Seating Support
A fluid filled seat support comprising a bladder, a seat and a rigid or semi-rigid partition therebetween. The seat support allows free proprioceptive motion of user's body on the bladder but prevents the bladder from conforming to user's body, which, in many cases, will significantly improve user's comfort.
This application is a formal application claiming the priority of provisional U.S. patent application No. 61/218,970, filed Jun. 21, 2009, the specification of which is incorporated by reference herewith in its entirety.
FIELD OF INVENTIONThis invention relates to seating supports used in chairs, seats, sofas, or on stools, benches and floors, etc.
DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ARTThere are many designs of air- or liquid-filled seat supports. Examples of such products are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.
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- 7,427,109, issued Sep. 23, 2008 to Embach et al.
- 7,131,701, issued Nov. 7, 2006 to Yang
- 7,011,373, issued Mar. 14, 2006 to Hsieh
- 6,820,938, issued Nov. 23, 2004 to Barrett
- 6,752,454, issued Jun. 22, 2004 to Ruel et al.
- 6,677,026, issued Jan. 13, 2004 to Yates
- 6,659,552, issued Dec. 9, 2003 to Duncan
- 6,623,080, issued Sep. 23, 2003 to Clapper
- 6,547,327, issued Apr. 15, 2003 to Yates
- 6,546,579, issued Apr. 15, 2003 to Leventhal et al.
- 6,532,962, issued Mar. 18, 2003 to Walker et al.
- 6,502,263, issued Jan. 7, 2003 to Rowley et al.
- 6,413,194, issued Jul. 2, 2002 to Gant
- 6,354,665, issued Mar. 12, 2002 to Ross
- 6,212,719, issued Apr. 10, 2001 to Thomas et al.
- 6,159,172, issued Dec. 12, 2000 to Gray et al.
- 6,125,851, issued Oct. 3, 2000 to Walker et al.
- 6,125,486, issued Oct. 3, 2000 to Rabon
- 6,042,186, issued Mar. 28, 2000 to Kojic et al.
- 5,979,975, issued Nov. 9, 1999 to Hiraoka
- 5,911,657, issued Jun. 15, 1999 to Meiners
- 5,881,407, issued Mar. 16, 1999 to Chu Pt
- 5,845,352, issued Dec. 8, 1998 to Matsler et al.
- 5,713,631, issued Feb. 3, 1998 to O'Neill et al.
- 5,702,153, issued Dec. 30, 1997 to Pliska
- 5,689,845, issued Nov. 25, 1997 to Sobieralski
- 5,678,891, issued Oct. 21, 1997 to O'Neill et al.
- 5,634,685, issued Jun. 3, 1997 to Herring
- 5,634,223, issued Jun. 3, 1997 to Obermaier
- 5,513,899, issued May 7, 1996 to Michaels et al.
- 5,500,965, issued Mar. 26, 1996 to Hannagan et al.
- 5,378,045, issued Jan. 3, 1995 to Siekman et al.
- 5,369,828, issued Dec. 6, 1994 to Graebe
- 5,314,235, issued May 24, 1994 to Johnson
- 5,137,333, issued Aug. 11, 1992 to Chee
- 5,052,068, issued Oct. 1, 1991 to Graebe
- 4,965,899, issued Oct. 30, 1990 to Sekido et al.
- 4,864,671, issued Sep. 12, 1989 to Evans
- 4,826,249, issued May 2, 1989 to Bradbury
- 4,789,202, issued Dec. 6, 1988 to Alter
- 4,761,011, issued Aug. 2, 1988 to Sereboff
- 4,726,624, issued Feb. 23, 1988 to Jay
- 4,698,864, issued Oct. 13, 1987 to Graebe
- 4,592,589, issued Jun. 3, 1986 to Hellwig
- 4,588,229, issued May 13, 1986 to Jay
- 4,370,769, issued Feb. 1, 1983 to Herzig et al.
- 3,965,508, issued Jun. 29, 1976 to Hunter
- 3,421,163, issued Jan. 14, 1969 to Stoughton
- 3,408,107, issued Oct. 29, 1968 to Savage
- 3,297,023, issued Jan. 10, 1967 to Foley
- 3,276,047, issued Oct. 4, 1966 to Emery
- 3,171,691, issued Mar. 2, 1965 to Beuhrig, and
- 3,145,054, issued Aug. 18, 1964 to Sopko, Jr.
