Abstract: A sitting and reclining cushion is divided into a seat cushion and a back cushion, which are configured in an essentially identical manner. A sleeve consisting of a textile material with low elasticity contains a plurality of tubular pockets consisting of an identical material and joined longitudinally to said sleeve by means of seams. Each pocket is likewise connected to its neighbour or neighbours by means of seams. Each pocket contains a pouch, which consists of an elastic plastic and comprises a valve, and can be filled with compressed air. As a result, the pockets modify their shape, thus tensioning the sleeve and forming the actual sitting or reclining surface. The optimised shape of the cushion structure can be adapted to individual requirements for comfort by means of different air pressures in the pouches.

Abstract: A pneumatic actuator having a flexible plate, the flexible plate being made of a rigid flexible material. The pneumatic actuator further includes at least two elongate, flexible but poorly extensible pneumatic pressure ducts that are disposed side by side and are in parts connected to the flexible plate to which they are secured and on which they are arranged in such a manner that, when the pressure ducts are pressurized with compressed gas, tangential forces are generated parallel to the flexible plate causing said flexible plate to bend.

Abstract: The inventive sitting and reclining cushion is divided into a seat cushion and a back cushion, which are configured in an essentially identical manner. A sleeve (4) consisting of a textile material with low elasticity contains a plurality of tubular pockets (5) consisting of an identical material and joined longitudinally to said sleeve by means of seams (6). Each pocket (5) is likewise connected to its neighbour or neighbours by means of seams (6). Each pocket (5) contains a pouch (7), which consists of an elastic plastic and comprises a valve (8), and can be filled with compressed air. As a result, the pockets (5) modify their shape, thus tensioning the sleeve (4) and forming the actual sitting or reclining surface. The optimised shape of the cushion structure can be adapted to individual requirements for comfort by means of different air pressures in the pouches (7).

Abstract: The pneumatic actuator of the invention is constructed from a plate (1) that is for example level and is secured in a reference system (9). On the one side of the plate (1), a first web (2) of a highly resistant and poorly extensible woven textile is secured such as by gluing alongside several strips (3). A second web (4), which is preferably made from the same material, is applied to the first web (2) and connected to the first web (2) along the strips (3). Between the strips (3), bladders (7) made of an elastic plastic material are inserted in the loose portions of the first and the second web (2, 4), said bladders being closed on both sides and comprising one valve (8) each. The bladders (7) can be pressurized with compressed gas through said valves (8). This causes the second web (4) to arch, the thus generated forces effecting onto the plate (1) a bending moment that causes the latter to laterally bend away.