• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.255-265
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• 2014

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate comfort levels of functional and non-functional chairs using subjective comfort rating, interface pressure measurement, muscle activity measurement, and skin temperature measurement. Background: Chairs are used for a prolonged period of time for sitting in many places such as the office, at university, at school, in industry, and so on. Almost all people use chairs in their everyday life. The functional properties of the chair are associated with comfort. Method: The subjective evaluation contains questions regarding chair comfort which can be rated with five point scale. The body-seat interface pressure was measured using a pressure mat system. The symmetry of sitting was measured using electromyography. The change in body part (thigh and buttock) temperature before and after sitting on a chair was measured with an infrared camera. Results: Participants rated significantly (p < 0.05) higher comfort scores for the functional chair in relation to the buttock and thigh region. Also, the participants felt a better cushion effect in the functional chair. When using the functional chair, lower interface pressure, better thermal comfort, and better symmetry of erector spinae muscle activity were observed. Conclusion: Overall, interface pressure measurement, muscle activity measurement, thermal imaging and subjective comfort score results showed that the functional chair was more comfortable than the non-functional chair. Application: The adopted methodologies could be used to measure the seating comfort of train seats.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.376-380
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• 2000

All chairs are uncomfortable in the long run, but some chairs become uncomfortable more rapidly than others, and in any particular chair, some people will be more uncomfortable than others. Comfort will depend upon the interaction of chair characteristics, user characteristics, and task characteristics. In this study, we intend to design the comfortable office chair by investigating the anthropometric and biomechanical aspects for Korean. Therefore, we determine the design dimensions using the analysis of anthropometric data. With these dimensions, we design the chair mechanism of which backrest reclines with increasing chair pan declination. This mechanism allows the back to get adequate support at the correct level for any backrest declination. Also, the lumbar support in the backrest descends with increasing backrest reclining. By using this chair, a considerably better sitting posture can be obtained, and uncomfortable feeling and back pain may be prevented.

• Journal of the Korea Furniture Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 1999

All chairs are uncomfortable in the long run and some chairs become uncomfortable more rapidly than others. In a particular chair, some people feel more uncomfortable than others. Comfort will depend upon the interaction of chair, user, and task characteristics. In this study, we intended to design a comfortable office chair by investigating anthropometric and biomechanical aspects for Koreans. We determine the design dimensions by analysis the anthropometric data. With these body parameters, we determined the design dimensions such as seat height, seat depth, seat width, seat backrest width, etc. This research, hopefully contributes to the development of ergonomic chair and improvement of the chair design technologies.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.459-465
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• 1999

A new-concept VDT workstation chair with adjustable keyboard/mouse support was proposed to minimize physical discomfort and the risk of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) at work sites in this study. First, a three-dimensional human modeling tool $(SAFEWORK^{(R)})$ was used to design the new chair satisfying the anthropometric specifications of Korean population. Second, based upon the result of 3-D graphical simulation, a mock-up chair was constructed with an adjustable keyboard/mouse support directly attached to the chair body. Third, muscle fatigue and subjective discomfort were measured to evaluate the newly developed chair. An experiment was conducted to compare the new workstation chair to the traditional computer chair without keyboard/mouse support. Six volunteer subjects participated in six one-hour word-processing sessions with two different chairs and three different postures. Statistical results indicate that the new-concept VDT chair generally improved subjective comfort level and reduced fatigue in finger flexor/extensor and low back muscle. In conclusion, this new VDT workstation chair is expected to reduce physical discomfort and prevent occupational CTD problems in the long run. Implications of the new design and suggestions for the further development are also addressed.

• International Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.108-112
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of thermal comfort index and to present the thermal comfort range through regression analyses and experiment in a radiant floor heating system laboratory. The results were compared to the comfort zone of ISO-7730, and the applicability of the thermal comfort index to a radiant floor heating system was studied. On comparing the sedentary posture on the floor to sitting on the chair, the comfort zone and the neutral point of comfort index showed different values. It is considered that the influence of conduction from floor to the human is sufficient. Moreover, we could find a correlation between the thermal sensation votes of subjects, and the comfort indexes were lower than those by calculation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.415-427
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• 1993

