Patent Application
20210161304
The invention relates to a method for using a cushion, in particular for a chair, preferably an office, work or leisure chair, as well as a cushion of this type, a chair comprising a cushion of this type and a computer program product. The cushion has a cushion element, which can be moved with at least one degree of freedom associated with the cushion element. The movability is to in particular be provided as permanent movability during the use of the cushion, thus when a person sits or stands on it. This can imply that the movability is such that movements take place into a direction beyond the originally taken direction for a longer duration of the use, so that a return or near return into the original state can take place in particular in the long run. The movability is to preferably allow for movements, which are so small that they cannot be felt consciously by a normal person sitting or standing on the cushion, but is felt subliminally. Cushions, which effect such subliminal movements, are also referred to as phoronomic cushions in particular in the use of chairs.
A first chair element, onto which the cushion element can be placed or into which the cushion element can be integrated, can be any component of the chair. However, it is preferably a first chair element, which is either arranged in the back or on, at or in the seat surface of the chair. The subliminally induced movements can strengthen and train the back and lumbar muscles of the person sitting on the chair long-term.
A chair element comprising a seat rest, which is capable of wobbling, is known, for example from WO 2016/067217 A1 by the applicant of this application, III SOLUTIONS GMBH, Rebmattli 9a, 6340 Baar, Switzerland. Below the seat rest, the office, work, and leisure chair described therein comprises a cushion comprising a plurality of deformable (formable) air chambers (for example four air chambers), wherein the plurality of deformable air chambers is connected to one another and rests on an elastically deformable (formable) hollow body. Every time someone sits down on the chair, this hollow body serves as pump for pumping up the air chambers. Every time someone stands up from the chair, the hollow body fills with air again as a result of its elastic expansion. In response to weight shift by the person on the chair, the seat rest wobbles imperceptibly, the person performs a counter-movement, the seat rest wobbles back again, etc.
WO 2016/067219 A1 by the applicant of this application also describes an office, work, and leisure chair comprising a seat rest, which is capable of wobbling. Via a cover panel, the seat rest rests on a plurality of spring elements, which are mounted such that they can be displaced in the direction of the edge region of the base plate of the seat rest. In response to weight shifts on the seat rest, the spring elements move back and forth.
The two chairs have in common that there are optimal settings for a certain person, in the case of which the body muscles are trained best. These settings cannot be easily found. WO 2016/067217 A1 proposes to provide the chair with a so-called garage, into which a smartphone can be inserted. Such smartphones have sensors. These sensors can sense, how the garage moves as a result of the wobble movement of the seat rest. First of all, a series of measured values is recorded. The measured values are then analyzed by means of an app (application) on the smartphone.
A disadvantage of this is that different smartphones sit in the garage in different ways, so that the evaluation is possibly not entirely clear or that a separate version of the app has to be written for every model of a smartphone. It would also be desirable if the user (the person sitting on the chair) had the measured data more quickly.
It is thus the object of the present invention to improve a method for using a cushion, in particular for an office, work or leisure chair, which comprises a cushion element, which can be moved with at least one associated degree of freedom, in such a way that it is made easier for the person to find the optimal settings for a chair comprising a cushion of this type and/or to otherwise actively support the training process and/or to provide further possibilities for using a cushion of this type. The provision of a corresponding cushion and chair and a corresponding computer program product with a program code also belongs to the object.
The object is solved by means of a method comprising the features according to patent claim 1, by means of a cushion comprising the features according to patent claim 11, a chair comprising the features according to patent claim 15, and by means of a computer program product comprising the features according to patent claim 16.
In the case of the method, at least one sensor integrated into the cushion for sensing the position or the change in position relative to at least one cushion element with respect to at least one degree of freedom associated with said cushion element, wherein the sensor is coupled to an interface for the wireless output of measured values. In the method, the at least one sensor senses measured values and sends at least some of the sensed measured values over the interface to a device outside the cushion element, wherein the device receives and evaluates the measured values and emits an output signal.
