Seat Board Bending Spring Layout Without Swivel Joints
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing seating furniture designs, such as office chairs, are complex due to the need for multiple rotary or swivel joints and longitudinally acting springs, which increase the design and assembly effort while compromising ergonomics.
Innovation Solution
A seating furniture design featuring a non-rotatable fixation of a longitudinally extended bending spring to the support arm, allowing transverse elastic deflection, eliminates the need for rotary or swivel joints, resulting in a simpler construction while maintaining good ergonomics and synchronous mechanics. The bending spring provides greater elasticity than the carrier arm, with the option of using independent components or a one-piece construction made from different materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If rotary or swivel joints are used to connect the bending spring to the support arm, then the mechanism allows relative movement between components, but the construction becomes complex with increased design and assembly effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the rotary or swivel joint from the system entirely. Instead of using a joint to enable relative movement, the bending spring is fixed directly to the support arm in a rotationally fixed manner, and the spring itself provides the necessary elasticity and movement capability without requiring intermediate connecting joints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the functions of the bending spring and its connection to the support arm into a single integrated arrangement. The spring is fixed directly to the support arm, merging the elastic element and the structural component into a simpler unified construction that eliminates the need for separate joint mechanisms.
2Reliability
If multiple individual parts are used in the spring assembly, then the mechanism achieves the required elasticity and movement, but the number of parts and assembly effort increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support arm and bending spring are designed as a one-piece continuous component, merging two separate parts into a single integrated structure. This eliminates the need for separate assembly steps while maintaining the elastic properties of the spring and the structural function of the support arm.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a two-component material system where a fiber-reinforced plastic core area is surrounded by a plastic jacket area. This composite structure allows the single piece to exhibit both the stiffness required for structural support and the elasticity needed for spring functionality, achieving reliable movement capability while simplifying manufacturing to a single injection molding process.
3Strength
If the support arm is made rigid, then the structural stability is improved, but the elasticity required for synchronous mechanism is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The support arm is constructed as a one-piece component with a composite two-component material structure: a fiber-reinforced plastic core area providing structural strength and stability, surrounded by a plastic jacket area providing elasticity and flexibility. This allows the single component to simultaneously achieve both rigidity and elastic deflection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the support arm have different material properties - the core area is fiber-reinforced for strength and stability, while the overall structure allows elastic deflection. This local differentiation of material quality enables the component to provide both structural stability and the necessary elasticity for the synchronous mechanism.
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
This design achieves a simpler construction with effective ergonomic and synchronous movement, allowing for adjustable inclination and comfortable seating by utilizing a bending spring that is more elastically deflected than the carrier arm, enabling a stiffer support arm and a more elastic spiral spring.
Implementation Method 1
The bending spring is arranged in such a way that when the seat plate is loaded it elastically deflects transversely to its longitudinal extent
Data Source
AI summary
The furniture has a support (16), seat plate (1) and backrest (2) arranged at a support arm (3) opposite to the support. The seat plate is supported at a longitudinally extending flexible spring (4) that is connected with the support arm. The flexible spring is arranged such that the flexible spring is elastically moved during loading the seat plate transversal to the longitudinal extension. The flexible spring is fixed at the support arm in a torque-proof manner, where flexible spring includes a free end (5), in whose area the seat plate is pushed away at the flexible spring.