Inflatable seat supports or support elements, e.g. inflatable cushions or bladders have the advantage of conforming to the user's body shape and thus reducing the pressure on the buttocks and upper thighs. Such devices can also, when so designed, provide effective and economical proprioceptive stimulation and exercises. However some users, such as seniors or people with weak equilibrium or postural stability, require less intensive and more controlled proprioceptive stimulation. It is also known that a prolonged close contact of the seating with the user's body creates a need for pressure relief on the sensitive parts of the body, such as the perineal region, ventilation or cooling means in certain cases, and monitoring and/or tracking user's pelvic motion for improved therapeutic results and wellness recovery and for improved clinical supervision. Such issues have been addressed in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,760,933 to Li describes an inflatable cushion useful as a seating support wherein the user can balance his/her lumbar body area while seating on the cushion and exercise their lumbar spine and related muscles (proprioceptive stimulation and exercise). On the other hand, as stated above, it is not always desirable for the cushion to conform to the user's body too closely. People with poor sense of equilibrium or weak postural stability, e.g. some elderly, are known to feel uneasy when sitting directly on an inflated cushion. The benefits or proprioception should be combined with a relative comfort of the user.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide insulation between a fluid-filled seat support and the user's body to improve user comfort. It is another object of the invention to provide a proprioceptive stimulation and exercise seating arrangement enabling the user's proprioceptive exercise, even if the user may have poor sense of equilibrium and/or postural stability. It is yet another object of the invention to provide means to monitor and/or track the pelvic motion of the user when sitting on the seating support. Such monitoring and/or tracking is beneficial and often important to allow clinical professionals and/or users themselves to better understand user's range of motion, better follow prescribed therapeutic exercises, to better monitor user's compliance with prescribed therapeutic exercises, better prescribe required therapeutic exercises, to better follow user's wellness progression, etc.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the ensuing description and drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is described a seat assembly comprising:
a bladder that can be filled with a fluid, and
a rigid or semi-rigid partitioning means associated with the bladder, the partitioning means disposed to separate the bladder from the user's body when the user sits on the seat assembly.
In an embodiment of the invention, the seat assembly further comprises a seating element that is associated with the partitioning means on the opposite side thereof relative to the bladder, the seating element shaped and dimensioned to accommodate the user's body for seating purpose.
In an embodiment of the invention, the partitioning means is integrated with the bladder. In an embodiment of the invention, the partitioning means is integrated with the seating element.
In another embodiment of the invention, the bladder, the partitioning means and the seating element are integrated.
In another embodiment, the partitioning means is separably connected to the bladder.
In another embodiment, the partitioning means is separably connected to the seating element.
In yet another embodiment, the partitioning means is shaped to engage the bladder so as to avoid shifting relative to the bladder when the user sits and “sways” on the seat assembly.
In yet another embodiment, the seating support comprises one or a plurality of motion sensors, corded or cordless, which are attached to, embedded in or otherwise associated with the partitioning means.
In yet another embodiment, the seating support comprises one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors which are attached to, embedded in or otherwise associated with the seating element.
In yet another embodiment, the seating support comprises one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors which are attached to, embedded in or otherwise associated with the bladder.
In yet another embodiment, the motion sensors are attached to, embedded in or associated with any combination of the bladder, partitioning means and seat element. Such sensors may be corded or cordless, and may be capable of sensing the various therapeutic and/or athletic exercise motions and/or testing such as, but not limited to, clockwise and/or anticlockwise pelvic rotations, left and/or right side pelvic rocking, front and back pelvic rocking, and any other motion a pelvic may engage in any other angle, direction, range or speed, when substantially seated on said seating support.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The divider 2 is a rigid or semi-rigid plate, e.g. made of a 5 mm thick PCV, a piece of wood panel, a sheet of aluminum, or a piece of sufficiently stiff rubber. The divider separates the bladder 1 from the seat 3. The bladder 1, divider 2 and seat 3 are attached together by separable means such as Velcro strips 4. The seat may be formed of foam or a rigid material and may be shaped for comfort of the user. The divider 2 may form a base for the seat 3. The bladder 1, divider 2, and seat 3 may be attached, bonded or otherwise associated by non-separable means such as, but not limited to, adhesive bonding, fastener bonding, nailing, bolting, molding, RF welding, ultrasonic welding, heat sealing, etc.
Although the description above contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. Thus the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
Claims
1. A seat assembly comprising:
- a bladder for being filled with a fluid, and
- a rigid or semi-rigid partitioning means associated with the bladder, the partitioning means disposed to separate the bladder from a user's body when the user sits on the seat assembly.
2. The seat assembly according to claim 1 further comprising a seating element that is associated with the partitioning means on the opposite side thereof relative to the bladder.
3. The seat assembly according to claim 1 wherein the bladder and the partitioning means are connected separably to each other.
4. The seat assembly according to claim 1 wherein the bladder and the partitioning means are fixedly secured to each other.
5. The seat assembly according to claim 2 wherein the seating element is integrated with the partitioning element.
6. The seat assembly according to claim 2 wherein the seating element, the partitioning element and the bladder are separably connected to each other.
7. The seat assembly according to claim 2 wherein the seating element, the partitioning element and the bladder are integrated or fixedly secured together.
8. The seat assembly according to claim 1 with at least one corded or cordless motion sensor associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element.
9. The seat assembly according to claim 2 with at least one corded or cordless motion sensor associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element and/or the seating element.
10. The seat assembly according to claim 3 wherein the bladder and the partitioning means are connected separably to each other, with one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element.
11. The seat assembly according to claim 4 wherein the bladder and the partitioning means are fixedly secured to each other, with one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element.
12. The seat assembly according to claim 5 wherein the seating element is integrated with the partitioning element, with one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element and/or the seating element.
13. The seat assembly according to claim 6 wherein the seating element, the partitioning element and the bladder are separably connected to each other, with one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element and/or the seating element.
14. The seat assembly according to claim 7 wherein the seating element, the partitioning element and the bladder are integrated or fixedly secured together, with one or a plurality of corded or cordless motion sensors associated with the bladder and/or the partitioning element and/or the seating element.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 7, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 23, 2010
Inventor: Conghua Li (Markham)
Application Number: 12/794,957
International Classification: A47C 7/02 (20060101); A47C 7/62 (20060101);