B Office Chair Explosion

Office chair explosion mainly refers to the sudden explosive phenomenon caused by component defects in pneumatic lifting swivel chairs, which mostly occurs in low-quality pneumatic rod products. It is necessary to pay high attention to its causes and preventive measures.

Causes of Explosion

1. Thin Wall of the Pneumatic Rod: To reduce costs, low-quality pneumatic rods often use materials with overly thin walls. During normal use, the wall is unable to withstand the internal pressure and is prone to rupture at weak points, leading to an explosion.
2. Insufficient Purity of Inert Gas or Replacement with Compressed Air: A proper pneumatic rod should be filled with an inert gas (such as nitrogen), which is chemically stable and less likely to react with the metal inner wall. However, low-quality products may use compressed air instead. The oxygen in the air continuously reacts with the metal inner wall through oxidation, leading to rusting and heat accumulation. Over time, the internal pressure of the pneumatic rod continues to rise, while the external wall becomes thinner and more brittle due to oxidation, eventually causing an explosion.
3. Rapid Temperature Increase Due to Frequent Lifting: Frequent lifting of a pneumatic lifting swivel chair causes rapid compression and expansion of the gas inside the pneumatic rod, generating a large amount of heat. If the quality of the pneumatic rod is poor and its heat dissipation performance is inadequate, the heat cannot be dissipated in a timely manner, leading to a sharp increase in internal temperature and pressure, thereby increasing the risk of explosion.

Explosion Cases

Over the past decade, more than forty similar tragedies have occurred in China. For example, the chair explosion incident in Zhoushan, Zhejiang in 2007; in 2009, a 14-year-old boy in Jiaozhou, Shandong died after adjusting a pneumatic chair, with the top rod piercing into his body; in 2013, Ms. Liu was sitting on an online-purchased lifting swivel chair to blow-dry her hair when the pneumatic rod pierced through the chair like a shell, leaving her severely injured and unconscious, with more than ten metal fragments removed from her abdomen and intestines. In all these cases, the pneumatic rod of the chair exploded from the bottom and pierced through the human body, with extremely severe consequences.

Preventive Measures

1. Purchase Products from Reputable Manufacturers: It is recommended to choose products priced above 200 yuan, as these products generally have certain quality assurances, and key components such as pneumatic rods are more likely to meet safety standards.
2. Check the Smoothness of Pneumatic Rod Lifting: When purchasing, adjust the pneumatic rod multiple times to feel whether the lifting is smooth and whether there are any stutters or abnormal noises. If the lifting is not smooth, there may be internal structural problems with the pneumatic rod, posing a safety hazard.
3. Ensure the Installation of an Explosion-Proof Steel Plate between the Seat Cushion and Pneumatic Rod: The thickness of the explosion-proof steel plate should be ≥ 2 millimeters. It can act as a barrier in the event of a pneumatic rod explosion, preventing metal fragments from flying and injuring people.