CN114714994A

CN114714994A - Intelligent seat system, method for operating a seat system, vehicle and program product

Info

Publication number: CN114714994A
Application number: CN202210529541.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李俊生; 耿军生
Original assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2022-05-16
Filing date: 2022-05-16
Publication date: 2022-07-08
Also published as: DE102023001980A1

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of vehicle seats, in particular to an intelligent seat system for a vehicle, which is characterized by comprising the following components: a seat apparatus including a seat cushion and a seat back; a cradle head device which is arranged between the vehicle body and the seat device, and one end of which is connected with the vehicle body and the other end of which is connected with the seat device; and a control device configured and adapted to be electrically connected with the head device and to control the head device so as to keep the seat device in a preset position; wherein the head device is configured as a cantilevered head, which is connected in a hinged manner with the seat device and the vehicle body. The invention also relates to a corresponding vehicle, a method for operating an intelligent seat system and a computer program product. The invention can improve the comfort of passengers in driving and improve the driving experience. In addition, the cantilever type holder can be used for realizing the getting on and off of the vehicle very conveniently.

Description

Intelligent seat system, method of operating a seat system, vehicle and program product

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of vehicle seats, in particular to an intelligent seat system for a vehicle. The invention further relates to a method for operating a smart seat system. The invention also relates to a vehicle having such a smart seat and to a computer program product.

Background

With the development of intellectualization of vehicles, the research and development of various components and functional assemblies in the vehicles are increasingly accelerated. In current vehicle seats, the vehicle seat is usually fixedly attached to the vehicle underbody, and the front-rear position of the seat can only be adjusted by a slide rail.

However, during the driving of a vehicle, in particular in the case of a bumpy road surface, the vehicle seat often rocks with the vehicle body, which leads to very discomfort for the occupant during driving and even to dizziness and vomiting.

Further, since the driver seat is generally fixedly disposed on the vehicle body, the occupant needs to open the door and get on the vehicle. This may be disadvantageous for the handicapped or for persons with impaired legs and feet. Especially in the case of rear seats, these persons are particularly inconvenienced when getting on or off the vehicle because the rear seats cannot be adjusted.

Accordingly, there is a need for a seating arrangement that provides a user with better ride comfort that addresses at least one of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the prior art.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on this, the invention proposes an efficient solution which not only can overcome the disadvantages of the prior art solutions, but also can achieve a flexible arrangement of the seats in the vehicle by introducing the pan-tilt technique, and can particularly effectively reduce the inconvenience of the passengers and especially greatly improve the riding comfort of the passengers, thereby being able to improve the acceptance and satisfaction of the users for the vehicle.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a smart seat system for a vehicle, characterized in that the smart seat system comprises:

a seat arrangement including a seat cushion and a seat back;

a pan-tilt device disposed between a vehicle body and the seat device, and having one end connected with the vehicle body and the other end connected with the seat device; and

a control device configured and adapted to be electrically connected with the head device and to control the head device so as to keep the seat device in a preset position;

wherein the head device is configured as a cantilevered head, which is connected in a hinged manner with the seat device and the vehicle body.

The basic idea of the invention is that by providing a head device between the seat device and the vehicle body, a non-fixed connection of the seat device to the vehicle body can be achieved. That is to say that the seat arrangement can be adjusted in six degrees of freedom (three translational degrees of freedom and three rotational degrees of freedom) relative to the vehicle body by means of the head arrangement. In particular, the movement of the seat arrangement can be adjusted during the travel of the vehicle by means of a cantilevered head of particularly simple construction, which comprises a cantilever which is connected to the seat arrangement and to the vehicle body in an articulated manner. So that the seat unit is always maintained at the preset position regardless of the movement of the vehicle body. This is particularly advantageous because the driver or passenger can be completely protected from road conditions, in particular road bumps, vehicle jerks or emergency braking, while the vehicle is in motion. This greatly improves the riding comfort of the occupant. This enables intelligent seat adjustment to be implemented particularly easily and inexpensively as an alternative to other expensive active suspension systems and thus increases user satisfaction and acceptance of the product.

Advantageous configurations of the solution of the invention for a smart seat system for a vehicle can be taken from the following alternative embodiments.

