US20110006568A1

US20110006568A1 - Chair for Actively Supporting Human Spine Curve

Info

Publication number: US20110006568A1
Application number: US12/500,831
Authority: US
Inventors: Han-Chung Hsu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-06-23
Filing date: 2009-07-10
Publication date: 2011-01-13
Also published as: DE202010005675U1; CN201542119U

Abstract

A chair for actively supporting human spine curve comprises a main body and a cushion; the main body comprises a base and a back, with a plurality of slots disposed on both top surfaces of the base and the back; a height sensor is disposed under the mobilizing device; the main body is further disposed with a control device and an inflating device therein, the inflating device and the height sensor are connected to the control device; the cushion comprises a seat cushion and a back cushion, wherein the cushion has an air cushion layer disposed near its top surface, the air cushion layer comprises a plurality of push rods to correspond with the mobilizing device, and to inflate or deflate the air cushion layer through the inflating device; wherein the control device is used for memorizing the spine curve of a person sitting on the cushion.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chair for actively supporting human spine curve, and more particularly, to a chair for actively supporting human spine curve, which can memorize a spine curve of a user sitting on the chair, when the user sits on a cushion of the chair again, the chair can actively support the spine curve through air cushions to achieve the most comfortable seating.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are various kinds of chairs such as a couch, an office chair, a dining chair and so on for different applications; these chairs provide seats for users to avoid standing for a long time.
Recent improvements to chairs focus on seat cushions and back cushions to stress that they are soft and comfortable with no other features included.
Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the applicant of this invention has already filed PCT applications PCT/CN2008/000092 (citation 1), PCT/CN2007/000317 (citation 2), and PCT/CN2007/007367 (citation 3), which are described below:
Citation 1 discloses a healthy chair which can adjust the human spine curve, the healthy chair comprises a seat cushion and a back cushion disposed with a plurality of lifting devices, each lifting device is driven by a motor to lift and lower the cushion so as to let the cushion form a profile corresponding to human spine curve to actively support the user. However, the motor driven means needs to use a lot of motors and the costs are high, making it difficult for massive applications.
Citation 2 discloses another healthy chair which can adjust the human spine curve, the healthy chair comprises a seat cushion and a back cushion disposed with a plurality of lifting devices, which uses air bags or water bags to lift and lower the cushion so as to let the cushion form a profile corresponding to human spine curve to actively support the user when the user is sitting on the cushion, and the plurality of lifting devices returns to their original positions when the user stands up. However, this application needs to use a lot of air bags or water bags, which can be complicated to implement and the costs are high, making it difficult for massive applications.
Citation 3 discloses another healthy chair which can adjust the human spine curve, the healthy chair comprises a seat cushion and a back cushion disposed with a plurality of lifting devices, each lifting device comprises a main body, at least one air cushion, at least one inflating device and a control device. However, citation 3 has all the components built in the chair, making the chair too bulky and too heavy to handle.
Therefore, the traditional healthy chairs present several shortcomings to be overcome.
In view of the deficiencies of the traditional healthy chairs, after years of constant researches, the inventor has consequently invented and proposed a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, which can memorize the spine curve of the user in advance, when the user sits on the cushion, the cushion can actively form a profile corresponding to the spine curve of the user by using the inflation/deflation of the air cushion layer to actively support the spine curve of the user to provide the most comfortable seating.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, the cushion is disposed with an air cushion layer therein and the air cushion layer is near the top surface, the air cushion layer comprises a plurality of supporting air bags, the healthy chair can actively support the spine curve when the user is lying on the healthy chair with the automatic inflation/deflation of the supporting air bags.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention discloses a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, mainly comprising an cushion and a main body; the cushion having a pad for forming a seat cushion and a back cushion, the seat cushion and the back cushion having an air cushion layer placed on the top surfaces, the air cushion layer comprising a plurality of supporting air bags, each supporting air bag connecting with an air pipe, a plurality of push rods extending downward from the top surface of the air cushion layer, the air pipes and the push rods protruding out of the bottoms of the seat cushion and the back cushion; the main body is hollow and comprises a base and a back with their top surfaces disposed with a plurality of slots, each slot corresponds to a mobilizing device inside the base and the back, and each mobilizing device has a height sensor disposed under the mobilizing device, the base and the back are further disposed with a control device and an inflating device therein, the inflating device and the height sensor are connected with the control device; when the cushion is placed on the top surface of the main body, the push rod enters the slot of the main body to correspond with the mobilizing device, and the air pipe is connected with the inflating device inside the main body; wherein the control device is used for memorizing the spine curve of a person sitting on the cushion, when a user sits on the cushion, the push rod is pressed to push the mobilizing device to move downward, so the height sensor detects a moving distance of the mobilizing device and sends the detection results to the control device to determine whether the user is the one whose spine curve is memorized, if so, then the control device drives the inflating device to inflate the plurality of supporting air bags to let the surface of the cushion meet the profile of the spine curve of the user to achieve the object of actively support human spine curve and to provide the most comfortable seating.
These features and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a combinational view of a chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a 3D combinational view of the chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a 3D view of the chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of the chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a view of the inflating device connecting with the supporting air bag of the healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention; and

FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate operational views of the healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 for a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, which mainly comprises:
a main body 1, the main body 1 is hollow and comprises a base 11 and a back 12, and a plurality of slots 111, 121 and pits 112, 122 are disposed on the top surface of the base 11 and the back 12, each slot 111, 121 corresponds to a mobilizing device 2 in the base 11 and the back 12, the mobilizing device 2 comprises two corresponding positioning columns 21 with a fixed distance between them, the two positioning columns 21 are fixed on the inner bottoms of the base 11 and the back 12, each positioning column 21 is covered with an elastic body 22, one elastic body 22 supports one end of a mobilizing rod 23 to let the mobilizing rod 23 move up and down through the supports of the elastic bodies 22;
a plurality of height sensors 3, the plurality of height sensors 3 is disposed inside the main body 1 and placed right under the mobilizing rod 23, when the mobilizing rod 23 is moving downward, it will be in contact with the height sensor 3 to let the height sensor 3 detect a position when the mobilizing rod 23 of the mobilizing device 2 reaches the lowest point;
an cushion 4, the cushion 4 comprises a seat cushion 41 and a back cushion 42 disposed with a plurality of holes 411, 421 at their bottoms, and a pad 43 is placed therein, the pad 43 is disposed with a plurality of through holes 431, each through hole 431 corresponds to the holes 411, 421 on the bottoms of the seat cushion 41 and a back cushion 42, the pad 43 has an air cushion layer 44 placed on its top surface, the air cushion layer 44 comprises a top layer 441 and a plurality of supporting air bags 422, the plurality of supporting air bags 442 is placed under the top layer 441 equidistantly, each supporting air bag 442 is implemented with an air hole for inflation/deflation (not shown in figure), and the top layer 441 comprises a plurality of push rods 45 thereon, the push rods 45 go through the through holes 431 of the pad 43 and the holes 411, 421 of the seat cushion 41 and the back cushion 42, and the push rods 45 protrude out of the holes 411, 421 of the seat cushion 41 and the back cushion 42; furthermore, the push rods 45 are disposed at both sides of the supporting air bags 442; wherein the cushion 4 is disposed on the top surface of the main body 1 to let the push rod 45 in the seat cushion 41 and the back cushion 42 of the cushion 4 enter the slot of the main body and stick to or come close to a corresponding mobilizing rod 23 of the mobilizing device 2; furthermore, the pad 43 can be made of foam materials or cushioning materials;
an inflating device 5, wherein the inflating device 5 is fixed in the main body 1, the inflating device 4 connects to each supporting air bag 442 through a plurality of pipes 6, the plurality of pipes 6 connects with the supporting air bags 442 and the inflating device 5 through the through holes 431 of the pad 43 of the cushion 4 and the pits 122 of the main body 1;
a plurality of control switches 7, as shown in FIG. 6, each control switch 7 is disposed on each air pipe 6 for controlling the inflation and deflation of each supporting air bag 442; and
a control device 8, wherein the control device 8 is fixed in the main body 1 and connected with the height sensor 3, the plurality of control switches 7 and the inflating device 5, so the control device 8 can receive a detection signal from the height sensor 3 to activate some or all of the control switches 7 according to the detection signal to inflate or deflate each one of the plurality of supporting air bags 442 through the inflating device 5 respectively.
Please refer to FIGS. 7A and 7B for operational views of the healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention. When a user 9 sits on the cushion 4 for the first time, the supporting air bags 442 in the seat cushion 41 and the back cushion 42 correspond to the neck vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, sacral vertebrae, hip and the legs of the user 9. At this time, the supporting air bags 442 are not inflated, and the push rods 45 of the seat cushion 41 and the back cushion 42 will be pressed by the weight of the user 9. Since each push rod 45 bears different weight, the moving distance of each push rod 45 is different from one another, the push rod 45 bearing the heaviest weight will push the mobilizing rod 23 of the mobilizing device 2 downward, so the mobilizing rod 23 will be in contact with the height sensor 3 to let the height sensor 3 detect a moving distance of each mobilizing rod 23 when it reached the lowest position. Therefore, the spine curve regarding to the neck vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacral vertebrae of the user 9 is obtained and the detection result is sent to the control device 8 for storage, then the control device 8 identifies the suitable air volume of the supporting air bags 442 corresponding to the neck vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacral vertebrae of the user 9.
Besides, the control device 8 can memorize spine curves of the user 9 for various sitting postures in advance and actively supports the spine curves of the user 9 when he/she is changing his/her postures.
When the user 9 once again sits on the cushion 4 which has memorized his/her spine curve, the control device 8 detects the moving distance of the mobilizing rod 23 to determine if the person is the user 9. If so, then the control device 8 activates the control switches 7 to inflate the supporting air bags 442 respectively through the inflating device 5. If necessary, when a supporting air bag 442 is inflated to a predetermined volume, the control device 8 will deactivate the corresponding control switch 7, since each control switch 7 has different activating and deactivating times, the seat cushion 41 and the back cushion 42 of the cushion 4 will form a profile corresponding to the spine curve regarding to the neck vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacral vertebrae of the user 9 through the supporting air bags 442, and the supporting air bags 442 will fill the space between the neck vertebrae, thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and sacral vertebrae of the user 9 so the chair actively supports the human spine curve, and when the user 9 is sitting, he/she can get the best support and the best seating quality.
When the user 9 leaves the cushion 4, the push rod 45 moves upward, the mobilizing rod 23 returns to its original position due to the elastic force of the elastic body 22, then the height sensor 3 detects the returning movement of the mobilizing rod 23 and sends the detection signal to the control device 8, the control device 8 drives the inflating device 5 to deflate the supporting air bag 442 to let the top surface of the cushion 4 become flat again.
The present invention discloses a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, while compared with other prior art techniques, is advantageous in:
1. The present invention provides a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, which can memorize the spine curve of the user, when the user sits on the cushion, the cushion can actively form a profile corresponding to the spine curve of the user by using the inflation/deflation of the air cushion layer to actively support the spine curve of the user to improve seating quality.
2. The present invention provides a healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve, the cushion is disposed with an air cushion layer therein and the air cushion layer is near the bottom surface, the air cushion layer comprises a plurality of supporting air bags, the healthy chair can actively support the spine curve when the user is sitting on the healthy chair with the automatic inflation/deflation of the supporting air bags.
Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A chair for actively supporting human spine curve comprising:

