WO2001047393A1

WO2001047393A1 - Biomechanical workstation

Info

Publication number: WO2001047393A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/031693
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eddie D. Soffer
Original assignee: Compu Tools Corporation
Priority date: 1999-12-27
Filing date: 2000-11-17
Publication date: 2001-07-05
Also published as: AU1776301A

Abstract

A biomechanical workstation (100) for computer users (102) enabling them to position the mouse pad or the mouse (108) on the arm (110) of an armchair, comprising: one rigid flat platform portion (114) adapted to hold and use a mouse pad or a mouse; and a coupling portion (112) comprising one u-shaped clamp (120) coupled to the flat portion and an engagement hole and one bolt whose screw is adapted to fit the engagement hole and fasten the clamp onto the arm of an armchair.

Description

IN THE UNITED STATES RECEIVING OFFICE INTERNATIONAL PATENT (PCT) APPLICATION

Title: BIOMECHANICAL WORKSTATION

RELATED INVENTIONS

This Application is related to and incorporates herein by reference, in its entirety, U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/173,086 filed 12/27/1999 entitled MOUSE PAD HOLDER, and claims any and all benefits to which it is entitled therefrom.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the positioning of the mouse pad on the arm of an armchair so as to prevent the strenuous stretching of the arm when manipulating a mouse.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The two most common devices for entering information into a computer are the keyboard and the mouse. Most computer keyboards resemble typewriter keyboards in the arrangement of their letter keys, but have additional keys for special computer tasks. Four arrow keys, for example, enable a computer user to move an electronic marker called the insertion point up, down, to the left, or to the right. The insertion point indicates where the next character typed will appear. Keys can also be reprogrammed. For instance, a user can reprogram a key to insert a letter from a different alphabet. The keyboard also has a numerical keypad to help users enter numbers quickly.

The graphical user interface (GUI), the way of interacting with a computer using pictures and other visual elements displayed on a computer screen and the subsequent use of the device called a mouse~or a similar device called trackball-which controls a pointer on the computer screen; moving of the pointer to an icon and pressing a button would produce the action represented by that icon. Prior to this current invention, the issue of the comfortable positioning of the mouse has not been specifically addressed.

Manipulating the mouse from a position on the desk or on the keyboard extension requires the arm to be constantly stretched and the back to be bent forward rather than in a reclining position. This positioning of the arm and the back exerts pressure on the arm, the neck, and the back and causes unnecessary pain and fatigue in these parts of the body.

Though the keyboard holder addresses the issue of the positioning of the keyboard itself, this device, at worst, fails to tackle the problem pertaining to the comfortable positioning of the mouse and at best, assumes that the problem of the positioning of both of these devices is the same, which is an invalid assumption, as will be further explained later on. Thus far, computer users have had to place the mouse pad close to the keyboard whether on the desk or on the keyboard holder and to manipulate the mouse from that position.

Without constraint of theory, the amount and frequency of use of the mouse is not necessarily identical or proportionate to that of the keyboard. A computer user may use one of them or the other for any length of time or frequency, independent of the amount and frequency of the use of the other. The positioning of these two tools, therefore, does not necessarily have to be identical and, in fact, has to be different if the comfort of a greatest number of individual computer users is to be optimized. This applicant, whose work with a computer used to be bound by strain and pain in the arm, neck and back, stumbled on a resolution of this issue while trying to make himself comfortable working with his computer. The applicant simply added to the arm of his chair a board on which to put the mouse pad so the mouse could be manipulated from that position. The muscle strain and pain disappeared.

Furniture consists of chairs, tables, beds, and other pieces that provide comfort and convenience in our daily lives. Many kinds of furniture are used in homes, schools, and offices. We relax on comfortable couches, and we store various belongings in chests, dressers, and bookcases.

Desks provide a place for study and paperwork. Numerous television sets and phonographs have handsome cabinets, and so they also serve as pieces of furniture. It would be desirable to provide any chair with the capability of becoming an ergonomic or biomechanical workstation.

