JP2019038321A - Armrest for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce a temperature difference which an occupant feels at a front side and a rear side of an armrest.SOLUTION: An armrest upper 11 for supporting a forearm of a seated occupant includes a first cushion layer 13, and an armrest heater 14 arranged at a rear face side of the first cushion layer 13, and warming an upper surface region S for supporting the forearm of the seated occupant via the first cushion layer 13. When a region for supporting a wrist side of the forearm is a first region S1, and a region for supporting an elbow side of the forearm is a second region S2 in the upper surface region S in the armrest upper 11, the armrest heater 14 sets a heating value of the second region S2 smaller than a heating value of the first region S1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a vehicle armrest.

  Conventionally, a vehicle armrest provided with a heater is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-7937

  However, in the conventional vehicle armrest, the heating wires of the heater are arranged at equal intervals. For this reason, the upper surface temperature of the armrest is equal. And when a passenger | crew mounts a forearm on the upper surface of an armrest, there exists a problem that a passenger | crew will feel a temperature difference by the front side and rear side of an armrest.

  This indication is made paying attention to the above-mentioned problem, and it aims at providing the armrest for vehicles which can reduce the temperature difference which a crew member feels between the front side and the back side of an armrest.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle armrest of the present disclosure includes a cushion layer, an armrest heater that is disposed on the back surface side of the cushion layer, and that warms an upper surface region that supports the forearm of a seated passenger through the cushion layer. Prepare. In this vehicle armrest, the armrest heater is configured such that, of the upper surface area, the area that supports the wrist side of the forearm is the first area, and the area that supports the elbow side of the forearm is the second area. The heat generation amount is set smaller than the heat generation amount in the first region.

  As described above, the armrest heater can reduce the temperature difference felt by the occupant between the front side and the rear side of the armrest by setting the heat generation amount of the second region to be smaller than the heat generation amount of the first region. it can.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the door trim of Example 1. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the door trim of Example 1. FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the cross section of the armrest of Example 1. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the armrest heater of Example 1. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the armrest heater of a comparative example. It is explanatory drawing explaining the effect | action of a comparative example. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the armrest heater of Example 2. FIG.

  Hereinafter, the best embodiment which realizes the armrest for vehicles by this indication is described based on Example 1 shown in a drawing.

First, the configuration will be described.
The vehicle armrest according to the first embodiment is applied to, for example, a door trim attached to a front door of an automobile. Hereinafter, the configuration of the first embodiment will be described by dividing it into “a configuration of a door trim”, “a detailed configuration of an arm restorer”, and “a detailed configuration of an armrest heater”.

[Composition of door trim]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a door trim according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of the door trim according to the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the structure of the door trim will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the door trim 1 is attached to a vehicle compartment side (right side in FIG. 2) of a door body 4 including a door outer panel 2 and a door inner panel 3. A seat 60 on which a passenger sits is provided on the vehicle interior side of the door trim 1. The door trim 1 includes an armrest 10 and a door trim main body 20.

  The armrest 10 protrudes from the door trim body 20 toward the passenger compartment and is formed with a predetermined length in the front-rear direction of the seat 60. The armrest 10 supports the forearm of an occupant seated on the seat 60. The armrest 10 includes an arm restore upper 11, an armrest lower 42, and a switch operation unit 19.

  The arm restorer 11 is disposed at a position where a seated occupant can easily put the forearm. The upper surface of the arm restorer 11 forms an upper surface region S on which the seated occupant places the forearm. Of the upper surface region S, a region that supports the wrist side of the forearm is referred to as a first region S1, and a region that supports the elbow side of the forearm is referred to as a second region S2 (see FIG. 7).

  The switch operation unit 19 is disposed on the front side in the front-rear direction of the seat 60 from the arm restorer 11 and includes a power window switch and the like.

  The armrest lower 42 is disposed below the switch operation unit 19 and the arm restorer 11. The armrest lower 42 is formed integrally with the door trim main body 20.

[Detailed configuration of arm restorer]
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a cross section of the armrest of the first embodiment. The detailed configuration of the arm restorer will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the arm restorer 11 includes an outer skin 12, a first cushion layer 13 (cushion layer), an armrest heater 14, a second cushion layer 17, and a core member 18.

