What is an ergonomic chair?

Ergonomics is a technology born after the second World War. In addition to our common design, ergonomics actually includes many other aspects, such as the arrangement of buttons, the design of explanatory text and so on.

To sum up, in essence, the so-called ergonomics is to make the use of tools suitable for the natural form of the human body so that people who can use tools do not need any active adaptation physically and mentally at work, so as to minimize the fatigue caused by the use of tools.

The ergonomic chair is designed according to the research results of ergonomics, which is generally made of mesh, foam and plastic, because these three materials have better plasticity and can shape ergonomic products to the maximum extent.  If it is solid wood, in principle, it is very difficult to make an ergonomic curve.

Generally, the ergonomic chairs on the market today can achieve a fixed form of ergonomic rationality through manual adjustments in many places, such as headrest, armrest, seat and back. Thus can achieve sedentary without fatigue and a lower degree of physical damage.

To put it simply, the ergonomic chair means sitting comfortably and  will not feel tired for a long time.

What key points should designers pay attention to when designing ergonomic chairs? This blog makes a series of discussions on this issue.

Ergonomic chair curve design

The principle of chair design is analyzed from the point of view of people's health, and the shape curve design of the chair is defined according to people's physiological condition, fatigue measurement and so on. The curve of the chair is mainly to see whether the curve of the cushion and backrest is consistent with the physiological curve of the person.
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There are two main views on backrest: one is without backrest, so that people will naturally maintain a back upright position to reduce back pressure, but this view is not very popular because it is impossible to maintain an upright posture for a long time. The second is now generally believed that the need for back-to-back support. Nowadays, people will no longer sit upright in the chair, they will take various positions, and the back will give them a chance to rest and relax their psoas muscles, but the real relaxation depends on whether the curve design of the back of the chair is reasonable.

Ergonomic chair size design

The specific scale of chair design, according to its different functions, according to anthropometric data and national issued standards, continue to test high-speed and reasonable selection of numerical values to meet the requirements of scientific design.

For most designers and manufacturers, determining the appropriate furniture scale is the first and extremely important step in making ergonomic furniture. because the determination of furniture length, width, height and the spatial relationship formed by the placement of furniture are inseparable from the human body scale and its measurement data. However, it is impossible for ordinary enterprises to measure a large amount of data when designers carry out furniture design. Without professional equipment and specialized surveying and mapping personnel, the data is unscientific and unreliable, and manufacturers do not have a lot of time and energy to spend on data measurement. Therefore, designers should be good at making use of the existing authoritative data, and according to the actual situation, on the basis of the obtained data, flexible use, appropriate modification and adjustment, the heart can really design ergonomic furniture. Mastering the principles of human body scale design mainly starts from the following aspects:

1.Understand the standard data.
2. Be good at using anthropometric data in design.
3. Learn to speed and update size data.

We get the measured size for the data not only can be used flexibly, but also take into account its progress with the times. Everything in the world is not immutable, it will evolve and change. Therefore, the measurement data will also change with the changes of the times and social culture. Therefore, if you do not know how to use data reasonably, understand the nature of the use of ergonomic data, and only use it mechanically, it will be counterproductive.

The aesthetic design of chairs.

The functional beauty and formal beauty of the chair should be combined to pay attention to the different psychological emotions brought about by the different environment, so as to achieve the psychological ergonomic satisfaction.

The product of ergonomics is not the product that people traditionally imagine. With the progress of science and technology and the rapid development of industrial design, the product of ergonomics has become a practical work of art with both practical and artistic value. as a part of aesthetics, practical art is closely related to ergonomics, because practical art is most closely related to people's daily life, such as clothing, food, use and so on. Is to directly serve the needs of people.
    

Similarly, ergonomics is also a "people-oriented" discipline, with "people" as the starting point for research. D focuses on people's physical and psychological aspects, begins to explore people's utensils and environment, and takes "serving people" as the ultimate goal. D? D research results will be used to improve human production efficiency and quality of life.

In addition, there is an interdependent relationship between the two. On the one hand, practical art is not only the object of ergonomic research, but also the medium of its value transformation. for ergonomics, without practical art, the research results are only on paper. For practical art, without the study of ergonomics, the practical value and aesthetic value of works of art will be greatly reduced. Therefore, only the full combination of the two will complement each other.

The Finnish furniture designer Kukapolo believes that the human curve is the most beautiful, and the chair shape designed according to the human body curve is also the product of natural beauty. In his own works, this idea runs through all the time.

The detailed design of the chair.

Famous foreign designers attach great importance to the details of the chair, that is, the "millimeter effect". In their view, the difference of a few millimeters will bring different comfort to the chair. We can see that the value of the data is often in a range, if the value is random plus the existence of error. Then the final scale of the designed chair may be unexpected, which is why the masters strive for excellence in the selection and testing of data.

In addition, for the use of the connecting parts of the chair, from the connection form to the choice of connection position, and even the choice of small screws, they are meticulous. The chair is a whole, and the connector is an indispensable important component. It is also an important component of the chair structure, and a good component will also bring a different feeling to the chair.

Therefore, the pursuit of details is also the key to the success or failure of ergonomic furniture.