Learning unit

Abstract

Provided is a learning unit capable of maintaining a sitting posture corrected in a sitting state more than when using a chair alone. 【Solution means】The learning unit 100 according to the present invention is a unit including a chair 1 having an inclined seat portion 3 and a desk 50 arranged opposite to the chair and having a top plate 51. The seat portion 3 has a seat surface 3c on which the user 10 of the chair 1 sits, and the seat surface 3c is inclined downward toward the desk side. Further, the height L4 from the installation surface 20 on which the chair is installed to the front end 3c1 of the seat surface 3c is set higher than the length L3 of the user's shin 11. In addition, the top plate 51 has a height H1 such that when the user 10 sits on the chair, at least the upper surface 51c of the opposite end 51a on the side facing the user is located above the lower part 62a of the user's thoracic vertebra 62 in the user's sitting posture.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a learning unit capable of maintaining a corrected sitting posture of a user. Technical Background

[0002] From the applicant of the present application, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, the seat surface on which the user sits is inclined downward from the rear end side toward the front end side and set at an angle within a predetermined range, and the height from the installation surface to the front end of the seat surface is set higher than the length of the user's tibia, so that a chair has been proposed that can correct the user's sitting posture when sitting. On the other hand, there is known an inclined desk in which the top plate slopes upward from the facing end side facing the user of the desk toward the back end side located on the side opposite to the facing end (Patent Document 2). In addition, there is known a so-called inclined table that is provided separately from the horizontal top plate and has an inclined portion that is inclined when placed on the top plate.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Generally, when using a desk, people often sit on a chair or the like. However, if the sitting posture on the chair is bad, it is difficult to maintain a good posture even if using a desk or an inclined table with an inclined portion. An object of the present invention is to provide a learning unit that can maintain a sitting posture corrected in a sitting state more than when using a chair alone by combining a specific chair and a desk.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To achieve the above object, the learning unit according to the present invention is a learning unit including a chair having an inclined seat portion and a desk having a top plate arranged opposite to the chair, wherein the seat portion is inclined downward toward the desk side such that the seating surface on which the user of the chair sits is within a predetermined inclination angle range, and the height from the installation surface on which the chair is installed to the front end of the seating surface is set higher than the length of the user's tibia. The top plate is characterized in that, when the user sits on the chair, at least the upper surface on the side facing the user has a height that is located above the lower part of the user's thoracic vertebra in the user's sitting posture.

[0006] In the learning unit according to the present invention, the desk is characterized by having an inclined portion that slopes upward from at least the opposite end side toward the inner end side located on the side opposite to the opposite end. In the learning unit according to the present invention, the inclined portion is characterized by being constituted by inclining the top plate. In the learning unit according to the present invention, the inclined portion is characterized by being configured to be separable from the top plate. In the learning unit according to the present invention, the desk has a space below the top plate capable of accommodating the chair, and in the space, when the chair is accommodated in the space, there is a holding portion that engages with a part of the chair and holds the chair in a state of floating from the installation surface.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, by combining a chair having a seat portion with a seating surface that slopes downward toward the desk side within a predetermined inclination angle range and has a height-defined seating surface, and a desk having a height-defined top plate as one unit, it is possible to provide a learning unit in which a sitting posture corrected in a sitting state by sitting on the chair can be maintained more easily than when using the chair alone.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a learning unit 100 according to the present invention is a unit including a chair 1 having an inclined seat portion 3 and a desk 50 disposed opposite to the chair 1 and having a top plate 51. The seat part 3 is inclined downward toward the desk side so that the seat surface 3c on which the user 10 of the chair 1 sits is within a predetermined inclination angle range, and the height L4 from the installation surface 20 on which the chair 1 is installed to the front end 3c1 of the seat surface 3c is set higher than the length L3 of the shin 11 of the user 10. The length L3 of the shin 11 here refers to the length of the tibia. Further, when the user 10 sits on the chair 1, the top surface 51c of at least the opposing end 51a on the side facing the user (seated person) 10 of the top plate 51 has a height H1 that is higher than the lower part 62a of the thoracic vertebra 62 of the user (seated person) 10 in the sitting posture of the user 10. In FIG. 1, the virtual line X indicates the position of the lower part 62a of the thoracic vertebra 62 and is used as a reference for the lower part 62a.