  The core material 18 is made of injection-molded synthetic resin and is formed to have a substantially uniform thickness as a whole.

  The second cushion layer 17 is disposed on the surface of the core member 18. For the second cushion layer 17, for example, a cushion material such as molded urethane is used.

  The armrest heater 14 is disposed on the surface of the second cushion layer 17 at a position corresponding to the upper surface region S of the arm restorer 11. The armrest heater 14 is formed by weaving a nichrome wire as the heating wire 16 into the nonwoven fabric 15.

  For the first cushion layer 13 as the cushion layer, for example, a cushion material such as polyurethane is used. For the skin 12, for example, genuine leather or synthetic leather is used. The skin 12 and the first cushion layer 13 cover the core member 18 with the armrest heater 14 and the second cushion layer 17 interposed therebetween in a stacked state.

[Detailed configuration of armrest heater]
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the armrest heater according to the first embodiment. Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the armrest heater will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 4. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, the shape of the armrest heater 14 is simplified and described. In FIG. 4, the left-right direction is the front-rear direction of the seat 60, the right side is the rear side of the arm restorer 11, and the left side is the front side of the arm restorer 11.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the armrest heater 14 is provided below the upper surface region S of the arm restorer 11. The armrest heater 14 is provided over the entire upper surface region S of the arm restorer 11. The armrest heater 14 warms the upper surface region S of the arm restorer 11 from below via the first cushion layer 13.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 14 is formed of a nichrome wire or the like and is meandering in the front-rear direction of the seat 60. The heating wire 16 is disposed over the entire area of the nonwoven fabric 15.

  The heating wires 16 at positions corresponding to the first region S1 of the arm restorer 11 are arranged at the wiring pitch H1. The heating wire 16 at a position corresponding to the second region S2 of the arm restorer 11 is arranged with a wiring pitch H2 larger than the wiring pitch H1. That is, the armrest heater 14 sets the wiring density of the heating wire 16 at the position corresponding to the second region S2 lower than the wiring density of the heating wire 16 at the position corresponding to the first region S1. The wiring density of the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 14 is set to be gradually reduced from the wiring pitch H1 to the wiring pitch H2 from the position corresponding to the first region S1 to the position corresponding to the second region S2. In other words, the armrest heater 14 sets the amount of heat generated in the second region S2 to be smaller than the amount of heat generated in the first region S1.

Next, the operation will be described.
The operation of the vehicle armrest according to the first embodiment will be described by dividing it into “technical background and comparative operation” and “other characteristic operation of the vehicle armrest”.

[Technical background and comparative effects]
Conventional vehicle air-conditioning systems adjust the temperature in the passenger compartment to a level at which passengers can feel comfortable by heating and cooling the air in the passenger compartment. In addition to this, by heating or cooling components such as the steering handle and armrest that are directly touched by the occupant, the occupant can quickly feel a comfortable temperature, thereby increasing the comfort of the occupant.

  Further, in the field of automobiles and the like that are becoming autonomously driven, there is a possibility that the chance of placing a forearm on a vehicle armrest is expected to increase, and a vehicle armrest that improves the comfort of a passenger is desired.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the heating wire 16 compares the armrest heaters 514 arranged at equal intervals in the wiring pitch H <b> 1 from the front side to the rear side of the arm restorer in the front-rear direction of the seat 60. Take an example.

  By the way, when the occupant places only the elbow on the arm restorer, even if the elbow is placed on the front side or the rear side of the arm restorer, the occupant does not feel a temperature difference. However, as shown in FIG. 6, when the occupant places the entire forearm on the upper surface of the arm restorer 511, the elbow side presses the arm restorer 511 more strongly than the wrist side. If it does so, as for the 1st cushion layer 13 on the armrest heater 514, the area | region which supports an elbow side will be crushed rather than the area | region which supports the wrist side. Therefore, the thermal conductivity of the region supporting the elbow side is higher than the region supporting the wrist side. As a result, when the occupant places the forearm on the upper surface of the arm restorer 511, there is a problem that the occupant feels a temperature difference between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 511.