a main body, wherein the main body is hollow and comprises a base and a back both disposed with a plurality of mobilizing devices therein, the base and the back have their its top surfaces disposed with a plurality of slots, each slot corresponds to a mobilizing device, and each mobilizing device has a height sensor disposed under the mobilizing device;

an cushion having a seat cushion and a back cushion, the seat cushion and back cushion both comprising a pad having an air cushion layer placed on its top surface, the air cushion layer comprising a top layer and a plurality of supporting air bags attached under the top layer thereof, the top layer comprising a push rod thereon, the push rod protruding out of the bottom of the cushion; wherein the cushion is disposed on the top surface of the main body to let the push rod in the cushion enter the slot of the main body and stick to or come close to a corresponding mobilizing device;

an inflating device, wherein the inflating device is fixed in the main body, the inflating device connects to each supporting air bag of the air cushion layer through a plurality of pipes, so the inflating device can inflate or deflate supporting air bags through the plurality of air pipes;

a plurality of control switches, each control switch being disposed on each air pipe for controlling the inflation and deflation of each supporting air bag;

a control device, wherein the control device is fixed in the main body and connected with the height sensor, the plurality of control switches and the inflating device, so the control device can receive a detection signal from the height sensor to activate some or all of the control switches according to the detection signal to inflate or deflate each one of the plurality of supporting air bags through the inflating device respectively, and the top surface of the cushion can form a profile corresponding to the spine curve of the user to actively support the user's spine.

2. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein pits are disposed on the top surfaces of base and the back of the main body for allowing a plurality of air pipes to enter the main body and to connect with the inflating device.

3. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobilizing device comprises two corresponding positioning columns with a fixed distance between them, the two positioning columns are fixed on the inner bottoms of the base and the back, each positioning column is covered with an elastic body, each elastic body supports one end of a mobilizing rod to let the mobilizing rod move up and down through the supports of the elastic bodies.

4. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bottoms of the seat cushion and the back cushion of the cushion are disposed with a plurality of holes, and the pad is disposed with a plurality of through holes, the through holes correspond to the plurality of holes on the bottom of the seat cushion and the back cushion to let the push rod come through and to let the air pipe enter the cushion to connect with the plurality of supporting air bags.

5. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad in the cushion is made of foam material.

6. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad in the cushion comprises independent tubes.

7. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pad in the cushion is made of cushioning material.

8. The healthy chair for actively supporting human spine curve as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control device memorizes a spine curve of the user when he/she is sitting in advance.