WITH ACTIVE STIMULATION OF THE BODY AND EXTREMITIES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention belongs to the field of current life needs, i.e. field of furniture, more precisely chairs or armchairs, those with a special use.

According to the International Patent Classification the invention is classified in class A 47 C 1/037 which defines chairs and armchairs adapted for special purposes, with a seat and backrest movably connected, combined with a footrest.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM

The technical problem solved by this invention consists in constructively resolving a chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities that continuously makes quasi-static movements without will or interference of the user forcing their body to slightly move its sitting position, while keeping the armchair robust and operative, easy to use and maintain and change its parts, satisfying legal standards regarding ergonomics, size and space used in the extreme backward position by application of a stand on which is reversibly mounted a vertical telescopic mechanism that is firmly connected to a lever on whose other end is connected a telescopic mechanism harnessed with the footrest and seat frame firmly jointed to the axle of the vertical telescopic mechanism to whose frame are attached frontal moving levers, rear moving levers and moving levers of the lower backrest to which are reversibly connected movable armrests and in movable levers of the headrest, while all mechanisms are connected by actuators, which are connected with a central command unit by electrical connections that is placed on the right movable armrest. BACKGROUND ART

The Applicant has no knowledge of solutions similar to the chair for long-term sitting with active stimulation of body and extremities.

In contemporary conditions of life and work an increasing number of people sit at their working post, in transport, at home. It is a common misapprehension that there is a proper sitting position. Every sitting position in which the body is not moving is improper, because it results in stress of the body that causes fatigue, pain and serious damages on the long run such as: weakening of circulation in the brain, weakening of circulation in the legs that results in creation of thrombus, while consequences may be a stroke or heart attack. Damages can also be in form of enlarged veins, bursting of capillaries, degeneration of muscles, numb neck, stiff spine, stiff hips, damage of lumbar disk, pain in the shoulders and the back, disturbance of work of the pancreas-diabetes, cancer of the large intestine, hemorrhoids, disease of the prostate gland, damages to reproductive organs.

None of the supposed solutions do not eliminate the problem of improper sitting, but only continue tolerating acute problems such as pain, mainly by increasing the comfort of the chair. Existing solutions of the problem of improper sitting may be divided into two strategies.

The first strategy is oriented towards increasing comfort of sitting by the most precise adaptation of geometry of the seat of the chair to human anatomy. Flexible and thermo- conductive materials are used for this purpose, in order to make prolonged sitting seem bearable. Such seats are regulated by different types of mechanisms, levers, cords, springs, bolts, actuators. There are even types of self-adjusting mechanisms. Usual solutions assume that adjustment is done by the user at the moment when he feels the need to do so, i.e. fatigue. The longer the sitting continues, the more often the user adjusts the chair. Experience shows that users lose will for frequent adjustment of the seat very quickly, so they stop doing it and then unwillingly force their body to adapt to the chair, looking for a better position in order to reduce pain while they sit in an improper position.

