Exercise Chair Seat Mechanism With Passive Lateral Return
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing exercise chairs that simulate horseback riding through motion linkage between lower limbs and trunk are costly and inconvenient, limiting their accessibility and effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A chair design featuring a movable seat supported by rails that allow lateral movement, biased by elastic members to return to a neutral position, enabling effective exercise of both lower limbs and trunk muscles while preventing head and arm shaking through a stabilizing backrest.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an actuator is used to drive the seat for exercise simulation, then the exercise effectiveness is improved, but the cost and complexity of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The chair enables the user to perform exercise autonomously through their own body movements. The user's leg and trunk movements naturally drive the seat to swing, eliminating the need for external actuators. The biasing member automatically restores the seat to neutral position, creating a self-regulating exercise system that reduces mechanical complexity while maintaining exercise effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the actuator-based mechanical driving system with a passive mechanical system utilizing gravity and elastic biasing. The supporting part's inclined structure converts the user's body movements into seat swinging motion, substituting active mechanical actuation with passive mechanical energy conversion, thereby reducing device complexity.
2Reliability
If an actuator is used to drive the seat, then the exercise simulation capability is improved, but the convenience and accessibility of the chair deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The chair requires no external power source or control systems. Users simply need to perform natural body movements to activate the exercise function, making the chair accessible to anyone regardless of technical knowledge or physical strength variations. The biasing member automatically manages the seat position, eliminating the need for users to manually control complex mechanisms.
3Reliability
If the movable part is supported to descend when away from neutral position, then the exercise effectiveness is improved through motion linkage, but the stability of the chair deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The biasing member acts as a counterweight mechanism that provides restoring force to balance the descending movable part. When the seat moves away from neutral position and descends, the biasing member stores potential energy and generates an opposing force that automatically returns the seat to its original position, maintaining overall system stability while enabling the desired exercise motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The chair creates a periodic oscillating motion where the seat alternately descends and returns to neutral position. This periodic action, driven by the user's rhythmic exercise movements and the biasing member's restoring force, provides effective exercise stimulation while maintaining stable operation through predictable, repeating motion cycles.
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 provides a low-cost, convenient, and effective exercise solution that strengthens trunk muscles, reduces waist size, improves posture, and increases flexibility, while maintaining user comfort and preventing distractions from head and arm movement.
Implementation Method 1
a biasing member configured to bias the movable part toward a neutral position in the right and the left
Implementation Method 2
the supporting part supports the movable part in such a way that the movable part descends as the movable part is away from the neutral position
Data Source
AI summary
A chair includes a movable part including a seat on which a user sits, a supporting part configured to support the movable part in such a way that the movable part can be moved to the right and to the left; and a restoration unit, which is a biasing member configured to bias the movable part toward the neutral position in the right and the left. The supporting part supports the movable part in such a way that the movable part descends as the movable part is away from the neutral position.