SI21114A2 - Active chair - Google Patents

Abstract

The active chair is a multi-functional chair, which provides controlled flexibility in all directions and completely implements the technique of sitting on a ball. The seat is attached at the top of the part for height control, which is built into the main support and moves in all directions, which is provided by a solid connection with the active part of the chair within its axis. The active part of the chair contains a weight. The single-point contact with the surface provides the flexibility in any direction. By its function the chair replaces most of the currently known chairs and is suitable and simple enough for serial production.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

The object of the invention is the ACTIVE CHAIR, which by its design enables the seat to move in all directions, thus allowing active sitting and eliminating the shortcomings of all known solutions for healthy and proper body posture, including the seat ball, so far. The invention belongs to classes A47C 3/00 or. A47C 9/00.

The present invention successfully solves the technical problem of active sitting with its unique, simple and transparent construction, which allows the optimal condition of the whole body when sitting, and its implementation is very suitable for industrial production and use in various fields.

1.0LIST OF THE INVENTION

1.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

The word balance has many different meanings in physics, biology, sociology, philosophy, physiology and other fields. In physics, equilibrium is called a mechanical state in which the result of all forces and torques affecting the body is 0. Such a state occurs in quiescent as well as moving bodies.

For ease of understanding, we simplify the problem by defining the center of gravity (Center of gravity) and center of gravity (t) in Figure 1 as a virtual line that is the projection of the center of gravity of the body with respect to gravity.

The static balance shown in Figure 2 can be divided indifferently (position: 1) stable (position: 2), and unstable (position: 3) with respect to the movement of the center of gravity of the body.

Description of the positions in Figure 2:

- If the body remains in a shifted position, the balance is indifferent:

- If the body returns after moving the center of gravity to its initial position, this balance is stable;

- if a small movement of the body leads to a distance from the original position and does not return to the original position, but moves away from it, this balance is unstable (Fetz, 1990).

Equilibrium in humans can be defined as active compensation experienced by a person or as anticipation of conflicting external disorders (Piaget, 1983).

The balance of an inanimate body can be compared with the balance of a living body, since both of them always have internal forces (muscle tone, changes in muscle tension ...) In physical bodies, a stable balance with stability can be measured. The stability of the body is proportional to the size of the support surface and inversely proportional to the height of the center of gravity.

When considering a living body, it is important to remember that the stability of the body is its permanence (VEber, 1988). A human body that is physically in a stable equilibrium position is considered to be highly susceptible to interference. In impaired balance, however, the body can respond with increased intimate support (muscle strength, more precise responsiveness, change of position ...) by reducing the center of gravity and increased support surface (Fetz, 1990).

A more specific part of balance is posture control. We are talking about posture control when the center of gravity of the body is within the support plane or. within the stability limit. So basically, posture depends on a stabilizing mechanism and a mechanism that drives change (Janko 1987).

Living organisms, as well as the human body, function to maintain and protect stability (resisting change) through a variety of mechanisms. Occasionally, however, nervous systems need to keep track of changes in their physical position. to guide them.

If we want good posture control we need to have a good stabilizer mechanism that maintains and protects stability. So we want the stabilization mechanism to be as active as possible so as to minimize interference. However, the disturbance must be kept to a minimum so that no unnecessary loss of energy is caused by the changes. Each body strives to keep its internal environment as stable as possible while consuming as little energy as possible. It succeeds by recognizing and correcting the disorder as soon as possible.

1.2. SITTING ON A ROUND

It is very important that the body is active at all times and the disorder should be kept to a minimum so that it does not consume excess energy. This is what we think of when we talk about sitting on a ball.

There are two mechanisms when sitting on a ball:

- The first mechanism is to keep the ball sitting active, which means that mechanisms are in place to protect and maintain stability.

- The second mechanism is that the seating is such that it uses as little energy as possible.

It is certain that sitting on a ball highly activates the mechanisms that control and protect posture. However, if we are to consume as little energy as possible, we must sit so that the center of gravity of our body (t) is as close as possible to the center of gravity of the sphere, as Figure 3 shows us.

When observing sitting on the ball, we encounter the following problems:

- the ball itself is not in stable equilibrium but its equilibrium is unstable (Figure 2, position 3),

- Balls known for seating are filled with air and made of soft materials, leading to interference with receptors that control posture. Seat position information is distorted,

- due to the roundness of the ball, the persons fixate on the ball with their shins, which again leads to a disorder of posture control when sitting on the ball,

- it is not possible to adjust the ball in height and at the same time ensure its stability or strength. permanence (eg if the ball is too big, the center of gravity of the body moves too far forward with respect to the center of gravity of the ball. This means that the body regulates this disorder by sitting very backwards and tilting the pelvis forward and making the so-called lordosis. If the ball is too small, move the pelvis back and make the team. kyphosis.In both cases we do not maintain the natural mechanisms of equilibrium).