According to an embodiment of the smart seat system for vehicles according to the present invention, the pan-tilt device further comprises a gyroscope sensor, in particular a three-axis gyroscope sensor, the gyroscope being configured and adapted to detect a rotational movement about the body axis. The movement of the vehicle body about its transverse, longitudinal and vertical axes can be detected particularly easily by providing a gyro sensor in the head device, and the signals of the gyro sensor can be transmitted to the control device. Here, the movement of the vehicle body about its transverse axis is referred to as a pitch movement, the movement of the vehicle body about its longitudinal axis is referred to as a roll movement, and the movement of the vehicle body about its vertical axis is referred to as a yaw movement. Such gyroscopic sensors have been widely used with mature technology and low cost.

According to an embodiment of the intelligent seat system for a vehicle according to the present invention, the pan-tilt device further comprises an acceleration sensor, in particular a three-axis acceleration sensor, configured and adapted to detect an accelerated movement along the axis of the body. By providing a three-axis acceleration in the pan-tilt device, the acceleration (deceleration) of the vehicle body along its longitudinal, lateral and vertical axes can be detected particularly effectively and the signal of the acceleration sensor can be transmitted to the control device.

According to one embodiment of the intelligent seat system for the vehicle, the holder device further comprises a vibration sensor, and the vibration sensor is configured and adapted to detect vibration acting on the vehicle body. The vibrations transmitted to the vehicle body during the travel of the vehicle can be detected particularly effectively by means of the vibration sensor and a vibration signal can be transmitted to the control device.

According to one embodiment of the intelligent seat system for a vehicle of the present invention, the pan/tilt head device includes at least a first suspension arm and a second suspension arm, one end of the first suspension arm and one end of the second suspension arm are connected to each other in a hinged manner, wherein the other end of the first suspension arm is connected to the vehicle body in a hinged manner, and the other end of the second suspension arm is connected to the seat device in a hinged manner. A particularly simple construction can be achieved by the suspension arm being constructed in two parts, i.e. comprising a first suspension arm and a second suspension arm. In particular, a six-degree-of-freedom adjustment of the first and second suspension arms relative to one another is achieved by means of the articulated connection.

According to one embodiment of the intelligent seat system for a vehicle of the present invention, the pan/tilt head device further includes a damping unit configured to damp transmission of vibration acting on the vehicle body to the seat device. The transmission of vibrations transmitted from the road to the vehicle body to the seat arrangement can be particularly advantageously prevented or at least reduced by the damping unit, as a result of which the comfort of the occupants can be increased particularly effectively.

According to one embodiment of the smart seat system for a vehicle according to the invention, the length of the first suspension arm and the length of the second suspension arm can be identical or different, wherein the sum of the length of the first suspension arm and the length of the second suspension arm is designed such that at least the seat arrangement can be removed from the vehicle in a direction transverse to the vehicle. This is particularly beneficial in situations where the occupant has difficulty getting on or off the vehicle, especially in the case of disabled persons. The first suspension arm and the second suspension arm extend the seat device from the vehicle, and the action of getting on or off the vehicle by the passenger can be greatly simplified. In addition, in case of a traffic accident, if the smart seat system is not significantly damaged, it is possible to transport the injured person to the outside of the vehicle through the smart seat system particularly quickly, whereby a secondary injury or a fatal danger in the vehicle can be avoided.

According to one embodiment of the intelligent seat system for a vehicle according to the present invention, the preset position represents a position of the seat device when the vehicle is at a standstill. Here, the seat position of the occupant when the vehicle is stationary may be regarded as the preset position. Thus, when the vehicle is running, the seat device is always in the preset position through the control of the pan and tilt device, and the vehicle body moves in six degrees of freedom no matter how the vehicle body moves. This ensures that the occupant is comfortable throughout the ride. This can particularly advantageously improve the ride experience for the user and improve the acceptance of the product for the user.

According to one embodiment of the intelligent seat system for the vehicle, the holder device is arranged on the bottom plate of the vehicle body. This arrangement is particularly simple and does not require much space on the vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle comprising one of the above-described smart seat systems for a vehicle.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for operating a smart seat system, the method comprising the steps of:

s1 recording a preset position of the seating unit when the vehicle is stationary;

s2 detecting body movement about and along the body axis while the vehicle is running;

s3 controlling the suspension arm of the pan and tilt head device according to the movement of the vehicle body around the axis of the vehicle body and the movement of the vehicle body along the axis of the vehicle body so that the seat device is maintained in the preset position

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer program signals for assisting, when executed by a processor, in implementing at least one of the above-described methods for operating a smart seat system.

