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Study on Design of Female Office Chair Based on Ergonomics
Xiaorong Dun,1 Yeying Liu2
1Industrial design, Hohai university, Changzhou, Jiangsu, 213000, China
2 Industrial design, Hohai university, Changzhou, Jiangsu, 213000, China
Abstract. In view of the fact that existing office chairs cannot fully meet the needs of office workers,
especially the design of some adjustable parts, there is a lack of consideration for female size, body structure,
and psychological needs. In this paper, through online and on-site research, combined with the results of the
research, the existing office chairs are analyzed for related human-machine functions, and specific
improvements for the chair surface, armrests, backrests, and footrests of female office chairs are proposed.
Provide effective suggestions for improving the ergonomic design of female office chairs and determining
design elements.
1 Introduction
The employment population in the tertiary industry has
gradually increased, and the proportion of female
white-collar workers has increased significantly. Women
spend more time in the office sitting posture than men,
and need more humane care in their designs. Therefore,
the demand for female office chairs is more prominent,
and the ergonomic requirements are more stringent. The
most important function of the office chair is to support
the human body, so that the human lumbar spine can
maintain natural comfort even after long hours of work.
Ergonomics emphasizes the mutual influence and
interaction of people, things and the environment, and
has an important guiding role in the design of female
office chairs. Research on the ergonomic improvement of
female office chairs under the working environment
meets the dual functions of office and rest can effectively
relieve fatigue, effectively improve work efficiency,
unify comfort and design, and highlight the
people-oriented design concept.
2 Design elements of female office
seats
2.1 Size factor
2.1.1 Seat height
Seat height refers to the height from the ground to the
position of the ischial support on the seat surface, that is,
the height of the lower leg plus foot [1]. Sitting too high
will cause the feet to hang, and the weight of the leg will
press the blood vessels of the thigh, which will affect
blood circulation; sitting too low will make the front
edge of the thigh not reach the chair surface, and the
body weight is concentrated on the nodes of the ischium,
and Sitting too low will also cause the body to bend
forward and increase the intensity of muscle activity in
the back [2]. Refer to the standard design seat height
range, in order to meet the needs of small-sized women,
370mm to 450mm is more reasonable.
2.1.2 Seat width
Seat width refers to the width of the horizontal plane
when a person is seated. The seat width should meet the
size required for the user to sit on the buttocks, and the
seated person can freely adjust the sitting posture.
According to the survey, the hip width index of women is
generally larger than that of men, and the larger size of
the hip width of women should be taken. In view of the
increase in the range of office chair multi-function seats,
the seat width is enlarged proportionally. The reasonable
size of the seat width is 400-425mm.
2.1.3 Seat depth
Seat depth refers to the front-back distance of the seat
surface. The seat depth should ensure that the knee
socket is not compressed, and the waist and back can be
well supported, and the user's hips should be fully
supported. If the depth of the sitting surface is too deep,
the pressure of the upper body of the human body will be
concentrated on the upper part of the legs and the knees,
and the time will cause numbness of the legs; if the
sitting depth is too shallow, it will make people sit on the
chair, so the depth of the seat should be followed: sitting
depth is equal to the horizontal length of the upper half of
the knee in the sitting position minus the 60mm gap[3].
Considering the depth of office seats during leisure, the
reasonable size of the seat depth is 400-430mm.
E3S Web of Conferences 179, 02073 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202017902073
EWRE 2020
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
2.1.4 Foot rest
The foot rest is the most important component that
distinguishes the leisure seat from the office seat. It can
provide good support for the user's calf extension when it
is unfolded. However, in view of the special
requirements for the structure and function of the footrest
(opened footrests must be at least 390mm away from the
front of the seat surface to provide good support for the
lower leg) [4].
2.1.5 Armrests
Work seats are generally not equipped with armrests.
Seats with armrests must ensure the safety of the operator
during work activities. Armrest height refers to the height
of the upper surface of the armrest from the seat surface.
The main role of the armrest is to support the arm to
reduce the burden on the shoulder, and use the armrest to
support the body when standing, sitting or changing
posture. In order to prevent shrugs during use, the
handrails should be designed according to users with
small body, so the reasonable height of the handrails is
200-230mm. For liftable handrails, the minimum shall
not be greater than 200mm and the maximum shall not
be less than 250mm.
