CN116723959A

CN116723959A - Seating arrangement for a vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN116723959A
Application number: CN202280012123.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 押野优汰; 田边仁一; 古和宗高; 伊藤生佳; 吉冈勇贵; 高桥和也; 松崎勉; 金井秀典; 竹田亮介
Original assignee: TS Tech Co Ltd
Current assignee: TS Tech Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-04
Filing date: 2022-01-07
Publication date: 2023-09-08
Also published as: JP2022149404A

Abstract

[ task ] in a reclining seat apparatus, the behavior of a vehicle is accurately communicated to a seated occupant regardless of the reclining angle of a seat back with respect to a seat cushion. [ solution ] when the reclining angle is less than a predetermined value, the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 vibrates with a higher intensity than the air bag of the seat back 26, and when the reclining angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the air bag 30 of the seat back 26 vibrates with a higher intensity than the air bag of the seat cushion 22.

Description

Seating arrangement for a vehicle

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a seat apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a reclining seat apparatus for a vehicle.

Background

A known seat apparatus for a vehicle such as an automobile includes a seat apparatus configured to apply a stimulus such as compression, crushing, or the like to the lumbar vertebrae and thoracic vertebrae of a seated occupant at prescribed periodic intervals from the rear by using an airbag or the like provided in a seat back, thereby breathing the seated occupant at prescribed periodic intervals suitable for relaxation of the seated occupant. See, for example, patent documents 1 and 2.

A known driving assistance device prevents a reduction in consciousness of a driver seated in a driver's seat by applying vibration stimulus to the driver using vibration generators provided in a seat cushion and a seat back of the driver's seat. See, for example, patent document 3.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: JP2005-296452A

Patent document 2: JP2012-65728A

Patent document 3: JP2019-8734A

Disclosure of Invention

Tasks to be completed by the invention

If the seat occupant is aware of the behavior of the vehicle by vibration applied from the seat cushion or the seat back, and is thus able to adapt to the behavior of the vehicle, the seat occupant can be prevented from suffering from motion sickness.

The main task of the present invention is to minimize motion sickness of a seat occupant by making the seat occupant aware of the behavior of a vehicle by vibration applied from a seat cushion or a seat back, and in particular, to appropriately enable an occupant of a reclining vehicle seat capable of changing the inclination angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion to be aware of the behavior of the vehicle, regardless of the inclination angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion.

Method for completing task

A vehicle seat apparatus (10) according to an embodiment of the invention includes a seat main body (20) provided with a seat cushion (22) and a seat back (26), the seat back (26) being connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion in such a manner that an inclination angle thereof about a horizontal axis can be changed, wherein the vehicle seat apparatus further includes: a plurality of vibration generators (30, 32) provided in the seat cushion and the seat back and configured to apply vibration stimulus to a seated occupant; a reclining angle detection unit (66) for detecting a reclining angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion; a behavior detection unit (60, 62) for detecting a behavior of the vehicle; and a control unit (50) configured to receive the tilt angle detected by the tilt angle detection unit and the behavior of the vehicle detected by the behavior detection unit, and to activate the vibration generators of the seat cushion and the seat back when the received vehicle behavior satisfies a prescribed behavior criterion in such a manner that: when the inclination angle is smaller than a predetermined value, the vibration generator of the seat cushion vibrates with a greater intensity than the vibration generator of the seat back, and when the inclination angle is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the vibration generator of the seat back vibrates with a greater intensity than the vibration generator of the seat cushion.

The prescribed behavior criteria may be related to acceleration/deceleration, yaw motion, etc. that tend to cause motion sickness to the seat occupant.

According to this configuration, the behavior of the vehicle is accurately notified to the seated occupant by means of vibration, regardless of the inclination angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the behavior detection unit includes an acceleration detection unit (60) for detecting an acceleration of the vehicle, and the control unit makes the intensity of the vibration generated by the vibration generator larger when the acceleration is high than when the acceleration is low.

According to this configuration, the magnitude of the acceleration of the vehicle can be notified to the seat occupant by the intensity of the vibration.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the behavior detection unit includes a steering angle detection unit (62) for detecting a steering angle of the vehicle, and the control unit makes the intensity of the vibration generated by the vibration generator larger when the steering angle is large than when the steering angle is small.

According to this configuration, the seat occupant can be notified of the severity of the turn of the vehicle by the intensity of the vibration.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the control unit includes an input unit (52) that receives an input of navigation information from a navigation apparatus (70) mounted on the vehicle, the navigation information including current position information of the vehicle and travel route information of the vehicle on map data, and the control unit causes the intensity of vibration generated by the vibration generator to be greater when a curvature of a road on a travel route at a current position or a predetermined distance ahead of the current position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value than when the curvature is less than the predetermined value.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the vehicle seat apparatus further includes a vehicle speed detecting unit for detecting a running speed of the vehicle, and the control unit increases the intensity of Su Song-family vibration in accordance with the detected running speed.

According to this configuration, the severity of the turn of the vehicle is notified to the seat occupant by the intensity of the vibration depending on the running speed.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the vibration generator is configured to adjust the intensity of the vibration by changing at least one of the amplitude and the frequency of the vibration.

According to this configuration, the adjustment of the vibration intensity can be performed in a wide range.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the vibration generator is laterally arranged, and the information on the behavior of the vehicle includes information on a turning direction of the vehicle, and the control unit intensifies vibration of the vibration generator on a side to which the vehicle is turning to be larger than vibration of the vibration generator on a side away from which the vehicle is turning.

According to this configuration, the turning direction of the vehicle is notified to the seat occupant by means of vibration.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the vibration generator provided on the seat cushion includes a vibration generator that applies vibration stimulus to buttocks of the seat occupant.

According to this configuration, the seat occupant is subjected to deep breathing effective in alleviating motion sickness, so that prevention of motion sickness is improved.

In this vehicle seat device, preferably, the vibration generator includes an airbag (30, 32) that is selectively inflated by being supplied with compressed air.

According to this configuration, vibration can be applied to the seat occupant by using air pressure.

A notification device is known that notifies a vehicle occupant of the behavior of a vehicle by arranging four positions in front, rear, left and right upper of a vehicle cabin, and controlling the volume of sound emitted from a speaker in accordance with the behavior of the vehicle (for example, see WO 2006/006553A).

The speakers are installed in the instrument panel, side door liner, rear tray, etc., so that the notification sound can reach the entire vehicle cabin. Therefore, the notification sound may impair the silence of the cabin. Conversely, if the notification sound is reduced in volume in order to maintain the silence of the cabin, the notification sound may not be properly conveyed to the occupant.

Therefore, there is a task of properly transmitting the turning direction of the vehicle to the occupant when the vehicle is about to turn without damaging the silence of the cabin.

To accomplish this task, a vehicle seat device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a seat cushion (22), a seat back (26) connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion, and a headrest (28) attached to the seat back, the vehicle seat device further including: a left speaker (130) for emitting sound from the left side of the widthwise central portion of the headrest; a right speaker (132) for emitting sound from the right side of the widthwise central portion of the headrest; behavior detection means (60, 62) for detecting a turning behavior of the vehicle; and a control unit (50) that controls the left speaker to emit sound when the vehicle turns left, and controls the right speaker to emit sound when the vehicle turns right.

According to this configuration, the turning direction of the vehicle can be accurately transmitted to the seat occupant seated in the seat body while maintaining the silence of the cabin.

To accomplish this task, a vehicle seat device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a seat cushion (22), a seat back (26) connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion, and a headrest (28) attached to the seat back, the vehicle seat device further including: a left speaker (130) for emitting sound from the left side of the widthwise central portion of the headrest; a right speaker (132) for emitting sound from the right side of the widthwise central portion of the headrest; behavior detection means (60, 62) for detecting a turning behavior of the vehicle; and a control unit (50) for controlling sounds emitted from the left speaker and the right speaker such that the sound image moves from right to left along the headrest when the steering behavior includes a left turn, and the sound image moves from left to right along the headrest when the steering behavior includes a right turn.

