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Chair for an enhanced learning environmentChair for an enhanced learning environment description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060082206, Chair for an enhanced learning environment. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/619,445, filed Oct. 15, 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by this reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to seating and more particularly to a chair providing movement and dynamic activity and is especially useful in the learning environment for students. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Some students are very sluggish and tend to lay their heads on their desks or prop themselves up on their elbows. Other students tend to be so full of the wiggles that they can't stop bothering their neighbors or focus on the directions from the teacher. Both groups of students need help with getting "ready" to learn. With the expectation that no child will be left behind, schools and teachers need help with providing the student with learning options. Diversity within a classroom is becoming more of a requirement, simply because students are all different and learn differently. Teachers are learning that providing a number of different seating/working equipment is helping students learn. A variety of classroom seating positions allows students to choose what works best for them. [0004] Definition of Terms [0005] Sensation: This is food for the brain, sometimes called input or ascending information. Normally we think of vision, hearing, taste, smell and touch. With sensory processing, we include and emphasize the sensations of body position (proprioception), and vestibular (movement/gravity) information. The four most important sensory systems related to sensory processing are tactile (touch), vestibular (gravity/movement), proprioception (muscle/joint) and auditory (hearing). [0006] Tactile Sensation: Our sense of touch. We have two very different ways of knowing about our body boundary through touch; one is defensive in nature (I think I have a spider on my neck) and the other discriminative (no, it's the collar on my shirt). We are especially rich in touch receptors in our hands, feet and around our face and neck. [0007] Vestibular Information: The inner ear collects sound, movement and gravity information. Gravity and movement information is vestibular sensation. It allows us to know where we are in space, what direction we are moving and how fast. We reflexively right ourselves when we are out of the line of gravity so we do not fall. This is constant information, and is considered one of the most powerful sensations for alert/arousal and a tool in Sensory Integration therapy. [0008] Proprioception: Every muscle fiber of every muscle has a tiny sensor that tracks the length and rate of change of that muscle fiber. The muscle and joint receptors are constantly informing the central nervous system (the brain) of our "body map". A rich source of proprioception is our plantar flexors (calves). [0009] Auditory Information: Listening to all sounds around us helps us locate our place in space. Language processing is only one part of auditory function. We must screen out unimportant sound and focus and orient to important sounds. To be safe from harm is one of the primary functions of auditory processing. [0010] Defensiveness To Sensation: When sensation tells us that something is dangerous; we immediately turn on our "freeze, fight or flight" response. For instance, with touch, we have to discriminate what is touching us, where it is and how dangerous it is before we can attend to anything else in our environment. After a while even the possibility of a noxious sensation is perceived as a threat. [0011] Threshold: This is the amount of stimulation is takes to fire off the first signals of sensory information. Some students have a low threshold (low amounts of stimulation gets the signal started). Others may need a lot of stimulation to start the signal. [0012] Modulation: The first order screening, dampening down and directing of sensation. Think of this concept as a traffic police officer at a very busy intersection. Some sensory information is tuned up, and some is tuned down or out. Modulation is key to creating order, and "making sense" of the vast amount of incoming information. A powerful environmental modulator is music. Some neurochemicals are modulators, like serotonin, dopamine and NE. [0013] Sensory Integration: This is the product of the result of Vestibular Information, modulation and association between sensory systems. 99% of all neurons are association fibers! SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0014] The chair of this invention is another seating option for teachers and schools to include in their classrooms and provides movement and dynamic activity. Providing movement and dynamic activity for students while they learn is based on the theory of sensory processing. This is a theory that reflects recent brain science about how we learn and store cognitive information, and most importantly what contributes to retention and continued growth in education. [0015] The huge implicit sensory systems of vestibular (movement and gravity, located in the inner ear), proprioceptive (muscle spindle activity) and tactile (skin boundary) are important for the "physical sense of self". The physical sense of self is the foundation for a psychological sense of self. A psychological sense of self allows higher cognitive function of attention, memory and problem solving. In a classroom a child must have a reliable foundation in order to learn. The physical sense of self also relies on good sleep, nutrition and emotional supports. Symptoms of ADHD, Autism and Learning Problems appear to be on the rise. These children require enriched learning experiences to reach their potential. [0016] The seating positions of the chair of this invention offer several physical advantages to learners. These positions "alert" the system by stimulating the anti-gravity muscles. This activates head and neck activity that helps focus the eyes on what is important. A student who is in a position of sitting upright with legs "locked" into a kneeling position feels more "grounded," safe and secure. The arms are free to work at tabletop activity such as writing or math work. The chair permits the hips to be active and as a result, the spine becomes active. This is feeding the systems that tell us where we are, what is up/down, and in what relationship we are to other people and objects. It feeds the discriminatory central brain systems that help us inhibit extraneous stimulation or tune out what is unimportant, like the noise of the neighbors pencil or the scratching of items or voices other than the teachers. The brain chemicals that help us modulate (tune up what is important and tune down what is unimportant) are all elicited by the huge sensory systems of vestibular, proprioception and tactile information. [0017] Sitting in the chair the user, generally a student, is placed in a kneeling-like sitting position with the feet firmly against rests on the floor. The chair has a seat member, a knee-shin rest member and a rest member for each foot. A base unit supports the seat member, the knee-shin rest member and the foot rest members. The seat member is loosely supported in the base unit to permit vertical movement of the seat member against a spring in the base unit. This results in bounce of the seat member which causes strong sensation to two large sensory systems, viz., the vestibular and proprioception. [0018] The above and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood when considered with respect to the detailed description, appended claims and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the left rear of the chair, in accordance with this invention; [0020] FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the left front of the chair, in accordance with this invention; [0021] FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the right front of the chair, in accordance with this invention; [0022] FIG. 4 is a perspective view from the right front of the support components of the base unit in exploded view of the chair, in accordance with this invention; [0023] FIG. 5A is a left-side elevation view in cross-section of the seat members of the chair, in accordance with this invention; [0024] FIG. 5B is a front elevation view of the base of the seat member with attaching means, in accordance with this invention; [0025] FIG. 5C is a cut-away view of a portion of an end of the base showing the attaching means and corresponding hole, in the base, in accordance with this invention; [0026] FIG. 5D is a perspective view of the bottom of the seat member showing the cover attached to the base, in accordance with this invention; [0027] FIG. 5E is a perspective view from the front showing the bottom of the base, in accordance with this invention; [0028] FIG. 6 is a left-side elevation view of the seat member with the attachment means (in phantom) and a portion of the upper part of the base unit, in accordance with this invention; Continue reading about Chair for an enhanced learning environment... Full patent description for Chair for an enhanced learning environment Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Chair for an enhanced learning environment patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Chair for an enhanced learning environment or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Sleeping aid Next Patent Application: Sliding assembly of dynamic mechanism of a massage chair Industry Class: Chairs and seats ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Chair for an enhanced learning environment patent info. 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