• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.383-387
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• 2012

Purpose: Rising from a chair is important for activities of daily living. Several factors have influence on sit-to-stand movement. We studied the effect of inclination of seat surface of on the movement of rising from a chair with electromyographic (EMG). Methods: Twelve subjects performed the sit-to-stand movement on anterior-inclined, standard, and posterior inclined chair. We measured onset time of tibialis anterior and rectus femoris with EMG on each inclination chair. Results: The onset time at the anterior-inclined chair is significantly faster than it at the standard chair (p<0.05). And the onset time at the posterior-inclined chair is significantly slower than it at the standard chair (p<0.05). Conclusion: Rising from anterior inclined chair appeared to be more effective than rising from the standard and posterior inclined chair. Therefore, this finding suggests that the selection of set surface inclination must be considered for activities of daily living during rehabilitation.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.145-152
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• 2013

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an ergonomic office chair that has an alarm function for the unbalanced sitting postures. Background: Contrary to expectation, it is reported that office workers sit on their chairs much more in unbalanced postures during daily work. Even though an office worker uses an ergonomically good-designed chair and begins their work in a good sitting posture, his/her posture is likely to shift to the unbalanced bad posture. Therefore, a posture alarm system would be very helpful in keeping office workers' good postures. Method: We developed a prototype chair with four load cells under a seat pan and one load cell beneath a backrest. Through some experiments, we set the criteria for unbalanced bad postures then implemented the criteria into the alarm system of the prototype chair. The chair called e-BASE chair could detect unbalance postures and show alarms for chair users. We also enhanced back support by developing a step-wised folding backrest. Results: The e-BASE chair showed better performance in interface pressure distributions and balanced posture ratio in VDT work. Conclusion: The ergonomic chair with posture alarm function(e-BASE chair) was developed. It showed better performance in seat pressure distribution and in keeping good posture during office work. Application: The posture alarm system and folding backrest can be applied to the new models of office chair.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2014

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an office chair enabling to keep working at reclined sitting posture. Background: Sedentary workers are supposed to change the posture frequently during long hours of sitting. A reclined sitting position has been recommended to reduce disc pressure. But slumped sitting posture caused by the buttock sliding forward without any adjustment of back reclining is commonly observed. The worker seems to have tendency to change the sitting posture maintaining working condition. We assumed the reason to be their hands movement away from the working space when tilting backward. Method: Slide mechanism allowing seat to move forward was designed to maintain the hand position in working space during reclining. A prototype was manufactured and tilting motion was analyzed using motion capture system. Four experiment chairs were tested including the manufactured prototype chair and three other commercial chairs. Results: A backward movements of the hand position were 13.0mm, 101.7mm, 156.1mm and 139.3mm at the prototype chair, compared to chair B, chair C and chair D, respectively. And the movement was remarkably small at the prototype chair. Conclusion: The developed seat sliding chair allows back tilting maintaining hand position at working space. We expect the user tilting back more often than normal tilting chair during seated work. But further investigation is required to figure out the effectiveness of the developed chair using prolonged working hours. Application: The developed office chair directly affects commercialization.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.273-285
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• 2013

The bent wood technique has been used for making the bow, the musical instruments and the wagon wheel, The Winsor chair of England in 1730's was the first Lfurniture product by using this method. This method was spread out by Michael Thonet in Austria after the Industrial Evolution. Early making technique of Winsor chair was relatively easy, but Michael Thonet's bent chair was mass produced by the machine and launched the revolution in the industrial furniture. 20th-Century European furniture designers applied the method of layering and forming plywood to bent chairs, enhanced the function and conformability. The bent chair had a big impact on modern chair design. The bent chair has the formative beauty and convenience from the character of softness and colors of wooden materials and has been developed variously by furniture designers. This study is a new approach to use Dyed-Gathered Wood with various colors and patterns as a material of the bend wood. First, bent wood with the Dyed-Gathered Wood enhances a close texture of wooden material textures instead of coating the surface. Second, flexibility of the bent wood with the Dyed-Gathered Wood enables wood bending techniques. Lastly, the Dyed-Gathered Wood is made with relatively cheap woods, replaces expensive imported woods which cause product price rise. This method enables a material cost saving and a stable supply of material.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.459-465
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• 1999