According to this configuration, the turning direction of the vehicle can be accurately transmitted to the seat occupant seated in the seat main body by the moving direction of the sound image while maintaining the silence of the cabin.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the behavior detection unit includes an acceleration detection unit (60) for detecting a lateral acceleration of the vehicle, and the control unit makes the sound image move faster when the lateral acceleration is large than when the lateral acceleration is small.

According to this configuration, the seat occupant can recognize the degree of lateral acceleration from the moving speed of the sound image.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the behavior detection unit includes a steering angle detection unit (62) for detecting a steering angle of the vehicle, and the control unit makes the sound image move faster when the steering angle is large than when the steering angle is small.

According to this configuration, the seat occupant can recognize the degree of turning from the moving speed of the sound image.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the control unit includes an input unit that receives input of navigation information including the vehicle current position information and the vehicle travel route information on map data from a navigation apparatus (70) mounted on the vehicle, and the control unit makes the sound image move faster when a curvature of a portion of a predetermined distance of the current position of the vehicle or in front of the current position of the vehicle on a road on a travel route is equal to or greater than a predetermined value than when the curvature is smaller than the predetermined value.

According to this configuration, the seat occupant can recognize the curvature of the road when traveling on the curved road according to the moving speed of the sound image.

Preferably, this vehicle seat apparatus further includes a vehicle speed detecting unit (64) for detecting a running speed of the vehicle, and the control unit moves the sound image faster in accordance with an increase in the running speed of the vehicle.

According to this configuration, the seat occupant can recognize the vehicle speed from the moving speed of the sound image.

In a known vehicle seat device for an automobile or the like, which is provided with a headrest in an upper portion of a seat back, both side portions of the headrest are configured to be bent forward in such a manner that: the right side of the headrest is bent forward when turning left, and the left side of the headrest is bent forward when turning right. By supporting the head of the seat occupant in this way, the seat occupant is prevented from suffering from motion sickness (see, for example, JP 2020-59349A).

However, such conventional vehicle seat arrangements intended to reduce motion sickness involve large displacements of the headrest in operation.

Therefore, in the vehicle seat device, there is a task of avoiding the need for a large displacement of the headrest to reduce motion sickness.

This task can be achieved by providing a vehicle seat device having a seat main body including a seat cushion (22), a seat back (26) connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion, and a headrest (28) attached to the seat back, wherein the headrest includes a main portion (229) for supporting a head of a seat occupant and a neck support portion (233) provided in a lower portion of the main portion and configured to selectively protrude forward, and wherein the vehicle seat device is provided with a control unit (50) for controlling the neck support portion to protrude forward when an acceleration or a turn of a vehicle is detected by a behavior detection unit.

According to this structure, motion sickness can be alleviated without requiring a large displacement of the headrest.

In this vehicle seat device, preferably, the neck support portion includes an airbag (232) that is inflated forward by being supplied with compressed air.

According to this configuration, the neck support has a simple structure.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the headrest includes an upper member (240) fixed to the seatback to form a main body, and a lower member (242) attached to a lower portion of the upper member so as to be displaceable in the front-rear direction to form the neck support, the neck support including a linear actuator (248) for displacing the lower member in the front-rear direction with respect to the upper member.

With this configuration, the neck support can be accurately displaced in the front-rear direction.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the behavior detection unit includes an acceleration detection unit (60) for detecting a front-rear acceleration and a lateral acceleration of the vehicle, and the control unit displaces the neck support farther forward when the acceleration is high than when the acceleration is low.

According to this configuration, the seated occupant can recognize the magnitude of acceleration and is less prone to motion sickness.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the behavior detection unit includes a steering angle detection unit (62) for detecting a steering angle of the vehicle, and the control unit causes the neck support to be displaced forward farther when the steering angle is large than when the steering angle is small.

According to this configuration, the seated occupant can recognize the magnitude of the steering angle and is less prone to motion sickness.

In this vehicle seat apparatus, preferably, the control unit includes an input unit that receives an input including navigation information including current position information of the vehicle and travel route information of the vehicle on map data from a navigation apparatus (70) mounted on the vehicle, wherein the control unit causes the neck support to be displaced farther forward when a curvature of a portion of a road at a current position or a distance ahead of the current position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value than when the curvature is less than the predetermined value.

According to this configuration, the seated occupant can recognize the curvature of the road on the travel route in advance, and is therefore less prone to motion sickness.

In this vehicle seat device, preferably, the control unit is configured to displace the neck support forward in a swinging manner.

According to this configuration, the seated occupant is less likely to suffer from motion sickness due to the vibration stimulus.

Motion sickness prevention systems for vehicle occupants are known (e.g. JP 2019-523657A). This motion sickness prevention system comprises a light emitting array system comprising a plurality of light emitting devices.

The light array system may be installed in a pillar, roof, side wall, door, floor, dashboard, console, window, etc. of a vehicle cabin along the fore-aft direction of the vehicle. The light array system includes a light emitting device that can be illuminated to simulate movement of a vehicle. Since the movement of the vehicle can be visually perceived, the inconsistency between the visual information and other sensory information obtained by the inner ear or the like can be reduced, so that the frequency and severity of motion sickness can be minimized.

However, in this motion sickness prevention system, since the light array system extends in the front-rear direction, it is impossible to notify the occupant of the lateral movement of the vehicle by the light emitted from the light emitting device.

Accordingly, there is a task of providing a motion sickness prevention system capable of easily and effectively notifying passengers of lateral motions of a vehicle.

To accomplish this task, a certain aspect of the present invention provides a motion sickness prevention system configured to be mounted on a vehicle provided with a front seat (305) and a rear seat (306) placed front and rear on a floor (4), the motion sickness prevention system comprising: -acquisition means (321) for acquiring behavior information relating to the behavior of the vehicle; a seat back backlight (331) extending laterally on a back side of a seat back (309) of the front seat and configured to illuminate a plurality of laterally arranged regions thereof, respectively; and a control unit (324) for controlling the seatback-emitting device, wherein the control unit is configured to determine a turning behavior of the vehicle from the behavior information acquired by the acquisition device, and when the turning behavior is determined, dynamically change a distribution of the lighted area to correspond to the turning behavior.

According to this aspect, since the seatback light emitting device is provided to extend in the vehicle width direction, the distribution of the light emitting region can be changed in accordance with the movement of the vehicle in the lateral direction, and the lateral movement mode of the vehicle can be easily notified to the occupant.

In the above aspect of the invention, preferably, the seat back backlight emitting device is disposed at an upper end portion of a rear side of the seat back of the front seat.

According to this aspect, the occupant can favorably recognize the light emission from the seatback light emitting device.

Further, in the above aspect of the invention, preferably, the acquisition means includes an acceleration sensor (321A) that detects an acceleration of the vehicle, and the control unit dynamically changes a distribution of the area that is lit along the extending direction of the seatback light emitting means in accordance with a lateral acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize from the change in the light emitting area that the inertial force is being applied to the body of the occupant, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

In the above aspect of the invention, preferably, the seatback backlight emitting device includes a plurality of light emitting regions (331A), each of which is capable of individually emitting light and is arranged along a lateral direction of the vehicle.

According to this aspect, it is possible to dynamically change the light emission area of the seatback backlight emitting device by controlling the timing of lighting the light emission area.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the control unit causes the light emitting regions to sequentially blink or emit light from left to right when the acceleration sensor detects acceleration to the left, and to sequentially blink or emit light from right to left when the acceleration sensor detects acceleration to the right.

