Adjustable Chair Frame with Flexible Surfaces to Reduce Point Loading
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ergonomic chairs do not evenly distribute body weight, leading to point loading on specific body parts such as the spine and neck, causing discomfort and potentially chronic conditions.
Innovation Solution
A chair with a structural frame that can adjust to conform to an occupant's shape and weight, featuring flexible seating surfaces, a support assembly, and mechanisms like mechanized ring rotation and inflatable bladders to reduce point loading and allow for recumbent positions, along with adjustable components like a rotating headrest and footrest.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If ergonomic chairs are designed to provide support for the lower back and promote good posture, then posture support is improved, but body weight distribution remains uneven causing point loading on specific body parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible seating surfaces and backrests that can deform and conform to the occupant's body shape. This flexibility allows the chair to adapt to individual body contours, distributing weight more evenly across the contact surfaces rather than concentrating pressure on specific points, thereby resolving the contradiction between providing posture support and avoiding point loading
Solution Approach 2:
The chair design incorporates adjustable parameters including seat angle, backrest angle, and lumbar support positioning. These adjustable parameters enable the chair to be customized for different body types and preferences, allowing optimization of both posture support and weight distribution to eliminate point loading while maintaining ergonomic benefits
2Strength
If typical chairs are configured to support the spine, then spinal support is provided, but they contort the occupant into positions that put pressure on the spine causing discomfort and chronic conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustment capabilities that allow the chair to adapt to the occupant's movements and posture changes in real-time. The chair can dynamically adjust support forces and positioning to maintain proper spinal alignment without creating excessive pressure points, transforming the static spinal support into an adaptive system that prevents discomfort and chronic conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The chair is divided into multiple independently adjustable segments including seat sections, backrest sections, and lumbar support elements. This segmentation allows each portion to be optimized independently for both spinal support and pressure distribution, enabling the chair to provide targeted support where needed while maintaining comfort across the entire contact surface
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The chair effectively reduces physiological stresses and compressions on the body by distributing weight evenly, providing customized support and comfort, thereby minimizing discomfort and the risk of chronic conditions.
Implementation Method 1
A chair can include a seating surface or combination of seating surfaces capable of flexing or otherwise deforming to conform to a weight and shape of an occupants body
Implementation Method 2
The chair can also include one or a plurality of bladders
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable chair frame with a back and seating surfaces that flex to conform to the shape, weight and movement of an occupant is disclosed. The chair form and proportions provide for a recumbent position that disperses the weight of the occupant more evenly, thereby reducing external and internal physiological point loading. The form also provides ergonomic articulation to minimize internal physiological stresses such as neck/back vertebral compression. Eccentric connections driven by a motor assembly allow positioning adjustment of the components of the chair. Additionally, an air pump assembly may be included to automatically adjust one or more air bladders provided on the interior of the chair frame.