the frame 210.

[0095] To maintain the seat 300 on the first part 211 of the frame 210, according to a predetermined seat depth, the seat 300 incorporates locking means 340.

[0096] The locking means 340 are intended to cooperate with an ad hoc member secured to the first part 211 of the frame 210.

[0097] The locking means 340 may take the form of a male member or a female member intended to cooperate, according to a male / female coupling, with the ad hoc member carried by the first part 211 of the frame 210.

[0098] With reference to Figures 2 and 3, the backrest 400 has a lower end 410.

[0099] The lower end 410 is oriented towards the seat 300.

[0100] Still with reference to figures 2 and 3, the lower end 410 of the backrest 400 is spaced from the seat plane 310 by a height h greater than or equal to 95 mm.

[0101] As illustrated by figures 2 and 3, the first end 320 of the seat 300 is distant from the plumb line of the lower end 410 of the backrest 400 by a first distance D, measured on the seat plane 310.

[0102] Similarly, the second end 330 of the seat 300 is distant from the plumb line of the lower end 410 of the backrest 400 by a second distance d, measured on the seat plane 310.

[0103] The second distance d is between 32 and 45% of the first distance D.

[0104] As an illustrative and non-limiting example, the first distance D is equal to 351 mm and the second distance d is equal to 151 mm.

[0105] The second distance is advantageously between 111 mm and 151 mm, and the first distance D is advantageously between 311 mm and 351 mm.

[0106] In other words, still by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, the seat 300 has a depth of 200 mm, measured on the seating plane 310 between the first end 320 and the second end 330.

[0107] Thanks to the ratio between the first distance D and the second distance d, when a user is seated on the seat 300 of the chair 100, only the part located at the level of the underside of his thighs is supported on the chair 100, and more particularly on the seat 300.

[0108] Furthermore, thanks to the height h greater than or equal to 95 mm, the backrest 400 rests only on the user's back.

[0109] In other words, the user's posterior is then located in the void between the seat 300 and the backrest 400.

[0110] For people suffering from the aforementioned pathologies (lower back pain, pudendal or lower cluneal neuralgia, cancers of the small pelvis and their radiation consequences and coccygodynia), the use of a chair 100 according to the invention makes it possible to maintain a seated position, identical to the use of a conventional chair, for a prolonged period, while limiting the risks of pain and social criticism.

[0111] When pain begins to appear for the user, the latter can modify the position of the chair 100 to move from a sitting position, as illustrated by figures 1 to 3, to a so-called standing position, as illustrated by [Fig.4], or any other position between the sitting position and the standing position.

[0112] The chair 100 thus forms a means of supporting the elevation of one's workstation provided with a so-called "sit-stand" desk.

[0113] In the seated position illustrated by Figures 1 to 3, the seating plane 310 is substantially parallel to the ground S on which the chair 100 rests.

[0114] Conversely, in the standing position of the chair 100, the seat plane 310 is inclined relative to the ground S and forms, with the latter, an angle of less than 90°.

[0115] The change of position of the chair 100 is obtained by using the lever 233 of the height adjustment means 230.

[0116] When the user uses the chair 100 in his standing position, he rests largely on his feet, which, over time, can tire him.

[0117] To avoid this and improve the comfort of the chair 100, the knee rest 500 can be used.

[0118] As illustrated by Figures 1 and 5, the knee rest 500 comprises a support 510 on which a cushion 520 is mounted.

[0119] The support 510 comprises a fixed part 530 and a movable part portion 540.

[0120] The movable part 540 is movable relative to the fixed part thanks to a mechanism of setting 550.

[0121] The adjustment mechanism comprises a wheel cooperating with a screw passing through a hole carried by one of the fixed part 530 and the movable part 540, and a groove practiced in the other of the fixed part 530 and the mobile part 540.

[0122] Depending on the tightening torque exerted by the wheel and the screw, the movable part 540 can be moved relative to the fixed part 530.

[0123] One of the fixed part 530 and the movable part 540 may comprise a member for locking the movable part 540 in rotation relative to the fixed part 530, so that the movement of the movable part 540 relative to the fixed part 530 can only be carried out in the form of a translation.