If we want good posture control we need to have a good stabilizer mechanism that maintains and protects stability. So we want the stabilization mechanism to be as active as possible so as to minimize interference. However, the disturbance must be kept to a minimum so that no unnecessary loss of energy is caused by the changes. Each body strives to keep its internal environment as stable as possible while consuming as little energy as possible. It succeeds by recognizing and correcting the disorder as soon as possible.

1.3. THE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM OF EXISTING CHAIRS

Numerous impairments of the body today are due to the lack of physical activity of people, among other things, largely due to sitting. Today, more and more people are seated for a longer time, either for work or for other activities (eg: sitting in front of a PC, TV, desk, etc.). Various types of chairs are available for seating with one thing in common: they allow just PASSIVE sitting. Passive seating is defined by the support points of these chairs (backrests, backrests, legs), which provide the body with information about the support points. In doing so, they distort natural information aimed at the constant search for a natural balance.

The body receives information about the achieved body balance, which is not accurate. The reaction of the body is that the muscles no longer strain but stop their activity. Thus, the muscles become largely inactive in their unnatural position. Because this is repeated very often, there are body defects over time.

We know the declared solution to this problem is a chair under patent number: 20508 with the name: ACTIVE ORTHOPEDIC CHAIR (Slovenia)

The disadvantages of said equilibrium chair are that the chair does not provoke mechanisms that maintain permanence. When sitting on an equilibrium chair, there is a constant collapse of posture control. to distort information about it. An equilibrium chair follows a disorder and can further impair physiological control of posture. An individual can therefore maintain stability without any activity even if the neuromuscular activity is the same as that of a sleeping person (eg in bed) because the resistance of the material is already sufficient for the person to remain in the chair. This means that there is no stability on the balance chair that leads to good posture control.

1.4. DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SOLUTION

We named the new solution the ACTIVE CHAIR.

With the active chair, we want to activate as many mechanisms as possible, which help to maintain good posture control.

The active chair takes advantage of the principle of sitting on the ball and also applies it to the maximum person sitting in the active chair. The very construction of the chair constantly forces us to find a natural balance and thus a good control over the posture. The vertical axis of the active chair runs through the center of gravity of the body. Because there are no anchor points outside this axis, the body only receives information about deviations from the natural balance. Muscles respond immediately to signals after restoring their natural balance - but this is also established at the same time through the construction of a chair, which itself also tends to balance. So the body does not get the wrong information, the muscles are in constant operation and because the breaks are relatively small, they also consume little energy for corrections. In this way, we also prevent the aforementioned damage to the body, which is only one positive side. The second is that this way of sitting has a very beneficial effect on the well-being of a person sitting in an active chair, which increases concentration at work and directly affects the productivity and efficiency of the work itself. Overall, the positive effects are extremely large, both from a health and economic point of view.

ACTIVE TABLE

Figures 4 and 5 show us the elemental structural design of the active chair, which is designed so that the distance H is approximately the diameter of an imaginary sphere, and the chair itself is part of that sphere - all vital parts are circular, (tolerance for height regulation is limited volume).

The active chair touches the floor of Figure 4 with its active part (ball section - 4) at one point or. in a very small part of the perimeter of the sphere, which can be considered a point.

Furthermore, the active chair has a limited tilt for safety reasons with a tilt limiter - 5 that is attached to the active part-4 and allows only tilts less than 30 angular degrees (angle <30)

Support column - 7, which is fixed in the center axis to the active part - 4. The attachment system depends on the materials used. A height adjustment mechanism - 6 is installed in the supporting pillar -7 in all known embodiments including magnetic field control.

The seat - 8, which is attached to the top of the housing of the height adjustment mechanism 6, is ergonomically designed and made of any material, preferably natural.

Claims (4)

PATENT APPLICATIONS 1. ACTIVE CHAIR, is a multifunctional chair for active sitting, characterized in that the seat (8) connected via the housing of the height adjuster (6) and the supporting column (7) to the active part of the chair (4) in its axis enables mobility in in all directions. An ACTIVE chair according to claim 1, characterized in that the active part of the chair (4) has a low center of gravity for movement in all directions and is always a ball section made of different materials and filled with weight providing a low center of gravity. 3. ACTIVE CHAIR according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it consists of an active part (4), a tilt limiter (5), a support post (7), a seat height adjuster (6) mounted on or in the support a pillar (7) in all known shapes and a seat (8) attached to the top of the support pillar (7) centrally attached to the active part (7). 4. An ACTIVE chair according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the construction is based on a suitable diameter of an imaginary ball, the circumference of which is approximately in the middle of a possible seat height adjustment range (8), which is controlled by a built-in height control (6) in or on a support column (7) attached to the active part of the chair (4), which is movable in all directions.