Flexible Chair Back and Seat for Dynamic Body-Conforming Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional home and office chairs have inflexible back and seat contours that fail to adjust to the user's movements, leading to discomfort when shifting or turning.
Innovation Solution
The chair features a dynamically-flexible back and seat with arcuate headrest, lumbar, and seat cushion components made from resilient materials that bend in response to compressive forces, allowing them to adjust shape and return to their original form, along with a rotatable lumbar portion around a vertical pivot axis for enhanced comfort and air flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the back and seat of the chair are made with a fixed, rigid structure, then the structural stability is improved, but the adaptability to user movements deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the back and seat components movable rather than fixed. The back includes a backrest that can rotate relative to the seat, and the seat itself can rotate relative to the base. These dynamic elements allow the chair structure to adapt to user movements while maintaining overall stability through the rotational mechanism and friction control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the friction parameter between contacting surfaces to control the rotational movement. By adjusting the friction coefficient, the chair can maintain stability at rest while allowing smooth adaptation to user movements. This parameter change enables the transition between stable and adaptive states.
2Ease of operation
If the back and seat are made with padded cushion material, then the user comfort is improved, but the responsiveness to body shape changes deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses flexible materials for the backrest and seat cushion that can deform and conform to the user's body shape. These flexible elements maintain comfort through cushioning while simultaneously adapting to changes in body position, resolving the contradiction between comfort and responsiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible cushion materials dynamically adjust their shape in response to user movements. The backrest and seat can change their contour to match the user's body, providing both comfort and adaptability simultaneously through the dynamic deformation of the flexible materials.
3Ease of manufacture
If the chair back and seat have a fixed contour, then the manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the ability to conform to user body shape deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic elements such as the rotatable backrest and seat that can change their orientation and shape. These components are manufactured with rotational joints and flexible materials that allow them to adapt to different body shapes while maintaining relatively simple manufacturing processes through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of flexible materials allows the backrest and seat to be manufactured with simple contours that can dynamically conform to various body shapes. The flexibility is achieved through material selection and structural design rather than complex manufacturing, maintaining ease of production while enabling 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 flexible design enhances user comfort by conforming to body movements, reducing pressure points and promoting air flow and heat dissipation, thereby improving seating experience.
Implementation Method 1
a flexible frame or liner which is manufactured from a resilient material having a spring memory
Implementation Method 2
Each of the flexible liners carried by the head rest portion and the lumbar portion of the chair back and by the seat cushion of the chair seat is adapted to bend in response to compressive forces generated by the user shifting his body back or from side-to-side
Implementation Method 3
The lumbar portion of the chair back carries a flexible liner having a spring memory. The lumbar portion is located in opposite facing alignment with the back support of the chair such that a gap is established therebetween. The top of the lumbar portion is attached to the back support by a first (e.g., plastic) tie, and the bottom of the lumbar portion is attached to the back support by a second (e.g., plastic) tie. The first and second ties are connected behind the chair back by staples, or the like. The first and second ties are located one above the other so as to create a vertical pivot axis around which the lumbar portion can rotate as the user shifts his weight against the chair back.
Implementation Method 4
The head rest and lumbar portions have an arcuate (i.e., arched) configuration, such that an air gap is established between each of the head rest and lumbar portions and the opposing back support. The seat of the chair includes a generally horizontal seat support that extends outwardly from the chair back. An arcuate (i.e., arched) seat cushion to support the user's thighs and torso is spaced above and attached to the seat support, such an air gap is established between the seat cushion and the opposing seat support.
Data Source
AI summary
A chair including a dynamically-flexible back and seat having a shape that adjusts to the movements of a user seated in the chair to enhance user comfort. Each of the back and seat has an air gap formed therewithin and a resilient frame or liner with a spring memory. The resilient liner is adapted to flex in response to compressive forces that are generated as the user slides his body back or from side-to-side in the chair. Accordingly, some of the chair back and some of the chair seat move into respective air gaps so that the shapes of the back and seat change to conform to the movements of the user. The air gaps also establish air flow ventilation channels which run laterally through the back and seat of the chair. In one case, a lumbar portion is rotatable back and forth around a vertical pivot axis so as to pivot towards one side of the chair back or the other side.