A new-concept VDT workstation chair with adjustable keyboard/mouse support was proposed to minimize physical discomfort and the risk of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) at work sites in this study. First, a three-dimensional human modeling tool $(SAFEWORK^{(R)})$ was used to design the new chair satisfying the anthropometric specifications of Korean population. Second, based upon the result of 3-D graphical simulation, a mock-up chair was constructed with an adjustable keyboard/mouse support directly attached to the chair body. Third, muscle fatigue and subjective discomfort were measured to evaluate the newly developed chair. An experiment was conducted to compare the new workstation chair to the traditional computer chair without keyboard/mouse support. Six volunteer subjects participated in six one-hour word-processing sessions with two different chairs and three different postures. Statistical results indicate that the new-concept VDT chair generally improved subjective comfort level and reduced fatigue in finger flexor/extensor and low back muscle. In conclusion, this new VDT workstation chair is expected to reduce physical discomfort and prevent occupational CTD problems in the long run. Implications of the new design and suggestions for the further development are also addressed.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.96-99
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a chair backrest on respiratory function after prolonged sitting. Methods: Twenty-four young healthy subjects (12 males and 12 females) volunteered to participate in this study, and were equally allocated to a backrest (n=12) or a without backrest group (n=12). A spirometer was used to measure the respiratory functions of all subjects. Results: The chair with backrest group were significant difference in forced vital capacity (FVC), Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and peak expiratory flow (PEF) after sitting for 1 hour, compared with chair without backrest group (p<0.05). The chair with backrest group showed a significantly decreased in FVC, FEV1, and PEF. Conclusion: Using a chair without a backrest may help to reduce lung function deterioration as compared with a chair with a backrest.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.93-100
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• 2010

In this study, user survey and some experiments were carried out to identify older adults' characteristics and needs for shower chair design. Firstly, the category and design components of shower chair were analyzed through product analysis. Secondly, older adults' needs for shower chair were identified through user interview and observation. Thirdly, experiment to measure older adults' motion, EMG, and body pressure while using shower chair was carried out and then older adults' characteristics for the use of shower chair were identified. Finally, the direction of design for shower chair was proposed to improve older adults' satisfaction.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.376-380
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• 2000

All chairs are uncomfortable in the long run, but some chairs become uncomfortable more rapidly than others, and in any particular chair, some people will be more uncomfortable than others. Comfort will depend upon the interaction of chair characteristics, user characteristics, and task characteristics. In this study, we intend to design the comfortable office chair by investigating the anthropometric and biomechanical aspects for Korean. Therefore, we determine the design dimensions using the analysis of anthropometric data. With these dimensions, we design the chair mechanism of which backrest reclines with increasing chair pan declination. This mechanism allows the back to get adequate support at the correct level for any backrest declination. Also, the lumbar support in the backrest descends with increasing backrest reclining. By using this chair, a considerably better sitting posture can be obtained, and uncomfortable feeling and back pain may be prevented.

• Archives of design research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.177-188
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• 2002

A thousands of chairs have designed from the Victorian era to the present. Thonet's Nol4 chair in 1859, Wright's high-back chair in 1904, Ritveld's red/blue chair in 1917, Breuer's Wassily chair in 1925, Aalto's Paimio chair in 1932, Eames's DAR chair in 1948, Piero Gatti's Sacco chair in 1969, Starck's Von Volgelsang chair in 1984, Stumpf's Aeron Chair in 1992, Little's 'Coat of arms' chair in 1994 - the list of architects who have seized the opportunity to express their theories in the design of a chair is seemingly endless. Architects such as Machintosh(1868-1928), Wright(1807-1959), Aalto(1898-1976) included chairs within their artistic schemes for interiors and buildings. But as the manufacture of chairs moved away from the domain of the craftsman towards that of the industrial process, architects were also ideally positioned, with their background knowledge of engineering, to pioneer innovative chair design within the constraints of modern manufacturing technology. Beyond matters of function and structure, the fundamental worth of chairs, past or present, lies in their communication of attitudes, ideas and values. The persuasiveness of a chair depend on the clarity of its rhetoric. Chair has become an ideal medium for designers to make their visual statements and construct their individual manifestos. In chair design there is a ping-pong game played out between absurd and useful design, and this game is one way in which the design profession explores itself.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2014

Objective:The present study is intended to evaluate the usability of a console chair for a weapon locating radar by comparing with different kinds of chair design. Background: Console chairs need to be ergonomically designed to reduce physical workload of operators and improve mission capability; few studies have been reported which systematically evaluate usability of military console chairs. Method: Ergonomic design of a console chair, a bus seat, and an office chair was evaluated in terms of headrest, seatback, seatpan, armrest, and controller on a 7-point scale. Ten males in their 20s and 30s were recruited considering the demographic characteristics of console operators. Results: The satisfaction scores of the console chair for headrest, seatback, and seatpan were significantly higher than those of the bus seat (mean difference [MD] = 0.9) and office chair (MD = 1.3). Meanwhile, the satisfaction scores of the console chair for armrest and controller were significantly lower than those of the office chair (MD = -1.4) and bus seat (MD = -2.2). Conclusion: The armrest and controller of the console chair needs ergonomic improvements for better comfort. Application: The evaluation results of the console chair would be of use for ergonomic console chair design.