Enhanced comfort of seating systems through variable shape and compliance

A new type of seat cushion has been developed. The present use of the cushion is in wheelchair seating, but it may ultimately have application to general seating, particularly in situations where comfort is a significant consideration. The cushion is intended to optimally distribute the interface pressure on the seat of a wheelchair user, as well as to provide an opportunity for active pressure management. The principal goal in developing this cushion is the prevention of pressure sores (decubitis ulcers). The theoretical and design considerations upon which the cushion was developed are presented. Experimental materials data, as well as results of a prototype system, are supplied. A prototype cushion has been produced, and additional work is ongoing. The cushion uses vacuum to manipulate the elastic/collapse properties of open-cell foam; effectively setting a maximum pressure at the human interface. Assuming appropriate auxiliary hardware, pumps, controllers, and sensors it would be appropriate to use this cushion as the basis of an actively controlled seating system.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

1996

Author dc:creator

• Bush, Michael T. (Michael Thomas)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Woodie C. Flowers.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41800

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/41800