Recliners are not intended for office use. However, using a reclined mode and a tilting mechanism, they have certain similarities to a 2Tilt chair. The boundaries between contract and home furniture are decreasing and the division may be disappearing entirely.
See http://www.onofficemagazine
Recliner chairs are only suitable for home use. The full stringent requirements for prolonged sitting are not necessary. The tilting mechanism is not required to be unstable and can stop in mid range without an adjustment. Until an efficient system for this appears on the market even an electric mechanism is used which is surely the last refuge of inadequate design!
A chair using the 2T (or 3M) concept, which has bio-mechanic optimisation, is different only because it can be used as a work chair. Will people buy recliners when a cheaper and better designed dual purpose chair comes on the market? This may also be particularly relevant to the growing ‘gamer’ market. Only small modifications are required to achieve 2T optimisation which gives a huge oportunity to manufacturers of ‘recliners’. For a further discussion see MANUFACTURERS of ergonomic chairs→
BERG Unik recliner
Not designed as an office or work chair, nevertheless has features similar to the 2T concept It is helpful to note the differences.
- The mid ranges between full reclined and upright do not have the instability that is basic to the 2T concept. This adjustment, although potentially adverse, is mentioned as a selling point.
- Adopting the fully reclined position is a slight struggle. This may be due to a failure to understand the adjustments and a reason to scrap them..
- In the fully upright position, equivalent to the upright mode, the seat is parallel to the floor mitigated by a degree of pelvic support. This is allowed by the 2T concept although the FTS is preferred.
- There is unnecessary, even adverse, adjustment of the height of the pelvic support. For the 2T this is the ‘Iliac’ version and fixed at 20 cms.
- The leg rest extension works well. That it only supports and compresses the calf is worrying. The 2T requires a foot-rest which is adjustable to the users leg length. This and the head-rest are the only 2 components that require adjustment. The torso should be fully supported by correct design.
- Upholstery is usual with recliners but allows build up of heat and moisture. Arguably it adds comfort and conceals design mistakes but also can reduce correctly designed support.
- Have a look at Berg→
METRONAPS
Another interesting product. Again, this is not a work chair and looks like a recliner. It is intended for short naps in an office environment to which a user can retire if desired. It now recognised to have benefits ☛sleep→ at 2T, early concept.
It costs $1300.- Reclined seems to be the only mode and this precludes it from being a 3M chair or 4M workstation.
- The hood allows it to become a semi Pod. It is of interest as it could be incorporated into a 2T chair and contain the monitor etc.
- It should be noted that a 2T, whether 3M or 4M, can easily be slept in. Indeed this was an early criticism by a CEO “This is much too comfortable. My workforce will go to sleep!” He failed to notice that he was lying on correctly shaped plywood with no upholstery whatever.
Work-chairs which recline
These chairs have been designed for the convenience of the operator and not the client.
Dentists chairs
I have recently experienced 3 dentists chairs. The discomfort was worse than that inflicted by the dental procedure. Although expensive with a reclined mode and full length support, the configuration was misapplied, the reclined support being lumbar and not pelvic. A truly disgraceful error of design. Trawling through other models, some do not look so bad.
American barber’s chairs
I have only just become aware of this extraordinary genre having visited the Oulton antique shop. They have an upright and reclined mode with variation between. This model from the 1920 looks alike an instrument of torture (and probably was). At least it had height variability with the head-rest and the 2 modes.
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