Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
  • A47C7/02—Seat parts
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
  • A47C7/02—Seat parts
  • A47C7/024—Seat parts with double seats
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
  • A47C7/02—Seat parts
  • A47C7/14—Seat parts of adjustable shape; elastically mounted ; adaptable to a user contour or ergonomic seating positions
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
  • A47C7/02—Seat parts
  • A47C7/14—Seat parts of adjustable shape; elastically mounted ; adaptable to a user contour or ergonomic seating positions
  • A47C7/144—Seat parts of adjustable shape; elastically mounted ; adaptable to a user contour or ergonomic seating positions with array of movable supports
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
  • A47C7/36—Support for the head or the back
  • A47C7/40—Support for the head or the back for the back
  • A47C7/405—Support for the head or the back for the back with double backrests
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C7/00—Parts, details, or accessories of chairs or stools
  • A47C7/36—Support for the head or the back
  • A47C7/40—Support for the head or the back for the back
  • A47C7/46—Support for the head or the back for the back with special, e.g. adjustable, lumbar region support profile; "Ackerblom" profile chairs
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C9/00—Stools for specified purposes
  • A47C9/002—Stools for specified purposes with exercising means or having special therapeutic or ergonomic effects
  • A47C9/005—Stools for specified purposes with exercising means or having special therapeutic or ergonomic effects with forwardly inclined seat, e.g. with a knee-support
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C9/00—Stools for specified purposes
  • A47C9/02—Office stools not provided for in main groups A47C1/00, A47C3/00 or A47C7/00; Workshop stools
  • A47C9/025—Stools for standing or leaning against, e.g. in a semi-standing or half-seated position