Due to the fact that the cushion has an integrated sensor, said cushion can have a defined position, for example with respect to the other components and elements of a chair, onto which the cushion is placed or into which the cushion is integrated. The position as well as a change in position of the cushion element can thus be sensed particularly precisely. The obtained measured values can also be provided immediately, which provides for a quick evaluation of the measured values within or by the device, respectively, which is located outside the cushion. The output signal can give corresponding feedback to the person sitting or standing on the cushion.
In the case of a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, said method is used in the case of a chair, onto which the cushion is placed and which has at least one device for setting, by means of which at least one of the first chair elements and at least one of the degrees of freedom associated therewith can be set, to what extent a movement can be attained at all or with which application of force a certain movement can be attained. The output signal accordingly gives an instruction for actuating a device of the at least one device for setting. In other words, the measured values are used to correct or even perfect the setting of a chair comprising a cushion element of this type with respect to at least one of the first chair elements.
In the case of a further advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, a control signal is output as output signal. In other words, not only information is reproduced, but the device simultaneously effects the next step.
In the case of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the device is outside the cushion (or comprises at least) one data processing device, in particular a computer, a smartphone, a tablet computer. The data processing device has an output device, and the optional control signal controls said output device. (In the case of embodiments, in which no control signal is output, the device can also have the mentioned properties as data processing device—calculator, smartphone, tablet computer or the like.)
In the case of the embodiment comprising data processing device outside the cushion, it is provided for the advantageous design that the sensor continuously senses measured values, continuously sends them over the interface to the data processing device, and that said measured values are continuously received by said data processing device and that an output made on the output device varies in time as a function of the measured values. For example an optical display can thus directly reproduce the movement of the cushion element on a screen as output device. In the case in point of a first chair element comprising a cushion element, which can be moved with two degrees of freedom according to a wobbling movement, a corresponding two-dimensional display on a screen can be provided. For example and arrow on the screen or also the cursor can thus be controlled with respect to the seat rest by movement of the person sitting on the chair. In this way, the person sitting on the chair has a particular incentive to move in a certain way on the chair. (The movements are then no longer subliminal, but deliberate).
In the case of a further preferred embodiment, the control signal is used to control a user input for a program, in particular to control a cursor and/or as input signal for an application, a game or the like. Due to the body movements of a person sitting or standing on the cushion element, program inputs can thus be prompted directly. For example, the avatar of a player can thus be controlled in a computer game, which creates interesting and entertaining new input options.
The movement pattern sensed by the sensor further turned out to be highly individual. This movement pattern can thus also be used in terms of a digital “fingerprint” in order to identify a user of the seat cushion. Such an identification can already be made after a reception of the movement pattern for approximately 10 seconds to 20 seconds. This fingerprint can be sensed and verified for a user sitting on the cushion element as well as for a user standing on it. This can be used, for example, to suggest specific seat settings for an identified user, whereby a repeated optimization of the seat setting based on the movement pattern can be dispensed with.
The output signal can generally be or at least comprise an optical, acoustic output signal, which can be sensed by a person, or an output signal, which can be sensed haptically. By means of the feedback to the user of the cushion, said user can intuitively run through a program of sitting on the cushion with variable seat position.
In the case of an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is provided that the device makes outputs outside the cushion, by means of which a person sitting or standing on the cushion is prompted to make movements on the cushion, which are preferably predetermined movements. The device thus leads, and only then do the measured values sent by the sensor in the chair or the corresponding interface, respectively, follow.
The method according to the invention is preferably used in the case of such a chair comprising a cushion of the described type, in the case of which the at least one first chair element comprises a seat rest, which is supported so as to be capable of wobbling, wherein at least two sensors sense the position or change in position of two different regions of the seat rest and send corresponding measured values to the device. The two sensors take into account the fact that there are two degrees of freedom. In the case of the seat rest, which is capable of wobbling, in particular the muscles in the lumbar region are strengthened.
In the case of a second option, it is provided that this method is used in the case of a cushion on or in a chair according to the features according to WO 2016/067217 A1: In the case of the chair, the cushion is supported on a pneumatic wobble cushion that has a plurality of deformable (thus formable) air chambers, which are connected to one another, and rests on an elastically deformable (thus also formable) hollow body, which acts as pump for pumping up the air chambers every time someone sits down on the cushion, and which fills with air again as a result of its elastic expansion every time someone gets up from the cushion. More preferably, a pumping hose comprising one-way valve is provided for this purpose from the hollow body into at least one of the air chambers in order to repump any leakage losses.
