Chair and Furniture Design

This project was limited to the design of an ergonomically optimized comfortable foam back cushion for an institutional chair.

Shortly after our design team was briefed with general design parameters concerning the existing chair frame, concept sketches were created. These sketches illustrated numerous shapes and  design alternatives for the cushion.

After dozens of sketches were created, a few were selected for further review. Selections were based on appearance, compatibility with the current frame and potentials for satisfying human factors requirements.

One of the concepts was eventually refined in a 3D foam model as shown in these photographs.

The model was accurately constructed by cutting 1” foam sections and laminating them together into one solid back as shown.

The back was then assembled to the existing chair frame. Individuals of various heights, weights, ages and sex were seated in the chair at various positions.

Minor modifications to the seat back were made to optimize the contour and comfort.

The final optimized shape was cast in an epoxy mold which was later used to cast flexible foamed polyurethane backs.

The flexible foam backs were then reevaluated by a larger population the verify the design.

Eventually production drawings were updated to comply with the most recent design configuration and released for production tooling.