Standing Mat with Terrain Features to Encourage Pose Variation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional anti-fatigue mats lack topographical features that could encourage users to change their standing poses, leading to fatigue and reduced health benefits during extended standing periods.

Innovation Solution

A non-planar mat surface with terrain features comparable in size to a user's foot, including protrusions, rails, and ramps, designed to promote varied standing positions and movement without moving parts, facilitating blood flow and muscle engagement.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If a flat mat surface is used, then the mat structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the user cannot be encouraged to change standing poses, leading to fatigue

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser ability to change standing posesVSAvoidmat surface structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The mat surface incorporates terrain features with different local properties (protrusions, recesses, rails, ramps) at specific locations to encourage varied standing poses. Each local region provides different tactile and postural stimuli, prompting users to shift positions without requiring the entire mat to be complex or movable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Reliability

If the mat surface is made non-planar with terrain features, then user fatigue is reduced through pose variation, but the manufacturing complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefatigue alleviation effectivenessVSAvoidmat production process

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The mat employs curved and rounded terrain features such as domes, recesses, and rounded rails rather than sharp or complex geometric forms. These curved shapes are easier to mold and manufacture while still providing the necessary tactile variation and pose-changing encouragement to prevent fatigue.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

3Productivity

If terrain features are added to the mat surface, then blood flow and muscle engagement are improved, but the mat design becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser health benefit during standingVSAvoidmat topographical features

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The mat surface is divided into multiple discrete terrain features (protrusions, recesses, rails, ramps) distributed across the standing surface. This segmentation allows each feature to independently contribute to muscle engagement and blood flow while keeping individual feature designs relatively simple and manageable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS11109703B2Mat for standing with raised features

Publication Date: 2021.09.07 ERGODRIVEN

AI summary

A mat includes a mat body defining an upper surface dimensioned for a user to stand on the upper surface. The upper surface is non-planar and includes at least one terrain feature defining the non-planarity. The terrain feature has a size that is on the order of magnitude of the size of the user's foot. Presenting this surface to the user may help remind him or her to move his or her feet to thereby adopt multiple poses, thereby preventing the user from maintaining any single pose for a fatigue-inducing duration.