System architecture for office productivity structure communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10398233-B2
Application number	US-201514982758-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2015
Priority date	Dec 29, 2014
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

A furniture system includes a chair having a seat, a backrest coupled to the seat, and a base supporting the backrest and the seat. The furniture system also includes a plurality of sensors and a processor. Each sensor is operable to detect a physical force imparted by a user on the chair, and generate an output signal indicative of the physical force. The processor is coupled to the plurality of sensors, and is operable to receive the output signals generated by the plurality of sensors, and determine, based on at least one of the output signals, a current posture of the user sitting in the chair.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A furniture system comprising:
a chair including
a seat,
a backrest coupled to the seat, and
a base supporting the backrest and the seat;

a plurality of sensors coupled to the chair, each sensor operable to detect a physical force imparted by a user on the chair, and generate an output signal indicative of the physical force; and
a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors, and the processor operable to receive the output signals generated by the plurality of sensors,
determine, based on at least one of the output signals, a current posture of the user sitting in the chair,
determine, based on at least one of the output signals, a focus profile of the user;
determine a period of time that the user remains in the current posture,
generate a notification for the user to change postures when the period of time exceeds a time threshold, and
generate a notification for the user to change postures when the focus profile of the user indicates the user is distracted.

2. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to determine, based on the at least one of the output signals, a position parameter of the chair, the position parameter corresponding to a tilt of the seat relative to the base, a distribution of weight on the backrest, or a tilt of the seat relative to a horizontal level, and
wherein the current posture and the focus profile of the user are determined based on the position parameter.

3. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the chair further includes a first armrest and a second armrest,
wherein a first sensor of the plurality of sensors is coupled to the first armrest and operable to determine a first force vector acting on the first armrest, and
wherein the processor is operable to determine the current posture and the focus profile of the user based on the first force vector.

4. The furniture system of claim 3 , wherein a second sensor of the plurality of sensors is coupled to the second armrest and operable to determine a second force vector acting on the second armrest, and wherein the processor is operable to
determine a difference between the first force vector and the second force vector and
determine the current posture and the focus profile of the user based on the difference.

5. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to
periodically store the current posture of the user,
generate a report including information regarding stored postures of the user, and transmit the report to a display.

6. The furniture system of claim 5 , wherein the report includes a length of time spent in each of the stored postures.

7. The furniture system of claim 5 , wherein the report includes information regarding a time spent standing by the user and a time spent sitting by the user, and wherein the time spent sitting is subdivided into the time spent sitting in different postures.

8. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is operable to
indicate a target posture to the user, and
determine, based on the output signals from the plurality of sensors, whether the user moves toward the target posture in response to indicating the target posture to the user.

9. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the current posture of the user is one selected from a group consisting of: an upright position, a chair recline position, a recline position with feet on the base, a perch position with elbows on knees, and upright and off-backrest position, a lean left position, a lean right position, a cross leg left position, a cross leg right position, and a slouch position.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further operable to perform at least one of a group of actions consisting of controlling a furniture piece with mobile capabilities to move, adjusting a height of the chair, adjusting a distance between the user and a monitor, adjusting a back stiffness of the chair, limiting an angle of movement of the chair, and limiting a speed of rotation of the chair.

11. A method of determining a posture of a user sitting in a chair, the chair including a seat, a backrest, and a base, the method comprising:
detecting, by a plurality of sensors coupled to the chair, a physical force imparted by the user on the chair;
generating, by each of the plurality of sensors, an output signal indicative of the physical force;
receiving, by a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors, the output signals generated by the plurality of sensors;
determining, by the processor, a current posture of the user sitting in the chair based on at least one of the output signals received by the processor;
determining, by the processor, a focus profile for the user based on the output signals;
periodically storing, by the processor, the current posture and the focus profile of the user;
generating, by the processor, a report including information regarding stored postures of the user and the focus profile of the user; and
transmitting the report to a human resources department to determine at least one ergonomic aspect of the user.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining, by the processor, a position parameter of the chair based on the at least one of the output signals received by the processor, the position parameter corresponding to a tilt of the seat relative to the base, a distribution of weight on the backrest, or a tilt of the seat relative to a horizontal level; and
wherein determining the current posture of the user includes determining the current posture of the user based on the position parameter; and
wherein determining the focus profile of the user includes determining the focus profile of the user based on the position parameter.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the chair further includes a first armrest and a second armrest, and further comprising:
detecting, by a first sensor of the plurality of sensors coupled to the first armrest, a first force acting on the first armrest; and
detecting, by a second sensor of the plurality of sensors coupled to the second armrest, a second force acting on the second armrest;
determining a difference between the first force and the second force; and
wherein determining the current posture of the user includes determining the current of the user based on the difference first force; and
wherein determining the focus profile of the user includes determining the focus profile of the user based on the difference first force.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
detecting, by a second sensor of the plurality of sensors coupled to the second armrest, a second force acting on the second armrest;
determining a difference between the first force and the second force; and
wherein determining the current posture of the user includes determining the current posture of the user based on the difference; and
wherein determining the focus profile of the user includes determining the focus profile of the user based on the difference.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the report includes generating the report including a length of time spent in each of the stored postures.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining, by the processor, a period of time that the user remains in the current position; and
generating, by the processor, a notification for the user to change postures when the period of time exceeds a time threshold.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the report includes generating the report including information regarding a time s

Assignees

• Miller Herman Inc

Inventors

• Hoyt Christopher
• Rucker Daniel
• Doran Joseph
• Alexander Brian
• Daley-Fell Adam

Classifications

• A61B5/4561

  Evaluating static posture, e.g. undesirable back curvature (A61B5/1116 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/1116

  Determining posture transitions · CPC title

• A61B5/1036

  Measuring load distribution, e.g. podologic studies · CPC title

• A61B5/0022

  Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet · CPC title

• A47C31/126 Primary

  for chairs · CPC title