Title

CHAIR

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a chair comprising a seat carrier and a seat, wherein the seat carrier is equipped with a support face part, a movement mechanics coupled to the support face part and a drive unit coupled to the movement mechanics and wherein the seat is mounted to the support face part of the seat carrier according to the preamble of independent claim 1 .

[0002] Such seats may for instance include office chairs which today often have adjustable seats, armrests, backs, back supports, and heights to prevent repetitive stress injury and back pain associated with sitting for long periods. Increasingly, such seats comprise motor-driven components which are used for the stimulation and/or training of certain muscle groups or other parts of the human locomotive system in a seated position.

Background Art

[0003] Today, many people suffer of defects or pain caused by sitting on chairs for a long time. In particular, in common office environment people typically sit at work desks for hours. Thereby, it is known that keeping the body still over time may cause degeneration of body parts and, in particular, the back.

[0004] For facing these issues, DE 102013 107249 A1 describes an office chair having a base, a seat, a backrest and devices for pivoting and/or adjusting various components in order to enable a person sitting on the office chair to train muscle groups of different parts of the body. The office chair has at least one shoulder attachment which comprises two partial wings which can be pivoted forward about an approximately vertical axis over the shoulder height of the person sitting in the office chair. One may use one’s shoulder to press under a wing of the shoulder attachment that is swivelled forward and thus train the back extensor muscles. The office chair preferably also has separate upper arm rests and a split backrest, which are each movable and adjustable, so that there are a multitude of possibilities for training individual muscle parts of the body. Further, a headrest may be provided above the backrest which can be set into vibration or movement by a motor so as to offer the person sitting on the office chair the possibility of a massage in the head area.

[0005] Even though such training chairs may help preventing or reducing drawbacks involved in long time sitting, they typically are comparably complicated in construction. Also, the movements for training body parts are quite specific which may prevent proper reduction of adverse effects to the back or the spine.

[0006] Thus, there is a need for improving in particular the ergonomic demands of the human spine in a seated position, as is the case in everyday office environment.

Summary of the Invention

[0007] This object is solved in accordance with the present invention by a chair as it is defined by the features of independent claim 1. Preferred embodiments are subject of the dependent claims.

[0008] The essence of the present invention comprises the following: A chair comprises a seat carrier and a seat. The seat carrier is equipped with a support face part, a movement mechanics coupled to the support face part and a drive unit coupled to the movement mechanics. The seat is mounted to the support face part of the seat carrier. Thereby, the movement mechanics of the seat carrier is configured to repeatedly tilt the support face part, and the drive unit is configured to induce the movement mechanics to repeatedly tilt the support face part.

[0009] The seat carrier of the chair can be positioned between the feet of the chair, which are placed on a floor, and the seat. For example, the chair can have a leg structure or leg frame having the feet and supporting the seat carrier. The support face part of the seat carrier can define a support face to which the seat is mounted. Typically, the support face is a top surface of the support face part. The support face can be flat and essentially horizontally oriented when the support face part is not tilted. [0010] The seat carrier can be embodied as a unit. It can have a housing enclosing the different components of the seat carrier such as, in particular, its movement mechanics and drive unit. The support face part can form a cover of the housing.

[0011 ] The drive unit can induce the tilting of the support face part by being directly or indirectly coupled to the support face part. Particularly, it can be coupled to the support face part by being mounted to it via an eccentric arrangement as described in more detail further below or any similar structure.

[0012] For convenience, the seat can have a cushion or similar soft element. Further, it can be equipped with a cover for aesthetic reasons.

[0013] The chair according to the invention allows for continuously moving a person or user sitting on the chair. Like this, the user can stay in motion which can be beneficial for convenience and/or health reasons. In particular, the chair may be used to simulate the movement of the spine and body parts associated thereto as during upright walking. By moving the spine or back as in natural walking or running, the adverse effects of long time sitting can essentially be reduced. Moreover, in accordance with the invention, such effect can be achieved with comparably simple and robust measures.

