How to detect good or bad posture

Abstract

To enable a user to detect whether his or her own posture is good or bad by using a chair for pacifying an infant to sleep without causing the infant discomfort because the infant remains hugged.SOLUTION: A chair regulates movements of a seat part in a vertical direction along a prescribed axial direction where a hollow tube shape (a spring 10 and a guide member 12) of a moving direction regulation member 32. Therefore, when a moving direction of a user's center of gravity does not match the prescribed axial direction, the guide member interferes with an inside of the hollow tube shape of the moving direction regulation member 32 and hinders contraction and restoration of the spring, so that the seat part does not smoothly move in the vertical direction. On the contrary, when a moving direction of the user's center of gravity matches the prescribed axial direction, the guide member does not interfere with the inside of the hollow tube shape of the moving direction regulation member, and the seat part moves smoothly vertically.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] To provide a chair technology that can be used when soothing or putting to sleep an infant (child) and that can make the user aware of whether their posture is good or bad. [Background technology]

[0002] It has been proven through experience that infants tend to calm down and fall asleep more easily when they are rocked up and down and side to side. To give a concrete example, infants fall asleep quickly when they are gently rocked by an adult or when they are rocked in a child seat in a moving car due to the vibrations of the car. On the other hand, it is very time-consuming for an adult to always have to hold an infant or to have to get in a car every time the baby is soothed or put to sleep.

[0003] In recent years, therefore, technologies such as automatic rocking cradles have been proposed to reduce the effort required to calm and put infants to sleep (Patent Documents 1, 2, etc.). With these technologies, an infant is laid down on a device, and the device's functions are used to mechanically rock the infant to soothe and put the infant to sleep. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-97747 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-275071 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the above technology, since the baby is placed on top of the device, the areas that the baby comes into contact with may be hard or cold, making the baby feel uncomfortable, and this causes problems such as the baby having difficulty settling down or falling asleep.

[0006] Furthermore, in the above technology, the device rocks the baby in a regular and mechanical manner, which causes an unnatural sensation to the baby, making it difficult for the baby to settle down or fall asleep. Furthermore, the above-mentioned technology has a problem in that it does not take into consideration the viewpoint of allowing the user to sense whether his / her own posture is good or bad.

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a posture detection method that allows a user to detect whether their own posture is good or bad, using a chair for comforting and laying an infant, without causing the user any discomfort as the user is still being held by someone. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One embodiment of the disclosed posture detection method includes a seat portion that is in contact with a person's buttocks, a ground contact portion that is in contact with a floor, and an intermediate portion that connects the seat portion and the ground contact portion and includes a plurality of elastic members that expand and contract in the vertical direction and have different lengths, and the seat portion can be swung in the vertical direction by causing the intermediate portion to expand and contract in response to the movement of the center of gravity of the person with the buttocks on the seat portion, and the intermediate portion can change the number of the elastic members that apply elasticity to the seat portion to detect the vertical movement of the seat portion. the plurality of elastic members are arranged so that within the movable range, there are one section and another section in which the magnitude of elastic force applied to the seat portion is different, the intermediate section has two of the elastic members, and the two elastic members are arranged so that in a predetermined section from the uppermost position to a position where the seat portion sinks to a predetermined depth, only one of the elastic members applies elastic force to the seat portion, and in a section where the seat portion sinks to a depth equal to or greater than the predetermined depth, both the one elastic member and the other elastic member apply elastic force to the seat portion, the elastic members being spring members, In a plane perpendicular to the direction of expansion and contraction of the spring member The spring members having different diameters are stretched in the direction of expansion and contraction of the spring members. In perpendicular planes The center of the intermediate portion is aligned with the center of the seat portion, and the intermediate portion is for restricting the movement of the seat portion in the vertical direction. The intermediate portion is connected to the seat portion and displaces in the vertical direction together with the seat portion, and the direction of expansion and contraction of the spring member is In the plane perpendicular to center position Align with the spring member A method for detecting good or bad posture using a chair having a rod-shaped guide member arranged thereon, characterized in that when the middle part is made to expand and contract in response to the movement of the center of gravity of a person with his or her buttocks resting on the seat, the closer the axial direction formed by the person's head, back and buttocks is to the up-down direction regulated by the guide member, the smoother the expansion and contraction motion becomes, thereby allowing the person to detect whether his or her own posture is good or bad. Effect of the Invention