The second strategy relates to different alternative solutions such as sitting with active use of muscles, when the user keeps balance all the time, for example a chair on which they sit on a ball, a chair on a spring, different chairs without solid support, unstable chairs in which the user is in a semi-sitting position or semi-standing position. Such an approach is not suitable for prolonged sitting because it causes fatigue of muscles. Here should be mentioned the so-called "zero gravity" chairs that can be brought down to lying position, but they are impractical and dysfunctional because they limit manipulative capacities. It is true that they change the angle under which gravity influences the user, but there is still a problem of necessity to frequently adapt the position of the user, due to occurrence of fatigue. There are also chairs with built in massage devices, but they only mask the problem and it is unknown which damages they may cause to the human body after long use.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The technical problem is successfully solved by the chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities that comes from a stand on which is reversibly built a vertical telescopic mechanism firmly connected to a lever. On the other end of the lever is reversibly connected a telescopic mechanism which is harnessed to the footrest by transmission and an actuator. The seat frame is attached to the axle of the vertical telescopic mechanism. To the frame of the seat are fixed frontal movable levers by rotational bearings, rear movable levers and movable levers of the rest of the lower part of the back. To the lower part of the frame is fixed an actuator which is from its other end connected to a lever by joint, firmly linked to rear movable levers. To upper ends of frontal movable levers are reversibly connected movable armrests, whose other ends are reversibly connected to rear movable levers. Movable levers of the lower part of the backrest that are parallel with rear movable levers are connected by the upper part with movable levers also connected to rear movable levers. In movable levers of upper part of the backrest is in a sliding way movably placed frame on which is movably placed the headrest. A protective canvas is placed over the headrest and the seat. A central command unit which is connected by electrical connections linked to actuators is placed on the right movable armrest. By the command unit is given regime of work of actuators that operate the described mechanism. In this way is enabled to the armchair to move by quasi-static movements, without will or influence of the user, forcing their body to gently change its position while sitting, which enables stimulation and blood movement of parts of the body that are overcharged by pressure due to prolonged sitting. Advantages of the chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities are that the invention is projected as an active device, which means that in real time, continuously, in cycles, by quasi-static movements it causes change of the position in which the user sits, in order to prevent stiffness, blockades of circulation and also in order to reduce-neutralize pressure under influence of gravity to parts of the body-muscles. Different positions of the body that user takes unwillingly during the use of the armchair according to this invention secure:

- stretching of the body (muscles, tendons) intermittently in front and back parts;

- activity of muscles from a relaxing phase in a semi-lying position to an active phase in vertical-extreme forward position;

- free circulation, especially in the legs;

- unburdening of the spine, the discs and the lumbar region by constant change of geometry of the spine and thus of vectors of gravitational force on the discs;

- unburdening of the thighs - the biggest pressure while sitting is on the gluteus and thighs so that the load on the thighs causes a blockade of circulation - by this device, that is eliminated in a way that the footrest goes up until the thighs are separated from the seat, when the load is transmitted by continuous change to the gluteus, so that it does not provoke their overload;

- all overloads that occur by sitting on this armchair last only for a part of a second and are immediately changed in direction and in intensity, so that the user does not feel them, which eliminates the need to use a spongy material on sitting surfaces, which enables use of thin, even solid material which conducts heat properly, thus eliminating overheating of parts of the body in contact with the armchair.

Movements of the armchair, according to this invention, do not require any action of the user because everything occurs automatically, it is programmed and done by actuators that are directed by a small computer unit.

The described concept of the chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities is also suitable for relaxation in cases when the user has been standing for a long time, lying or sitting in other chairs and when they feel fatigue or stiffness. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention is described in detail by enclosed drawings in which:

- Figure 1 shows axonometric appearance of the chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities;

- Figure 2 shows horizontal projection of side appearance of the armchair from Figure 1 ;

- Figure 3 shows vertical section of the connection of Rest 19 and

Movable levers 12;

- Figure 4 shows vertical section of the connection of Rest 20 and

Movable levers 10;

- Figure 5 shows vertical section of the connection of Lever 3 and

Telescopic mechanism 4;

- Figure 6 shows vertical section of the connection of Frame 7 and

Frontal movable lever 8;

- Figure 7 shows vertical section of the connection of Telescopic mechanism 4 and Rest 5;

- Figure 8 shows a block scheme of directing electronics and

executive organs;

- Figure 9 shows the armchair with the user in the preparatory position;

- Figure 10 shows the armchair with the user in the starting position;

- Figure 11 shows the armchair with the user in the extreme forward position and

- Figure 12 shows the armchair with the user in the extreme backward position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities is set on Stand 101 on which is by Axle 1 reversibly built in Telescopic mechanism 2, which is firmly connected to Lever 3. Inside of Telescopic mechanism 2 is placed Actuator A1 (which is not shown on the drawing). On the other end of Lever 3, Telescopic mechanism 4 is reversibly connected with Transmission 25 and Actuator 6. Inside of Telescopic mechanism 4 is placed Actuator A2 (which is not shown on the drawing). Transmission 25 and Actuator 6 are reversibly built in by bearings on Lever 3 by Beam 28 and Bearings 23, while they are firmly connected by Beam 28 with Telescopic mechanism 4 (Figure 5). On other end of Telescopic mechanism 4 is reversibly connected Footrest 5, that is harnessed by Beam 27 (Figure 7) with Transmission 24 and Actuator 16. On Axle 201 of Telescopic mechanism 2 is fixed Frame 7 of Seat 21. To Frame 7 of Seat 21 are fixed Frontal movable levers 8 (Figure 6), Rear movable levers 9 and Movable levers 10 of Rest 20 of the lower part of the back by rotational bearings 23.

