US3541313A - Furniture for sitting - Google Patents

Description

I Nov. 17, 1970 A. BUZZ! "3,541,313

FURNITURE FOR SITTING Filed Aug. 23, 1968 United States Patent U.S. Cl. 297-195 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A piece of furniture to sit on has a saddle-shaped seat which is inclined in one direction and a pair of knee supports located on both sides of the seat which are inclined in the opposite direction.

This invention relates to furniture and specifically to furniture to sit on, like a stool or bench, having a seat mounted on a support; said support may include a plurality of legs or a supporting column with suitable legs.

It is known that a faulty body posture and sickness resulting therefrom are very frequently found with persons engaged in sedatory work. A number of propositions have been made to improve the body posture of such persons by improving the construction of the respective furniture and actually a number of unusual constructions in this field have been put on the market.

These new constructions, however, are in many instances concerned with the aesthetic aspect of the respective furniture and refer mostly to furniture which is not meant to be used, for instance, by workers doing their work at a working table or the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a piece of furniture for sitting, specifically a stool, which not only will reduce fatigue but which will also offer sulficient freedom of movement for the upper part of the body of the user.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a piece of furniture which will have a pleasing form and which is suited to be nested with other such pieces of furniture for storing. The stool, according to the invention, is constructed in such a way that the spine of the person sitting thereon is supported by the pelvis and that the stomach region of said person is not compressed.

The stool, according to the invention, is provided with a saddle shaped seat and two support platforms located at a lower level on each side of the seat and arranged to support the knees of the seated person.

It is preferable to have the ridge of the saddle shaped seat inclined downward in the direction in which the seated person is facing, whereas the two knee supports are inclined downward in the opposite direction and are extended to provide also a support for the shins of the user. The line extending along the ridge of the seat and the line extending along the knee supports may form an angle of about 45. Both the seat and specifically the knee and shin supports are padded in a manner generally known.

The body weight of a person using the stool, according to the invention, is distributed to a number of surfaces. The way of seating made possible by the stool, according to the present invention, is a synthesis between the kneeling rest position used, for instance, in many oriental countries and the sitting rest position generally used by western man. It is also possible to change from the combined sitting-kneeling position to a purely kneeling position and thus to relieve the respective muscles and to avoid fatigue.

3,541,313 Patented Nov. 17, 1970 The way of sitting, made possible by the stool according to the present invention, is also advantageous for expectant mothers.

For better understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing showing a preferred embodiment of the invention of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of a stool, in accord ance with the invention, showing also the construction of the back of the stool.

FIG. 2 is a plan of the stool in accordance with FIG. 1.

FIGS. 12 show a stool with a supporting structure 1 having substantially a reversed U-shaped cross section.

The supporting structure may include four'legs 2.

The saddle shaped seat 3, disposed on the supporting structure, is padded and is wider in back than in front, as can be seen best in FIG. 2.

On both sides of the supporting structure 1 and below the level of the seat 3 are disposed two platforms 4, one on each side of the supporting structure 1. Each of the platforms 4 is equipped with a padding 5 and serves as knee and shin support for the user of the stool.

As best can be seen in FIG. 1, the top of the saddle shaped seat 3 is inclined downward in the direction in which a person sitting thereon would face, whereas the padded platforms 4 are sloping upward in the same direction. Although the most comfortable angle of the inclination 0f the seat in relation to the platforms may vary, it has been found that an angle of about 45 is usually very comfortable to the user.

Advantageously, the seat 3 is widest in back and narrowest in front so that the highest part of the seat is at the same time the wider part thereof.

The supporting structure 1 may be of channel-like shape to facilitate the nesting of a number of stools.

Reinforcing strips 6 may be located on the inside of the supporting structure to improve the stability of the stool.

What is claimed is:

1. A piece of furniture for sitting thereon comprising a support structure, a seat disposed on said structure at a first level and a pair of knee support platforms disposed on said support structure at a second level on both sides of said seat, said second level being lower than said first level, said support platforms being inclined upwardly in the direction in which a person using said seat is facing.

2. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 1 wherein the seat has a saddle-like shape and the ridge of said seat is inclined in a direction which is opposite to the direction of the inclination of the support platforms.

3. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 2 wherein the angle of inclination of the seat in relation to the knee support platforms is about 45 4. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 2 wherein said seat is widest at its higher end.

5. A piece of furniture as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support structure is channel-shaped, having an inverted U-section for nesting a plurality of such furniture pieces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 48,638 7/1865 Adams 297-439 1,065,022 6/1913 Bell 297-195 X 1,213,329 1/1917 Beal 54-44 1,620,448 3/1927 Dourdoufis 297l 1,976,170 10/1934 Hoover et al 297439 X 2,069,476 2/1937 Keil 297-439 X 2,872,966 2/1959 Chamness 297423 X 3,284,988 11/1966 Veach 54-44 JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner

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