[0009] The disclosed posture detection method allows a user to detect whether their own posture is good or bad using a chair for comforting and laying down an infant without feeling uncomfortable because the user is still being held by someone. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a front view (first state) of a chair according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a front view (second state) of the chair according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a perspective view (first state) of a chair according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the chair according to the present embodiment (second state). [Diagram 5] 1 is a front view (first state) of a chair with a seat portion removed according to the present embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a front view (second state) of the chair with the seat portion removed in accordance with the present embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a cross-sectional view (first state) of a chair with a seat portion removed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] 4 is a cross-sectional view (second state) of the chair with the seat portion removed in accordance with the present embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. (Structure of the chair according to this embodiment)

[0012] The structure of a chair 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 8. Figures 1 to 4 are diagrams for explaining the external appearance of chair 1, and Figures 5 to 8 are diagrams for explaining the internal structure of chair 1 with seat 2 removed.

[0013] Chair 1 is a device in which person 20, holding infant 18, sits and rocks the body up and down while holding infant 18, so that infant 18 can be soothed and encouraged to fall asleep. Since infant 18 is rocked up and down while being held by person 20, infant 18 is soothed and encouraged to fall asleep while being rocked while feeling the warmth of human skin. Meanwhile, person 20 who wants to soothe infant 18 or put it to sleep can rock infant 18 up and down while sitting on chair 1, not while standing, so that physical burden is small. Note that person 20 may simply be a person sitting on chair 1 (a person using chair 1) without holding infant 18.

[0014] 1 to 8, chair 1 has a seat 2, a ground contact portion 4, and an intermediate portion 6. Seat 2 is the portion that comes into contact with buttocks 22 of person 20 (particularly, a person holding an infant 18) when person 20 sits on it. Seat 2 is also called the seat surface. Furthermore, seat 2 sways up and down as person 20 sways their body up and down and left and right to shift their center of gravity. The ground contact portion 4 is a portion that comes into contact with a floor or the ground 24 when the chair 1 is placed on the floor or the ground 24. The ground contact portion 4 is also called the leg (foot) of the chair 1.

[0015] The intermediate portion 6 is a portion that connects the seat portion 2 and the ground contact portion 4. The intermediate portion 6 has an elastic member 8, a guide member 12, a cover 30 for the guide member 12, and a movement direction restricting member 32.

[0016] A plurality of elastic members 8 are provided, each of which has a function of expanding and contracting in the vertical direction, and each of the elastic members 8 has a different length. As shown in Figs. 5 to 8, the elastic members 8 are, for example, helical springs 10.

[0017] 5 to 8, the elastic members 8 are arranged to support the seat 2 from below and apply an upward elastic force to the seat 2. Since the lengths of the elastic members 8 are different, in a first section 14 from the uppermost position to a position where the seat 2 sinks to a predetermined depth, only the elastic member 8 with the longer length applies an elastic force to the seat 2, and in a second section 16 where the seat 2 sinks to a predetermined depth or more, the elastic members 2 are arranged so that a plurality of elastic members 8 of different lengths apply an elastic force to the seat 2.

[0018] In other words, the number of elastic members 8 that provide elasticity to the seat 2 from below differs between the first section 14 and the second section 16. With this configuration, the seat 2 provides a relatively weak repulsive force to the person 20 when the person first sinks down, and after the person sinks down to a certain level, the seat 2 provides a relatively strong repulsive force to the person 20, resulting in a unique sensation (a floating sensation) to the person 20. This unique sensation (a floating sensation) is suitable for soothing and lulling an infant 18 to sleep.

[0019] 5 to 8, the elastic member 8 is composed of two helical springs 10 with different diameters, and in the first section 14, only the relatively long spring 10 arranged on the inside applies elastic force to the seat 2, while in the second section 16, in addition to the spring 10 arranged on the inside, the relatively short spring 10 arranged on the outside also applies elastic force to the seat 2. Note that in Figs. 5 to 8, the two springs 10 are arranged with their centers aligned in the direction of expansion and contraction of the springs 10 in order to stabilize the direction and magnitude of the force that the springs 10 apply to the seat 2.

