US 5,522,323 · Granted 1996-06-04
The Counterbalanced Desk That Fights Repetitive Strain Injury
Imagine a desk where your monitor and keyboard float on perfectly balanced springs, so you can easily move them around without straining your arms or neck. The whole point is to force you to shift positions throughout the day instead of sitting rigid in one spot for hours — which actually prevents the wrist and shoulder pain that office workers get from staying frozen at a computer.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a computer workstation with two key moving parts: a counterbalanced monitor mount that requires minimal physical effort to reposition, and a similarly counterbalanced keyboard support platform. What's protected is the specific mechanical coordination between these two elements, designed so that an operator can easily adjust both the viewing angle and keyboard height without strain, and the design's core purpose of encouraging periodic repositioning to combat repetitive stress injuries.
Why it matters
This patent addresses a real occupational health problem that exploded in the 1990s as computer work became dominant: repetitive strain injury (RSI) and carpal tunnel syndrome. Rather than passive ergonomics (a chair that just feels good), this design uses physics and mechanical advantage to actively encourage movement and variety. By making it effortless to adjust your workspace throughout the day, the invention removes the friction that keeps people locked in harmful static postures.
Real-world use
Any office worker or student who spends hours at a computer could use this — the floating monitor and keyboard let you raise the screen to eye level one moment, then lower it and shift sideways the next, without wrestling with your equipment.
Original USPTO abstract
A computer workstation is provided with a movable support for a video monitor which is counterbalanced such that it may be moved with a minimum exertion and a coordinated keypad for support of the keyboard for the computer is also arranged in a counterbalanced fashion for movement with a minimum exertion by the operator, both of such structures being coordinated together to provide a universally adjustable monitor work system station which both allows and encourages the operator to periodically make adjustments in the position of the various components so as to decrease or eliminate repetitive strain-type injuries which may be brought on by long continued exactly repetitive movements.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,522,323
- Filing date
- 1993-08-24
- Grant date
- 1996-06-04
- Assignee
- Richard; Paul E.
- Inventor(s)
- RICHARD; PAUL E.
- CPC class
- A47B21/0073
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