Ball-Shaped Seat Assembly with Biasing Means for Active Sitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional office chairs contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, leading to health issues, while alternatives like exercise balls do not provide stable seating and restrict movement.
Innovation Solution
A chair design featuring a resilient, convex seating surface that rotates about an axis, allowing limited tilt displacement and returning to a neutral alignment with biasing means, combined with castor assemblies for mobility, mimicking the freedom of an exercise ball and stability of a conventional chair.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If an exercise ball is used for seating, then core muscles are strengthened and spine remains mobile, but the ball does not remain in one place and restricts free movement across the floor
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the mobility feature of exercise balls with the stability and controllability of conventional chairs by integrating a ball-shaped seat assembly with a support assembly including castor wheels and biasing means. This merging allows the seat to provide both freedom of movement and stable positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The support assembly acts as an intermediary between the ball-shaped seat and the floor, providing controlled mobility through castor wheels while the biasing means (springs) mediate between the seat and support to enable automatic return to neutral position, thus bridging the gap between freedom of movement and stability.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a conventional office chair is used, then stable seating and free movement across the floor are provided, but the chair promotes sedentary lifestyle with immobile spine
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic elements to the chair design by allowing the ball-shaped seat assembly to rotate about a vertical axis and tilt within limited angular displacement. This dynamic capability encourages spine movement and prevents the immobility associated with conventional fixed chairs, thereby reducing harmful health effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the seating system by replacing the rigid fixed structure of conventional chairs with a ball-shaped seat that has rotational and tilting degrees of freedom. The biasing means with specific spring constants control the range of motion, creating a new parameter regime that promotes health while maintaining stability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the seat assembly is allowed to rotate and tilt freely, then freedom of movement is maximized, but uncontrolled movement may cause instability
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing means (springs) are pre-configured to exert restoring forces that counteract excessive rotation and tilting of the seat assembly. This preliminary anti-action prevents the seat from moving beyond desired limits while still allowing beneficial range of motion, thus maintaining both adaptability and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The biasing means provide continuous feedback forces that urge the seat assembly back toward its neutral alignment position. This feedback mechanism ensures that as the seat rotates or tilts, restoring forces increase to maintain control and stability, preventing uncontrolled movement while preserving adaptability.
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 promotes user mobility and core muscle strengthening while minimizing strain on the lower back, allowing extended sitting with reduced detrimental effects compared to conventional chairs.
Implementation Method 1
the support assembly includes biasing means that serve to urge the seat assembly towards the neutral alignment when the seat assembly is displaced from the neutral alignment
Implementation Method 2
the support assembly is carried on a plurality of castor assemblies whereby it can be displaced across a surface on which it is supported
Data Source
AI summary
A chair comprising a seat assembly and a support assembly is disclosed. The seat assembly has a deflectable body disposed about an axis that provides resilient convex seating surface. The support assembly retains the seat assembly and allows the seat assembly to rotate about its axis and additionally allows the seat assembly to rotate to cause limited tilt displacement of the axis from a neutral alignment. The support assembly includes biasing means that serve to urge the seat assembly towards the neutral alignment when the seat assembly is displaced from the neutral alignment.