Furniture system

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional furniture systems, particularly office chairs and desks, fail to promote user health by limiting height adjustment to accommodate varying user needs, leading to ergonomic issues and difficulties in transitioning between sitting and standing, which can result in reduced movement and increased fatigue.

Innovation Solution

A synchronized electrically height-adjustable furniture system comprising a chair and table, controlled by a central unit that maintains an ideal vertical distance between the table top and seat, allowing seamless transitions between sitting and standing positions, with adjustable seat contours and programmable height changes to accommodate user profiles and promote frequent movement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If height adjustment is limited to accommodate varying user needs, then adaptability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to frequent manual adjustments interrupting workflow

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadaptability to varying user needsVSAvoidease of operation
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts furniture height based on detected user posture and activity. The height-adjustable table and chair are controlled by a common control device that responds to user movements, automatically transitioning between sitting and standing positions without manual intervention, thus maintaining adaptability while improving ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system incorporates sensors to detect user posture and activity state, providing feedback to the control device. This feedback mechanism enables automatic height adjustment decisions, allowing the furniture to adapt to varying user needs while eliminating the need for frequent manual adjustments, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Reliability

If synchronous height adjustment of table and chair is implemented, then ergonomics are improved, but device complexity increases due to coordination requirements

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveergonomicsVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The control devices of the height-adjustable table and chair are merged into a common control system. This unified control device coordinates both furniture pieces simultaneously, ensuring ergonomic synchronization while simplifying the overall system architecture by reducing the number of independent control units, thus improving ergonomics without proportionally increasing device complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The common control device serves multiple functions: it controls both the table and chair height adjustments, detects user posture, determines optimal positions, and coordinates synchronous movement. This multi-functionality approach maintains ergonomic reliability while minimizing the increase in device complexity by using a single versatile control unit rather than multiple specialized ones.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If frequent height adjustments are encouraged for health benefits, then user health is improved, but productivity decreases due to interruptions in workflow

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveuser healthVSAvoidproductivity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements periodic height adjustments by detecting user posture changes and automatically transitioning between sitting and standing positions at appropriate intervals. This periodic action promotes user health through movement while being triggered by natural work patterns rather than forced interruptions, thus maintaining productivity while improving health outcomes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

Solution Approach 2:

The furniture system performs self-service by automatically detecting when height adjustment is needed based on user posture and activity, and executing the adjustment without requiring user intervention. This eliminates workflow interruptions caused by manual adjustment decisions, allowing frequent health-beneficial position changes to occur seamlessly during normal work activities, thereby improving user health while maintaining productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3256023B1Furniture system
Publication Date: 2019.08.28 LENZ EBERHARD
  • EP3256023B1 patent drawingFigure 1a~2b
  • EP3256023B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The invention relates to a furniture system, consisting of a height-adjustable chair and a height-adjustable table. According to the invention, the chair and the table can be height-adjusted synchronously by means of a common control device, wherein the height adjustment of the table and the height adjustment of the chair are synchronized with each other in such a way that, at different heights, an ideal distance between the tabletop and the seat surface of the chair is always maintained.