Movable Back and Seat Surfaces for Joint Mobilization During Sitting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prolonged sitting in conventional chairs leads to physical stress, circulatory problems, and increased risk of age-related diseases due to inadequate support and immobilization of joints, resulting in chronic inflammation and health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
Innovation Solution
A seat design featuring a back-supporting surface and seating surface that are independently movable along a path, allowing for adjustments in angle and position to promote spinal mobilization and reduce pressure on the user's back, incorporating mechanisms like rotatable back gliders, adjustable height, and spring biases to facilitate continuous movement and support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the seating surface is fixed and the back-supporting surface is fixed, then the device complexity is low, but the joint mobilization and blood flow enhancement are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making both the seating surface and back-supporting surface movable relative to each other along defined paths. The seating surface can move forward and backward, while the back-supporting surface can move up and down, creating dynamic adjustment capabilities that enable joint mobilization and enhance blood flow without requiring complex control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the seat into independently movable components: the seating surface and the back-supporting surface. This segmentation allows each component to move independently along its own path, providing versatile adaptation for different sitting positions and body types while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure through the use of separate motion mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the back-supporting surface is movable to follow user movement, then the lumbar support consistency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the self-service principle by designing the back-supporting surface to automatically move up and down in response to user movement. As the user moves their torso or changes sitting position, the back-supporting surface follows along a defined path to maintain consistent lumbar contact, eliminating the need for active sensors or motors to detect and adjust support position.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary mechanical linkage or guide mechanism that connects the back-supporting surface to the seat frame, allowing it to move along a predetermined path. This intermediary mechanism translates user movement into appropriate back-support surface displacement, ensuring consistent lumbar support while keeping the control system simple and reliable.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the seating surface and back-supporting surface are independently movable, then the ergonomic adjustment capability is improved, but the ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the adjustment functions of the seating surface and back-supporting surface into a coordinated system. Both surfaces move independently but are designed to work together along complementary paths, allowing the user to achieve multiple ergonomic positions through natural body movements rather than requiring separate controls for each adjustment, thus maintaining operational simplicity while enhancing 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 seat design promotes joint mobilization, enhances blood flow, and reduces the risk of chronic inflammation and related diseases by encouraging continuous movement and muscle engagement, providing consistent lumbar support and ergonomic adjustments during prolonged sitting.
Implementation Method 1
A spring biases the back-supporting surface to move away from the seating surface in the direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the seating surface
Implementation Method 2
The seating surface is biased to move toward the back-supporting surface under the force of gravity
Data Source
AI summary
Among other things, a seat includes a back-supporting surface; and a seating surface movable along a path toward and away from the back-supporting surface. At least part of the back-supporting surface is movable to enable a lower portion of the back-supporting surface to move substantially along the path.