Office Chair Support Element With Adjustable Tilt Restoring Force
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional office chairs lack dynamic and ergonomic features, leading to muscle degeneration and back pain, especially for individuals who spend long hours seated, as they often only allow height adjustment and limited movement, making it difficult to maintain a healthy posture and requiring complex and expensive retrofitting solutions.
Innovation Solution
A supporting element for office chairs featuring a resilient element that allows the base to tilt and return, with adjustable restoring forces, utilizing a gimbal mount and replaceable rubber buffers to facilitate ergonomic movement and personalized settings, enabling easy retrofitting and cost-effective production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional office chairs with basic height adjustment are used, then manufacturing cost and device complexity are low, but ergonomic performance and dynamic seating capability are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting element is divided into modular components: a resilient element (rubber buffer), stoppers for force adjustment, and mounting brackets. This segmentation allows the system to achieve complex ergonomic functionality through simple, separately manufacturable parts, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and ergonomic performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustment capabilities through adjustable stoppers that modify the restoring force of the resilient element, and through the gimbal mount that enables multi-directional motion. This allows the chair to adapt to different users and preferences while maintaining a simple overall structure, addressing the contradiction between device complexity and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If sophisticated mechanical systems with multiple degrees of freedom are implemented, then ergonomic performance and dynamic seating are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential ergonomic functions needed for dynamic seating: a resilient element for motion, stoppers for force control, and a gimbal mount for multi-directional capability. By taking out only these critical components rather than implementing a complete sophisticated mechanical system, the solution achieves dynamic seating capability while keeping device complexity low.
Solution Approach 2:
The adjustable stoppers enable parameter changes in the restoring force of the resilient element, allowing the same simple mechanical structure to provide varying levels of support and resistance. This parameter adjustability delivers sophisticated ergonomic performance without requiring complex mechanical systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If existing office chairs are retrofitted with complex ergonomic systems, then ergonomic performance is improved, but ease of installation and retrofitting practicality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting element is designed with universal mounting brackets that can be attached to various existing office chair structures. The resilient element and stoppers form a self-contained assembly that provides multiple ergonomic functions (motion, force adjustment, multi-directional capability) through a single retrofittable component, making installation practical and easy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs simple, inexpensive components like rubber buffers and basic mechanical stoppers that can be easily replaced if needed. This approach makes retrofitting practical because the components are affordable and simple to install or replace, resolving the contradiction between ergonomic functionality and retrofitting practicality.
4Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable restoring force mechanisms are added, then personalized ergonomic settings are enabled, but device complexity and adjustment time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable stoppers are designed to be easily manipulated by the user without requiring tools or complex procedures. Users can directly adjust the stopper position to modify the restoring force according to their preferences, enabling personalized settings while keeping the adjustment mechanism simple and intuitive.
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 solution provides dynamic and ergonomic seating with adjustable restoring forces, enhancing user comfort and reducing back strain by allowing multiple degrees of motion while being simple to retrofit and cost-effective to implement.
Implementation Method 1
the base is now supported free to be tilted and returned at the jointing element by means of a resilient element
Implementation Method 2
The resilient element features preferably at least one rubber buffer
Data Source
AI summary
An office chair has a seating element with an upright tubular element (3) and a base, the seating element being connected to the base by means of the support element (1) so as to be swiveled and reset. Rubber buffers (19, 24) are provided between a connecting element (2) of the base, ring discs (11) and (17) and a tubular element (8) extending from the seating element downward and allow an oscillating movement of the seating element. The rubber buffers at least partially enclose the connecting element (2), thereby retaining the same. A pneumatic spring (4) allows to adjust the height of the seat. A thumb screw (16) allows to adjust the restoring force by compressing the rubber buffers (19, 24) to a greater or lesser extent.