According to this aspect, the occupant can predict the direction of the inertial force applied to the occupant's body from the flickering or emitted light pattern from the light emitting region, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes a floor light emitting device (41) that extends in the front-rear direction on the floor of the vehicle and is configured to illuminate a plurality of regions thereof arranged in the front-rear direction, respectively, and the control unit is configured to dynamically change the distribution of the illuminated regions arranged in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the front-rear acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize the front-rear inertial force applied to the body of the occupant from the change in the illuminated area of the floor light-emitting device, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

In addition, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes a pillar light emitting device (43) that extends in a front-rear direction along the front pillar (18) and is configured to illuminate a plurality of regions thereof arranged in the front-rear direction, respectively, and the control unit is configured to dynamically change a distribution of illuminated regions arranged in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the front-rear acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize the front-rear inertial force applied to the body of the occupant from the change in the illuminated region of the pillar light-emitting device, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes a door light emitting device (45, 46) that extends in a front-rear direction along the door trim (15, 16) and is configured to illuminate a plurality of regions thereof arranged in the front-rear direction, respectively, and the control unit is configured to dynamically change a distribution of the illuminated regions arranged in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the front-rear acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor.

According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize the front-rear inertial force applied to the body of the occupant from the change in the illuminated area of the door light emitting device, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes pillar light emitting devices (43) extending in the front-rear direction along a front pillar (18) and configured to illuminate a plurality of regions thereof arranged in the front-rear direction, respectively, and door light emitting devices (45, 46) extending in the front-rear direction along door trim (15, 16) located on the rear seat side and configured to illuminate a plurality of regions thereof arranged in the front-rear direction, respectively, and the control unit is configured to dynamically change the distribution of the pillar light emitting devices and illuminated regions of the door light emitting devices arranged in the front-rear direction so as to correspond to the front-rear acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, the illuminated regions of the pillar light emitting devices changing at a faster rate than the illuminated regions of the door light emitting devices.

According to this aspect, since the driver perceives a higher acceleration than the actually generated acceleration, the driver tends to decelerate the vehicle. Thereby, the driver is prevented from accelerating the vehicle excessively, so that the safety of the vehicle is improved.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes a front door light emitting device (345) extending along a door trim (315) located on a side opposite to the front seat side and extending in a front-rear direction, and including a plurality of regions extending along the door trim and configured to be lit respectively, and a rear door light emitting device (346) extending along a door trim (15) located on a side opposite to the rear seat side and extending in a front-rear direction, and including a plurality of regions extending along the door trim and configured to be lit respectively, wherein the control unit is configured to dynamically change a distribution of lit regions of the front door light emitting device and a distribution of lit regions of the rear door light emitting device in the front-rear direction, the lit regions of the front door light emitting device changing at a faster rate than the lit regions of the rear door light emitting device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquisition means includes navigation means (352) that acquires a current position of the vehicle and a planned travel route of the vehicle, and the control unit determines the presence or absence of turning behavior according to the current position of the vehicle and the planned travel route of the vehicle.

According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize in advance that the inertial force is to be applied to the body of the occupant, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

A driving assistance system that prevents motion sickness of a vehicle occupant due to abrupt stop of deceleration is known (for example, see JP 2020-11594A). This driving assistance system includes notification means such as a speaker, a head-up display, and an in-vehicle monitor. The notification device notifies the occupant of preparation for the inertial force due to the abrupt stop of deceleration, so that the occupant can prepare for the inertial force due to the abrupt stop of deceleration, and can prevent motion sickness of the occupant due to the abrupt stop of deceleration.

In this known driving assistance system, when a notification is displayed on the head-up display or the in-vehicle monitor, it is required to direct the line of sight of the occupant to the head-up display or the in-vehicle monitor. However, if the occupant is preoccupied with operating a terminal device such as a smart phone, the occupant may not easily direct the line of sight to the heads-up display or the in-vehicle monitor.

Therefore, there is a task of providing a motion sickness prevention system that allows an occupant operating a terminal device to easily understand that an inertial force is to be applied.

In order to accomplish such a task, a certain aspect of the present invention provides a motion sickness prevention system (1) for preventing motion sickness of an occupant of a vehicle, comprising a terminal device (417) held by the occupant and an acquisition device (413, 415) for acquiring behavior information on a behavior of the vehicle, wherein the terminal device is configured to display the behavior of the vehicle on its screen (427) in accordance with the behavior information acquired by the acquisition device.

According to this aspect, since the behavior of the vehicle is displayed on the terminal device according to the acquired behavior information, the occupant can easily understand that the inertial force is to be applied even when the occupant is operating the terminal device.

In addition, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquisition means includes a navigation means (413) that sets a route to a destination, and the terminal means is configured to display, as the behavior information, a turning behavior of the vehicle predicted from a current position of the vehicle and the destination on the screen (27, 27A).

According to this aspect, the turning behavior based on the set route is displayed on the terminal device. As a result, the occupant can estimate the direction of the inertial force to be applied to the occupant, and prepare for the inertial force in advance, thereby preventing motion sickness of the occupant.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the terminal device displays the behavior information by a movement direction of an icon (V) corresponding to the vehicle.

According to this aspect of the invention, the occupant can recognize the direction of the inertial force acting on the vehicle, regardless of the posture taken by the occupant. Accordingly, the occupant can be prepared for the inertial force in advance, so that motion sickness of the occupant can be prevented.

In the above aspect, preferably, the acquiring means acquires a lateral acceleration of the vehicle, and the terminal means displays the behavior information by causing an arrow to be displayed in association with an icon corresponding to the vehicle to indicate turning of the vehicle in a direction of the lateral acceleration acquired by the acquiring means.

According to this aspect, the occupant can easily recognize the turning direction of the vehicle from the arc arrow displayed on the screen of the terminal device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the acquisition means acquires the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle, and the terminal means displays an icon corresponding to the vehicle on the screen at a reference position and at a position shifted from the reference position by a distance corresponding to the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle acquired by the acquisition means

According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle from the position of the icon displayed on the screen of the terminal device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquisition means acquires a steering angle of the vehicle, and the terminal means displays the behavior information of the vehicle by superimposing an arrow on an icon corresponding to the vehicle to indicate that the icon is rotated by an angle corresponding to the steering angle acquired by the acquisition means.

According to this aspect, the occupant can easily recognize the turning direction from the arc arrow displayed on the screen of the terminal device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, when a prescribed application is being executed, the terminal device displays the behavior information superimposed on an edge portion of an execution screen (427A) of the application.

According to this aspect, the occupant can be made more reliably aware of the behavior of the vehicle.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the terminal device displays the behavior information by superimposing a light emitting region (440) on an edge portion of the screen corresponding to a turning behavior of the vehicle when a predetermined application is running.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the terminal device displays the behavior information by superimposing a light emitting area (440) on an edge portion of the screen when a predetermined application is running, and the acquisition device moves the light emitting area in a direction corresponding to a turning direction of the vehicle.

According to this aspect, the occupant can easily recognize the turning direction of the vehicle according to the moving direction of the light emitting region.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes a biosensor for acquiring biometric information of an occupant, and the terminal device is configured to detect signs of motion sickness of the occupant based on the biometric information acquired by the biosensor (302), and stop display of the vehicle behavior when no signs of motion sickness are detected in the occupant.

According to this aspect, the behavior of the vehicle is not displayed on the screen of the terminal device belonging to the occupant without any sign of motion sickness. This prevents the display of the vehicle behavior from interfering with the execution screen of the application on the terminal device.

Further, in the above aspect of the invention, preferably, the biosensor is provided in a seat (405, 406) on which the occupant sits.

According to this aspect, the biometric information of the occupant can be obtained more accurately.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the vehicle includes a light emitting device (1311L, 1311R, 1313) that emits light toward the cabin, and a control unit (416) that controls the light emitting device according to the behavior information.

According to this aspect, the behavior of the vehicle is reliably notified to the occupant.

In one aspect, the present invention provides a motion sickness prevention system for preventing motion sickness of an occupant, comprising: a terminal device held by an occupant; and an acquisition device that detects behavior information on a behavior of a vehicle on which the occupant sits, wherein the terminal device displays the behavior of the vehicle on a screen according to the behavior information acquired by the acquisition device. According to this aspect, since the behavior of the vehicle is displayed on the terminal device according to the behavior information, the occupant can easily understand that the inertial force is to be applied even when the terminal device is being operated.