[0014] Preferably, the support face part of the seat carrier has a front end, a back end and two lateral ends, and repeatedly tilting the support face part comprises lowering and raising one of the two lateral ends and at the same time inversely lowering and raising the other one of the two lateral ends. In this manner, the person sitting on the chair is forced to compensate for the tilting movement with his pelvic and back muscles, which has proven to be an excellent training for the human spine and other body parts.

[0015] Preferably, the chair comprises a back support to receive a back of a user of the chair when the user sits on the seat of the chair. Hereby, in can be prevented that the user inadvertently gets into a backwardly sloping position which may at least reduce the spine training effect.

[0016] Preferably, the back support is adjacent to the back end of the support face part of the seat carrier. In practice, this was found to be the most appropriate positioning.

[0017] Preferably, the support face part of the seat carrier has a zero position and the movement mechanics is arranged to alternatingly tilt the support face part in a first lateral tilted position and in an opposite second lateral tilted position. In the zero position, the support face of the support face part can be essentially horizontal. Preferably, the tilting angle in each position is approximately the same. This may provide for a well-balanced load distribution of the respective left and right muscle groups. However it is also conceivable that the support face part is tilted twice (or more times) in the first lateral tilted position before being tilted in the opposite second lateral position. It is further conceivable that the tilting angles may vary from one side to the other.

[0018] Preferably, the first lateral tilted position and in the second lateral tilted position, the support face part is tilted between 1 ° to 15°, even more preferred between 3° to 12°, relative to the zero position. In these ranges, the most effective spinal training may be achieved. Thereby, it is further preferred that in the first tilted position the one of the two lateral ends of the support face part is down and the other one of the two lateral ends of the support face part is up, and in the second tilted position the one of the two lateral ends of the support face part is up and the other one of the two lateral ends of the support face part is down, to provide for a well-adjusted balance.

[0019] Preferably, the seat carrier comprises a sensor configured to determine a titling of the support face part. Hereby, the tilting of the support face part may be controlled in a technically simple and efficient manner. Usually, the sensor is arranged to determine a tilting angle of the support face part.

[0020] Preferably, the movement mechanics of the seat carrier comprises a movement adjustment arrangement configured to adapt an extent of the movement mechanics tilting of the support face part. The chair usually comprises a control unit which receives and processes signals of the tilt sensor.

[0021] Preferably, the drive unit has a speed adjuster configured to adapt a speed of the drive unit inducing the movement mechanics to repeatedly tilt the support face part. The speed adjuster serves for a particularly continuous and smooth movement pattern of the support surface part.

[0022] Preferably, the seat carrier has a frame and the movement mechanics of the seat carrier has a pivot axis, which is rotatably mounted to the frame and to which the support face part is fixedly mounted such that the support face part is rotatable together with the pivot axis. In this manner, a technically relatively simple design is provided for applying the tilting movement to the support face part. Advantageously, the pivot axis is thereby mounted to the frame to be only rotatable towards the frame, i.e. to be movable with two degrees of freedom.

[0023] Preferably, the movement mechanics of the seat carrier has an eccentric arrangement coupling the pivot axis to the drive unit. Hereby, the tilting movement may be generated in particularly easy and reliable manner.

[0024] Preferably, the drive unit of the seat carrier has an electromotor equipped with a rotational axis, the electromotor is fixedly mounted to the frame, the eccentric arrangement of the movement mechanics has a bar and a wheel, the wheel of the eccentric arrangement is coupled to the rotational axis of the electromotor, the bar is fixedly mounted to the pivot axis at one of its longitudinal ends, and the bar is eccentrically mounted to the wheel at its other longitudinal end. This form of acting together of the drive unit and the movement mechanics has proven to be little prone to failure. It is noted that “coupled” in this context means that the wheel of the eccentric arrangement may be driven directly by a rotational axis of the electromotor or that it may be driven indirectly by a rotational axis of the electromotor.