[0010] According to the present embodiment, since the chair 1 having the seat part 3 defining the angle and height and the desk 50 having the top plate 51 defining the height H1 are combined as one unit, it is possible to provide the learning unit 100 that can maintain the sitting posture corrected in the sitting state by sitting on the chair 1 better than when using the chair alone. That is, the chair 1 used in the learning unit 100 of the present embodiment can correct the sitting posture as described in Utility Model Registration No. 3245175 already filed by the applicant of the present application. However, even if the posture is corrected when using the chair 1 alone, if the height of the desk 50 is not appropriate, the posture will slump forward in the sitting state, and the sitting posture corrected by the chair 1 will collapse.

[0011] First, the configuration of the chair 1 in the present embodiment will be described, and then the configuration of the desk 50 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the chair 1 according to the embodiment has a frame 2 and a seat portion 3. The frame 2 includes a first frame 21 and a second frame 22. The first frame 21 and the second frame 22 are each formed by bending a pipe material into a substantially U-shaped in side view. The first frame 21 and the second frame 22 are formed such that the portions facing each other are parallel to each other and are configured as legs 4 and 5. That is, the chair 1 is provided with legs 4 and 5 at both ends of the first frame 21 and the second frame 22 formed by bending a pipe material, respectively.

[0012] In the present embodiment, the legs 4 and 4 constitute the front legs, and the legs 5 and 5 constitute the rear legs. The length L1 of the legs 4 and 4 is formed shorter than the length L2 of the legs 5 and 5, respectively. For this reason, the intermediate portions 6 and 6 of the first frame 21 and the second frame 22 located between the legs 4 and 4 and the legs 5 and 5 are formed to be downwardly inclined from the legs 5 and 5 (rear legs) toward the legs 4 and 4 (front legs). As shown in FIG. 1, a third frame 23 is fixed to the intermediate portions 6 and 6 so as to straddle both of them. That is, the independent first frame 21 and second frame 22 are connected to and integrated with each other by the third frame 23 at the portions of the intermediate portions 6 and 6. In the present embodiment, the third frame 23 is made of a pipe material, and both ends thereof are fixed to the first frame 21 and the second frame 22 by welding, respectively. The fixing of the third frame 23 to the first frame 21 and the second frame 22 may be performed using fastening members such as bolts and nuts or an adhesive instead of welding. The third frame 23 may be composed of a plate-like member instead of a pipe material. The shapes of the first frame 21 and the second frame 22 are not limited to pipe materials, and may be, for example, angle bars. The materials of the first frame 21, the second frame 22, and the third frame 23 may be any of metal, resin, or wood.

[0013] The chair 1 has a seat surface 3C that slopes downward from the rear end 3A of the seat portion to the front end 3B of the seat portion in a fixed state between the first frame 21 and the second frame 22. This inclined seat surface 3C is a flat seat surface on which the buttocks of the seated user 10 are placed when the user 10 of the chair 1 sits down. The seat surface 3C is provided with an anti-slip process so that the buttocks do not slip during sitting. In the present embodiment, the seat portion 3 has been described as being fixed to the first frame 21 and the second frame 22, but it may be in a form that is foldable with respect to the first frame 21 and the second frame 22.

[0014] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seat portion 3 is fixed such that the seat surface 3C has an arbitrary inclination angle θ within a predetermined inclination angle range. In the present embodiment, the inclination angle θ is, for example, 20 degrees. The inventor conducted experiments on the inclination angle of the seat surface and the sitting comfort. The experiment was conducted on a total of 200 male and female subjects. The subjects were asked to sit on the chair while changing the angle of the seat surface and were asked about their feelings of sitting comfort. In the present embodiment, the knee angle refers to the angle formed by the calf and the thigh when the knee is bent in a state where the entire sole of the foot is in contact with the installation surface of the chair 1 when the user 10 sits on the chair. When the knee angle at the time of sitting becomes an acute angle, the knee is higher than the sitting position where the knee is the contact portion between the buttocks and the seat surface, and the pelvis 12 is in a posterior tilt position (sacrum sitting), making it difficult to stand up and prone to hunchback, which the inventor has found to be unfavorable.