In addition, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquisition means includes navigation means for setting a route to a destination, and the terminal means is configured to display, as the behavior information, a turning behavior of the vehicle predicted from a current position of the vehicle and the route. According to this aspect, the turning behavior based on the set route is displayed on the terminal device. As a result, the occupant can predict in advance the direction of the inertial force to be applied to the occupant, so that the occupant can be prepared for the inertial force, so that the occupant is protected from motion sickness.

Further, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the terminal device is configured to display the behavior information by a movement direction of an icon corresponding to the vehicle. According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize the direction of the inertial force with respect to the vehicle regardless of the posture of the occupant. Therefore, the occupant can be prepared for inertial force in advance, so that motion sickness of the occupant can be prevented.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquiring means acquires a lateral acceleration of the vehicle, and the terminal means is configured to display the behavior information by showing an arrow in association with an icon corresponding to the vehicle so as to turn in a direction of the lateral acceleration acquired by the acquiring means. Thus, the occupant can easily recognize the turning direction from the arc arrow displayed on the screen of the terminal device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquisition means acquires a front-rear acceleration of the vehicle, and the terminal means displays an icon corresponding to the vehicle at a reference position on the screen, and displays a shift position to which the vehicle is to travel according to the front-rear acceleration detected by the acquisition means. According to this aspect, the occupant can recognize the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle from the position of the icon displayed on the screen of the terminal device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the acquisition means acquires a steering angle of the vehicle, and the terminal means displays the behavior of the vehicle by superimposing an arrow on an icon representing the vehicle so as to show a turn of the vehicle at an angle corresponding to the steering angle acquired by the acquisition means. According to this aspect, the occupant can easily recognize the turning direction of the vehicle from the curved arrow displayed on the screen of the terminal device.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the terminal device superimposes the behavior information on an edge portion of an execution screen of a predetermined application program when the application program is being executed. According to this aspect, it is possible to make the occupant more reliably aware of the behavior of the vehicle.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the terminal device superimposes a light emitting region on an edge portion of the screen corresponding to a turning behavior of the vehicle when a predetermined application program is being executed. According to this aspect, it is possible to make the occupant more reliably aware of the behavior of the vehicle.

In addition, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, when a predetermined application is being executed, the terminal device displays the behavior information by superimposing a light-emitting area on an edge portion of the screen, and the acquisition device moves the light-emitting area to correspond to a turning direction of the vehicle. According to this aspect, the occupant can easily recognize the turning direction of the vehicle according to the moving direction of the light emitting region.

In addition, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the motion sickness prevention system further includes a biosensor for acquiring biometric information of the occupant, and the terminal device is configured to determine whether the occupant has suffered from motion sickness or not based on the biometric information acquired by the biosensor, and to stop displaying the behavior of the vehicle on the screen when it is determined that the occupant has no motion sickness. According to this aspect, the behavior of the vehicle is not displayed on the screen of the terminal device belonging to the occupant without motion sickness. Thereby, the execution screen of the application program displayed on the terminal device is prevented from being disturbed by the display of the behavior of the vehicle.

In the above aspect of the invention, preferably, the biosensor is provided on a seat on which the occupant sits. According to this aspect, the biometric information of the occupant can be accurately obtained.

Further, in the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the vehicle includes a light emitting device that emits light to a cabin and a control unit that controls the light emitting device, and the control unit is configured to control light emission according to the behavior information. According to this aspect, the behavior of the vehicle is reliably notified to the occupant.

In a seat such as a vehicle seat, which includes a cushion and a skin member covering the cushion, a seating surface of a seat cushion or a seat back may be provided with a linear recess portion or a selvedge portion to maintain an outer shape of the seat cushion or the seat back. The skin member is pressed partially into this selvedge portion and secured to the engagement member fastened to the pad.

JP2020-1559A discloses a selvedge member comprising a fabric connecting portion provided in an edge portion of a skin member and extending in the same direction as a selvedge groove in a pad, and an engaged member attached to a tip end of the connecting portion so as to bulge laterally. The skin member is pulled into the selvedge groove of the pad by engaging the engaged member with a clip secured to the bottom of the groove in the pad.

In a seat provided with such a selvedge portion, it may be desirable to provide the portion of the cushion adjacent the selvedge groove with irregularities or undulations along the length of the selvedge portion. In this case, if the height of the bottom of the selvedge groove is constant, irregularities can be created in the selvedge edge of the skin member. In the selvedge member described in JP2020-1559A, since the joined member resists bending deformation, some difficulties are encountered in sewing or otherwise fixing the selvedge member to the edge portion of the skin member. Therefore, only the linear portion of the edge portion of the selvedge member fixed to the skin member is required. As a result, the portion of the edge portion of the skin member where there is no selvedge member cannot be pulled into the selvedge groove, and the undulating appearance of the seat surface cannot be advantageously produced. In addition, since the selvedge member is provided so as to avoid the bent edge portion of the skin member, the selvedge member needs to be constituted of a large number of relatively short pieces, which results in an increase in the number of components.

In view of this problem of the prior art, the main task of the present invention is to provide a seat selvedge structure for uneven edge portions of a skin member and a method for assembling a seat selvedge structure, wherein the edge portions and the selvedge member can be connected in an advantageous and easy manner.

In one aspect, the invention provides a selvedge structure for a seat (10), comprising: a pad (625) provided with a selvedge groove (629); a plurality of engagement members (6160) secured to the pad at the bottom of the selvedge groove and arranged in a spaced apart relationship along the length of the selvedge groove; a skin member (626) covering the surface of the pad and provided with a selvedge edge portion (611) extending in the longitudinal direction of the selvedge groove within the selvedge groove; and a selvedge member (614) extending along the length of the selvedge groove in the selvedge groove and being provided with a first edge portion (612) connected to the selvedge edge portion (611) and a second edge portion (613) joined by the joining member, the selvedge edge portion being provided with an edge profile bent into a concave or convex shape, the first edge portion of the selvedge member being provided with a yielding portion (617).

According to this configuration, since the selvedge member is deformable at the yielding portion, the selvedge member can be easily attached to the selvedge edge portion which is curved by having a convex or concave contour conforming thereto. In addition, according to this configuration, since it is not necessary for the selvedge member to avoid the bent portion of the selvedge edge portion of the epidermis member, an increase in the number of components can be avoided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the above configuration, the easily deformable portion includes a cutout cut into the first edge portion and has a predetermined length in the length direction.

According to this configuration, since the deformable portion is the notch portion, the deformable portion can be easily formed.

According to an embodiment of the invention, in any of the above constructions, the selvedge member is configured such that the first edge portion is more flexible than the second edge portion.

According to this configuration, since the first edge portion connected to the selvedge edge portion is more easily bent and deformed than the second edge portion, the work for connecting the selvedge edge portion to the first edge portion becomes easy.

In an embodiment of the invention, in any of the above constructions, the first edge portion and the selvedge edge portion are provided with respective marks (618, 619) aligned with each other on both sides of the yielding portion.

According to this configuration, since the mark is provided with the easily deformable portion interposed therebetween, by matching the mark, the selvedge member can be bent into an appropriate shape and placed at an appropriate position.

In an embodiment of the invention, in the immediately above-described configuration, the first edge portion is connected to the selvedge edge portion by stitching along a predetermined stitch (620), and the first edge portion folds back at the stitch with its edge aligned with the edge of the selvedge edge portion.

According to this configuration, when the selvedge edge portion and the first edge portion are connected to each other by stitching, the selvedge edge portion and the first edge portion are made to overlap each other with their edges aligned with each other, so that the matching of the marks when the selvedge member is bent is facilitated.

In an embodiment of the invention, in the above configuration, the marking of the first edge portion and the selvedge edge portion comprises a notch cut into the first edge portion and the selvedge edge portion, and the seam is arranged to avoid the marking.

According to this configuration, since the suture thread bypasses the mark, even if the mark includes a notch, the connection strength between the selvedge edge portion and the first edge portion is not weakened.

In an embodiment of the invention, in any of the above configurations, the engagement member is provided at a position aligned with the mark.

