Seat subportion adjustable in relative height and/or angle and backrest adjustable in shape based on user contact pressure

• US 7,322,651 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2004
• Issued: 01/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ellis K. Nam, Fang Lin, Mohsen Makhsous
• Original Assignee: Ellis K. Nam, Fang Lin, Mohsen Makhsous
• Inventors: Lin, Fang, Nam, Ellis K., Makhsous, Mohsen
• Primary Examiner(s): Nelson, Jr.; Milton
• Application Number:
  US10/856,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20050264069A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,341 Days
• Field of Search: 297/284.9, 297/284.3, 297/284.4, 297/284.6, 297/423.26, 297/217.3, 297/452.63, 297/217.2, 297/452.41
• US Class Current: 297/284.6
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 17/163 and a foot-rest
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 2203/34 for pressure
• CPC Class Codes: A61G 5/1043 Cushions specially adapted for wheelchairs
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/22 the back-rest being adjustable B60N2/2878 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/665 using inflatable bladders
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2002/948 the actuation of the positioning or locking mechanism for one seat part being dependent on the position of another seat part, e.g. the seats floor lock being unlocked when the back-rest is inclined or the backrest can be tilted only when the seat is in its rear position

Abstract

A seat of an apparatus in one example comprises a front subportion and a rear subportion that is adjustable in height and/or angle relative to the front subportion. A backrest of the apparatus in one example is adjustable in shape. Based on a user contact pressure against one or more portions of the seat and/or one or more portions of the backrest, the rear subportion of the seat and the backrest are adjustable between: a first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and a first shape of the backrest; and a second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and a second shape of the backrest.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a seat that comprises a front subportion and a rear subportion that is adjustable in height and/or angle relative to the front subportion;

a backrest that is adjustable in shape; and

a controller communicatively coupled with the seat, the backrest, and one or more input components that comprise one or more contact pressure sensors and one or more air pressure sensors;

wherein one or more of the one or more contact pressure sensors measure a user contact pressure against one or more portions of the seat and/or one or more portions of the backrest;

wherein one or more of the one or more air pressure sensor measures an air pressure within one or more air bladders under the rear subportion of the seat and an air pressure within one or more air bladders embedded in a lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest;

wherein, based on the user contact pressure against one or more portions of the seat and/or one or more portions of the backrest, the air pressure within the one or more air bladders under the rear subportion of the seat, and the air pressure within the one or more air bladders embedded in the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest as feedback signals to the controller, the rear subportion of the seat and the backrest are actively adjustable based on a command from the controller between;

a first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and a first shape of the backrest; and

a second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and a second shape of the backrest.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and a corresponding height and/or angle of the front subportion of the seat comprise a substantially same height and/or angle;

wherein the second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat is/are less than the corresponding height and/or angle of the front subportion of the seat.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, based on the user contact pressure against the one or more portions of the seat and/or the one or more portions of the backrest, the air pressure within the one or more air bladders under the rear subportion of the seat, and the air pressure within the one or more air bladders embedded in the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest as the feedback signals to the controller, the rear subportion of the seat is actively, pivotally adjustable with respect to an axis formed between the front subportion of the seat and the rear subportion of the seat and based on the command from the controller between:

the first angle of the rear subportion of the seat; and

the second angle of the rear subportion of the seat;

wherein, based on the user contact pressure against the one or more portions of the seat and/or the one or more portions of the backrest, the backrest is actively adjustable based on the command from the controller between;

the first shape of the backrest; and

the second shape of the backrest.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more air bladders under the rear subportion of the seat comprises one or more triangular prism shaped air bladders that are inflatable and deflatable to actively adjust based on the command from the controller between:

the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat; and

the second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein relatively different sizes of the first and second shapes of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest serve to promote an increase in lumbar support for a user of the seat and backrest.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more air bladders embedded in the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest are inflatable and deflatable to actively adjust based on the measured air pressure within the one or more air bladders embedded in the lumbar region and activated by the command from controller between the first and second shapes of the backrest.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein one or more of the seat and/or the backrest comprise one or more side bolsters that serve to provide lateral support to the user of the seat and/or backrest.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first shape of the backrest comprises a first shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest, wherein the second shape of the backrest comprises a second shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest;

wherein the controller causes an active adjustment of the rear subportion of the seat and the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest between;

the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and the first shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest; and

the second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and the second shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 in combination with the one or more input components, wherein the one or more input components comprise the one or more contact pressure sensors, the one or more air pressure sensors, one or temperature sensors, one or more accelerometers, and one or more clock inputs;