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermoregulatory responses to postures under different environmental conditions and to obtain the basal information for standard clothing weight, indoor climates, and working condition. Two adult female (22.5yrs, 46kg) were participated in this study. The experimental conditions were divided into three groups ; 1) comfort($27{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, $60{\pm}10%$), 2) hot($34{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, $60{\pm}10%$), and 3) cold($21{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, $50{\pm}10%$) condition. The postures performed were as follows; standing, sitting on the chair, sitting on the floor, and supine on the floor. At each condition, subjective sensations, 12 points skin temperature, rectal temperature, total and local sweat rate, pulse rates, blood pressure, skin blood flow rate were measured. The results were as follows : 1. Rectal temperature was high significant among groups in order of supine, sitting on the floor, sitting on the chair, standing posture(p<0.01). 2. Skin temperature was high in part of contact with the surface of the floor or wall and the effect of posture was greater in peripheral temperature than torso temperature. Sitting on the chair and sitting on the floor posture showed higher peripheral temperature than standing and supine posture. And peripheral temperature was lower in supine posture than any other postures. 3. Total and local sweat rate were decreased in order of standing, sitting on the chair, sitting on the floor, supine posture. 4. Pulse rate and disastolic blood pressure were higher in standing posture than supine posture, and there was significant difference between two postures(p<0.001). 5. Blood flow rate of thigh was high in sitting on the chair and sitting on the floor posture and low in standing posture. Blood flow rate of leg was low in standing posture significantly(p<0.01). 6. In comfort and hot condition, temperature sensation and comfort sensation were higher in standing posture and lower in supine posture than any other postures. In cold condition, temperature sensation was lower and comfort sensation was higher in standing and supine posture than any other postures. And supine posture was appeared positive in hot condition and negative in cold condition. From this study, we confirmed the effects of posture on human thermoregulatory responses. Results indicate that even under same conditions and clothing weight, the insulation of clothing will be different to postures.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.97-108
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• 2014

Objective:The present study is intended to evaluate the usability of a console chair for a weapon locating radar by comparing with different kinds of chair design. Background: Console chairs need to be ergonomically designed to reduce physical workload of operators and improve mission capability; few studies have been reported which systematically evaluate usability of military console chairs. Method: Ergonomic design of a console chair, a bus seat, and an office chair was evaluated in terms of headrest, seatback, seatpan, armrest, and controller on a 7-point scale. Ten males in their 20s and 30s were recruited considering the demographic characteristics of console operators. Results: The satisfaction scores of the console chair for headrest, seatback, and seatpan were significantly higher than those of the bus seat (mean difference [MD] = 0.9) and office chair (MD = 1.3). Meanwhile, the satisfaction scores of the console chair for armrest and controller were significantly lower than those of the office chair (MD = -1.4) and bus seat (MD = -2.2). Conclusion: The armrest and controller of the console chair needs ergonomic improvements for better comfort. Application: The evaluation results of the console chair would be of use for ergonomic console chair design.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
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• no.17
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• pp.37-44
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• 1998

Chair is one of objects which are closely connected with human body and is a symbol which represents human essence and culture. Symbolism embodies the meaning of expression through transfering the immaterial structure to tangible form. Therefore chair embodies the essential internal desires of human by means of its symbolic representation. In order to understand the essential human desires included in the symbolism of chair it is necessary to consider these desires with respect to cultural and historical context. in this study four essential internal desires of human are investigated through the symbolic representation of chair that is the desires on human psychological comfort authority freedom and eroticism. The purpose of this study is to emphasize the necessity of the design approach based on the understanding of essential internal desires of human which is pursued from the object by user.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to provide the thermal comfort range according to the residential style and clothing level at radiant floor heating space, and compare the annual energy consumption and energy cost for each condition. Lower neutral point temperature has been stood for floor sitting style than chair sitting style, which appears that the thermal sensation was affected by local heat transfer between floor surface and the human body. The result of research indicates that neutral point temperature was in inverse proportion with the clothing level. It is interpreted that the increasing of clothing level results decrement of heat loss from human body, and is available to achieve same thermal comfort at lower room temperature. It was analyzed that the floor sitting style is more economical residential style than the chair sitting style, because the energy consumption of the floor sitting style is saved by 6.0% in average to compare with that of the chair sitting style. It is analyzed that energy consumption has been decreased by 13.5% with the clothing level of 1.2 Clo than with that of 1.0 Clo, and decreased by 18.0% than with that of 0.8 Clo, which explains that the energy saving can be achieved with the variation in life habit to increase the clothing level.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.219-226
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• 2005

In this study, the problem formulation and solution technique using genetic algorithms for design optimization of laminate composite cylindrical beam section are presented. The hollow cylindrical beams we usually used in the wheel chair. If the weight of wheel chair is reduced, it will lead to huge improvement in passenger's mobility and comfort. In this context, the replacement of steel by high performance and light weight composite material along with optimal design will be a good contribution in the process of weight reduction of a wheel chair. An artificial genetics approach for the design optimization of hollow cylindrical composite beam is presented. On applying the genetic algorithm, the optimal dimensions of hollow cylindrical composite beams which have equivalent rigidities to those of corresponding hollow cylindrical steel beams are obtained. Also structural analysis is conducted on the entire wheel chair structure incorporating Tsai-Wu failure criteria. The maximum Tsai-Wu failure criteria index is $0.192\times10^{-3}$ which is moth less than value of 1.00 indicating no failure is observed under excessive loading condition. It is found that the substitution of steel by composite material could reduce the weight of wheel chair up to 45%.