[0015] Therefore, in this experiment, it was decided to find the optimal angle within the range where the knee angle becomes an obtuse angle. A knee angle of 180° refers to the upright state of the user 10. The inclination angle θ of the seat surface 3C was changed so that the angle became shallower, such as 170° and 160° from this angle. Note that the seat surface 3C has a vertical state (vertical state) of 90 degrees, and the seat surface angle is tilted horizontally from the vertical state. According to this experiment, when the tilt angle of the seat surface 3c was 45° (equivalent to a knee angle of 135°), many people said that it felt more like standing than sitting. As the tilt angle of the seat surface was decreased, voices gathered saying that the sitting comfort was good in the range around a tilt angle of about 20° (knee angle around 110°). Therefore, when a seating experiment was further conducted with the angle increased or decreased in 1° units around a tilt angle of 20°, more voices gathered saying that the sitting comfort was good within the range of ±5° around a tilt angle of 20°. That is, the seat part 3 becomes more comfortable to sit on by setting the seat surface 3C so as to be within a predetermined tilt angle range (15° to 25°).

[0016] According to this embodiment, the chair 1 has a seat surface 3C that slopes downward from the rear end 3A of the seat part toward the front end 3B of the seat part, and there is no need for a mechanism for tilting the seat part 3. For this reason, the seated user 10 can sit on the seat surface 3C in a forward-tilted state where the pelvis is in an upright position with a simple configuration, and support the body with both feet and the waist. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the burden on the waist, sit in a stable posture, and prevent the posture from collapsing. Also, sitting on the seat surface 3C in a forward-tilted state enables sitting while maintaining a correct posture, so it is possible to suppress the backward curvature of the lumbar spine of the user 10 and expect a so-called hunchback correction effect of straightening the back. That is, by sitting on the chair 1, it is possible to sit with the posture corrected.

[0017] Next, the configuration of the desk 50 according to this embodiment will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the desk 50 includes a top plate 51, side plates 52, 53, and a back plate 54. The back plate 54 is attached to one side ends 52b, 53b of the side plates 52, 53 on both sides thereof. The desk 50 is formed in a portal shape in plan view by these side plates 52, 53 and the back plate 54. The top plate 51 is attached above the inner surfaces 52a, 53a of the side plates 52, 53 and the inner surface 54a of the back plate 54. In the present embodiment, the desk 50 is installed on the same plane as the installation surface 20 on which the chair 1 is installed. In the present embodiment, the height from the installation surface 20 to the upper surface 51c of the top plate 51 is defined as the height H1 of the top plate 51. When the top plate 51 is horizontal, the height from the installation surface 20 to the upper surface 51c of the opposing end 51a of the top plate 51 on the side facing the chair 1 is the height H1 of the top plate 51.

[0018] When the present inventors configured a learning unit using the chair 1 and the desk in a set, they considered how to maintain the sitting posture corrected by the chair 1. As a result of the consideration, it was found that the corrected sitting posture collapses when the user looks down too much when looking at books placed on the top plate of the desk or when using electronic devices or operating devices. Examples of the books include books, textbooks, notebooks, etc. An example of the electronic device is a tablet terminal, and examples of the operating devices are a keyboard and a mouse used with a personal computer. In order to suppress excessive downward gaze during sitting, one improvement measure is to bring the top plate of the desk closer to the eyes of the user 10. Bringing the top plate closer to the eyes of the user means increasing the height of the top plate, but it is meaningless to increase the height arbitrarily as it will reduce the usability and functionality of the desk.