[0124] The locking member may, for example, take the form of a pin intended to be located in the groove.

[0125] The pin can then be removed or inserted into the groove depending on the desired mobility for the movable part 540 relative to the fixed part 530.

[0126] When the desired position of the movable part 540 relative to the fixed part 530 is obtained, the knee rest 500 can be used.

[0127] To ensure the positioning of the cushion 520 relative to the seat 300, the fixed part 530 comprises a fixing member 531 intended to cooperate with the legs 231 of the base 220.

[0128] More precisely, as illustrated by [Fig.5], the fixing member 531 is in the form of a ring intended to receive a curved end of the legs 231 of the base 220.

[0129] Alternatively, the attachment of the knee rest 500 to the base 220 could be reversed, i.e. the attachment member 531 is in the form of a hook intended to cooperate with a ring or an opening carried by a tab 231 of the base 220.

[0130] Furthermore, the knee rest 500 has, on the fixed part 530 of the support 510, a transverse bar 515.

[0131] This bar 515 offers the user a footrest in a seated position, to get closer to a so-called “classic” seated position.

[0132] This makes it possible to limit the user's possible sliding forward from their seated position, or having their feet dangling in the air, which would put tension on the pelvitrochanteric muscles in order to avoid myofascial syndrome.

[0133] The chair 100 which has just been described allows a user suffering from one of the aforementioned pathologies to adopt a sitting position for a prolonged period without this position causing him pain, or at the very least delaying the onset and intensity of the pain.

[0134] This is achieved by the ratio between the first distance D and the second distance d. in combination with the height h, the comfort of the chair 100 is improved.

[0135] Indeed, since the user's buttocks are in the void, the chair 100 then does not exert any force which could create pressure on the perineum or the coccyx of the user, which would cause him pain.

[0136] Furthermore, the chair 100 according to the invention allows the user to adopt different postures in order to be able to work on a work surface while limiting his fatigue.

[0137] Thus, by accompanying him from his sitting position to his standing position, and by using a table whose top is adjustable in height and / or tiltable, the user can maintain a sitting position allowing him to maintain behavior substantially identical to people who do not suffer from one of the aforementioned pathologies and who may be seated for prolonged periods, for example for a meeting or in an office in a professional setting.

[0138] This also allows the user, in daily life, to be able to remain seated and participate in daily life in a normal, or almost normal, manner.

Claims

Claims

1. Chair (100) comprising: - a frame (200); - a seat (300) mounted on the frame (200), the seat (300) defining a seating plane (310) on which a user can sit; - a backrest (400) mounted on the frame (200) and intended to extend transversely to the seat (300), in which the seat (300) has a first end (320) intended to come into contact with the back of the users' knees, and a second end (330) opposite the first end (320) and oriented towards the backrest (400), the backrest (400) having a lower end (410) oriented towards the seat (300), characterized in that the first end (320) of the seat (300) is distant from the plumb line of the lower end (410) of the backrest (400) by a first distance D, measured on the seat plane (310),and the second end (330) of the seat (300) is distant from the plumb line of the lower end (410) of the backrest (400) by a second distance d, measured on the seat plane (310), the second distance d being between 32% and 45% of the first distance D, and in that the lower end (410) of the backrest (400) is spaced from the seat plane (310) by a height h greater than or equal to 95 mm.,

2. Chair (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the first distance D is between 250 mm and 420 mm

3. Chair (100) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the first distance D is between 310 mm and 355 mm.

4. Chair (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame (200) comprises a frame (210) and a base (220), the frame (210) being mounted to move relative to the base (220) by means of height adjustment means (230).

5. Chair (100) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the frame (210) comprises a first part (211) and a second part (212), the second part (212) being rotatable relative to the first part (211).

6. Chair (100) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the seat (300) is mounted to move relative to the first part (211) of the frame (210).

7. Chair (100) according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that it also comprises a knee rest (500) intended to be secured to the base (220) of the frame (200).

8. Chair (100) according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the height adjustment means (230) comprise a plate (232), the frame (210) being rotatably mounted on said plate (232).

9. Chair (100) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the height adjustment means (320) comprise a jack (231), the plate (232) being mounted at a free end of a rod (2312) of the jack (231).

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