According to this configuration, since the mark is provided at a position aligned with the engaging member, the selvedge edge portion can be inserted into the appropriate position of the selvedge groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in any one of the above configurations, the engaging member is provided only at a position offset in the length direction from the easily deformable portion.

The second edge portion undergoes the greatest bending deformation at a location aligned with the yielding portion. According to this configuration, the second edge portion is engaged with the engaging member while avoiding the portion where deformation is largest, so that the engagement of the second edge portion with the engaging member is facilitated.

In an embodiment of the present invention, instead of the immediately above-described configuration, one of the respective engaging members is provided at a position aligned with the easily deformable portion.

According to this configuration, since the most curved portion of the selvedge edge portion is engaged with the engaging member via the selvedge member, the unevenness of the seating surface of the seat can be easily reproduced as designed.

In one aspect, the invention provides a method for assembling a selvedge structure of a seat (10), the selvedge structure comprising: a pad (625) provided with a selvedge groove (629); a plurality of engagement members (6160) secured to the pad at the bottom of the selvedge groove and arranged in a spaced apart relationship along the length of the selvedge groove; a skin member (626) covering a surface of the pad and provided with a selvedge edge portion (611) extending in the selvedge groove in a length direction of the selvedge groove to define a convex or concave curved profile; and a selvedge member (614) extending along the length of the selvedge recess in the selvedge recess and being provided with a first edge portion (612) connected to the selvedge edge portion (611) and a second edge portion (613) engaged by the plurality of engagement members, the method comprising the steps of: -providing a deformable portion (617) on the first edge portion (12); marks (618, 619) provided on the first and selvedge edge portions on both sides of the yielding portion so as to be aligned with each other; bending the selvedge member along the selvedge edge portion, wherein the marks of the first edge portion and the selvedge edge portion are aligned with each other; connecting the first edge portion and the second edge portion to each other; and engaging the second edge portion with the engagement member.

According to this configuration, the presence of the yielding portion makes the selvedge member easier to bend, and the markings on the first edge arranged on both sides in the yielding portion are aligned with the markings of the selvedge member. As a result, the selvedge member has a suitable shape and is arranged in a suitable position, which facilitates assembly.

In the seat back of a vehicle seat, it is known to use a plastic clip for fixing an end portion of a lever member extending upward from a pressure receiving member to an upper member. The clip includes a main body defining a through hole for receiving the lever member therein, and a resilient claw protruding from the main body is fitted into an engagement hole formed in the upper member. See, for example, JP 2004-262626294 AS.

The clip disclosed in JP 2004-262626294 is movable relative to the lever member. Thus, after attaching the clip that is movably connected to the lever member, the position and orientation of the clip must be fixed relative to the lever member. As a result, assembling the lever member to the upper member by using the clip becomes complicated. In particular, when attaching the lever member to the upper member by using an automatic machine, a complicated mechanism is required to mount the clip.

In view of this background, there is a task of providing a clip that is easy to assemble and a vehicle seat that includes the clip.

To accomplish such a task, one aspect of the present invention provides a clip (713) for fixing a first member to a second member (710), the first member including a first lever portion (715) and a second lever portion (716) connected to each other via a bent portion (714), the clip comprising: a first portion (717) provided with a first recess (724) for receiving at least a portion of the first lever portion; a second portion (718) provided with a second recess (727) for receiving at least a portion of the second rod portion; a connecting portion (719) connecting the first and second portions to each other so as to maintain a position of the first member relative to the second position; and an engagement portion (731) provided on the first portion to engage the second member.

According to this aspect, the position of the clip relative to the first member is determined by receiving the first lever portion in the first recess and the second lever portion in the second recess. Thus, assembly of the first member to the second member by using the clip can be facilitated.

In the above aspect of the invention, the first groove and the second groove have different opening directions from each other.

According to this aspect, the clip is less likely to be detached from the first member.

In the above aspect of the invention, the first portion and the second portion have a first end face (722) and a second end face (723) respectively, on one side of the connecting portion, an end of the first groove reaches the first end face, an end of the second groove reaches the second end face, and the first end face, the connecting portion, and the second end face together define a third groove (728) extending perpendicularly to the first groove and the second groove, the first groove opening toward a first side of the third groove along a length direction of the third groove, and the second groove opening toward a second side of the third groove along the length direction of the third groove.

According to this aspect, the worker can cause the first and second lever portions to be accommodated in the first and second grooves, respectively, by inserting the boundary portion between the first and second lever portions into the third groove and rotating the clip. Thereby, the clip can be easily assembled to the first member.

In the above aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the width of the first groove at the open end thereof is smaller than the diameter of the first rod portion, and the width of the second groove at the open end thereof is smaller than the diameter of the second rod portion.

According to this aspect, the first and second lever portions can be held in the first and second grooves, respectively. Thereby, the clip is prevented from falling off the first member.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the open end of the first groove is defined by a pair of edges inclined to be closer to each other toward the bottom of the first groove, and the open end of the second groove is defined by a pair of edges inclined to be closer to each other toward the bottom of the second groove.

According to this aspect, the first lever portion can be accommodated in the first groove by pushing the first lever portion into the first groove. Further, by pushing the second rod portion into the second groove, the second rod portion can be accommodated in the second groove.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the second lever portion is inclined at a first angle (α) with respect to the first lever portion, and the second portion is inclined at the first angle with respect to the first portion.

According to this aspect, the clip can be disposed with respect to the first member with a simple configuration.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the engaging portion is provided with an elastic claw (734) protruding from the first portion, and the second member is provided with an engaging hole (732) into which the engaging portion is inserted.

According to this aspect, the clip attached to the first member can be easily attached to the second member.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the first portion is longer than the second portion.

According to this aspect, the clip can be attached to the first member and the second member in a stable manner.

Another aspect of the invention provides a vehicle seat (20) provided with a clip (713), the vehicle seat comprising right and left vertically extending members (709); an upper member (710) extending laterally between upper ends of the side members (709); a lower member (711) extending laterally between lower ends of the side members; a plurality of wires (712) made of metal rods and extending from the lower member to the upper member; and a plate-shaped pressure receiving member (708) disposed between the side members and between the upper member and the lower member, wherein the first member is the wire and the second member is the upper member, and the clip connects an upper end portion of the wire to the upper member (10).

According to this aspect, the wire can be easily attached to the upper member by using the clip.

In the above aspect of the present invention, preferably, the engaging portion of each clip is inserted from the front into a corresponding engaging hole (732) formed in the front surface (710A) of the upper member.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the vehicle seat apparatus of the present invention, the seat occupant can be made aware of the behavior of the vehicle regardless of the inclination angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle seating arrangement according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control system of the vehicle seating apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a control system of the vehicle seating apparatus of the first embodiment;

fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a process of installing an airbag into the vehicle seat apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat arrangement according to a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a control system of the vehicle seating apparatus of the second embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a control system of the vehicle seating apparatus of the second embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a control system of a vehicle seating apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat arrangement according to a fourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a control system of the vehicle seating apparatus of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a vehicle seat apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;

fig. 12 is a perspective view of a cabin of a vehicle provided with a motion sickness prevention system according to a sixth embodiment of the invention;

fig. 13 is a top view of a cabin of a vehicle provided with a motion sickness prevention system of a sixth embodiment;

fig. 14 is a block diagram of a motion sickness prevention system;

FIG. 15 is a view of the interior of the cabin when viewed from the rear seat toward the rear side of the front seat;

fig. 16 is a view of a front portion of a cabin of a vehicle provided with a motion sickness prevention system of the sixth embodiment;

fig. 17 is a flowchart showing a procedure of emitting light in the motion sickness prevention system of the sixth embodiment;

FIG. 18 shows a schematic view of the variation of the light emission area of the seat back backlight emitting device (A) when the vehicle is turning left and (B) when the vehicle is turning right;

FIG. 19 shows a schematic view showing a change in the light emission area of the seatback light emitting device (A) when the vehicle is accelerating and (B) when the vehicle is decelerating;