[0019] Therefore, the present inventors verified by increasing or decreasing the height H1 of the top plate 51 regarding the height that causes less collapse of the sitting posture corrected by the chair 1 and has good usability. As a result, in the posture (hereinafter referred to as "correct sitting posture") in which the user is seated on the chair 1 and the posture is corrected, it was found that the height H1 from the installation surface 20 of the chair 1 or the desk 50 to the upper surface 51c of the opposing end 51a has less posture collapse when it is above at least the lower part 62a of the thoracic vertebra 62 of the user 10, the twelfth thoracic vertebra (virtual line X). As shown in FIG. 5, the spinal column 60 of the human body includes the cervical vertebra 61, thoracic vertebra 62, lumbar vertebra 63, sacrum 64, and coccyx 65. The spinal column 60 forms an S-shaped curve as a whole mainly because the cervical vertebra 61 and the lumbar vertebra 63 curve forward (lordosis), and the thoracic vertebra 62 curves backward (kyphosis). And one form of poor posture, hunchback, is one form in which the entire thoracic vertebra uniformly strengthens the backward curve.

[0020] Generally, the appropriate desk height is often determined based on height. When the height of the seat surface is set to 1 / 4 of the height and the height difference from the seat surface to the upper surface of the tabletop (the difference scale) is set to 1 / 6 of the height, the desk height is obtained as the height of the seat surface + the difference scale. Also, it is ideal for the desk height to be 90 degrees when placing the elbows on the desk. However, at the desk height obtained in this way, when sitting on the chair 1 described in this embodiment, the height at which the elbows 15 are placed is low, and in the sitting state, it is easy to assume a forward-leaning posture, and the entire thoracic vertebra is likely to be uniformly bent backward. Also, since there is a distance from the tabletop to the user's eyes, when using the desk for a long time, the sitting posture becomes forward-leaning, and this is also considered to be one of the factors causing poor posture. Therefore, the inventor of the present application focused on the position of the thoracic vertebra 62 when sitting, and as shown in FIG. 1, by making the height H1 of the tabletop 51 higher than the twelfth thoracic vertebra (virtual line X), which is the lower part 62a of the thoracic vertebra 62, it was found that excessive forward lean can be suppressed when placing the elbows 15 on the tabletop 51, and it is possible to suppress the thoracic vertebra itself from being uniformly bent backward. Also, when the entire tabletop 51 is in a horizontal form, the height H1 of the tabletop 51 is the height from the installation surface 20 to the upper surface 51c of the entire tabletop area. More preferably, the height H1 of the tabletop 51 is the height from the installation surface 20 to the upper surface 51c on the opposite end 51a side where the elbows 15 can be placed.

[0021] Next, consider the inclination of the tabletop 51. If only the height H1 of the tabletop 51 is increased, the distance between the tabletop 51 and the user's (sitter's) eyes can be reduced, but if it is made too high, the usability when using the desk 50 will not be good. Therefore, considering usability, as shown in FIG. 6, the height H1 of the tabletop 51 on which the elbows 15 are placed should be at least higher than the lower part 62a (virtual line X), and if the back side of the tabletop 51 where the elbows 15 are placed is made higher, the distance between the upper surface 51c of the tabletop 51 and the eyes can be made closer. Therefore, it is preferable that the desk 50 has an inclined portion 511 in which the opposing end 51a of the top plate 51 on the side facing the vehicle in use (the seated person) 10 and the chair 1 slopes upward from the opposing end 51a side toward the rear end 51b side located on the side opposite to the opposing end. When the entire top plate 51 is inclined, the upper surface 51c of the top plate 51 constitutes the inclined portion 511. That is, the inclined portion 511 is formed by inclining the top plate 51.

[0022] The inclined portion 511 may be configured to be separable from the top plate 51. For example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the central portion 51d of the horizontally installed top plate 51 may be made movable so as to be partially inclined, and installed so as to slope upward from the opposing end 51a side toward the rear end 51b side to form the inclined portion 511.

[0023] By providing such an inclined portion 511 on the top plate 51, it is possible to make the distance between the top plate 51 and the eyes of the user (seated person) 10 closer while keeping the height at which the elbows 15 are placed at an appropriate height. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the downward movement of the line of sight of the user (seated person) 10. This leads to suppressing the collapse of the seated posture corrected while sitting on the chair 1 and maintaining the seated posture.