[0020] 5 to 8, the guide member 12 is a rod-shaped member connected to the seat 2, and is provided to regulate the movement of the seat 2 in the up-down direction. The guide member 12 can also be considered as a member that regulates the expansion and contraction of the elastic member 8 so that it is limited to the up-down direction. The guide member 12 is preferably arranged in alignment with the arrangement of the spring members 10, at the center position of the spring members 10 in the expansion and contraction direction.

[0021] 7 and 8, the movement direction restricting member 32 is a hollow tubular member (the shape of the hollow part may be a prism or a cylinder) fixedly disposed around the guide member 12 and perpendicular to the ground surface 24 of the chair 1. The cross-sectional area of ​​the hollow part of the movement direction restricting member 32 is approximately the same as that of the guide member 12. The guide member 12 moves in the vertical direction inside the movement direction restricting member 32 along the hollow tubular shape of the movement direction restricting member 32.

[0022] The movement direction regulating member 32 is a member for regulating the movement direction of the guide member 12 in the vertical direction. If the movement direction of the guide member 12 deviates from the direction regulated by the movement direction regulating member 32, a frictional force is generated between the guide member 12 and the movement direction regulating member 32, and this frictional force slows down the movement of the guide member 12.

[0023] 7 and 8, the guide cover 30 is a member for covering the guide member 12 that is displaced from the upper position to the lower position together with the seat 2 when the seat 2 moves from the upper position to the lower position, and is formed in a shape that protrudes downward near the center of the intermediate portion 6. The guide cover 30 has the purpose of preventing injury to the person 20 by the guide member 12 in the lower position, etc. Next, the principle of operation of the seat 2 to rock up and down will be described. When a person 20 moves his / her center of gravity while sitting on the chair 1, the seat 2 moves to a lower position or an upper position and rocks up and down.

[0024] Such rocking motion of the seat 2 is caused by the middle part 6 (particularly, the elastic member 8) contracting and returning to its original shape based on the movement of the center of gravity of the person 20. At this time, the elastic force with which the middle part 6 (particularly, the elastic member 8) contracts and returns to its original shape can be appropriately adjusted according to the weight of the baby 18 and the person 20, and the rocking range preferred by the baby 18. (Method of using the chair according to this embodiment) A method of using the chair 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0025] A person 20 who wants to soothe or put to sleep an infant 18 sits down on the seat 2 of the chair 1 while still holding the infant 8. At this time, the seat 2 may sink slightly, but will remain stable at a specified position (height). This stable position may be considered the uppermost position in the first section 14.

[0026] Next, while remaining seated on the seat 2, the person 20 shifts his or her own center of gravity, causing the middle section 6 to expand and contract, which in turn causes the seat 2 to swing up and down. At this time, the magnitude of the swing width of the seat 2 (middle section 6) can be appropriately adjusted depending on how the person 20 moves their body (the amount of movement of the center of gravity). The person 20 continues to rock their body up and down until the baby 18 being held calms down or falls asleep, at which point the up and down movement stops.

[0027] By using the chair 1 in this way to soothe and put the baby 18 to sleep, the baby 18 can be calmed down and encouraged to fall asleep without feeling uncomfortable, and the physical burden on the person 20 performing these actions can be reduced.

[0028] Furthermore, chair 1 allows the user to self-check whether his / her posture is good or bad, and can also be used to have the user perform exercises that encourage posture correction. The user sits on seat 2 by himself / herself, and moves seat 2 up and down by shifting the user's center of gravity.

[0029] At this time, the chair 1 restricts the movement of the seat 2 in the up-down direction along a predetermined axial direction formed by the hollow tubular shape (spring 10 and guide member 12) of the movement direction restricting member 32. Therefore, if the direction of movement of the user's center of gravity does not match this predetermined axial direction, the guide member 12 interferes with the inside of the hollow tubular shape of the movement direction restricting member 32, preventing the spring 10 from contracting or restoring, and the seat 2 does not move smoothly in the up-down direction. Conversely, if the direction of movement of the user's center of gravity matches the above-mentioned predetermined axial direction, the guide member 12 does not interfere with the inside of the hollow tubular shape of the movement direction restricting member 32, and the seat 2 moves smoothly up and down.

[0030] Whether the direction of movement of the user's center of gravity coincides with the above-mentioned predetermined axial direction depends on whether the axial direction formed by the user's head, back, and buttocks coincides with the above-mentioned predetermined axial direction, that is, whether the user has straightened his or her back (has good posture). By utilizing this phenomenon, the user can self-check whether his or her posture is good or bad, and by having the user search for a posture in which the seat 2 moves up and down smoothly, it is possible to have the user perform an exercise that promotes posture correction.

[0031] When the user's posture is very bad (especially when the seat 2 is pushed in), the friction between the guide member 12 and the movement direction restricting member 32 stops the up and down movement of the seat 2, which is particularly useful in preventing falls for elderly users and also makes it easier for elderly people to use the chair. Also, while a spherical balance ball can be depressed and restored in all directions, the movement of the seat 2 of chair 1 is limited to the direction perpendicular to the contact surface 24, which also makes it easier for elderly people to use the chair.

[0032] Furthermore, since the chair 1 is provided with spring members 10 of different lengths, there is an area where only one spring member 10 acts (there is a play area of ​​the spring), so that the movement of the seat 2 can be accelerated when the user begins to sit down, and the direction of movement can be confirmed (explored). (Summary) The chair 1 is rocked while giving the baby 18 the feeling of security of being held by the person 20 and the warmth of human skin, thereby calming the baby 18 and encouraging the baby 18 to fall asleep comfortably.

[0033] The chair 1 allows a person 20 who is soothing or putting an infant 18 to sleep to sit down and soothe or put the infant 18 to sleep, thereby reducing the physical burden on the person 20.

[0034] The chair 1 allows the user to perform a self-check to see if his / her posture is good or bad, and can also be used to have the user perform exercises that encourage posture correction.

[0035] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiment, and various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1 Chair 2 Seat part 4 Grounding part 6. Middle Section 8 Elastic member 10 Spring member 12 Guide member 14 First Section 16 Second Section 18 Infants (children) 20 People holding infants 22 Buttocks 24 Floors and ground 26 Seat in upper position (first position) 28 Seat in lower position (second position) 30 Guide member cover 32 Movement direction control member

Claims

1. The seat has a seat portion which is a portion that comes into contact with a person's buttocks, a ground contact portion which is a portion that comes into contact with the floor, and an intermediate portion which is a portion that connects the seat portion and the ground contact portion and has a plurality of elastic members which expand and contract in the vertical direction and have different lengths, and the seat can be swung in the vertical direction by causing the intermediate portion to expand and contract in response to the movement of the center of gravity of the person with the buttocks on the seat portion, and the intermediate portion arranges the plurality of elastic members so that, by changing the number of the elastic members which apply elasticity to the seat portion, one section and another section are formed so that the magnitude of elasticity applied to the seat portion differs within the vertical range of motion of the seat portion, and the intermediate portion has two of the elastic members, and in a predetermined section from the uppermost position to a position where the seat portion sinks a predetermined depth, a method for detecting good or bad posture when using a chair, the method comprising: arranging the two elastic members so that only one of the elastic members applies elastic force to the seat portion, and in a section where the seat portion sinks to the predetermined depth or more, the one elastic member and the other elastic member apply elastic force to the seat portion; the elastic members are spring members, the spring members having different diameters in a plane perpendicular to the direction of extension and contraction of the spring members are arranged with their centers aligned in the plane perpendicular to the direction of extension and contraction of the spring members, the intermediate portion is for restricting the movement of the seat portion in the up-down direction, the method having a rod-shaped guide member that is connected to the seat portion, displaces in the up-down direction together with the seat portion, and is arranged with its center position aligned with that of the spring member in the plane perpendicular to the direction of extension and contraction of the spring members, This posture detection method is characterized in that when the intermediate part is made to expand and contract in response to the movement of the center of gravity of a person with his or her buttocks resting on the seat, the closer the axial direction formed by the person's head, back and buttocks becomes to the up-down direction regulated by the guide member, the smoother the expansion and contraction movement becomes, thereby allowing the person to detect whether their own posture is good or bad.

2. The intermediate portion has a movement direction regulating member which is a hollow tube-shaped member arranged around the guide member and perpendicular to the ground surface of the chair, and when the guide member moves in the up-down direction inside the movement direction regulating member, The posture detection method described in claim 1, characterized in that the more the axial direction formed by the person's head, back, and buttocks differs from the up-down direction regulated by the guide member, the greater the friction between the guide member and the movement direction regulating member, and the slower the movement of the guide member becomes.

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