Method for avoiding health damage due to incorrect posture during screen usage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Sitting and physically unresponsive screen usage position has multiple health consequences that affect the labor productivity of the screen workers and significantly reduce absenteeism and employee early outage.

It is mainly back pain and spinal column disorders due to always the same posture and head aches due to overloading of the eyesight with constantly the same focus on the screen.

This often manifests itself only in general malaise, mild irritability and resulting personal conflicts in the long term, but also in massive health damage that might currently be classified as a potential occupational disease.

Dynamic chairs or similar measures are used for muscle stimulation. However, in concentrated work, these movements are often forgotten.

Scientific studies have shown that sitting without exercise, in addition to the above-mentioned consequences, increases blood sugar levels. If this happens for years, the risk of type 2 diabetes increases significantly and can also lead to the metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, lipid metabolism, insulin resistance / impaired glucose tolerance, obesity). In addition to the degradation of the muscles, it also leads to premature aging, poor circulation and a weaker immune system, so that allergies and other diseases often result from it.

In contrast, light physical activities are helpful, according to studies, even more than exten sive sport activities twice a week. Therefore a combination of many small and extensive movements are best.

It is also scientifically proven that children and adolescents need a lot more exercise than adults. Many children often sit in front of screens during their free time (online games etc.). According to other studies, adults sit on weekends even longer than on weekdays and more and more often in front of the computer, so that a regular change of posture is recommended for everyone, even at home.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to avoid the one-sided load during screen use by regularly changing the posture. SOLUTION

The solution to the problem is to cause screen workers periodically to change their posture and re-focus the eyes.

PRIOR ART

For this purpose, some solutions are already known:

US 8,024,202 B2 describes a constant analysis of the posture of the user by cameras and sensors in the workplace. If an unhealthy body posture is detected, the user will be offered a healthier, better adapted posture.

However, pure recommendations of this kind - similar to guides in magazines and the Inter net - lead to only temporary attention and implementation.

US 2016/0367027 A1 describes a completely ergonomic workstation, consisting of a special office chair, keyboard, mouse and several monitors. Both chair and monitors are freely movable in several directions. In addition, automatically adjusting the monitor or chair maintains a constant distance between the screen and the user’s eyes.

But this is especially intended for mobile offices with workplaces for changing employees. An automatic, periodic change of positions is not provided.

Moreover, Smartpodstech [https://www.smartpodstech.com/workstations ] offers an entire workstation with a kind of standing desk that periodically adjusts position and orientation to help the user change their posture and animate to move.

However, standing desks are rarely accepted for VDU work and the cost for an entire system of this kind is quite high.

In addition, numerous systems are known to reposition screens electrically, controlled by the user:

US 2008/0151483 A1 describes a method with two-dimensional adjustment by a rail system and distance adjustment with articulated arms, which is primarily intended for remote-controlled ceiling or wall brackets, while US 7,630,193 relates to an adjustable bracket on desks.

CN 106322066A proposes an automatic distance control with detection of the viewing distance of displays above the desk to the head of the user.

Even with both latter approaches no periodic position changes are provided. INVENTIVE STEP

The inventive step for a better solution of the task here is not to move a whole workplace and its individual furniture or not only to ask the user to make positional changes, but pro- grammatically move the screen so that the user's posture, Viewpoint and focus involuntarily adapts and thus dissolves from the detrimental rigidity of staying in the screen work.

This can be done either with sensing the posture and viewing distance, and record the residence times in individual positions, weighted with known load damage, and trigger corre- sponding position changes after exceeding limits.

The detection of posture can be done both with a camera, which however might raise concerns about monitoring employes, or with one or more distance sensors to head and torso, but also with a sensor mat on the seat, measuring the imprint at different positions and com- pare it over time periods.

The system may also be supplemented with personal health data, in particular pre-existing diseases of the cervical and lumbar spine, visual defects and non-clinical individual incompatibilities.

However, it is still possible - especially after several test runs - to create a standard program that analyzes the median frequent malpositions and accordingly trigger a sequence of position changes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 shows a sequence of the method: A distance sensor (1 ) measures the distance of the user’s head to the center of the screen, preferably by infrared or ultrasonic distance mea- surement.

Four or more pressure sensors (2) in the seat or a seat cushion of the chair measure the imprint of the thigh and the seat bone left and right. A sequencer (3) determines the sequence of measurements, and a computer element (4) therefrom determines the residence time in individual postures.

From these the evaluation unit (5) determines the required movements of the monitor to dissolve unfavorable tension and signals the required changes to the actuator elements (6-8) . Fig. 2 shows an example of a comparatively simple technical design: Here the device (1 ), consists of a base (2) and arm (3). The base unit (4a and 4b) of the arm (3) is moved, driven by _. a spindle motor (6) along a spindle (7) within a running rail (5). The upper part of the base unit (4a) is motor-rotatable along the Z axis and height-adjustable by a piston-type attachment (1 ). Above the base is a motor-driven articulated lower joint (9), and attached to it a motor extendable swivel arm, consisting of arm base (10) and a telescoping unit (1 1 ). At the head of the arm extension (1 1 ) is a motor-driven upper pivot (12)is attached.

At the hinge (12) a motorized bendable upper joint (13), at a rigid angle (14) is attached. Thereon the standardized VESA mount (15) is fixed to the monitor.

In the base (2), a control panel (16), comprising an electronic control unit (17) is arranged.

However, other constructions are conceivable, e.g. a monitor which is moved on the VESA support plate in rails in the horizontal and in the vertical direction, preferably with linear motor or rack or belt drive. Optionally, a spindle drive can be added for different eye focussing, if it is not sufficiently changed by the XY shift.

However, the entire rail construction then must be moved along with it. It is also possible to move a monitor with a support arm on a pedestal about a pivot axis, with another control articulation about the vertical axis of rotation, and with a third control articulation for horizontal pivoting in programmed coordination with the first articulation, again in horizontal direction. Moreover, a corresponding robot arm with three degrees of freedom would be feasible fort this task. However, in these embodiments, not only are the logic of the controller is more complicated.

Such robot arms are usually made with hydraulic drive, because thus the fixation on differ- ent setting angle faster and quieter and only by closing the valves high holding forces can be achieved.

The hydraulics, built from series components, is then also not much more expensive than electric spindle and worm drives, which also hold heavy monitors in their position by their self-locking properties - but usually work with unpleasant operating noise. Furthermore, an embodiment in the form of a tripod guide with three telescopically extend ^¬ able arms on a base plate on the work table, which converge on a holding node (34) on the VESA plate of the monitor is possible. They can be brought into the required positions by internal spindles and small DC motors and hojd them permanently.

This solution is the simplest in terms of its structure, but requires some space on the desk. However, with it, the monitor can also be pivoted in horizontal position, e.g. for using a touch- sensitive screen (e.g., Wacom Intous or Cintic) for on-screen drawing or group work - so for cooperatively combining and moving graphical elements.