[0024] Figs. 9 and 10 show another embodiment of the desk. The desk 50A shown in Figs. 9 and 10 has a space 55 below the top plate 51 capable of accommodating the chair 1. The desk 50A has, within this space 55, a holding portion 70 that engages with a part of the chair 1 when the chair 1 is stored in the space 55 and holds the chair 1 in a state of floating from the installation surface 20. The holding portions 70 project into the space 55 from the inner surfaces 52a and 53a of the side plates 52 and 53, respectively. Each holding portion 70 is provided such that the legs 4 and 5 of the chair 1 can be placed thereon when the chair 1 is stored in the space 55. Each holding portion 70 may be a member continuously extending from the opposing end 51a side toward the rear end 51b side, or may have a strip shape arranged at intervals from the opposing end 51a side toward the rear end 51b side. The holding portion 70 may be one in which a plurality of rotating bodies such as rollers are arranged on the side plates 52 and 53 from the opposing end 51a side toward the rear end 51b side. In short, as long as the chair 1 can be held in a floating state from the installation surface 20 when the chair 1 is stored within the space 55, that is, below the desk 50, the shape, material, and number thereof are not limited. The part of the chair 1 supported by the holding portion 70 is not limited to the legs 4 and 5. For example, the position of the protrusion 70 may be changed so that it can contact the intermediate portions 6 and 6 from below and hold them.

[0025] By providing the space 55 for storing the chair 1 and the holding portion 70 that floats and holds the chair 1 from the installation surface 20 during storage in the desk 50A, as shown in Fig. 10, the chair 1 does not get in the way when cleaning the installation surface 20, and the cleaning work can be carried out efficiently. This is particularly effective when cleaning a room in which a plurality of learning units 100 are installed.

[0026] In the above-described embodiment, the learning unit 100 has been described as an example in which one chair 1 and one desk 50 or desk 50A are taken as a set. However, the combination of the chair 1 and the desk is not limited to this. For example, for a desk having a top plate extending in the longitudinal direction, a learning unit may be configured by combining a plurality of chairs 1. Further, when desks are arranged adjacent to each other, side plates of adjacent desks may be shared and used, and one desk having top plates 51 respectively arranged between the side plates may be provided, and a learning unit having a configuration in which one chair is arranged for each top plate may also be used. Of course, even in the case of desks in these forms, by setting the height H1 of the top plate above the lower part 62a of the thoracic vertebra 62, the same operational effects as those of the described embodiment can be obtained.

[0027] In the above-described embodiment, the inclined portion 511 is formed using the top plate 51, but it may be an inclined portion independent of the top plate 51. For example, an inclined table having an inclined portion that slopes upward from the end facing the chair 1 toward the rear end located on the side opposite to the facing end may be set as an option of the learning unit 100, and it may be configured such that the table can be placed on a table having a horizontal top plate and the table has an inclined portion.

Explanation of Signs

[0028] 1 Chair 3 Seat portion 3A Rear portion of seat 3B Front portion of seat 3C Seat surface 10 User (seated person) 11 Shin 20 Installation surface 50, 50A Desk 51 Top plate 51a Opposite end 51b Rear end 511 Inclined portion 55 Space 62 Thoracic vertebra 62a Lower part 70 Holding portion H1 Height of top plate θ Predetermined inclination angle L3 Length of user's shin L4 Height of seat portion

Claims

Claim 1 A learning unit comprising a chair having an inclined seat portion and a desk having a top plate arranged opposite to the chair, wherein the seat portion is inclined downward toward the desk side such that the seating surface on which the user of the chair sits is within a predetermined inclination angle range, and the height from the installation surface on which the chair is installed to the front end of the seating surface is set higher than the length of the user's shin, the top plate has a height such that when the user sits on the chair, at least the opposite end on the side facing the user is positioned above the lower part of the user's thoracic vertebra in the user's sitting posture. A learning unit. Claim 2 The learning unit according to claim 1, wherein the desk has an inclined portion that slopes upward from at least the opposite end side toward the back end side located on the side opposite to the opposite end. Claim 3 The learning unit according to claim 2, wherein the inclined portion is formed by inclining the top plate. Claim 4 The learning unit according to claim 2, wherein the inclined portion is configured to be separable from the top plate. Claim 5 The desk has a space capable of accommodating the chair below the top plate, The learning unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the space has a holding portion that engages with a part of the chair to hold the chair in a state of floating from the installation surface when the chair is stored in the space.

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