wherein the one or more contact pressure sensors, the one or more air pressure sensors, the one or more temperature sensors, the one or more accelerometers, and the one or more clock inputs are coupled with the seat and the backrest;

wherein the controller employs one or more of the one or more contact pressure sensors, the one or more air pressure sensors, the one or more temperature sensors, the one or more accelerometers, and the one or more clock inputs to cause the active adjustment of the rear subportion of the seat and/or the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest between;

the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and the first shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest; and

the second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and the second shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, in combination with the one or more contact pressure sensors and the one or more air pressure sensors;

wherein the one or more of the one or more contact pressure sensors measure the user contact pressure against the seat and the backrest;

wherein the controller employs the user contact pressure against the seat and the backrest to determine any one or more of;

the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat;

the first shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest;

the second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat; and

/or the second shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the one or more portions of the seat comprise the front subportion and the rear subportion of the seat, wherein the controller employs one or more ratios between any two of:

a user contact pressure against the rear subportion of the seat measured by the one or more contact pressure sensors;

a user contact pressure against the backrest measured by the one or more contact pressure sensors; and

/or

a user contact pressure against the front subportion of the seat measured by the one or more contact pressure sensors;

wherein the controller employs the one or more ratios to determine one or more of;

the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat;

the first shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest;

the second height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat, and/or

the second shape of the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, in combination with the one or more input components, wherein the one or more input components comprise the one or more contact pressure sensors, the one or more air pressure sensors, and one or more temperature sensors;

wherein the controller determines a duration of time between adjustments based on one or more dermal temperatures of the user against the seat and/or the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest measured by the one or more temperature sensors;

wherein the controller actively adjusts the seat and/or the lumbar region of the one or portion of the backrest upon an end of the duration of time between adjustments.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller makes a determination of an end of a pre-determined time interval;

wherein the controller actively adjusts the seat and/or the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest upon the determination of the end of the pre-determined time interval.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the controller makes a determination of a duration of time that a measured contact pressure against all portions of the seat is within a relatively small range of zero based on all contact pressure sensors on the seat;

wherein the controller actively adjusts the rear portion of the seat to the first height and/or angle of the rear subportion of the seat and subsequently powers off the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a leg support that is adjustable in height and/or angle relative to the front subportion of the seat;

wherein the one or more of the one or more contact pressure sensors measure the user contact pressure against the one or more portions of the seat and a user contact pressure against the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest and a user contact pressure against one or more portions of the leg support;

wherein, based on the user contact pressure against the one or more portions of the seat and the user contact pressure against the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest and the user contact pressure against one or more portions of the leg support, the leg support is actively adjustable based on the command from the controller between;

a first height and/or angle of the leg support that serves to support a knee of a user at a first angle;

a second height and/or angle of the leg support that serves to support the knee of the user at a second angle that is less than the first angle.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the seat and the backrest comprise one or more portions of a chair, wheelchair, and/or car seat.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein one or more portions of the seat and/or the backrest comprise a layer of a softer viscoelastic foam atop a layer of harder viscoelastic foam that promote a reduction in whole body vibration of a user of the seat and/or backrest and contact comfort to the user;

wherein one or more of the seat and/or backrest comprise a neoprene fabric as a cover material that promotes a reduction in shear force between the user and the seat and/or backrest.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the backrest comprises four or more suspension components that allow the lumbar region of the one or more portions of the backrest to oscillate in one or more directions to promote a reduction in movement of a user of the seat and/or backrest relative to the backrest.

19. A method, comprising the steps of:

adjusting a lumbar region of a backrest between a first shape and a second shape based on a user contact pressure, measured by one or more contact pressure sensors, against the lumbar region of the backrest and/or one or more portions of a seat through employment of a controller, wherein the controller is communicatively coupled with the seat, the backrest, and the one or more contact pressure sensors; and

adjusting a rear subportion of the seat between a first height and/or angle and a second height and/or angle relative to a front subportion of the seat based on the user contact pressure, measured by the one or more contact pressure sensors, against the lumbar region of the backrest and/or the one or more portions of the seat through employment of the controller.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the steps of:

making a determination of an end of a pre-determined time interval; and

adjusting the lumbar region of the backrest between the first shape and the second shape and adjusting the rear subportion of the seat between the first height and/or angle and the second height and/or angle upon the determination of the end of the pre-determined time interval through employment of the controller.