Connecting hoses between the air chambers are equipped with valves, which can be opened or closed mechanically, hydraulically, pneumatically or electrically in a metered manner, so that the wobble path of the seat rest as well as the damping of the wobbling movement can also be varied here.
The cushion according to the invention comprises a cushion element, which can be moved with at least one degree of freedom associated with the cushion element, and has at least one sensor, which is (generally fixedly) integrated into the cushion, for sensing the position or the change in position to the cushion element with respect to at least one associated degree of freedom, and the sensor is coupled to an interface for the wireless output or sending of measured values.
The cushion is preferably designed in such a way that the cushion element senses and wirelessly outputs measured values for the weight when a weight of at least 40 to 100 kg for the weight and preferably of 30 to 120 kg for the weight is applied to the cushion element over the complete region. The reason for this is that the cushion is to be able to serve for a use as seat cushion as well as be able to be used when the user stands on the cushion. The latter is expedient, when the user stands in front of a standing desk, on which his computer is located. When standing on the cushion, the entire weight of the user (for example 80 kg) is applied to the cushion, when sitting only approximately half of it (then 40 kg). To ensure this, the cushion element has to be suitably stable and has to in particular be designed in such a way that the degree of freedom for the movement is available within the entire weight range. For this purpose, the sensor has to be designed to sense measured values consistent with the movement according to the degree of freedom in the case of all kinds of weights from the weight range.
In a first option of the cushion according to the invention, a position sensor or sensor sensing changes in position is arranged in a movable element. The measured values of the sensor are influenced by means of a device, which is arranged outside the movable element. The sensor can thus be a Hall sensor, which responds to a magnetic field of a permanent magnet outside the movable element.
In the case of another option, a position sensor or a sensor sensing changes in position can vice versa be arranged in a movable element. The measured values of said sensor are influenced by a device arranged in or at the movable element. In other words, the principle of the cooperation of magnet and Hall sensor can also be provided here, but with reversal in the positions of permanent magnet (at movable elements) and Hall sensor (outside the movable element).
The chair according to the invention has a cushion of the described type. Said cushion can be placed onto the chair or can be firmly integrated in the chair.
The computer program product according to the invention comprises a program code, and has the effect (or the program code has the effect, respectively) that, when it runs on a device, measured values are received by a sensor of a cushion comprising the features of the cushion according to the invention, and that an output signal, which is a function of the measured values, is output.
The invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawing, in which
An office, work and leisure chair referred to as a whole with 1, which effects subliminal movements of the sitting person, is illustrated in perspective illustration in
Sensors (not shown in
While the invention will be described below essentially based on a chair comprising a cushion, the cushion can also be used as independent component and can also be placed onto other seat surfaces or be integrated into them. It is further also possible that the cushion is used as support for a standing user. The movements of said user can then be sensed and processed in the same way. It is to be considered in this case that the cushion has to have the necessary mechanical stability, in order to support a standing person in the usual weight range of an adult. When being used in a chair, the cushion can form the seat rest as a whole, can be placed onto it or can form only a portion of the eat rest. In the following, the mentioned seat rest 6 is to be understood as cushion in terms of the invention, or comprises a cushion of this type.
An embodiment, which will be described below with reference to
In the case of this embodiment, the chair comprises a hollow body 40, and a hose ring 41 on the hollow body. The entire construction of interface plate 5, hollow body 40, and hose ring 41 is concealed on the chair together with a skirt 46, which, in the assembled state of the chair, protrudes downward slightly beyond the interface plate 5, so that the entire construction for the wobbling capacity of the seat plate of the seat rest 6 is concealed, even in the case of a maximal wobble tendency of the seat rest 6.
The hollow body 40 has a bellows-like connection 43 to its conical top side 53, wherein this cone 53 can be formed with a much larger angle on its tip than is shown here. The height of the cone is to be between 0.5 and 4 cm, e.g. approximately 1 cm to 3 cm. The conical shape is not mandatory, the hollow body 40 can even be embodied in a completely planar manner. The hollow body 40 is equipped with a one-way valve 42a, so that it can absorb air from the surrounding area. A further one-way valve acting in the reverse direction leads via hose 49 into the hose ring 41 located above the hollow body. The hollow body 40 is furthermore equipped with a pressure relief valve 42b. Every time a person sits down on the chair, the conical top side of the hollow body 40 is pushed axially against the base plate 52 thereof, by elastically folding up the bellows-like connection 43, until the conical top side 53 bears with its edge on the base plate 52. This hollow body 40 thereby acts as pump: It pumps air through the connecting hose 49 and into the hose ring 41, because its volume reduces. When a person gets up from the chair, the bellows-like connection 43, which is elastic and acts as spring, pushes the conical top side of the hollow body 40 upwards again, back into its initial position and thereby lifts all of the elements bearing on it. Due to the expansion of the hollow body volume and of the negative pressure, which thus forms in its interior, air flows through the inlet valve 42a into its interior, so that the hollow body 40 is filled for the next pumping movement. The pressure relief valve 42b in the hollow body 40 regulates the pressure to a maximum value.
One or a plurality of air cushions, which form a wobble cushion comprising at least one air chamber 44, come to rest on the conical top side 53. In the shown example, the wobble cushion is formed by the ring-shaped hose ring 41, similar to an inflatable swim ring or inner tube. The hose ring 41 has four separating walls 45, which divide it into four air chambers 44. In the case of a pronounced conical shape of the hollow body 40, the hose ring 41 is centered and held on the cone. Two adjacent air chamber 44 are in each case connected to one another via hose connections 48. The actual seat plate 47 bears on the hose ring 41, the seat rest 6 bears on said seat plate. The seat rest 6 is immovably placed onto the seat plate 47. In
The supply hose 49, which has already been mentioned, is equipped with a one-way valve 60, so that compressed air can only reach from the hollow body 40 into the hose ring 41, and not the other way around.
In the case of this embodiment of the invention, permanent magnets and Hall sensors are provided in both options. It is illustrated in an exemplary manner in
Alternatively, the permanent magnets can also be provided in the seat rest 6, with the same position of the Hall sensors. In the case of both above options with respect to the arrangement of the permanent magnets, the Hall sensors can further alternatively also be provided on the interface plate 5 or in the latter. It would generally also be possible to implement a reversal of the situation, in the case of which the permanent magnets are provided in or on the interface plate or are provided by the interface plate 5 itself (magnetic plate, in particular ring magnet). They can also be provided as part of the base plate 52. They can also be provided inside the hollow body 40. To that end, it is significant that when, vice versa, the Hall sensors wobble, which are provided for example on the seat rest 6, a supply of electrical energy for the operation of the sensors is ensured in spite of the wobbling movement, for example by means of a battery of the seat rest 6.
The principle of the Hall measurement will be described below on the basis of the schematic
A permanent magnet 99 has a north pole N and a south pole S. A recess 96, into which an external magnetic field can enter, is provided in a Hall sensor 98. (A recess is not mandatory). A voltage, which is provided by a battery 94, applies between two electrodes 95a and 95b. The Hall effect effects the generation of a (counter) voltage in a manner, which is known per se (perpendicular to the applied voltage). The measured value is transferred to an interface 93, which is provided for the wireless sending of, for example, Bluetooth® signals 90 to the smartphone (mobile radio telephone) shown in
Instead of using a Hall sensor, other measuring principles can also be used. For example, a squeezing process, which is sensed by means of one or a plurality of piezoelectric sensors, can be effected by means of the wobbling movement.
An acceleration sensor inside the movable part can also sense, how the speed of the wobbling movement varies and a conclusion can be drawn therefrom to the wobble coordinates. Such acceleration sensors are known from conventional smartphones. They comprise a mechanical oscillator, wherein the frequency of the oscillation or the amplitude or another variable changes when changing the position with respect to the earth's gravitational field.