  On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the arm restorer 11 that supports the forearm of the seated occupant is disposed on the first cushion layer 13 and the back side of the first cushion layer 13, and is seated via the first cushion layer 13. And an armrest heater 14 that warms the upper surface region S that supports the forearm of the passenger. In this arm restorer 11, when the armrest heater 14 is a first region S1 in the upper surface region S that supports the wrist side of the forearm, and a second region S2 that supports the elbow side of the forearm, The amount of heat generated in the second region S2 is set smaller than the amount of heat generated in the first region S1 (FIG. 4).

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the heating wire 16 is arranged at the wiring pitch H1 at a position corresponding to the first region S1 of the arm restorer 11. The heating wire 16 is arranged at a wiring pitch H2 larger than the wiring pitch H1 at a position corresponding to the second region S2 of the arm restorer 11.

  That is, the heat generation amount of the second region S2 is smaller than the heat generation amount of the first region S1. For this reason, when the occupant places the forearm on the upper surface of the arm restorer 11, the amount of heat transmitted to the elbow side can be approximated to the amount of heat transmitted to the wrist side. As a result, the temperature difference felt by the occupant between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 11 is reduced.

[Other characteristic actions of vehicle armrests]
For example, it is assumed that the armrest heater is composed of two heaters in the front-rear direction of the seat. In this case, in order to make the calorific value of the rear armrest heater smaller than the calorific value of the front armrest heater, it is necessary to control the two armrest heaters, respectively. Therefore, there is a problem that the control becomes complicated.

  On the other hand, in Example 1, the armrest heater 14 sets the wiring density of the heating wire 16 at the position corresponding to the second region S2 lower than the wiring density of the heating wire 16 at the position corresponding to the first region S1. (FIG. 4).

  That is, by controlling one armrest heater 14, the heat generation amount on the rear side of the armrest heater 14 can be made smaller than the heat generation amount on the front side of the armrest heater 14. Therefore, the temperature difference felt by the occupant between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 11 is reduced with a simple configuration.

  In Example 1, the wiring density of the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 14 is set to be lower stepwise from the position corresponding to the first region S1 toward the position corresponding to the second region S2 (FIG. 4).

  That is, the amount of heat generated by the armrest heater 114 can be gradually reduced from the first region S1 toward the second region S2. Therefore, the temperature difference felt by the occupant between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 11 is further reduced.

Next, the effect will be described.
In the vehicle armrest according to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) A vehicle armrest (arm restorer 11) that supports the forearm of a seated occupant is disposed on the back side of the cushion layer (first cushion layer 13) and the cushion layer (first cushion layer 13). An armrest heater 14 that warms the upper surface region S that supports the forearm of the seated occupant via the first cushion layer 13). In this vehicle armrest (arm restorer 11), the armrest heater 14 has a first region S1 in the upper surface region S that supports the wrist side of the forearm, and a second region S2 that supports the elbow side of the forearm. If so, the heat generation amount of the second region S2 is set smaller than the heat generation amount of the first region S1 (FIG. 4).
For this reason, the temperature difference which a passenger | crew feels between the front side and the rear side of the armrest for vehicles (arm restorer 11) can be reduced.

(2) The armrest heater 14 sets the wiring density of the heating wire 16 at a position corresponding to the second region S2 lower than the wiring density of the heating wire 16 at a position corresponding to the first region S1 (FIG. 4).
For this reason, it is possible to reduce the temperature difference felt by the occupant between the front side and the rear side of the vehicle armrest with a simple configuration.

(3) The wiring density of the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 14 is set to be lower stepwise from the position corresponding to the first region S1 toward the position corresponding to the second region S2 (FIG. 4).
For this reason, the temperature difference which a passenger | crew feels between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 11 can be further reduced.

  Example 2 is an example in which the wiring density of the heating wire of the armrest heater is set steplessly low from the position corresponding to the first region to the position corresponding to the second region.

First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram illustrating the configuration of the armrest heater according to the second embodiment. Hereinafter, based on FIG. 8, the structure of the armrest heater of Example 2 is demonstrated.

