System architecture for office productivity structure communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12004662-B2
Application number	US-202218074920-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2022
Priority date	Dec 29, 2014
Publication date	Jun 11, 2024
Grant date	Jun 11, 2024

Abstract

A furniture system includes an office productivity structure (OPS). The furniture system also includes a sensor coupled to the OPS, the sensor operable to detect occupancy of the OPS and generate an output signal indicative of the occupancy; and a processor coupled to the sensor. The processor is operable to receive the output signal generated by the sensor, determine, based on the output signal, that the OPS is occupied, and, in response to determining that the OPS is occupied, generate a command to initiate at least one action associated with the OPS or an operator of the OPS.

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 of the plurality of sensors generating an output signal, at least one of the plurality of sensors configured to detect a position parameter of the chair; and

a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors, the processor configured to:
receive the output signals generated by each of the plurality of sensors,
generate a model for a user of the chair based on the output signals, and
generate a notification based on the model.

2. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the output signals represent data indicative of one or more selected from a group consisting of seat back tilt relative to the base, rate of recline, seat pan weight distribution data, seat pan tilt relative to a horizontal level, back weight distribution data, chair orientation data, chair position data, chair rotational data, and impact force.

3. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the output signals represent data indicative of one or more selected from a group consisting of distance of travel, impact force, orientation with respect to predetermine object, distance from other objects, and weight differential on feet.

4. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the output signals represent data indicative of one or more selected from a group consisting of noise level and temperature.

5. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors include at least one selected from a group consisting of an accelerometer, a strain gauge, a pressure sensor, a load sensor, a ranging sensor, a magnetometer, and a gyroscope.

6. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors include at least one selected from a group consisting of an optical position tracker, a dead reckoning calculator, an ultrasound system, an optical camera, a video camera, a motion sensor, and a gesture recognition system.

7. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a request for the user to change a current posture.

8. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a break timing tip.

9. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a recommendation of a configuration of the chair.

10. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a recommendation of a furniture design.

11. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes information on a status of a goal of the user.

12. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes a maintenance diagnosis for the chair.

13. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive user feedback associated with the notification and generate a second notification to the user based on the user feedback.

14. The furniture system of claim 13 , wherein the user feedback includes a change in a posture of the user, as detected via the plurality of sensors, after generating the notification.

15. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to obtain information collected by an activity tracker worn by the user and generate the notification based on the information received from the activity tracker.

16. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes an update to a social media account.

17. The furniture system of claim 1 , wherein the notification includes an instruction to automatically adjust a position of the chair.

18. 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 of the plurality of sensors generating an output signal, at least one of the plurality of sensors configured to detect a position parameter of the chair; and
a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors, and the processor configured to:
receive the output signals generated by the plurality of sensors,

determine a posture based on the output signals generated by the plurality of sensors,
determine a set of configuration settings for the chair based on the posture, and
generate a notification including the set of configuration settings.

Assignees

• Millerknoll Inc

Inventors

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

Classifications

• A61B5/6891

  Furniture · CPC title

• 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