On lower side of Frame 7 is fixed Actuator 15 which is by its other end, by Joint 151 , connected to Lever 152, firmly linked to Rear movable levers 9. To the upper ends of Frontal movable levers 8 are reversibly connected Movable armrests 11 by Bearings 23, whose other ends are reversibly connected with Rear movable levers 9 by Bearings 23, forming a pair of joint quadrangles. Movable levers 10 of Rest 20 of the lower part of the back, that are parallel with Rear movable levers 9, are connected by their upper part with Movable levers 12 by Rotational bearings 23, also connected to Rear movable levers 9, by Bearings 23 and Levers 231. In Movable levers 12 of Rest of the upper part of the back 19 is in a sliding way movably placed Frame 13 on which is movably placed Headrest 14. Frame 13 is fixed in Movable levers 12 by Fixators 22. By Sliders 26 connected with Rest of lower part of the back 20 and Fixators 22 is fixed Rest 20 in a desired position between Movable levers 10 (Figure 4). In the same way is also fixed Rest of upper part of the back 19 by Fixators 22, between Movable levers 12 (Figure 3). Over Rest 19, Rest 20 and Seat 21 is placed Protective and decorative canvas or a net 18. On Right movable rest 11 (looking from the sitting position) is placed Central command unit 17. Central command unit 17 consists of User interface Kl that is harnessed with Servo-unit SJ by microprocessor MP. Servo-unit SJ is harnessed directly to actuators 6, 15, 16, A1 , A2 by bus connection BUS (Figure 8). The User directs functions of the described invention by users interface Kl, with screen sensible to touch (issues commands, makes adaptation according to ergonomics, regulates speed and length of movement, chooses different modes of work and reads return information on the state of the device. Microprocessor MP contains a program, i.e. algorithms for directing functions of the device. It processes requests of the user from User interface Kl, returns data on the state of the device, issues commands to Servo-unit SJ and reads its state. Servo-unit SJ directs actuators and reads their state. Bus connection BUS performs connection with actuators and thanks to its application, reduces the number of electric conductors from Servo-unit to actuators. Actuators 6, 15, 16, A1, A2 are executors-drive devices with installed sensors. Actuators may be of any type, for example electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, etc. which does not affect the volume of this patent. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The chair for prolonged sitting with active stimulation of the body and extremities is fully automatic with no involvement of the user, according to this invention. The user should only perform ergonomic adjustment by pressing a button on Users interface Kl and then choosing the desired regime of work and activating the armchair. Figure 9 shows the preparatory position, when user sits in the armchair. After ergonomic adjustments, the user sets the initial position as shown on Figure 10. After starting the chair, it begins to automatically move from the extreme forward position shown on Figure 11 up to the extreme back position on the Figure 12. From extreme forward to extreme backward position, thanks to automatics, mechanics and actuators, the chair performs discrete changes of the position that the user does not even feel. The length of the whole cycle of going from one to the other extreme position is optimally about 20 minutes and may be adjusted by the user.

This happens so that the device continually changes the position of sitting, from gently bent forward, with legs put together under the chair (Figure 11 ) up to semi-lying position with stretched legs (Figure 12). These cycles are repeated without pause from the extreme forward position to the extreme backward position and vice versa automatically, without influence of the user.

The Chair is, according to this invention, intended mostly for working premises where it is necessary to sit still for a long time. It can also be used as a seat in transportation means for drivers, but also passengers, especially for long destinations. Its application can be also useful for purposes of recess or rehabilitation, thus without limitation.

APPLICANT, Antic Boban