  The armrest heater 114 of the second embodiment is different from the armrest heater 14 of the first embodiment in the wiring of the heating wire 16.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the wiring pitch of the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 114 is the wiring pitch H1, the wiring pitch H2 larger than the wiring pitch H1, the wiring pitch H3 larger than the wiring pitch H2, and the wiring larger than the wiring pitch H3. A pitch H4 and a wiring pitch H5 larger than the wiring pitch H4 are included. The wiring pitch of the heating wires 16 of the armrest heater 114 is set steplessly lower from the position corresponding to the first region S1 toward the position corresponding to the second region S2.

Next, the operation will be described.
In the second embodiment, the wiring density of the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 114 is set steplessly low from the position corresponding to the first area S1 to the position corresponding to the second area S2 (FIG. 8).

  That is, the amount of heat generated by the armrest heater 114 decreases smoothly from the first region S1 toward the second region S2. Therefore, the temperature difference felt by the occupant between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 11 can be further reduced.

Next, the effect will be described.
In the vehicle armrest of the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(4) The wiring density of the heating wire of the armrest heater is set steplessly low from the position corresponding to the first region to the position corresponding to the second region (FIG. 8).
For this reason, the temperature difference which a passenger | crew feels between the front side and the rear side of the arm restorer 11 can be further reduced.

  The vehicle armrest according to the present disclosure has been described based on the first and second embodiments. However, the specific configuration is not limited to these examples, and design changes and additions are permitted without departing from the spirit of the invention according to each claim of the claims.

  In Example 1, the example which arrange | positions the heating wire 16 by two wiring pitches, the wiring pitch H1 and the wiring pitch H2, was shown. However, as shown in FIG. 8, an example in which the heating wires 16 are arranged by changing the wiring pitch stepwise by three or more wiring pitches may be used.

  In the first and second embodiments, the example in which the wiring density of the heating wire 16 is changed according to the wiring pitch of the heating wire 16 has been described. However, the arrangement density of the heating wires may be changed depending on the number of heating wires.

  In Examples 1 and 2, the cushion layer is an example using a cushion material such as polyurethane. However, the cushion layer only needs to be crushed when the occupant places the forearm on the upper surface of the arm restorer.

  In the first and second embodiments, an example in which the armrest 10 is constituted by the arm restorer 11 and the armrest lower 42 has been described. However, the armrest may be an example in which an arm restorer and an armrest lower are configured integrally.

  In the first and second embodiments, the example in which the heating wire 16 of the armrest heater 14 is arranged meandering in the front-rear direction of the seat 60 is shown. However, the heating wire of the armrest heater may be an example in which the heating wire meanders in the width direction of the seat.

  In the first and second embodiments, the vehicle armrest is applied to the door trim attached to the front door of the automobile. However, the vehicle armrest may be applied to a door trim attached to a rear door of an automobile, or may be applied to a center console. Moreover, you may apply to the armrest provided separately from a door trim.

  In Example 1, 2, the example which applies the armrest for vehicles to a motor vehicle was shown. However, the vehicle armrest may be applied to trains, aircraft, ships, and the like.

10 Armrest (an example of a vehicle armrest)
11 Arm restorer (an example of a vehicle armrest)
13 First cushion layer (an example of a cushion layer)
14 Armrest heater 16 Heating wire 20 Door trim body S Upper surface area S1 First area S2 Second area

Claims (4)

The vehicle armrest that supports the forearm of the seated occupant
A cushion layer;
An armrest heater that is disposed on the back side of the cushion layer and that warms the upper surface region that supports the forearm of the seated occupant via the cushion layer;
With
The armrest heater has a heat generation amount of the second region when the region supporting the wrist side of the forearm is the first region and the region supporting the elbow side of the forearm is the second region of the upper surface region. The vehicle armrest is set smaller than the calorific value of the first region. The vehicle armrest according to claim 1,
The armrest heater for a vehicle, wherein the armrest heater sets a wiring density of a heating wire at a position corresponding to the second region to be lower than a wiring density of a heating wire at a position corresponding to the first region. In the armrest for vehicles described in Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The vehicle armrest is characterized in that the wiring density of the heating wire of the armrest heater is set to be gradually reduced from a position corresponding to the first region to a position corresponding to the second region. In the armrest for vehicles described in Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The vehicle armrest is characterized in that the wiring density of the heating wire of the armrest heater is set steplessly low from a position corresponding to the first region to a position corresponding to the second region.