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing the field of view of an occupant seated in a rear seat and operating a smart phone;

fig. 21 is a flowchart of a light emission process in the motion sickness prevention system of the seventh embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 22 is a schematic view showing a light emission pattern of a lateral light emitting device of the motion sickness prevention system according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 23 is a schematic view showing a cabin of (a) when a front seat is facing forward and (B) when the front seat is turned and facing backward of a vehicle equipped with a motion sickness prevention system according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 24 is a block diagram showing the structure of a motion sickness prevention system of the ninth embodiment;

fig. 25 is a flowchart showing a display process of the motion sickness prevention system of the ninth embodiment;

fig. 26 is a schematic diagram showing a display screen when the vehicle behavior sensor has detected a leftward lateral acceleration that is greater than the first lateral acceleration threshold but equal to or less than the second lateral acceleration threshold, (B) a schematic diagram showing a display screen when the vehicle behavior sensor has detected a leftward lateral acceleration that is greater than the second lateral acceleration threshold, and (C) a schematic diagram showing a display screen according to a modified embodiment;

Fig. 27 is a schematic view (a) showing a display screen when the vehicle behavior sensor has detected a rightward lateral acceleration that is greater than the first lateral acceleration threshold value but equal to or less than the second lateral acceleration threshold value, (B) showing a display screen when the vehicle behavior sensor has detected a rightward lateral acceleration that is greater than the second lateral acceleration threshold value, and (C) showing a schematic view of a display screen according to a modified embodiment;

fig. 28 is a view of a display screen (a) when the vehicle behavior sensor detects forward and backward acceleration, (B) when the vehicle behavior sensor detects forward and backward acceleration smaller than the forward and backward acceleration of (a), and (C) when the vehicle behavior sensor detects backward and forward acceleration;

fig. 29 is a flowchart of a display process in the motion sickness prevention system according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 30 is a schematic view showing a display screen on the terminal device when a leftward steering action is taken and the steering angle is equal to or greater than the steering angle threshold;

fig. 31 is a flowchart of a display process in the motion sickness prevention system according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 32 is a view showing a display screen on the terminal display (a) during a leftward turn and (B) during a rightward turn;

Fig. 33 is a flowchart of a display process in the motion sickness prevention system according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 34 is a view showing a display screen on the terminal display (a) during a leftward turn and (B) during a rightward turn in the twelfth embodiment;

fig. 35 shows (a) a display screen during a leftward turn in a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention and (B) a display screen according to a modified embodiment;

fig. 36 is a view of a display screen according to a modification of the embodiment shown in fig. 34 (B);

fig. 37 shows (a) a schematic view of a state of illumination when the left light emitting device, the right light emitting device, and the lateral light emitting device are disposed in the cabin and the vehicle is making a left turn, and (B) an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a broken line in fig. 37 (a);

FIG. 38 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat according to a thirteenth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 39 is a cross-sectional view of the selvedge structure in the thirteenth embodiment;

FIG. 40 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line extending transversely through the cushion of the seat cushion in the thirteenth embodiment (A: transverse center portion, B: transverse side portions adjacent to the selvedge portion extending in the fore-aft direction)

FIG. 41 is a schematic view showing the selvedge process of the selvedge structure in the thirteenth embodiment (A: skin member, B: selvedge member);

FIG. 42 is a schematic view showing a selvedge process of the selvedge structure in the thirteenth embodiment (the selvedge member overlaps the skin member and is sewn to the skin member);

FIG. 43 is a schematic drawing showing the selvedge process of the selvedge structure in the thirteenth embodiment (upper schematic drawing: the skin member folded over the stitch line, lower schematic drawing: the selvedge groove in the pad);

FIG. 44 is a perspective view of a frame of a seat to which a clip according to a fourteenth embodiment of the present invention is applied;

FIG. 45 is a front view of a seat back to which the clip of the fourteenth embodiment is applied;

FIG. 46 is a right side view of a clip of a fourteenth embodiment;

FIG. 47 is a left side view of a clip of a fourteenth embodiment;

FIG. 48 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXXXVIII-XXXXVIII of FIG. 47;

FIG. 49 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXXXIX-XXXXIX of FIG. 47;

fig. 50 is an explanatory view showing a clip engaging an upper member of a fourteenth embodiment;

fig. 51 is an explanatory view showing a clip engaging an upper member according to a fifteenth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 52 is an explanatory view showing a clip engaging an upper member according to a sixteenth embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 53 is a cross-sectional view of a clip according to a seventeenth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT (S) OF INVENTION

(first embodiment)

Hereinafter, a vehicle seat apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

As shown in fig. 1, the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of this embodiment includes a seat main body 20 that is supported on a floor (not shown in the drawing) of an automobile by left and right slide rail apparatuses 12 extending in the front-rear direction.

The seat main body 20 includes a seat cushion 22 that provides a seating surface and a seat back 26 that provides a back cushion surface and is connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion 22 via an electric reclining device 24 that allows a tilt angle of the seat back 26 to be changed about a horizontal axis. A headrest 28 is attached to an upper portion of the seat back 26.

The seat cushion 22 is provided with a plurality of air bags 30 serving as vibration generators and spaced apart from each other in a grid pattern in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction. Each airbag 30 is capable of being inflated and deflated by selectively supplying compressed air thereto from a compressed air source (not shown in the drawings) and of transmitting vibrations to the buttocks and thighs of the seat occupant.

The seat back 26 is provided with a plurality of air bags 30 serving as vibration generators and spaced apart from each other in a grid pattern in the vertical direction and the lateral direction. Each airbag 30 can be inflated and deflated by selectively supplying compressed air thereto from a compressed air source (not shown in the drawings), and can transmit vibration stimulus effective in reducing motion sickness to the back and buttocks of the seat occupant. The air bag 32 in the seat back 26 is configured to apply vibration stimulus to the buttocks, particularly to the portion of the occupant corresponding to the lumbar vertebrae, to promote abdominal breathing.

By changing at least one of the amplitude and the frequency of the vibration expansion of the airbags 30 and 32, the intensity of the vibration applied to the seat occupant can be adjusted.

Below the seat cushion 22 a control unit 50 is provided, which forms part of the control system of the vehicle seat arrangement 10. Details of the control unit 50 will be described below with reference to fig. 2.

The control unit 50 is based on an electronic information processing apparatus including a microcomputer, and has an input unit 52, an arithmetic processing unit 54, and an output unit 56.

The input unit 52 is connected to an in-vehicle acceleration sensor (acceleration detection unit) 60, a steering angle sensor (steering angle detection unit) 62, and a vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection unit) 64 of a behavior detection unit for detecting a behavior of an automobile (vehicle).

The acceleration sensor 60 is of a multiaxial type, and outputs information about longitudinal and lateral acceleration of the vehicle to the input unit 52. The steering angle sensor 62 outputs information about the steering angle of the vehicle to the input unit 52. The vehicle speed sensor 64 outputs information about the running speed of the automobile to the input unit 52.

An in-vehicle inclination angle sensor (inclination angle detection unit) 66 is connected to the input unit 52. The reclining angle sensor 66 detects a reclining angle (hereinafter, referred to as a reclining angle) of the seat back 26 about a horizontal axis with respect to the seat cushion 22, and outputs information about the reclining angle to the input unit 52.

The in-vehicle navigation device 70 is connected to the input unit 52. The navigation device 70 detects the current position of the vehicle on the map data by receiving the GPS signal, displays the travel route of the vehicle from the current position to the destination set by the user on the monitor on the map data, and displays the travel route. The navigation information including the route information is transmitted to the input unit 52. In other words, the input unit 52 receives navigation information including travel route information on the map data from the navigation device 70.

When the input information of the input unit 52 indicates a running behavior of the vehicle that may cause motion sickness, such as acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle that may be determined according to the front-rear direction, and turning of the vehicle that is determined according to the lateral acceleration and the steering angle, the arithmetic processing unit 54 generates a vibration control instruction that vibrates the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 with a higher vibration intensity than the air bag 32 of the seat cushion 26 according to whether the reclining angle is smaller than a prescribed value or whether the seat back 26 is in a relatively upright posture, and vibrates the air bag 32 of the seat cushion 26 with a higher vibration intensity than the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 according to whether the reclining angle is equal to or greater than the prescribed value or whether the seat back 26 is in a relatively flat posture, and sends the vibration control instruction to the output unit 56.

