Abstract:
A chair that has movable thigh levers to permit a shifting of body weight when seated and thereby relieve spinal discomfort and pressure points experienced when seated for long periods. A lever support rocker is provided to coordinate movement of the thigh levers. Downward pressure exerted by a user&#39;s thigh to lower a first thigh activated lever causes a rocking movement of the lever support rocker which results in an upwardly movement of a second thigh activated lever.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims priority from Canadian Application Serial No. 2,526,108 filed Nov. 4, 2005.  
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to a chair that has movable thigh levers to relieve spinal discomfort and pressure points experienced when seated for long periods.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Office workers spend hours seated in their chairs. It has long been recognized that this is not healthy due to the stress placed upon the spine and pressure points exerted upon the buttocks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,851 (Gamba 1992) entitled “Chair with a swinging seat” is an example of an attempt to address this problem.  
         [0004]     There are apparatus that have been developed that have movable thigh levers. Canadian Patent 2,429,829 (Cholet 2004) entitled “Glutemax cardio exercise apparatus”, is an example of a modified form of exercise bicycle that has movable thigh levers. This exercise apparatus is for cardio workouts and is not suitable for office use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     According to the present invention there is provided a chair that has movable thigh levers to permit a shifting of body weight when seated and thereby relieve spinal discomfort and pressure points experienced when seated for long periods. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a front elevation view of the chair constructed in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the chair shown in  FIG. 1  with the thigh activated levers repositioned.  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is a partially transparent top plan view of the chair shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the chair shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  is a partially transparent top plan view of a variation of the chair shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of a further variation of the chair shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 7  is a front elevation view of the chair shown in  FIG. 6  with the thigh activated levers repositioned.  
         [0014]      FIG. 8  is a front elevation view of a further variation of the chair shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 9  is a front elevation view of the chair shown in  FIG. 6  with the thigh activated levers repositioned.  
         [0016]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a further variation of the chair shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0017]      FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the chair shown in  FIG. 10  with the thigh activated levers repositioned. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]     The preferred embodiment, a chair generally identified by reference numeral  10 , will now be described with reference to  FIG. 1  through  FIG. 4 .  
         [0019]     Structure:  
         [0020]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown chair  10  including a support structure  12 . Support structure  12 , as illustrated, consists a vertically extending member  12   a , a base  12   b , and members  12   c  extending outwardly from vertical member  12   a  to support arm rests and a back rest. Referring to  FIG. 3 a  seat  14  is fixed horizontally on support  12 . Seat  14  has a front edge  16 . A first thigh activated lever  18  and a second thigh activated lever  20  are pivotally mounted in side by side relation to front edge  16  of seat  14  for pivotal movement about a substantially horizontal pivot axis  22  that extends substantially parallel to front edge  16 . It will be appreciated, that although first thigh activated lever  18  and second thigh activated lever  20  are illustrated as being attached to seat  14 , they could be pivotally mounted directly to a structure on support  12 . Referring to  FIG. 1 , a lever support rocker  24  is pivotally mounted to support  12 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , lever support rocker  24  pivotally moves about a substantially horizontal pivot axis  26  that extends substantially perpendicularly to front edge  16  of seat  14 . Referring to  FIG. 1 , pivot axis  26  is created by a pivot pin  27 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , shock absorbers  28  serve as means for biasing lever rocker support  24  in a neutral position. These shock absorbers can be in the form of springs shock absorbers, hydraulic shock absorbers, gas shock absorbers, or anything that would serve a similar function. Rollers  29  are mounted to lever support rocker  24 . Rollers  29  create a rolling contact between lever support rocker  24  and each of first thigh activated lever  18  and second thigh activated lever  20 . Base  12   b  of support  12  has underlying wheels  30  to enable it to roll along the floor. It is preferred that arm rests  32  and a back rest  34 , also branch off of support  12 , and for that purpose members  12   c  have been provided. It is preferred that arm rests  32  be supported on springs, that will enable the user to do upper body exercises, as will hereinafter be further described.  
         [0021]     Operation:  
         [0022]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , while the user is seated on chair  10 , downward pressure exerted by a user&#39;s thigh to lower first thigh activated lever  18  causes a rocking movement of lever support rocker  24  which results in an upwardly movement of second thigh activated lever  20 . Similarly, downward pressure exerted by a user&#39;s thigh to lower second thigh activated lever  20  causes a rocking movement of lever support rocker  24  which results in an upwardly movement of first thigh activated lever  18 . Contact between lever support rocker  24  and first thigh activated lever  18  and second thigh activated lever  20  is a rolling contact through rollers  29 , which allows movement without friction or binding. The above described rocking movements must be deliberately initiated by the user, as shock absorbers  28  dampen all movements and act to bias lever support rocker  24  into a neutral position. Shock absorbers  28  resist pivotal movement of lever support rocker  24  until a sufficient amount of downward pressure is exerted by the user&#39;s thigh. The amount of pressure may be predetermined or adjustable to provide for maximum benefit. Arm rests  32  are supported on springs. This enables the user to exercise the upper body by pushing arm rests  32  outwardly away from seat  14  or pulling arm rests inwardly toward seat  14 . It is appreciated that the above described thigh and arm movement are limited. It will be appreciated, however, that the primary purpose of chair  10  is not an exercise apparatus, it is intended to incorporate in the structure of a chair means for movement by the user to prevent injuries that occur due to lack of movement.  
         [0023]     Variations:  
         [0024]     Variations of the above embodiment will now be described with reference to  FIG. 5  through  10 . It will be understood that there are different ways of implementing the teachings of the present invention. For example, while  FIG. 1  shows shock absorbers or pistons  28  as a way to bias lever rocker support  24  in a neutral position, other means may be used. An example of such is shown in  FIG. 5 , where leaf springs  40  are attached to apply a force to each thigh activated lever  18  and  20  about horizontal pivot axis  22 . As depicted, leaf springs  40  are used with an embodiment described below with respect to  FIGS. 10 and 11 . Another variation includes replacing rollers  29  with sliders  42  as shown in  FIG. 6 , or a rigid linkage  44  as shown in  FIG. 8  in order to maintain a connection between lever support rocker  24  and each thigh activated lever  18  and  20  that was able to move based on the position of lever support rocker  24  and thigh activated levers  18  and  20 .  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 9  show how slider  42  and linkage  44 , respectively, are able to move as first thigh activated lever  18  is raised, and second thigh activated lever  20  is lowered.  
         [0025]     It will be understood that the teachings presented herein may be applied to many designs of chairs, and while chair  10  depicted with wheels  30 , arm rests  32 , and a back rest  34 , this need not be the case with all designs. In addition, the design of seat  14  may also be altered. Referring to  FIG. 10 , instead of providing a stationary seat  14  with a first thigh activated lever  18  and a second thigh activated lever  20  as shown in  FIG. 1 , seat  14  may be removed, and thigh activated levers  18  and  20  may be extended, such that the user rests entirely upon thigh activated levers  18  and  20 . Referring to  FIG. 11 , thigh activated levers  18  and  20  still pivot about horizontal pivot axis  22 , however in this variation, as the front of each lever  18  and  20  moves up or down, the back moves down or up.  
         [0026]     In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the words are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the infinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the elements is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.  
         [0027]     It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by claims.