[0025] Preferably, the drive unit comprises a belt drive with a driving belt and a belt pulley wherein the belt pulley is arranged on a bearing shaft of a bearing shaft unit wherein the belt pulley is coupled to the rotational axis of the electromotor via the driving belt and wherein the wheel of the eccentric arrangement is mounted on the belt pulley. This design is particularly robust and durable. Further, the belt pulley advantageously comprises a guiding pin which engages into an appropriately curved groove in the bar (i.e. for generating the required tilting movement).

[0026] Preferably, the chair is an office chair, because in the office environment the longest periods of sitting on chairs occur. However, it is also conceivable that the chair may be for instance a lounge chair, a garden chair or a kitchen chair or the like. Also, an application of the seat in motor vehicles is principally possible.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0027] Additional advantageous configurations of the invention arise from the subsequent description of the embodiments of the invention with the aid of the schematic drawings. In particular, the seat carrier according to the invention is subsequently described in detail with reference to the included drawings with the aid of the embodiments. It shows:

Fig. 1 : a perspective view of an inventive seat carrier in the zero position;

Fig. 2: a front view of the inventive seat carrier in the zero position;

Fig. 3: a perspective view of the inventive seat carrier tilted to the left;

Fig. 4: a perspective view of the inventive seat carrier tilted to the right; and

Fig. 5: a front view of the inventive seat carrier tilted to the right.

Description of Embodiments

[0028] In the following description certain terms are used for reasons of convenience and are not intended to limit the invention. The terms “right”, “left”, “up”, “down”, “under" and “above" refer to directions in the figures. The terminology comprises the explicitly mentioned terms as well as their derivations and terms with a similar meaning. Also, spatially relative terms, such as "beneath", "below", "lower", "above", "upper", "proximal", "distal", and the like, may be used to describe one element's or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the figures. These spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different positions and orientations of the devices in use or operation in addition to the position and orientation shown in the figures. For example, if a device in the figures is turned over, elements described as "below" or "beneath" other elements or features would then be "above" or "over" the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term "below" can encompass both positions and orientations of above and below. The devices may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations), and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. Likewise, descriptions of movement along and around various axes include various special device positions and orientations.

[0029] To avoid repetition in the figures and the descriptions of the various aspects and illustrative embodiments, it should be understood that many features are common to many aspects and embodiments. Omission of an aspect from a description or figure does not imply that the aspect is missing from embodiments that incorporate that aspect. Instead, the aspect may have been omitted for clarity and to avoid prolix description. In this context, the following applies to the rest of this description: If, in order to clarify the drawings, a figure contains reference signs which are not explained in the directly associated part of the description, then it is referred to previous or following description sections. Further, for reason of lucidity, if in a drawing not all features of a part are provided with reference signs it is referred to other drawings showing the same part. Like numbers in two or more figures represent the same or similar elements.

[0030] In Figs. 1 and 2, the seat carrier 1 for an inventive seat is illustrated in the zero position Z, i.e. when the support face part 2 is not tilted to the left or the right hand side. The support face part 2 respectively the seat carrier 1 comprises a front end 2a, a back end 2b, a left end 2c and a right end 2d and is mounted to the frame 4 of the seat carrier 1 . At the back end 2b, a back support 3 is indicated. On the support face part 2 usually the seat of the chair is arranged. The support face part 2 may be tilted about pivot axis 5 by moving bar 11 either to the left or the right hand side. For this, a drive unit 20 is provided which comprises an electromotor 21 with a rotational axis 22 and belt drive 25. The belt drive 25 includes a driving belt 26 and a belt pulley 27 on which an eccentric wheel 12 of eccentric arrangement 15 is mounted. The eccentric wheel 12 is coupled to bar 11 for example by means of a pin which engages into a corresponding cam groove (i.e. a curved groove) in the bar 11 (not shown). In the present embodiment, the electromotor 21 is in the form of an angled motor for reasons of space. The belt pulley 27 is arranged on a shaft 29 of a bearing unit 28. The drive unit 20 may also comprise a further belt pulley which may be arranged on the rotational axis 22 of electromotor 21. The frame 4 may comprise a crossbeam 14 at the bottom for reasons of stability.

