Ergonomic Exercise Chair With Flexible Back Support and Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Sedentary lifestyles, particularly in office settings, lead to health issues such as obesity, back problems, and poor posture due to prolonged sitting without adequate exercise opportunities, as conventional chairs do not integrate exercise features or adapt to user posture.
Innovation Solution
Designing chairs with a flexible back support that adjusts to the user's spine curvature, incorporating exercise mechanisms like foot restraints and adjustable resistance systems, and ergonomic features like sloped seats and handles to promote proper posture and exercise during work hours.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional chairs are used for prolonged sitting, then seating support is provided, but health issues such as obesity, back problems, and poor posture occur due to lack of exercise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines seating support and exercise functions into a single chair system. The chair includes exercise mechanisms such as resistance members, foot restraints, and back support systems that enable users to perform exercises while seated, thereby addressing health concerns without reducing work duration.
Solution Approach 2:
The chair is designed to perform multiple functions: providing ergonomic seating support, enabling upper body exercises through resistance mechanisms, supporting lower body exercises via foot restraints, and promoting proper posture through adjustable back support. This multi-functionality allows the chair to address various health issues simultaneously.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a flexible back support is added to enable exercise, then exercise functionality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The chair is divided into functional modules: a seating portion, a back support portion with independent flexibility, resistance members for upper body exercise, and foot restraints for lower body exercise. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system manageability.
Solution Approach 2:
The back support is designed to be flexible and adaptable, capable of moving from a rigid support position to a flexible exercise position. This dynamic characteristic allows the back support to accommodate both seating and exercise functions without requiring completely separate structures.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If exercise mechanisms are integrated into the chair, then health benefits are improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional controls
Solution Approach 1:
The exercise mechanisms are designed to be passively operated by the user's own body movements. The resistance members engage automatically when the user moves, and the foot restraints provide resistance during leg exercises without requiring separate control inputs. This maintains ease of operation while delivering health benefits.
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 encourages users to maintain fitness and health by allowing exercise without a gym membership, reducing health issues and increasing productivity, while adapting to different postures and providing resistance for muscle strengthening.
Implementation Method 1
The flexibility of the back support may be provided by a flexible chair spine that adapts to the curvature of the user's spine. The flexible chair spine may bend and flex in response to a force from the user
Data Source
AI summary
A chair for providing seating support to a user and for providing ways for the user to perform exercises. The chair includes a back support that is flexible such that when a force is applied to it by the user's body, the back support bends. The back support may be configured to adapt to the curvature of the user's spine when the user is seated in the chair. The back support may further be configured such that the user can rotate the back support by rotating the user's upper body.