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 54 corrects the vibration control instruction so that the vibration intensity increases as the acceleration and the lateral acceleration in the front-rear direction, the difference between the acceleration and the lateral acceleration in the front-rear direction, the steering angle, the difference in the steering angle, and the vehicle speed increase, and sends the corrected vibration control instruction to the output unit 56.

Based on the navigation information input to the input unit 52, when it is determined that the current portion of the road or the portion of the road at a distance ahead of the current position is curved, the arithmetic processing unit 54 generates a control instruction that vibrates the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 with a higher intensity than the air bag 32 of the seat back 26 when the reclining angle is smaller than a prescribed value, and vibrates the air bag 32 of the seat back 26 with a higher intensity than the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 when the reclining angle is equal to or greater than the prescribed value, and sends the control instruction to the output unit 56.

Further, based on the navigation information, the arithmetic processing unit 54 corrects the control instruction in such a manner that the vibration intensity is greater when the current portion of the road or the portion of the road at a distance in front of the current position is a sharp curve than when the current portion of the road or the portion of the road at a distance in front of the current position is a gentle curve, and sends this control instruction to the output unit 56. As used herein, a distance may be a distance that the vehicle is expected to travel within tens of seconds, and thus may depend on the vehicle speed.

The airbag control unit 58 is connected to the output unit 56, and the airbags 30 and 32 are connected to the airbag control unit 58. The air bag control unit 58 includes an electromagnetic intake/exhaust valve and the like, and variably determines a supply/exhaust cycle of the compressed air with respect to the air bags 30 and 32 and a supply/exhaust time of the compressed air in each cycle according to a vibration operation instruction from the output unit 56.

As a result, each of the airbags 30 and 32 repeatedly expands and contracts at a period (or frequency) corresponding to the compressed air supply/discharge cycle and at a volume determined by the compressed air supply/discharge time in each cycle. In other words, the airbags 30 and 32 vibrate at a variable frequency and variable amplitude determined by the oscillating operation instruction.

When the reclining angle is less than the predetermined value, the body pressure acting on the seat cushion 22 is higher than the body pressure acting on the seat back 26 because the seat back 26 is in a nearly vertically upright condition. In contrast, when the reclining angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the body pressure acting on the seat back 26 is relatively large because the seat back 26 is close to the horizontal flat state.

Therefore, in the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, when the reclining angle is smaller than the predetermined value, the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 is vibrated at a greater vibration intensity than the air bag 32 of the seat back 26, and when the reclining angle is larger than the predetermined value, the air bag 32 of the seat back 26 is vibrated at a greater vibration intensity than the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22. Thereby, vibrations can be transmitted to the occupant in a reliable manner regardless of the reclining angle.

The behavior of a vehicle such as acceleration/deceleration and turning of the vehicle that may cause motion sickness can be accurately communicated to an occupant regardless of the reclining angle. In other words, the seat occupant is enabled to know the behavior of the vehicle by vibration regardless of the reclining angle.

In the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, since the navigation information is used and the presence of a curve can be detected in advance, the vibration of the air bags 30, 32 can be initiated before the vehicle reaches the curve. In other words, the seat occupant knows that the vehicle will turn before the vehicle reaches a curve.

Alternatively, when the reclining angle is smaller than a predetermined value, only the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 may be vibrated, and when the reclining angle is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, only the air bag 32 of the seat back 26 may be vibrated.

In the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, the greater the acceleration/deceleration in the front-rear direction, the acceleration/deceleration in the lateral direction, the steering angle, and the rate of change thereof, the steeper the turn, the higher the vehicle speed, and the greater the vibration intensity. The occupant can know the level of the longitudinal acceleration/deceleration, the lateral acceleration/deceleration, the steering angle, and the rate of change thereof from the intensity of the vibration.

When using the navigation information, since the vibration intensity when the curvature of the portion of the road in front of the current position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (a eased curve) is greater than the vibration intensity when the curvature is smaller than the predetermined value (a sharp curve), the occupant can know in advance the curvature of the curve into which the vehicle is entering. The curvature of the road may be converted into a turning radius, and the vibration intensity is greater when the turning radius is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value than when the turning radius is greater than the predetermined value.

Since the airbag 32 of the seatback 26 is configured to apply vibration stimulus to the hip region, particularly the lumbar vertebrae, of the seat occupant, the vibration stimulus can promote abdominal respiration of the seat occupant. Thus, deep breathing is caused, which effectively reduces motion sickness by sedating the spirit, and improves the effect of reducing motion sickness.

The information on the steering angle provided by the steering angle sensor 62 and the navigation information provided by the navigation device 70 include information on the turning direction (left turn, right turn) of the vehicle. Here, the control unit 50 generates a vibration control instruction that makes the vibration intensities of the airbags 30 and 32 on the turning direction side larger than the vibration intensities of the airbags 30 and 32 on the opposite side, and sends the vibration control instruction to the output unit 56.

As a result, in the case of turning leftward, the airbags 30, 32 on the left side of the seat occupant vibrate more severely than the airbags 30, 32 on the right side of the seat occupant. In the case of a right turn, the airbags 30, 32 on the right side of the seat occupant vibrate more severely than the airbags 30, 32 on the left side of the occupant.

The vibration of the airbags 30 and 32 allows the seated occupant to recognize the turning direction of the automobile, and such recognition (consciousness) reduces motion sickness compared to when the occupant does not know the turning direction.

Next, a mode of operation of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the first embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 3. The control routine shown in this flowchart is cyclically executed by the control unit 50 at prescribed time intervals.

This control routine is executed during acceleration/deceleration, turning, etc. of the vehicle when motion sickness is likely to occur. First, it is determined whether the reclining angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step ST 10). When the reclining angle ranges from 90 degrees to 180 degrees, the predetermined value of the reclining angle may be 135 degrees.

If the reclining angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the air bag 32 of the seat back 26 vibrates more severely than the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 (step ST 11). On the other hand, if the reclining angle is smaller than the predetermined value, the air bag 30 of the seat cushion 22 vibrates more severely than the air bag 32 of the seat back 26 (step ST 12).

Next, it is determined whether the steering angle is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, for example, 35 degrees (step ST 13). If the steering angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the vibration intensity is increased according to the vehicle speed (step ST 14).

If the steering angle is smaller than the predetermined value, it is determined whether the accelerations in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction are equal to or larger than the predetermined value (step ST 15). If at least one of the accelerations in the front-rear direction and the lateral direction is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the vibration intensity is increased according to the vehicle speed (step ST 14).

If both the front-rear acceleration and the lateral acceleration are smaller than the predetermined value, it is determined whether the curve radius (turning radius) is smaller than the predetermined value (step ST 16). A predetermined value of the curve radius is set according to the vehicle speed to decrease as the vehicle speed increases. For example, when the vehicle speed is 60km/h, it may be set to 60m. If the curve radius is smaller than the predetermined value, the vibration intensity is increased according to the vehicle speed (step ST 14).

If the curve radius is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the routine ends without increasing the vibration intensity.

As shown in fig. 1, the air bag 30 provided on the seat cushion 22 is integrally formed in a rectangular resin sheet 34, and the air bag 32 provided on the seatback 26 is similarly formed as a resin rectangular sheet 36.

As shown in fig. 4, the resin sheet 34 containing the air bag 30 may be inserted into the cushion 22A through the slit 23 formed in the front portion of the cushion 22A of the seat cushion 22.

The air bag 30 may also be provided on a pair of cushion portions 25 (see fig. 1), the pair of cushion portions 25 being provided on both sides of the seat cushion 22. In this case, as shown in fig. 4, a strip of rectangular resin sheets 34 having a plurality of air bags 30 arranged in a row may be inserted into the cushion 22A of the cushion portion via corresponding slits 27 formed in the front portion of the cushion 25A of each cushion portion 25.