[0031] In Fig. 3, the support face part 2 is tilted about pivot axis 5 to the left hand side such that der left end 2c is down and the right end 2d of the support face part 2 is up. The tilt angle T may be between 1° and 15°, preferably between 3° and 12°. In practice, usually a tilt angle T of 10° is not exceeded. The bar 11 has been moved by the drive unit 20 respectively the belt drive 25 to the right side such that the eccentric wheel 12 which is mounted on the belt pulley 27 becomes more clearly visible.

[0032] In Figs. 4 and 5, the support face part 2 is tilted to the right side such that the left end 2c is up and the right end 2d is down. Again, the tilt angle T may be between 1 ° and 15°, preferably between 3° and 12°. In practice, usually a tilt angle T of 10° is not exceeded. The bar 11 has been moved by the drive unit 20 respectively the belt drive 25 to the left side such that the eccentric wheel 12 which is mounted on the belt pulley 27 becomes more clearly visible. [0033] Further, in Fig. 4 one can see that the bar 11 comprises at its upper longitudinal end 11b a support element 13 which supports the support face part 2 in order to transmit the rotation of the pivot axis 5 which is generated through the movement of the bar 11 onto the support face part 2. Thus, the bar 11 and the pivot axis 5 represent the movement mechanics 10. The bar 11 is fixedly mounted to the pivot axis. The lower longitudinal end 11a of the bar 11 is coupled to the eccentric wheel 12, as has been described above.

[0034] In Fig. 5, a sensor 6 is shown which in this embodiment is arranged at the underside of the support face part 2 (i.e. opposite from the support face). The sensor 6 is in the form of a tilt sensor. Tilt sensors generally generate an artificial horizon and measure angular tilt with respect to this horizon. The present tilt sensor 6 is connected with a control unit respectively a movement adjustment arrangement of the chair where the sensor measurements are processed and the movement and/or speed of the support surface part 2 is adapted as required.

[0035] This description and the accompanying drawings that illustrate aspects and embodiments of the present invention should not be taken as limiting the claims defining the protected invention. In other words, while the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive. Various mechanical, compositional, structural, electrical, and operational changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this description and the claims. In some instances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the invention. Thus, it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

[0036] The disclosure also covers all further features shown in the Figs individually although they may not have been described in the afore or following description. Also, single alternatives of the embodiments described in the figures and the description and single alternatives of features thereof can be disclaimed from the subject matter of the invention or from disclosed subject matter. The disclosure comprises subject matter consisting of the features defined in the claims or the exemplary embodiments as well as subject matter comprising said features. [0037] Furthermore, in the claims the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single unit or step may fulfil the functions of several features recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. The terms “essentially”, “about”, “approximately” and the like in connection with an attribute or a value particularly also define exactly the attribute or exactly the value, respectively. The term “about” in the context of a given numerate value or range refers to a value or range that is, e.g., within 20%, within 10%, within 5%, or within 2% of the given value or range. Components described as coupled or connected may be electrically or mechanically directly coupled, or they may be indirectly coupled via one or more intermediate components. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

[0038] List of reference signs:

1 seat carrier

2 support face part

2a front end

2b back end

2c left end

2d right end

3 back support

4 frame

5 pivot axis

6 sensor

10 movement mechanics

11 bar

12 eccentric wheel

13 support element

14 crossbeam

15 eccentric arrangement

20 drive unit

21 electromotor

22 rotational axis 25 belt drive

26 driving belt

27 belt pulley

28 bearing unit 29 bearing shaft

T tilt angle

Z zero position