조절 가능한 학생용 책상과 의자의 인간공학적 설계 및 평가

Ergonomic Design and Evaluation of Adjustable Desk and Chair for Students

This study was conducted to develop a prototype of adjustable desk and chair for students from elementary to high school. The development process started with identifying the problems of existing adjustable desks and chairs that are currently available in the market. The following fundamental design criteria were established and then applied to develop the prototype. The criterion of minimization of production cost yielding lower the market selling price was the most critically considered in view of the school furniture buyers' price-consciousness. Other design criteria used in this development were designing for stable and solid structure, requiring few motions and no tools to adjust, requiring the use of only one hand to adjust, unrestricting the adjustable interval, providing extra space for foot and knee area, reducing weight to move easily, and requiring not to move around for cleaning up floor. To evaluate the performance of the prototype, the adjustability of prototype was specifically compared with both dimensions suggested by KS G 2010(Korean Standards for desks and chairs for students) and current anthropometric dimension in terms of the flexible range of accommodation. Results of this study illustrate that the prototype developed in this study could be accommodated for the both dimensions. As a concluding mark, appropriate adjustable range for various grades and age groups were presented.