Sensor-Driven Seating Device for Automatic Ergonomic Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional seating devices, especially office chairs and automotive seats, often require manual and uncomfortable adjustments, leading to ergonomic issues due to the difficulty in setting optimal positions, which can result in user fatigue and postural damage, especially in environments where multiple users share the same chair.
Innovation Solution
An electrically adjustable seating device equipped with sensor elements, a processor, and electromechanical actuators that detect user-specific parameters to automatically adjust the seat into an ergonomic position, including seat height, backrest angle, and armrest height, using a learning process to determine optimal settings based on user data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual adjustment mechanisms are provided beneath the seat, then the seating device can be adjusted to different positions, but the adjustment process becomes uncomfortable and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical adjustment mechanisms with an automated electromechanical system. Sensors detect user parameters (weight, dimensions), the processor calculates optimal seating positions, and electromechanical actuators automatically adjust the seat, backrest, and armrests without requiring manual intervention. This eliminates the discomfort of manual adjustment while preserving full adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The seating device performs self-adjustment by automatically detecting user characteristics through sensors and autonomously positioning components to ergonomic specifications. The system serves itself by eliminating the need for user interaction during the adjustment process, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and ease of operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple adjustment levers are provided, then various seating parameters can be modified, but the user cannot easily identify the correct lever for desired adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates manual adjustment levers entirely by replacing them with an automated control system. Sensors and processors determine the appropriate adjustments based on detected user parameters, and electromechanical actuators execute the adjustments automatically. This removes the confusion of identifying correct levers while maintaining comprehensive seating parameter control.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intelligent control system as an intermediary between the user and the adjustment mechanisms. Instead of directly manipulating multiple levers, the user simply sits on the chair, and the control system mediates the adjustment process by interpreting sensor data and actuating components accordingly, thereby simplifying operation.
3Ease of operation
If forced posture is maintained during adjustment, then the user can operate adjustment mechanisms, but immediate feedback on setting optimality cannot be received
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual adjustment operations with automated electromechanical adjustment. Sensors detect user parameters while the user maintains a natural posture, the processor calculates optimal settings, and actuators automatically implement them. This eliminates the need for forced postures during adjustment and ensures ergonomic accuracy through computational determination of optimal positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback through sensors that continuously monitor user parameters and adjustment positions. The processor uses this feedback data to verify and refine the ergonomic settings, ensuring optimal positioning without requiring the user to maintain forced postures or manually iterate through adjustments.
4Adaptability or versatility
If memory function is provided for electrical seat adjustment, then user-specific settings can be stored, but the system cannot react to unknown users or provide user-specific assistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces simple memory-based adjustment systems with an intelligent sensor-processor system. Sensors detect real-time user parameters (weight, dimensions, posture), the processor identifies user characteristics and retrieves or calculates optimal settings, and actuators automatically adjust the seat. This enables automatic adaptation to both known and unknown users without requiring manual selection of memory profiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes operational parameters based on detected user characteristics. Instead of relying on pre-stored memory profiles that require manual selection, the sensors continuously monitor physical parameters, the processor adapts settings in real-time based on these parameter changes, and the system provides user-specific assistance automatically for both known and unknown users.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrically adjustable seating device includes at least one sensor element, a processor, a memory unit and at least one electromechanical actuator. The at least one sensor element is designed to detect predetermined seating parameter data relating to a person sitting on the seating device and to transmit the data to the processor. The processor is designed to determine person parameter data, relating to the person, from the seating parameter data, to extract control data, which are associated with the person parameter data, from the memory unit and to control the at least one electromechanical actuator on the basis of the control data.