2.1.6 Back height
Back height refers to the height of the highest point of
the backrest from the seat surface. The height of the
backrest is related to the shoulder height of the sitting
position. For multi-functional seats, both office and
leisure postures must be considered, so the height of the
back must be based on the height of the leisure chair. The
height of the back of the general leisure chair is between
520-700mm. The back width is the same as the seat
width 400-425mm.
Seat hei
g
h
t
400-510
Seat depth 400-420
Seat width >400
Back width ≥360
Back hei
g
h
t
≥360
Armrest depth ≥200
Armrest width ≥40
Armrest height (from seat pad) Fixed armrest: 200-250
Lifting armrest: Min≤200;
Max≥250
Figure 1. Office human ergonomics data
Percentile
Measurement items
1 5 10 50 90 95 99
Seat height 789 809 819 855 891 901 920
Sitting shoulder height 504 518 526 556 585 594 609
Calf hei
g
h
t
331 342 350 382 399 405 417
Sit deep 388 401 408 433 461 469 485
Hip width 275 290 296 317 340 346 360
Figure 2. Sitting body size (female)
Table 1. Dimensions of female office seats
Design object Numerical
parameters
Seat height 370-450
Seat width 400-425
Seat depth 400-430
Leg length >390
Armrest height 200-230
Backrest height 520-700
Backrest width 400-425
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2.2 Material analysis
Women pay more attention to emotional needs than men.
Studying the psychological feelings brought about by the
commonly used materials and colors of office chairs can
enable users to obtain a deeper emotional experience in
addition to the instinctive level of experience including
the function of the chair. Wooden seat products have a
long service life and are not easily deformed, giving
people a true, simple and natural psychological feeling;
the leather material is breathable and comfortable, giving
people a noble and gorgeous psychological feeling,
suitable for women in middle and high-level
management offices; plastic materials is hard to sit and
easy to give people a cold psychological feeling; PU
material is imitation made of leather material, with high
comfort, giving people a delicate, soft and light
psychological feeling, suitable for low-level office
women; mesh cloth is breathable and elastic strong, it
can reduce the restriction of feminine weight adjustment,
giving people a delicate and elegant psychological
feeling; stainless steel and other metal materials are
well-made, strong and durable, and give people a thick,
uniform modern sense.
In summary, the material scheme for female office
seats is mainly leather and cloth, supplemented by
materials such as metal and plastic. The integration of
various materials should fully express the authenticity,
simplicity, and subtle naturalness of each material, which
can make the designed female office chair products have
a sense of time and a natural atmosphere. The
comprehensive use of materials and color matching form
different textures, which can enrich people's visual and
tactile sensations.
2.3 Color analysis
Feminine perception of color is stronger than male,
which affects the mood and behavior of the office
process, and even affects work efficiency. The
improvement of the design of office chairs for women
should not only follow the principles of harmony,
economy, design innovation and environmental
protection, but more importantly, combine the
psychological and physiological characteristics of
women to create colors suitable for female office chairs.
[5]
The color selection of female office chairs should be
concise, crisp and coordinated. Color with strong color
contrast or high purity will attract people's attention and
affect work efficiency, but it can also harmonize the
monotonous working environment. For office women,
you should choose a certain cohesive, deep color, you
can use warm colors to match.
3 Design improvement based on
ergonomics
3.1 Improvement of chair surface and chair back
The sitting habits of women and men are significantly
different. Feminine white-collar workers will have some
inappropriate sitting positions. If the chair design is not
scientific and comfortable, it will cause varicose veins,
even scoliosis and other physiological diseases.
Improvement plan:1. The chair is bent downwards by a
certain arc to reduce the compression of the muscles on
one side of the leg; 2. The backrest conforms to the
curved structure of the female back, and the support
points are designed to add the function of waist massage.
3.2 Headrest improvement
The problem with the headrest is that it is connected with
the backrest as a whole. It cannot be rotated and adjusted
up and down at any angle. It is easy to cause discomfort
to the head when leaning back, especially when working
women with pigtails. Improvement plan: 1. Y The type
bracket is reinforced, the force is uniform and the
stability is strong. 2. The headrest can be adjusted up and
down and the rotation angle.
3.3 Improved armrest
Some armrests are connected to the chair surface, but not
to the backrest, resulting in that the angle of the armrest
cannot be adjusted according to the inclination angle of
the backrest. Moreover, the width of the armrest is
narrow, and can be adjusted up and down, but not left
and right, which results in a small range of wrist
movement when forming an arm support. Improvement
plan: 1. The armrest is connected with the backrest, the
angle can be adjusted according to the inclination angle
of the backrest; 2. The shape of the armrest extends from
near the back of the chair to a wide width, which can
increase the range of movement of the arm when
supporting. 3. Use the moving link mechanism as shown
in the figure to realize the armrest can be adjusted left
and right, front and rear.