SUMMARY AND ADVANTAGES It is an object and an advantage of the present invention to provide an enhanced biomechanical workstation. It is a further object and advantage of the present invention to provide a strain-free system for adapting a conventional chair into an enhanced biomechanical workstation.

It is also an object and an advantage of the present invention to provide a means for converting a conventional chair into an ergonomic workstation.

It is a further object and advantage of the present invention to provide such enhanced biomechanical workstation comprising a detachable or permanently mounted work platform..

It is yet a further object and advantage of the present invention to provide such enhanced biomechanical workstation comprising a detachable or permanently mounted clamp portion for coupling between the work platform and the arm of a user's chair. It would be advantageous to provide a keyboard holder whereby the position of the keyboard relative to the computer user can be adjusted to a proximity and a level comfortable to the computer user

Thus, the present invention is a biomechanical workstation, thus providing strain-free use of keyboards and mousing devices while seated in ordinary chairs

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG 1 is a representative application view of a preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention

FIG 2 is a representative exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention

FIG 3 is a representative isometnc view of a preferred embodiment of the work platform

114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention

FIG 4 is a representative lower view of a preferred embodiment of the work platform 114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present mvention

FIG 5 is a representative side view of a preferred embodiment of the work platform 114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention

FIG 6 is a representative isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the coupling portion 112 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present mvention FIG 7 is a representative exploded view of an alternate preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 100a of the present mvention

FIG 8 is a representative isometnc view of another alternate preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 200 of the present invention

FIG 9 is a representative isometnc view of another alternate prefened embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 300 of the present mvention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The descnption that follows is presented to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the present invention, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled m the art, and the general principals discussed below may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departmg from the scope and spirit of the mvention Therefore, the invention is not mtended to be limited to the embodiments disclosed, but the mvention is to be given the largest possible scope which is consistent with the principals and features described herein

It will be understood that m the event parts of different embodiments have similar functions or uses, they may have been given similar or identical reference numerals and descnptions It will be understood that such duplication of reference numerals is mtended solely for efficiency and ease of understanding the present mvention, and are not to be construed as limiting in any way, or as implying that the vanous embodiments themselves are identical

FIG 1 is a representative application view of a preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention The user 102 can sit comfortably, without straining and reachmg forward or to the side, while operatmg both a keyboard 106 and a mouse 108 or other data and instructions mput means The biomechamcal workstation 100 attaches to the arm of a chair 110, such as with a couplmg portion 112 (not shown completely) which couples to the work platform 114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 A mousing surface portion 104 is useful for us g any type of mouse device 108 An additional surface portion 116 of the work platform 114 is available for use for placing, stormg or utilizing additional items such as papers, books, beverages or food items, or lighting devices Other items as will normally be associated with the use of computers, ,ιncludιng scanners, joysticks, storage and duplicating devices, other audio or visual peripherals, etc all can be stored upon the uti tanan additional surface portion 116 and remainder of the work platform 114

The overall dimensions of the work platform 114 of the biomechamcal workstation 100 can vary and be manufactured accordmg adapted for any desired application Typically, the work platform 114 will be about 24-36 inches long and about 10-15 inches deep

FIG 2 is a representative exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention As descnbed above, the coupling portion 112 couples the work platform 114 to the arm 110 of a chair A clamp 120 is fastened onto the arm of an armchair It will be known to those skilled m the art that the screw handle of the clamp 120 is turned in order to fasten the couplmg portion 112 to the chair arm 110 In order to fit a variety of thickness of chair arms, the size of said u-shaped clamp is more or less about 9"x3"x0 375" The size and design of the clamp portion 120 can also be adapted to the particular use

FIG 3 is a representative isometnc view of a prefened embodiment of the work platform 114 of the biomechamcal workstation 100 of the present mvention FIG 4 is a representative lower view of a preferred embodiment of the work platform 114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a representative side view of a preferred embodiment of the work platform 114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention.

