For at least fifty years, it has been recognized that good posture enhances the performance of various activities. As a result, various products have been developed that enhance posture while performing various office, home and recreational activities.
For example, aeronautical and automotive seats have been developed that enable operators to comfortably operate their vehicles for extended periods of time. Spectator seating for cultural and sporting events have also been enhanced so that audiences can remain comfortably seated throughout the performances.
It can be appreciated that activities requiring higher levels of physical exertion have the potential of benefiting most from using equipment that promotes good posture as the posture tends to deteriorate as the body becomes more tired.
One particular field in which posture is particularly important is for seated musicians. String players need to sit erect to perform properly as do musicians such as vocalists or wind instrumentalists that require good breath support. However, in light of the limitations associated with most prior art seating for musicians, it is common for the musicians to stand or to sit near the front of a chair.
A drawback of these options is that it becomes difficult to remain sitting near the front of a chair throughout an entire concert or practice session. As a result of the strains placed on the body when performing while sitting on the front of the chair, the musician will typically be unable to maintain this position throughout the entire concert or practice session. When this occurs, the ability of the musician to remain focused on performing or practicing is greatly reduced.
One of the first attempts to produce a musicians' chair that promotes good posture while performing music is disclosed in Wenger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,306,750, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application. Other music chairs are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,570 and in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. 264,779 and 297,890. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,306,750 and 4,671,570, and U.S. Design Pat. 264,779 and 297,890 are all incorporated herein by reference. The Wenger et al. musicians' chair orients the seat back and seat pan to promote posture while performing music. While the Wenger chair has the potential of providing seated musicians with enhanced posture, this potential is only fully realized when the musician is properly seated in the Wenger chair (i.e. with their back in contact with the seat back and hips placed at the rear of the seat pan). Moreover, performers often sit in a forward (or “perch”) position on the Wenger chair, whether from personal preference, due to encouragement from instructors or conductors or for other reasons. Therefore, a chair that is designed to encourage proper posture while a performer is seated with hips placed in the back of the seat pan or hips placed forward in a perch position is needed.