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a seat; particularly a seat for use in an office chair, task chair, aircraft seat, bicycle, vehicle, wheelchair, pushchair, child's seat/car seat or bench.
• the invention is a seat that actively directs the sitter into a correct sitting position as hypothesised by the inventor, i.e. a position that emulates the position that the sitter's spine and pelvis would achieve if they were standing.
• GB611899 (Scoular, 1946); address perceived problems of conventional bicycle saddles as mentioned above by including a modification to improve comfort in use.
• Devices such as GB611899 propose that two seat pads mounted on a lateral bar include a forward tilt of 20 to 30 degrees, but this is only the initial position. The pads are mounted for spring-biased rotation around the lateral bar (horizontal axis) as a user's thighs move up and down to pedal the bicycle. The initial angle is provided for ease of mounting the seat which aids buttock comfort.
• “Sittings Balls” are currently popular and, depending on the size of the ball, may allow the user to gain an advantageous thigh angle as well as providing cushioning and some intended instability, which can all be beneficial. However, such devices do not fit well into a conventional office environment.
• “Moving/Movement-control/exercise chairs” can involve movement for either exercise or health and the possibility to control other apparatus. Movement is often beneficial to humans and its complete absence for extended periods is detrimental, however, the addition of poorly controlled or poorly guided movement in a work seat will often lead to distraction and discomfort. It is erroneous to think that by providing ample free movement in a sitting device that the body will find the best position for comfort and health.
• Shaped pads often resemble early, shaped "tractor-type" seats. These seats, which keep a central anterior to posterior ridge, create the same problems of discomfort after a little while as the previously mentioned saddle seats. Dual pads are an improvement but providing these without any contouring will not allow adequate forward tilting of the seat pads without the movement of the sitter, the same is true for flat, tilting seats. To be truly comfortable, the inventor has noted, the pads should allow for a small degree of roll, pitch and yaw.
• the present invention seeks to provide a seat that actively directs the sitter into a sitting position wherein the sitter's spine and pelvis have a similar structural and postural position as when the sitter is standing.
• the seat In order to achieve this the seat must allow a considerable downward slope of the thighs (from hip to knee), without the sitter sliding forward, and each side of the pelvis must be helped to achieve the same relative height to the other as they have when standing.
• a seat with a contoured pan adapted to support each ischial tuberosity of a user and enabling the thighs of a user to be supported at a position between 15 and 45 degrees to the horizontal plane.
• the contoured seat pan provides a cup-like support (i.e. concave around at least two axes) such that, even when at an angle, a user will sit comfortably and not slide forward.
• the function of preventing a user from sliding forward may be achieved through other means that are equivalent to a contoured seat pan, such as ridges, a non-slip rubber surface or even adhesive/straps. These functional equivalents may be incorporated instead of a strictly "contoured" seat pan.
• the seat pan supports a thigh angle of 22 to 32 degrees (but optimally the pan is selected to support the thighs at 27 degrees) to the horizontal plane, which causes the lumbar spine to replicate the anterior facing curve (lordosis) it achieves when a person is standing.
• the present invention directs (and maintains) the body to replicate the position of the pelvis and spine as occurs when standing.
• the sitting thigh angle does not alter significantly.
• the standing lordosis is achieved it is the natural positioning of the vertebral structures that hold the body upright, not the muscles of the back.
• the natural standing lordotic posture is lost, as with a horizontal seat pan, the muscles of the back attempt to support the person in an upright position.
• the seat pan is comprised of two separate, at least partially concave, shaped seat pads for each side of a user, wherein each pad supports the tissues and shapes around each ischial tuberosity. This structure enhances the body's natural cushioning features and so reduces the need for wasteful/excessive cushioning.
• the seat pan could be formed in a single integrated piece that performs the function of the two seat pads otherwise described herein.
• each seat pad is attached to a base/pedestal structure by a lug with an internal silicon bush at the front and is also connected by a pivoting leaf-spring and another silicon bush at the back. This allows each seat pad to vary its height, towards the back, in a linked way, relative to the other pad. This addresses the fact that it is essential for comfortable sitting that one side of the pelvis might be higher than the other as in most standing people.
• the pads are concave around two axes (not one as in some prior art, e.g. GB611899) and are preferably able to move around at least four axes and two fulcra (again, distinguished from GB611899 which has only one axis) .
• the leaf spring also allows the springing movement of a back post, a movement that helps in the treatment of hypertonicity in the back muscles provided by a series of "back balls" located on a seat back portion.
• the pads also have a silicon mounting bush within the lug at the front and between the mountings at the back, which allow for a controlled amount of roll in the seat pad.
• the back portion is self adjusting in response to a user sitting on the contoured pan.
• the self adjusting back component of the invention can be used to treat hypertonicity (elevated tone) in the postural back muscles.
• the seat is preferably manually adjustable in height only; with the result that many superfluous and wasteful manual adjustment mechanisms (as found in the prior art) can be discarded.
• the seat can be used in an adapted form for use in bicycle and motorcycle seats.
• the standard saddle is also irritating to haemorrhoids. Many people do not ride bicycles as they find them uncomfortable and this is because much of the body weight is transferred through the perineum rather than the ischialtuberosities as outlined by the present invention.
• a seat according to the invention may be modified by cutting off approximately half of the pad to reduce its size. In other words, some uses of the seat of the invention may necessitate utilising only part of each pad.
• the invention is also anticipated for use in wheelchairs and integrated into other seat structures, such as a bench. Indeed the invention could also be in the form of a portable or retrofit insert for any seat/chair.
• the seat of the invention is intended to automatically adapt to a user and does not require numerous user adjustments/customisation to find a comfortable position.
• Prior art seating devices are known to provide manual adjustments that may, coincidentally, locate a seating position which would emulate a standing position and, in such a case, the prior art seat may achieve the same benefits as the present invention for that user.
• such a seat cannot adapt to future changes in the user or other users the way the present invention can.
• Figure 1 shows a side view of a seat according to the invention in a raised position
• Figure 2 shows a side elevation view of the seat in a lowered position
