After an extended period of sitting, muscle fatigue or muscle pain in the lower back region is very common. Many individuals resort to various kinds of back supports. One of the most common forms of a back support is a pillow filled with synthetic fibers, foam beads or avian plumage. Over time, improvements to back support apparatuses have been developed. For example:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,484 discloses a pneumatic cushion fabricated from two sheets of expandable materials, welded together to define an expandable pneumatic chamber. The welded portion is separated from the pneumatic chamber by a rigid board. The board is positioned on one side of the pneumatic chamber. The welded portion is located behind the board so that the circumferential edge thereof and the portion chamber wall sheet mating to the circumferential edge of the board serve as insulating means for insulating the welded portion from tension forces applied to the pneumatic chamber as a result of increasing air pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,651 discloses a seat cover for an automotive vehicle which has inflatable, transversely extending columnar portions with inflatable portions providing support to the seated individual, and heat retaining portions, filled with a heat retaining agent interposed among the inflatable columnar portions for accumulating ambient heat derived from sunlight and for giving off heat when the ambient temperature drops.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,931 discloses an air-controlled lumbar support apparatus for a vehicle seat having a base member and a backrest. The backrest includes an inflatable chamber, a valve mechanism and a pneumatic tube. The inflatable chamber mounted within the backrest and includes at least one partition disposed across a substantial portion of the inflatable chamber. The valve mechanism receives and discharges a flow of pressurized fluid. The pneumatic tube interconnects the valve mechanism and the inflatable chamber for transferring the flow of pressurized fluid. A pump is attached to the valve mechanism for injecting fluid through the valve mechanism and the pneumatic tube to inflate the inflatable chamber. A switching mechanism allows for the release of fluid out of the valve mechanism, thereby deflating the inflatable chamber, as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,076 discloses an apparatus for cycling the lower back through a range of lordosis. The apparatus includes a static structure adjacent to the back of a person and a force applying apparatus disposed between the static structure and the back of a person. The force applying apparatus includes a back engaging surface cyclically movable to increase and decrease static structure and the back engaging surface so as to cycle the lower back through the range of lordosis.
The disadvantages of the aforementioned back support devices are that they tend to be relatively complicated in their components and structures, thus making production relatively complicated and potentially costly. More particularly, all of these back support devices are believed to be embedded inside the backrest of the automotive vehicle seat, and in at least some embodiments, the driver's seat. As a result, it is challenging to immobilize the device in a different seating unit. In addition, the installation and maintenance of such back support devices may require professional help or may need to be pre-assembled from the seating apparatus production site.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a back supporting device that is relatively simple in its structure, thus enabling lower manufacturing costs, that is portable (e.g., that can be moved to a different seating unit as desired), that is easy to install and maintain, while providing efficient back support. The object(s) of the invention may be achieved by the device having the characteristics recited in the independent claims.
This “Background” section is provided for background information only. The statements in this “Background” are not an admission that the subject matter disclosed in this “Background” section constitutes prior art to the present disclosure, and no part of this “Background” section may be used as an admission that any part of this application, including this “Background” section, constitutes prior art to the present disclosure.
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USPTO Backgrounds