In a further option, a laser device comprising a laser can be provided at one of the parts (movable or immovable part) and a receiving device at the respective other part. A laser is preferably combined with a mirror, as it is known from distance measurements.
As a further option, a toothed rack can mesh with a toothed wheel and an angle of the toothed wheel can be sensed.
Finally, a plunger coil can also be moved via a permanent magnet.
The component, which does not require an electrical wiring, should generally be located at the movable part, and an electrical evaluation device at the immovable part of the chair. However, a reversal of this situation is also always possible. Optionally, a power supply by a battery or by inductive coupling of electrical energy into the movable chair element is to be ensured.
The embodiment according to
By sensing the measured values, it is possible to instruct the user to make a setting, which is optimal for him (and his weight). He can do so with the aid of the smartphone 70 or the personal computer 80, respectively. A suitable application (app) can run there, which provides instructions to the user.
Instead of the setting of the extent of the wobbling movement by the user, it is also possible to provide electric motors. In the case of the embodiment according to
The method will be described in more detail below with reference to the flowchart in
In step S10 (“start”), it starts with the activation of an app on the smartphone 70 or opening of a function on the personal computer 80, wherein the app or function is assigned to the chair. At the start, it can also be necessary to turn on the measuring devices inside the chair.
In step S12, the user is now requested to move on the chair in a very specific way. This can include, for example, the request of holding a glass of water in his hand and to transfer it from the right hand to the left hand and the other way around again.
In step S14, measured values are sensed by the sensors in the chair, and are sent over the interface 93 to the smartphone 70 or the personal computer 80, respectively.
There, the measured values are received and evaluated in step S16. A display according to step S18 thereby can, but does not have to take place on the screen or touchscreen of the used device. The display can specify, for example, points in those angles, in which the wobbling movement has taken place to the bottom, and can thus reproduce in a two-dimensional manner, how the movement took place.
In step S20, a predetermined criterion is used to check, whether the measured values are complete. The criterion can include on the one hand that a certain minimum number of measured values has to be sensed. It can alternatively or additionally include the criterion that the wobbling movement has taken place within a certain tightness. It can thus be the case that it is a requirement that a measured value exists for each angular range with a predetermined width (for example between 5° and 15°). If the measured values are not complete, the sensing of the measured values is continued according to step S14. The request to move according to step S12 can optionally also be made again.
As soon as it is determined in step S20 that the measured values are complete, it is checked in step S22, whether the sensed settings are okay. The settings of the chair have to take into account the weight of the person sitting on the chair. In the case of a heavier person, the springs have to be slightly more tensioned or the air chambers have to be filled slightly more, respectively, than in the case of a lighter person. As long as the settings are not okay, the user is requested according to step S24 to change the settings. The request can simply include: “please tighten spring/operate lever 23 forward”, or the like or “operate pivot lever 55 clockwise”, respectively, or a corresponding operating element, such as a lever.
Depending on the request for setting, the user is requested to move again, and the process is run through again. As a rule, the user should approach optimal settings little by little. If the criterion, according to which the settings are okay, has been met, the process is ended (step S26: “end”).
Based on a center point M, which can be defined in the chair, it is displayed, how large and in what angle the cable movement took place. The multitude of points, which is identified with I, shows a sequence of measured values, which were captured little by little with predetermined settings, in the case of which the wobbling movement is too small, thus the setting is too hard. The multitude of measured values, which is identified with A, shows measured values, in the case of which the settings are too soft, i.e. the wobbling movement is too large. A region, within which the wobbling movements usually fall, is limited by the contours K1 and K2. The multitude of points, which is identified with Z, falls virtually completely between the contours K1 and K2. As soon as a certain percentage of measurement points falls between the contours K1 and K2, the criterion has been met, for example, that the settings are okay. In the case of the measured values of the multitude I and A, the settings are not okay. The measured values can be individual points, which the user will pass through little by little while moving on the chair with the help of the cursor, which moves on the screen/the display device as a function of the movement of the chair and thus of the measured values. The user can thus actively try for the cursor to at some point be located in every angular range. As shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17180123.6 | Jul 2017 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CH2018/000029 | 7/4/2018 | WO | 00 |
