U.S. patent application number 12/500831 was filed with the patent office on 2011-01-13 for chair for actively supporting human spine curve.
Invention is credited to Han-Chung Hsu.
Application Number | 20110006568 12/500831 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51519432 |
Filed Date | 2011-01-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110006568 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsu; Han-Chung |
January 13, 2011 |
Chair for Actively Supporting Human Spine Curve
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.
Inventors: |
Hsu; Han-Chung; (Taipei
City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WPAT, PC;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ATTORNEYS
2030 MAIN STREET, SUITE 1300
IRVINE
CA
92614
US
|
Family ID: |
51519432 |
Appl. No.: |
12/500831 |
Filed: |
July 10, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
297/217.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47C 27/083 20130101;
A47C 27/18 20130101; A47C 31/126 20130101; A47C 27/082 20130101;
A47C 7/462 20130101; A47C 27/10 20130101; A47C 7/144 20180801; A47C
7/14 20130101; A47C 4/54 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
297/217.3 |
International
Class: |
A47C 7/46 20060101
A47C007/46; A47C 31/00 20060101 A47C031/00; A47C 3/00 20060101
A47C003/00 |
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.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] 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.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] 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.
[0005] Recent improvements to chairs focus on seat cushions and
back cushions to stress that they are soft and comfortable with no
other features included.
[0006] 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:
[0007] 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.
[0008] 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.
[0009] 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.
[0010] Therefore, the traditional healthy chairs present several
shortcomings to be overcome.
[0011] 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
[0012] 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.
[0013] 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.
[0014] 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.
[0015] 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
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a combinational view of a chair for
actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a 3D combinational view of the chair for
actively supporting human spine curve in the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 3 illustrates a 3D view of the chair for actively
supporting human spine curve in the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the chair for actively
supporting human spine curve in the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 5 illustrates a front view of the chair for actively
supporting human spine curve in the present invention;
[0021] 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
[0022] 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
[0023] Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 6 for a healthy chair for
actively supporting human spine curve, which mainly comprises:
[0024] 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;
[0025] 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;
[0026] 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;
[0027] 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;
[0028] 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
[0029] 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.
[0030] 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.
[0031] 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.
[0032] 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.
[0033] 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.
[0034] The present invention discloses a healthy chair for actively
supporting human spine curve, while compared with other prior art
techniques, is advantageous in:
[0035] 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.
[0036] 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.
[0037] 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.
* * * * *