Further features of the invention will be apparent from the claims, the drawings and the description of the drawings. The features and feature combinations mentioned in the above description and those mentioned in the following description of the figures and/or shown in the figures only can be used not only in the respectively specified combination but also in other combinations without leaving the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the following is also considered to be covered and disclosed by the present invention: these contents are not explicitly shown in the drawings and are not explicitly explained, but originate from and result from combinations of separate features from the explained contents. The following matters and combinations of features are also to be regarded as disclosed: which does not have all the features of the original written independent claim. Furthermore, the following and combinations of features are considered to be disclosed inter alia by the above: which exceed or deviate from the combinations of features defined in the claims' reference relations.

Drawings

The principles, features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by describing the invention in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a prior art seating arrangement in relation to a vehicle body;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a smart seat system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method for operating a smart seat system according to an embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, the size of each component, the thickness of a layer, or a region may be exaggerated for clarity. Therefore, the shape and size of each constituent element in the drawings do not reflect a true scale.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and advantageous effects of the present invention more apparent, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the scope of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only.

In this specification, for convenience, terms indicating orientation or positional relationship such as "middle", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", and the like are used to explain positional relationship of constituent elements with reference to the drawings, only for convenience of description and simplification of description, and do not indicate or imply that a device or element referred to has a specific orientation, is configured and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, is not to be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The positional relationship of the constituent elements is appropriately changed according to the direction in which each constituent element is described. Therefore, the words described in the specification are not limited to the words described in the specification, and may be replaced as appropriate.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of the arrangement of a seat device 100 in relation to a vehicle body 20 in the prior art. As can be seen in this schematic view, the seat arrangement 100 comprises a seat cushion 1000 and a seat back 1001. In the prior art, the seat device 100 is fixedly connected to the vehicle body 20. Therefore, the movement of the vehicle body 20 is directly transmitted to the seat apparatus 100 and accordingly the vibration from the vehicle body 20 is also transmitted to the seat apparatus 100 through the fixed connection, which greatly affects the comfort of the occupant during riding.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of the smart seat system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In contrast to the arrangement in fig. 1, in fig. 2, it can be seen schematically that a head device 101 is arranged between the seat device 100 and the body 20. The pan and tilt head device 101 is configured here as a cantilevered pan and comprises a first and a second cantilever arm. Of course, more cantilevers may be provided as long as the technical solution of the present invention is implemented.

One end of the first suspension arm is hinged to the vehicle body 20 and the other end is hinged to one end of the second suspension arm. The other end of the second arm is also hinged to the seat device 100. In this example embodiment, the seat device 100 is arranged in the vehicle in a usual manner, i.e., arranged along the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body 20 and oriented in the vehicle travel direction X after the occupant or driver is seated. In addition, the vehicle coordinate system X-Y-Z coordinate system can be seen. In this coordinate system, the X direction points in the traveling direction of the vehicle, the Z direction points upward in the vertical direction of the vehicle, and the Y direction points leftward in the lateral direction of the vehicle. Here, the position of the seat apparatus 100 in the state where the vehicle is stationary (as shown in fig. 2) constitutes a preset position of the seat apparatus 100.

Furthermore, the first and second suspension arms can have different lengths and the sum of their lengths exceeds the transverse length of the body 20. The seat arrangement 100 can thus be moved out of the body 20 or the vehicle door by controlling the pan and tilt head arrangement 101, i.e. by controlling the position of the first and second suspension arm.

Fig. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen in fig. 3, the vehicle 1 comprises a smart seat system 10 according to one embodiment. The intelligent seat system 10 includes a seat device 100, a pan-tilt apparatus 101, and a control device 102, wherein the control device 102 is electrically connected to the pan-tilt apparatus 101 and controls the pan-tilt apparatus 101.

As can also be seen from fig. 3, the head device 101 comprises: a three-axis gyro sensor 1011 for detecting rotational movement about the axis of the vehicle body 20; a three-axis acceleration sensor 1012 for detecting an acceleration motion along an axis of the vehicle body 20; a vibration sensor 1013 configured and adapted to detect vibrations acting on the vehicle body 20; and a damping unit 1014, the damping unit 1014 damping the vibration acting on the vehicle body 20 from being transmitted to the seat device 100.

Here, the control device 102 can establish a communication connection with the pan/tilt head device 101 and can receive detection signals of the three-axis gyro sensor 1011, the three-axis acceleration sensor 1012, and the vibration sensor 1013 and output a control signal to the pan/tilt head device 101 based on the detection signals.

Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a method for operating the smart seat system 10 according to one embodiment of the invention. Here, when the vehicle is in the stationary position, particularly when the occupant enters the vehicle and is seated, the preset position of the seat device 100 is recorded in step S1. Here, the position of the seat device 100 with respect to the vehicle body 20 is recorded. Then the vehicle starts and during running, the three-axis gyro sensor 1011, the three-axis acceleration sensor 1012 detect the motion of the vehicle body 20 in real time and send a motion signal to the control device 102. In step S3, the control device 102 outputs control signals to the pan/tilt head device 101 in accordance with these signals, so that the movement of the first and second suspension arms is controlled by the pan/tilt head device 101 so as to hold the seat device 100 in the preset position. At the same time, the control device 102 also controls the damping unit 1014 according to the sensor signal of the vibration sensor 1013 so as to damp the vibration transmitted from the vehicle body 20 to the seat device 100.

Within the scope of the present invention, such a smart seat system 10 is not limited to vehicles, but can also be applied in marine and flight vehicles.

Other advantages and alternative embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative structures, and illustrative examples shown and described. On the contrary, various modifications and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the basic spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A smart seating system (10) for a vehicle (1), the smart seating system (10) comprising:

a seat device (100), the seat device (100) comprising a seat cushion (1000) and a seat back (1001);

a pan-tilt device (101), the pan-tilt device (101) being arranged between a vehicle body (20) and the seat device (100), and one end of the pan-tilt device (101) being connected to the vehicle body (20) and the other end being connected to the seat device (100); and

a control device (102), said control device (102) being configured and adapted to be electrically connected with said head device (101) and to control said head device (101) so as to keep the seat device (100) in a preset position;

wherein the head device (101) is designed as a cantilevered head, which is connected to the seat device (100) and to the vehicle body (20) in a hinged manner.

2. The smart seat system (10) of claim 1 wherein the pan and tilt head assembly (101) further comprises:

-a gyroscopic sensor (1011), in particular a three-axis gyroscopic sensor, said gyroscopic sensor (1011) being configured to be suitable for detecting a rotational movement about the axis of the body (20); and/or

An acceleration sensor (1012), in particular a three-axis acceleration sensor, said acceleration sensor (1012) being configured to be suitable for detecting an acceleration movement along the axis of the bodywork (20); and/or

A vibration sensor (1013), the vibration sensor (1013) being configured and adapted to detect vibrations acting on the vehicle body (20).

3. The smart seat system (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pan-tilt device (101) comprises at least a first suspension arm (10100) and a second suspension arm (10101), one end of the first suspension arm (10100) and one end of the second suspension arm (10101) being hingedly connected to each other, wherein the other end of the first suspension arm (10100) is hingedly connected to the vehicle body (20), and the other end of the second suspension arm (10101) is hingedly connected to the seat device (100).

4. The smart seat system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pan-tilt device (101) further comprises a damping unit (1014), the damping unit (1014) being configured and adapted to damp the transmission of vibrations acting on the vehicle body (20) to the seat device (100).

5. The smart seat system (10) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the length of the first cantilever (10100) and the length of the second cantilever (10101) can be the same or different, wherein the sum of the length of the first cantilever (10100) and the length of the second cantilever (10101) is designed such that at least the seat arrangement (100) can be removed from the vehicle (1) in a direction transverse to the vehicle (1).

6. The smart seat system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the preset position represents a position of the seat arrangement (100) when the vehicle (1) is stationary.

7. The smart seat system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the pan-tilt device (101) is arranged on a floor of the vehicle body (20).

8. A vehicle (1), the vehicle (1) comprising a smart seat system (10) according to one of claims 1 to 7.

9. A method for operating a smart seat system (10) according to one of claims 2 to 7, the method comprising the steps of:

s1 recording a preset position of the seat device (100) when the vehicle (1) is stationary;

s2, detecting the movement of the vehicle body (20) around the axis of the vehicle body (20) and the movement of the vehicle body (20) along the axis of the vehicle body (20) when the vehicle (1) runs;

s3 controlling the suspension of the pan-tilt device (101) according to the movement of the vehicle body (20) about the axis of the vehicle body (20) and the movement of the vehicle body (20) along the axis of the vehicle body (20) such that the seat device (100) is maintained in the preset position.

10. A computer program product comprising computer program signals for at least assisting in carrying out the method according to claim 9 when executed by a processor.