As mentioned above, the overall size and shape of the work platform 114 of the biomechanical workstation 100 can be any appropriate and/or operative size and shape. It can be square, rectangular, oval, or other. The work platform 114 could be the size of a mousing surface portion 104 only, it could be the size of just a mousing surface portion 104 and a portion to support a keyboard 106, or it could be the size of an entire desk to allow a plurality of items to be placed thereon.

As shown best in FIGS. 3 and 4, in a preferred embodiment the work platform 114 comprises a recessed or cut-out section 122. This allows a user to bring the work platform 114 closer or farther away, as desired. Along with alternate sizes and shapes of such platform, the work platform 114 can optionally comprised any recessed portion, pockets, recesses, indentations, or covered tray areas, such as for holding paper clips, track ball or mouse devices 108, pencils or pens, rulers, etc.

In a preferred embodiment, the lower surface 124 of the work platform 114 has one or more pair of rails or grooved tracks 126 on one or both ends. (As shown in FIG. 4, 2 sets of grooved tracks 126 are shown). Such pairs of grooved tracks 124 are particularly suited to slide over and/or otherwise couple to the coupling portion 112 . In a prefened embodiment, other mounting means 128 can be used to couple the platform 114 to the coupling portion 112 at a certain position, or otherwise act as "stops" for a sliding configuration. Based on the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that additional means for coupling the work platform 114 to the coupling portion 112, including clamp means, hook and loop materials, snaps, screws, straps, etc. such attachment means are intended to provide detachable, rigid and secure coupling between the work platform 114 and the coupling portion 112, such as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a representative isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the coupling portion

112 of the biomechanical workstation 100 of the present invention. As described above, flange portions 130 on the coupling portion 112 are sized and shaped to fit shdingly into the parallel rails or tracks 126 or other attachment means on the lower surface 124 of the work platform 114. The lower surface 124 of the work platform 114 will then essentially rest upon and be supported by supporting plate 132 of coupling portion 112.

FIG. 7 is a representative exploded view of an alternate preferred embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 100a of the present invention. In this embodiment, the work platform 112a comprises corresponding and mating circular openings 140 which are used for coupling the work platform 114a to the coupling portion 112a. Additionally, keyboard stop tabs 142 are positioned on the work platform 114a to provide secure and gripping contact with a keyboard (not shown). In this embodiment, the biomechanical workstation 100a can be used with a rotating or rocking chair, without fear of a keyboard falling off of the platform 114a..

FIG. 8 is a representative isometric view of another alternate prefened embodiment of the biomechanical workstation 200 of the present invention. This preferred embodiment comprises an articulating arm 202 coupled to clamping portion 212. The articulating arm 202 is formed with at least 2 elongated arm portions 204 and at least about 3 hinges 206 or other swivel means. The work platform 314 swivels independently of the articulating arm 202, and this results in highly adaptable, maneuverable surface which can be utilized individually and uniquely by all users. A keyboard and other work surfaces can be placed exactly where most efficient and strain-relieving

FIG 9 is a representative isometnc view of another alternate preferred embodiment of the biomechamcal workstation 300 of the present mvention In this embodiment, the articulating arm 302 couples directly to the chair arm 310 Thus, it will be apparent from the foregomg that the work platform 314 and articulating arm 302 can be permanently mounted onto the arm 310 of a chair

In a prefened embodiment, the present invention compnses a double platform and clampmg system Utilizing both arms of a chair, the present invention (as shown in FIGS 1-9) can be adapted for supporting not only a keyboard 106 and other working penpherals, but the work platform could also a thin or flat panel momtor Properly mounted onto a work platform so that it would not be inadvertently tipped over, the user could alternatingly pivot either a nght side or a left side work platform, optionally utilizing articulating arms, so that multiple types of computer equipment, mcludmg keyboards, momtors, mouse devices, etc , can be used sunultaneously or sequentially, within a given work session or within any one or more of multiple work sessions

