Balance Seating with Inflatable Bladder and Tip-Limiting Guard
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seating devices fail to provide a stable yet challenging balance experience, leading to user disengagement and lack of concentration, with previous designs being cumbersome, unstable, or not accommodating a wide range of users.
Innovation Solution
A seating device featuring an inflatable bladder with a spherical dome shape, adjustable post, and a guard to prevent excessive tipping, combined with sensing electronics for feedback and balance monitoring, allowing for continuous rebalancing and cardiovascular benefits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a fixed sitting surface is used, then stability is improved, but user engagement and concentration are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by replacing the fixed sitting surface with a movable seat that can tilt and rotate. The seat is mounted on a post that allows it to move in response to user weight shifts, creating an unstable but controlled environment that requires continuous balancing. This dynamic movement maintains user engagement while preventing complete instability through controlled range of motion.
2Productivity
If a ball seat is used, then user engagement is improved, but the device becomes cumbersome and difficult to relocate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the seating device into distinct modular components: a seat portion, a post, a base, and an inflatable bladder. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and facilitates easy assembly, disassembly, and relocation of the entire device, eliminating the cumbersome nature of integrated ball seats.
3Stability of the object's composition
If damping means are added to stabilize the chair, then stability is improved, but the device becomes cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies pneumatics by using an inflatable bladder filled with air or gas to provide stabilization. The bladder can be inflated to the desired firmness to limit the seat's tipping angle while maintaining the balancing challenge. This pneumatic solution replaces complex mechanical damping systems with a simpler, adjustable, and less cumbersome inflatable structure.
4Ease of manufacture
If the tilting means is made fixed and unalterable, then manufacturing is simplified, but adaptability to different users is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by making the inflatable bladder adjustable in terms of inflation pressure and volume. Users can inflate or deflate the bladder to change the stability parameters of the seat, allowing the same device to adapt to different user weights, preferences, and ability levels. This maintains ease of manufacture with a single design while providing versatility through parameter adjustment.
Data Source
AI summary
A seating device is provided. The seating device includes a seat, a post positioned below and attached to the seat, a base positioned below and attached to the post, an inflatable bladder positioned below and attached to the base, sensing electronics configured to sense orientation of the seating device and provide orientation data to a remote computing device, and a guard attached to the base. The guard includes a cylindrical wall centered on a longitudinal axis of the post and extending downward from the base at a position spaced radially outward from the inflatable bladder. The inflatable bladder includes a complete spherical dome wherein when the inflatable bladder is filled, a tangent line to the inflatable bladder intersects the lower edge and forms an angle of greater than or equal to about 75 degrees relative to the post.