Figure 3. mobile link mechanism
3.4 Improved footrest
When the feet are not placed in a fixed position, women
often appear in a cross-legged sitting position, and the
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pressure generated by the single measurement of the
thigh will increase to nearly twice, so the design of the
footrest of the female office chair should be considered
to meet the needs of different sizes of human body. The
tilt angle of the footrest should be adjustable.
Improvement plan: 1. Add strong magnets at the
connection between the bottom of the cushion and the
footrest to prevent the footrest from vibrating up and
down when moving the chair;
3.5 Improved sensitivity of adjustable parts
Feminine weight is lighter than male, and the seat height
and backrest tilt angle adjustment resistance is large,
which is inconvenient to achieve a wide range of
adjustments, and the inflation pulse of the air pressure
rod and the cylinder will cause violent tremor.
Improvement plan: 1. Design an inductive lifting system,
according to adjust the weight of the test taker; 2. The
built-in sensitive pressure sensor can sense the slight
change of female body weight and pressure.
4 Design plan
The color uses wine red and black and white, simple and
stylish. The chair surface material is leather and the
reclining legs are aluminum alloy; the hinge is set at the
connection between the armrest and the seat, and the
plug-in method is used, and the headrest is provided with
a buckle connection, can be rotated at any angle and
adjusted up and down; the chair is bent downwards by a
certain arc to reduce the compression of the unilateral leg
muscles. The back of the chair is designed to move
according to the curve of the female's back curve and the
built-in sensitive pressure sensor can realize the
adjustment of tiny precision; the armrest is connected to
the backrest, and the angle of the backrest can be tilted;
the backrest angle can be adjusted between 90 and 165
degrees; the connecting rod can be adjusted within the
range of 30 degrees up and down, and is used to match
the backrest tilt of any angle for users of different sizes.
Refer to table 1 for related dimensions, shown in figure
4.
Figure 4. Design dimensions
4.1 Mode conversion
The sitting posture of people in office engineering cannot
be maintained continuously, and the changes have certain
regularity. If you stay in the same sitting posture for a
long time, you will experience discomfort such as waist
pain and fatigue. Therefore, the office chair needs to
meet both office and leisure functions. On the basis of
meeting the relevant size requirements determined in the
previous stage, the final scheme (above Table 1) realizes
the connection between the armrest and the backrest,
which can be angled with the backrest; the backrest angle
can vary from 85 degrees to 165 degrees. Achieve a tilt
angle of 85 degrees to 105 degrees for the working mode;
105 degrees to 135 degrees for the leisure mode; 135
degrees to 165 degrees for the rest mode.
Figure 5. Office mode
Figure 6. Leisure mode
4.2 Detailed design
Add storage box design for office seats, improve the
monotony of office seat functions, and meet consumers'
functional diversity needs. In addition, for the design of
the footrest, the connecting rod can be adjusted within 30
degrees up and down. It is used to match the backrest of
any female size and the backrest of any angle can be
tilted.
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Figure 7. Storage box design
Figure 8. Foot support design
5 Conclusion
The office chair has both functions of office and leisure.
It should meet the regular sitting posture and
subconscious adjustment actions of female users in
particular. It is structurally and functionally compatible
with the sitting posture, providing sufficient
compatibility to ensure various postures for women
adjustable performance and comfort. The new office
chair based on ergonomics maximizes the combination of
theoretical knowledge such as ergonomics, material
mechanics, and color psychology. Based on the
physiological and psychological analysis of office
women, the overall structure is mainly the head support
mechanism and chair The back seat surface structure,
armrest mechanism and footrest design, etc, allow users
to get support from head to toe, greatly alleviating the
fatigue caused by work, and improving feminine
psychological satisfaction in the office process.
References
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Industry Press, Beijing.
2. Shi, Y. (2011) Human Factors Engineering. Tsinghua
University Press, Beijing.
3. Sun, M.L., Ha, J.N., Gao, H.B. (2019) Research on
the scale design of seat furniture based on human
dynamic factors. Aesthetic technology,7:184-208.
4. Cai, H. (2015) Design and research of
multifunctional office lounge chair. Zhejiang
University of Technology, Zhejiang.
5. Xia, F.Y. (2018) Research on Female Furniture
Design Based on Ergonomics. human resource
Management,11:504.
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