Additionally, m a prefened embodiment, the biomechamcal workstation 100 of the present mvention compnses computer circuitry, one or more central processmg units, one or more operatmg environments or platforms, such as but not limited to Wmdows, Macmtosh, Lmux, OS2, Unix, etc . and also mcludmg operatmg software applications, mass storage devices, graphical user interface means such as a momtor or viewing screen, random access memory, scanning, pnnting, internet and other web-based tools, etc By building the computer system mto the chair portion 110. one or more work platforms 114 can have built-in computer components, as desired and appropnate m a particular application Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods and materials are now described. All publications and patent documents referenced in the present invention are incorporated herein by reference.

While the principles of the invention have been made clear in illustrative embodiments, there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, the elements, materials, and components used in the practice of the invention, and otherwise, which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements without departing from those principles. The appended claims are intended to cover and embrace any and all such modifications, with the limits only of the true purview, spirit and scope of the invention. ///

Claims

We claim: 1. An biomechanical workstation for computer users enabling them to position the mouse pad or the mouse on the arm of an armchair, comprising: One rigid flat portion adapted to hold and use a mouse pad or a mouse; One u-shaped clamp coupled to the flat portion having an arm portion and an engagement hole; and One bolt whose screw is adapted to fit the engagement hole and fasten the clamp onto the arm of an armchair.

2. The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 wherein the flat portion has the dimensions of between 5" - 10" x between 4" - 8" x between 0.1" - 1".

3. The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 wherein the size of said u-shaped clamp is 9"x3"x0.375".

4. The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 wherein the size of said u-shaped clamp is coupled to the sheet on one of its sides and has a hole on its other side.

5. The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 wherein the hole on one of the clamps' ends has a diameter of 1 " .

6. The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 wherein the bolt is 1" in diameter at one end and between 2" - 3" in length.

/// 7 The biomechamcal workstation of claim 1 wherem the bolt's screw is 1 4" in length

8 The biomechamcal workstation of claim 1 made of plastic

9 The biomechamcal workstation of claim 1 made of rubber

10 The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 made of metal

11 The biomechanical workstation of claim 1 made of plastic and rubber

12 The biomechamcal workstation of claim 1 made of a combination of materials

13 The biomechamcal workstation of claim comprising of a mouse pad

14 The biomechamcal workstation of claim compnsing of a mouse

15 A biomechamcal workstation compnsing a work platform, the work platform havmg a predetermmed size and shape, the work platform also havmg a lower surface, and a couplmg portion adapted for couplmg of the lower surface of the work platform to the arm of any conventional chair, thereby providmg a means for converting a conventional chair into an ergonomic workstation /// 16 The biomechamcal workstation of claim 15, m which the couplmg portion provides detachable couplmg of the work platform to the arm of any conventional chair

17 The biomecha cal workstation of claim 15. in which the couplmg portion compnses an articulating arm, thereby providmg a work platform which can be pivoted into any convement. ergonomic workmg position

18 The biomechamcal workstation of clam 15 , compnsmg a plurality of workmg platforms and a plurality of coupling portions for couplmg the plurality of working platforms to the in which the couplmg portion provides detachable couplmg of the work platform to the arm of any conventional chair

19 The biomechamcal workstation of claim 15, further compnsmg one or more of the following computer means mcludmg processmg means, graphical user interface means, data and instructions mput means, mousmg device, mass storage devices means, pnnter means, scanner means, and internet connectivity means

20 A kit for converting a conventional chair mto a biomechamcal workstation compnsmg a work platform portion, the work platform portion havmg a predetermined size and shape, the work platform portion also havmg a lower surface, and a couplmg portion adapted for (1) detachable couplmg of the couplmg portion to the arm of any conventional chair, and (2) secure couplmg of the couplmg portion to the lower surface of the work platform portion, thereby providmg a means for converting a conventional chair into an ergonomic workstation ///