Fidgeting Seating with Compressible Elastic Member for Controlled Tilt
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dynamic seating arrangements, such as exercise balls, are not conducive to office or educational environments due to their distracting and unconventional shape, and they do not provide an aesthetically suitable or manageable seating option for these settings.
Innovation Solution
A seating arrangement with a seat assembly, leg assembly, and a compressible elastic member that allows limited tilting motion in response to user weight shifts, maintaining a stable form suitable for office or educational environments while accommodating fidgeting movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a dynamic seating arrangement like an exercise ball is used, then postural adjustment and movement are promoted, but the shape is unconventional and distracting for office or educational environments
Solution Approach 1:
The seating arrangement is divided into distinct components: a conventional chair base and a separate movable top portion. This segmentation allows the base to maintain a conventional, non-distracting appearance while the top portion provides dynamic movement capabilities through tilting and rotation mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The top portion of the seat is designed to be dynamically movable, allowing tilting forward, backward, and side-to-side, as well as rotation. This dynamic capability enables postural adjustment and movement promotion while the overall structure maintains a conventional chair appearance suitable for office environments.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a dynamic seating arrangement like an exercise ball is used, then movement freedom is increased, but the device becomes more difficult to manage in office environments
Solution Approach 1:
The top portion is designed with controlled dynamic movement capabilities, allowing tilting and rotation within defined ranges. This provides movement freedom for postural adjustment while maintaining manageability through controlled motion rather than complete freedom of movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The movement parameters of the top portion are carefully controlled through mechanical constraints and damping mechanisms. This allows sufficient movement freedom for comfort and posture adjustment while preventing excessive or unmanageable movements that would complicate operation in office settings.
3Shape
If a conventional chair is used, then aesthetic suitability for office environments is maintained, but postural adjustment and dynamic seating benefits are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the chair into a conventional base and a dynamic top portion, the invention maintains the aesthetic suitability of a conventional chair while adding postural adjustment capabilities to the movable top section.
Solution Approach 2:
The top portion incorporates dynamic movement mechanisms that enable forward, backward, and side-to-side tilting as well as rotation, providing comprehensive postural adjustment capability while the overall chair maintains a conventional appearance.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the top portion allows extensive tilting motion, then fidgeting and postural adjustment are accommodated, but stability and conventional functionality are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The top portion is designed with controlled dynamic movement that allows tilting and rotation for fidgeting and postural adjustment, while mechanical constraints and damping mechanisms maintain sufficient stability for conventional seating functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The movement parameters of the top portion are optimized to allow sufficient tilting and rotation for accommodating fidgeting behavior while maintaining stability within acceptable ranges for conventional office chair functionality.
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 seating arrangement provides a stable and aesthetically suitable solution for office or educational environments by allowing limited tilting motion, accommodating user movements while maintaining a conventional appearance and functionality.
Implementation Method 1
The compressible elastic member is configured to selectively compress, in response to offset weight placed on the seat assembly, causing the seat assembly to axially tilt in substantially any direction
Implementation Method 2
The compressible elastic member is configured to selectively compress, in response to offset weight placed on the seat assembly
Implementation Method 3
The pivoting fastener assembly joins the seat assembly with the leg assembly by passing through respective holes in the bottom plate and the compressible elastic member. The pivoting fastener assembly further allows tilting motion of the top plate with respect to the bottom plate.
Data Source
AI summary
A seating arrangement to be used on a floor includes a support assembly and a seat assembly with a top surface. The support assembly includes a top plate, a bottom plate, a compressible elastic member between the top and bottom plates, and a fastener assembly connecting the top and bottom plates. A diameter of the compressible elastic member is greater than or equal to 40% of a diameter or a length of a diagonal of the top surface of the seat assembly. In response to offset weight placed on the seat assembly, the compressible elastic member selectively compresses causing the seat assembly to axially tilt in substantially any direction such that a plane of the seat assembly tilts downward from a neutral position substantially parallel to the floor, and decompress to the neutral position, in response to the offset weight removed from the seat assembly.