COMPUTER ASSISTED ERGONOMIC WORKSTATION DESIGNS AND METHODS
First Claim
1. A method for determining chair height of a subject seated in a chair at a workstation, comprising the steps:
- a. providing a mobile computing device, having a processor, a memory, a plurality of accelerometers; and
a display;
b. affixing said mobile computing device to said chair;
c. adjusting the height of said chair to a first height;
d. instructing said subject to sit in said chair and rapidly move the chair using said subjects legs placed on the floor;
e. determining the maximum acceleration achieved during said moving in step d;
f. adjusting the height of said chair to a second height;
g. repeating steps d and e;
h. adjusting the height of said chair to a third height;
i. repeating steps d and e; and
j. displaying on the display, the maximum accelerations achieved versus chair height.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Aspects of this invention include new measures of hip—torso posture and strength of the legs. These new measures are made using new tools. Measurement of hip-torso posture can be made using simple tools. One such tool can be applied to the hips, and indicates relative angle of the spine. Photographic tools can be used to analyze posture relative to vertical references. Measurement of leg strength can be made using a device incorporating accelerometers and computer implemented instructions to quantify forward/backward, left/right, or rotational acceleration when the legs are challenged. Other aspects include devices with computer implemented instructions to quantify leg strength. Using the new devices and methods, one can objectively determine postures that are ergonomically appropriate for persons sitting and working at workstations.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for determining chair height of a subject seated in a chair at a workstation, comprising the steps:
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a. providing a mobile computing device, having a processor, a memory, a plurality of accelerometers; and
a display;b. affixing said mobile computing device to said chair; c. adjusting the height of said chair to a first height; d. instructing said subject to sit in said chair and rapidly move the chair using said subjects legs placed on the floor; e. determining the maximum acceleration achieved during said moving in step d; f. adjusting the height of said chair to a second height; g. repeating steps d and e; h. adjusting the height of said chair to a third height; i. repeating steps d and e; and j. displaying on the display, the maximum accelerations achieved versus chair height. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer processing device, comprising:
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a processor for carrying out computer implemented instructions; and a memory module containing programming instructions for carrying out the following steps; i. accepting data from accelerometers providing gravity data for two or three dimensions of motion, an “
X”
dimension, a “
Y”
dimension, and optionally, a “
Z”
dimension, each of said dimensions being perpendicular to each of the other dimensions, said data being “
gravX”
, “
gravy”
, and “
gravZ”
, respectively, each expressed as the effective gravitational acceleration in each of said dimensions;ii. sampling said gravity data at a frequency of about 1 time per second to about 40 times per second, and storing said data in said memory; iii. updating said gravX, gravy and gravZ values where said updated values are calculated according to the following formulas;
gravX=alpha*gravX+(1−
alpha)*ev.x;
gravY=alpha*gravY+(1−
alpha)*ev.y;
gravZ=alpha*gravZ+(1−
alpha)*ev.z;
where alpha is a time interval for a low pass filter, ev.x, ev.y, and ev.z are new gravity data in the X, Y, and Z dimensions respectively, where alpha is between about zero (0) and about one (1); iv. calculating acceleration by removing the gravity contribution using a high-pass filter according to the following formula;
accX=ev.x−
gravX;
accY=ev.y−
gravY;
accZ=ev.z−
gravZ,where accZ, accY, and accZ are accelerations in the X, Y, and Z dimensions, respectively; and v. calculating for each time point, total linear acceleration (“
A”
) according to the formula;
A=(accX2+accY2+accZ2)1/2.- View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification