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Pressure Distribution
What We Know
mats are draped over the chairs seat pan and backrest; when a
Figure 1 /.
bones, are less sensitive to pressure than the muscle tissue surrounding
the tuberosities and better suited to carrying load than the other
experiences as discomfort.
In addition, chairs with backrests that exhibit pressure peaks in areas
What may seem like a small interference in pressure distribution
of the lumbar away from the spine have been judged more comfortable
between overall seated comfort and the degree to which the sitter
is in a place where, when you sit, its pushing right on the sciatic
nerve, and because of the position of the wallet, youre sitting off
center, with one side higher than the other, so to sit up straight, you
have to curve your spine. This puts an uneven load on the sacroiliac
joints and on the lower back. Its a terrible idea to sit with your
through space and the range of postures that the chair supports.
Design Solutions
Engineer the chair so the structure and materials provide dynamic
support for the sitter and fit differently proportioned persons.
Instead of foam cushions that may impose improper contours, a
work chair with a topographically neutral suspension will conform
to the shape of the person who sits in it. Using pressure-mapping
technology, we experimented with different tensions across the
Therefore
across the back, avoiding the spine and the area behind the knees.
range of users that show peaks in the area of the ischial tuberosities
when the sitter is in an upright posture and areas of the back away
carries most of the bodys weight, the more one reclines, the more
from the spine when the sitter is in a reclining posture / See Figure 2 /.
Design Problem
tilt range and kinematicsand the extent to which they mimic the
bodys natural pivot points and more naturally transfer weight from
body, and not the underlying structures of the seat pan and backrest,
across the sitters back, distributing weight away from the spine.
Hypothesizing that improved back support for upright postures
A topographically neutral seat and backrest, when designed to
localized pressure where the lower back comes into contact with
the chairs lumbar support, but little pressure distribution across
the rest of the back / See Figure 4 /. This stands in sharp contrast to
pressure maps of sitters in reclined postures, which show
References
Aissaoui et al. (2001), Analysis of Sliding and Pressure Distribution during
a Repositioning of Persons in a Simulator Chair, IEEE Transactions on
Neural Systems & Rehabilitation Engineering 9(2): June.
Dowell et al. (2001), Office Seating Behaviors: An Investigation of Posture,
Task, and Job Type, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society 45th Annual Meeting.
Grandjean et al. (1973), An Ergonomic Investigation of Multipurpose
Chairs, Human Factors.
Hertzberg (1958), Seat Comfort, Annotated Bibliography of Applied
Physical Anthropology in Human Engineering.
Kamijo et al. (1982), Evaluation of Seating Comfort, Society of Automotive
Engineers Technical Paper 820761.
Reed and Grant (1993), Development of a Measurement Protocol and Analysis
Techniques for Assessment of Body Pressure Distributions on Office Chairs,
technical report, University of Michigan Center for Ergonomics.
Reed et al. (1991a), An Investigation of Driver Discomfort and Related
Seat Design Factors in Extended-Duration Driving, Society of Automotive
Engineers Technical Paper 910117.
Reed et al. (1991b), An Investigation of Automotive Seating Discomfort
and Seat Design Factors, final report, University of Michigan Transportation
Research Institute.
Reed et al. (1994), Survey of Auto Seat Design Recommendations for
Improved Comfort, technical report, University of Michigan Transportation
Research Institute.
Zacharkow (1988), Posture: Sitting, Standing, Chair Design, and Exercise.
University of California Berkeley (2008). Back Load and Postural
Response to Five Chairs, Ergonomics Program, UC-Berkeley.
Credits
Yves Bhar is the designer of the SAYL family of chairs. He is founder of
fuseproject, a San Francisco-based brand and product design firm. Bhar is
known for tackling big challenges and pushing the boundaries of technology
and design in a cost-efficient way. Surprise and delight are driving principles
behind all his work. This is evident in his designs, from the One Laptop Per
Child to Mission Onethe world's fastest electric-powered motorcycleto
the award-winning Leaf, Ardea, and Twist lights for Herman Miller.
The late Bill Stumpf studied behavioral and physiological aspects of sitting
at work for more than 30 years. A specialist in the design of ergonomic
seating, his designs include the Ergon chair, introduced by Herman Miller
in 1976 and, with Don Chadwick, the equally innovative Equa and Aeron
chairs. He contributed significantly to the design of the Embody chair prior
to his death in 2006. In that same year, he posthumously received the National Design Award in Product Design presented by the Smithsonians
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
Jeff Weber credits his love of furniture design to working with Bill Stumpf,
who designed for Herman Miller for 30 years. Weber joined forces with
Stumpfs Minneapolis firm in 1989. That led him to his association with
Herman Miller. Weber worked with Stumpf on the Embody chair and, after
Stumpf died in 2006, Weber evolved the design at his Minneapolis-based
Studio Weber + Associates. In addition to the Embody chair, Webers designs
for Herman Miller include the Intersect portfolio, Caper seating, and the
Avive table collection.
For more information about our products and services or to see a list of
dealers, please visit us at www.HermanMiller.com or call (800) 851 1196.
2009 Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan
L, Aeron, Ardea, Avive, Caper, Celle, Embody, Equa, Ergon, Intersect, Leaf,
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Pixelated Support, SAYL, and Twist are among the trademarks of Herman Miller, Inc.