• Figure 3 shows a rear elevation view of the seat in the lowered position
• Figure 4 shows a general perspective view of the seat of the invention
• Figure 5 shows a closer view of the seat when the seat back has been loaded
• Figure 6 shows a closer view of the seat when in a resting position
• Figure 7 shows a detailed rear view of the seat
• Figure 8 shows a detailed underneath view of the seat
• Figure 9 illustrates a side view where the seat pads have been tilted by a load
• Figure 10 illustrates a front view where the seat pads have been loaded as in Figure 9;
• Figure 11 illustrates a rear perspective view of the seat
• Figure 12 illustrates a detailed rear view, comparable to Figure 7, where the seat pans are tilting .
• Figure 4 best illustrates a general view of a seat according to the present invention incorporated into an office chair which has a base with feet and/or wheels 11 converging into a central pedestal 12.
• a base with wheels is relatively conventional and it should be noted that any recognisable configuration of chair with ground contacting parts could implement the invention.
• a height adjustment means 13 is incorporated into the pedestal 12, which may be in the form of a screw thread (as shown) or a pneumatic/spring cylinder.
• Figures 1 and 2 illustrate relatively raised and lowered positions of the seat by virtue of the height adjustment means 13. Height of the seat from the ground is adjusted for comfort dependent on the length of a user's legs, e.g. so feet will be flat on the floor.
• the seat itself includes a seat pan preferably formed from two pads 14 which have an at least partially concave construction and are a mirror-image of each other. These pads 14 are preferably independently mounted onto a frame structure 15 at the upper end of the pedestal 12 that supports each pad and a back portion 16, pivotally attached at an axis 17 (best seen in Figure 6) .
• Seat back 16 also features a series of padded supports 18 or "back balls" that, in use, contact a user's back.
• Figure 6 illustrates a side view of a seat according to the invention in its initial unloaded or "resting" state, i.e. without the weight of a person applied.
• the seat pads 14 rest at a relatively high angle and it will be apparent that seat back 16 is reclined at an angle over vertical in this first resting position, before a person sits on the seat.
• Figures 5 and 6 generally show a relative linkage arrangement of the seat pads where the frame structure 15 is connected to the pedestal and the spine-shaped seat back 16 is connected at a second pivot 19 (located between the first pivot 17 and the upwardly curving back portion of seat back 16) by a link arm 20 to a front lug 21 extending from the underside of a seat pad.
• the lugs include an internal silicon bush that provides some flexibility (i.e. "give") to the pad movement.
• the distal end of the curved seat back terminates in the first pivot connection point 17 where a leaf spring 22 is mounted and spans between the two seat pads 14 as best seen in Figure 7.
• a further set of resilient bushes 23 (made of silicon or eguivalent) are mounted with and extend from the rear underside of the seat pads 14 to connect with the leaf spring 22 spanning therebetween. The resilient nature of the bushes 23 provide a limited degree of yaw movement in the pads.
• Figure 8 illustrates an underneath view of the seat where a lateral bar 24 passing through the (inboard) lugs 21 at the front side of the seat pads 14 provides a horizontal axis about which the front side of the pads have a degree of movement.
• the lateral bar 24 is stabilised by outboard lugs 25 extending underneath the pads 14.
• each pad In totality the mechanism is designed to articulate each pad using a rose joint pivot system, accompanied by a leaf spring/bush arrangement.
• Each pad therefore, has a limited degree of movement in several directions to adapt to a sitting person, but yet direct said person into an optimum position based around the incline angle of the seat pads. Once seated a person is maintained in an optimal and comfortable position which, so far as the shape of the spine is concerned, emulates standing.
• each seat pad is able to vary its height, towards the rear, in a linked way, relative to the other pad. This addresses the fact that it is essential for comfortable sitting that one side of the pelvis might be slightly higher than the other as in most standing people.
• the preferred seat pads of the invention have some degree of movement about at least four axes and two fulcra. Particularly, the pads move around three axes (pitch, roll, yaw) and a fourth, being the anterior-posterior axis between the back of the seat pads around which the leaf spring rotates.
• Figures 9 to 12 illustrate the linked articulated movement of the rear of the seat pads 14 where the right- hand seat pad 14A (see Figure 10) is depressed lower than the left-hand pad 14B by the weight/physiology of a person (not illustrated) sitting on the seat.
• Figure 12 particularly shows the tilting
• the leaf spring 22 being resilient, also allows springing movement of the seat back 16 via its pivotal connection 17, a movement that helps in the treatment of pain in the back muscles provided by the series of "back balls" 18 located on a seat back portion.
• the pads have a silicon mounting bush within the lug at the front and between the mountings at the back, which allow for a controlled amount of roll in the seat pad.
• a more conventional seat back (as in an office chair) may be incorporated with the seat which is not necessarily pivotally linked to the seat pads, e.g. it could extend from elsewhere on the base/pedestal and be movable or adjustable independently.
• the back portion 16 is self adjusting in response to a user sitting on the contoured pan 14.
• the self adjusting back component of the invention can be used to treat pain in the postural back muscles or for the general accommodation thereof.
• the seat is preferably manually adjustable in height only; with the result that many superfluous and wasteful manual adjustment mechanisms (as found in the prior art) can be discarded.
• seat pads 14 when loaded with the weight of a person, should accommodate and support a user's thighs at an angle selected to be substantially 27° below the horizontal while the curved and contoured nature of the seat pads 14 comfortably prevent a user from sliding forward .
• the pivot mechanism of the seat back 16 connected via the leaf spring could take several forms or, in the case of a stool-type design, be removed completely.
• the two seat pads 14 can be at a fixed angle of approximately 27°.
• Guidance for the use of the invention recommends that the users feet are flat on the floor when in the final sitting position, or at least in a position which allows the muscles thighs and legs to be relaxed.
• the occupier might want to use a foot rest on the lower part of the chair so that lower legs could be angled backwards or in the case of the invention being used on a higher seat such as a bar stool a higher foot rest could be incorporated to support the feet.
• the seat pads (or integrated single seat pan) include a concave portion or equivalent to cup and support each ischial tuberosisty of a user in a way which does not put undue pressure on the perineum and also avoids muscle tightening which would otherwise result from a user attempting to prevent slipping forward.
• the seat of the invention in all forms, can be moulded in relatively few parts, e.g. all major elements of the office chair of Figures 1 to 4 can be moulded from aluminium such that it can be particularly lightweight.

Landscapes

• Special Chairs (AREA)
• Chair Legs, Seat Parts, And Backrests (AREA)
• Chairs For Special Purposes, Such As Reclining Chairs (AREA)
• Chairs Characterized By Structure (AREA)

Priority Applications (14)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=44485116

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (16)

Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (24)

Citations (31)

Family Cites Families (19)

• 2011
  • 2011-06-24 GB GBGB1110748.9A patent/GB201110748D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2012
  • 2012-01-13 GB GB1200514.6A patent/GB2492188A/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2012-06-21 EP EP12730022.6A patent/EP2723215B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2012-06-21 KR KR1020147001777A patent/KR20140046443A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-06-21 PL PL12730022T patent/PL2723215T3/pl unknown
  • 2012-06-21 CN CN201280040837.8A patent/CN103747707A/zh active Pending
  • 2012-06-21 US US14/128,936 patent/US20140132051A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-06-21 BR BR112013033308A patent/BR112013033308A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2012-06-21 AU AU2012273720A patent/AU2012273720A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-06-21 MX MX2013015433A patent/MX2013015433A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-06-21 WO PCT/GB2012/051429 patent/WO2012175963A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-06-21 ES ES12730022.6T patent/ES2530177T3/es active Active
  • 2012-06-21 CA CA2840357A patent/CA2840357A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2012-06-21 AP AP2014007353A patent/AP2014007353A0/xx unknown
  • 2012-06-21 JP JP2014516441A patent/JP2014516748A/ja active Pending
  • 2012-06-21 RU RU2013157389/12A patent/RU2013157389A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
• 2014
  • 2014-01-08 IN IN166DEN2014 patent/IN2014DN00166A/en unknown

Patent Citations (31)

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