The number of the airbags 30 and 32 is not limited to 2×3=6, but may be any number other than six. The vibration generator is not limited to the airbags 30, 32, but may be a piezoelectric device that deforms when supplied with electricity, or a mechanical device using a cam or the like. The vibration generator may also be provided in a footrest (not shown in the figures).

(second embodiment)

A vehicle seat apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 5 to 7.

As shown in fig. 5, the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the second embodiment is provided with a seat main body 20 provided on a floor panel (not shown in the drawings) of a vehicle such as an automobile via a pair of slide rail apparatuses 12 extending in the front-rear direction on both sides.

The seat main body 20 includes a seat cushion 22 that provides a seating surface and a seat back 26 that is connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion 22 so as to be able to change its inclination angle about a horizontal axis by the electric reclining device 24 and provide a back cushion surface. A headrest 28 is attached to an upper portion of the seat back 26.

A left speaker 130 and a right speaker 132 are incorporated in the headrest 28. The left speaker 130 outputs sound to the left ear of the seat occupant via a perforated sound output unit 130A, the perforated sound output unit 130A being formed in a portion of the skin member that is distant from the center portion in the lateral direction on the left side of the headrest 28. The right speaker 132 outputs sound to the right ear of the seat occupant via a perforated sound output unit 132A formed in a portion of the skin member that is distant from the center portion in the lateral direction on the right side of the headrest 28.

The left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 may be provided for each of the seat bodies 20 including a front seat, a rear seat, and the like, which are disposed in the vehicle cabin.

The control unit 50 is disposed below the seat cushion 22. The control unit 50 may be shared by different seat bodies 20.

The control system of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 will be described below with reference to fig. 6. The control unit 50 is based on an electronic information processing apparatus including a microcomputer, and has an input unit 52, an arithmetic processing unit 54, and an output unit 56.

The input unit 52 is connected to behavior detection means for detecting the behavior of an automobile (vehicle), such as an in-vehicle acceleration sensor (acceleration detection unit) 60, a steering angle sensor (steering angle detection unit) 62, and a vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection unit) 64.

The acceleration sensor 60 outputs vector information about the lateral acceleration of the automobile to the input unit 52. The steering angle sensor 62 outputs vector information about the turning direction and the steering angle of the vehicle to the input unit 52. The vehicle speed sensor 64 outputs information about the running speed of the automobile to the input unit 52.

The in-vehicle navigation device 70 is connected to the input unit 52. The navigation device 70 detects the current position of the vehicle on the map data by receiving the GPS signal, displays the travel route of the vehicle from the current position to the destination set by the user on the monitor on the map data, and displays the travel route. Navigation information including route information is output to the input unit 52. In other words, the input unit 52 inputs navigation information including travel route information on the map data from the navigation device 70.

Based on the input information of the input unit 52, the arithmetic processing unit 54 determines whether the vehicle is turning left or right when the vehicle is turning, which can be determined from the acceleration and the steering angle in the lateral direction. When the vehicle is turning left, control instructions for sound output by the left speaker 130 are generated, and when the vehicle is turning right, control instructions for sound output by the right speaker 132 are generated, and these control instructions are sent to the output unit 56.

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 54 corrects the control instruction in such a manner that: the sound pressure level of sound to be output from the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132 increases as the lateral acceleration, a change in lateral acceleration (difference), a steering angle, a change in steering angle (difference), or a vehicle speed increases.

Based on the navigation information input to the input unit 52, the arithmetic processing unit 54 generates a control instruction to output sound from the left speaker 130 when the current position of the vehicle or the road on the travel route at a predetermined distance ahead of the current position is a left turn curve. When the road is a right-turning curve, a control instruction for the right speaker 132 to output sound is generated. In either case, the control instruction is sent to the output unit 56.

Further, based on the navigation information, the arithmetic processing unit 54 corrects the control instruction in such a manner that: the sound pressure level of the sound output by the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 is higher when the curvature is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (when the curve is suddenly turned) than when the curvature of the road at the current position or the curvature of the portion of the road at a predetermined distance in front of the current position is less than the predetermined value (when the curve is relaxed), and the corrected control instruction is sent to the output unit 56. The predetermined distance from the current location may be a distance that the vehicle takes tens of seconds to reach, and thus may depend on the vehicle speed.

The speaker control unit 158 is connected to the output unit 56. The left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 are connected to the speaker control unit 158, respectively. The speaker control unit 158 includes an amplifier and the like, and controls sound outputs of the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132, respectively, based on control instructions.

By the control operation described above, the left speaker 130 outputs a sound when turning left. As a result, the occupant seated on the seat body 20 hears the sound emitted from the sound output unit 130A from the left ear side. In addition, the right speaker 132 outputs sound when turning right. As a result, the occupant seated on the seat body 20 hears the sound emitted from the sound output unit 132A from the right ear side.

The sound output of left speaker 130 and right speaker 132 may be a repeating single pattern, rhythmic sound, songs, voices, etc. The sound may also be voice guidance such as "left turn" and "right turn".

Accordingly, when the vehicle is turning, an occupant seated on the seat body 20 can recognize the turning direction by the sound output of the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132. In this way, by making the seat occupant aware of the turning direction, motion sickness is less likely to occur than when the seat occupant is not aware of the turning direction, so that motion sickness can be effectively prevented.

In the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, since the navigation information is used, the turning of the vehicle can be detected in advance, and the sound can be output from the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132 according to the turning direction while the vehicle is still running on the straight portion of the road before reaching the curve.

Accordingly, an occupant seated on the seat main body 20 can recognize the turning direction before turning by the sound output from the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132. In this way, the seat occupant is made aware of the turning direction before turning, so that motion sickness can be effectively prevented.

The control unit 50 controls the sound pressure level of the sound output of the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132 such that the sound pressure level increases as the acceleration/deceleration in the left/right direction, the steering angle, and the rate of change thereof increase or as the curve becomes more abrupt.

As a result, the seated occupant can recognize the acceleration/deceleration in the left/right direction, the steering angle or the change rate thereof, or the degree of the curve by the sound pressure level of the sound output from the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 130, so that motion sickness can be prevented more effectively.

Since the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132 outputs sound from the sound output unit 130A or 132A provided in the headrest 28 in the vicinity of the left or right ear of the seat occupant, it is possible to accurately transmit information to the seat occupant seated on the seat main body 20 while keeping the cabin quiet.

In the case where there are a plurality of seat bodies 20 in the cabin, the notification of the turning direction of the automobile by sound described above may be performed individually for each seat body 20. As a result, even when there are a plurality of seat bodies 20 in the cabin, the turning directions of the vehicle can be individually and accurately transmitted to the occupant seated on the seat bodies 20 while keeping the cabin quiet.

Next, the operation mode of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 7. The control routine shown in this flowchart is cyclically executed by the control unit 50 at prescribed time intervals.

This control procedure is performed during a turn when motion sickness is likely to occur. First, it is determined whether the vehicle is turning left (step S110). When the vehicle is turning left, sound is output from the left speaker 130 (step S111). When the vehicle is not turning leftward, or when the vehicle is turning rightward, sound is output from the right speaker 132 (step S112).

Next, it is determined whether the steering angle is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, for example, 35 degrees (step S113). If the steering angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the sound output level of the left speaker 130 or the right speaker is increased according to the vehicle speed (step S114).

If the steering angle is smaller than the predetermined value, it is determined whether the lateral acceleration is equal to or larger than the predetermined value (step S115). If the lateral acceleration is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the sound level of the sound output from the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132 is increased according to the vehicle speed (step S14).

If the lateral acceleration is less than a predetermined value, it is determined whether the curve radius is less than a predetermined value (step S116). A predetermined value of the curve radius is set according to the vehicle speed to decrease as the vehicle speed increases. For example, when the vehicle speed is 60km/h, it is set to 60m. If the curve radius is smaller than the predetermined value, the sound output level of the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132 is increased according to the vehicle speed (step S14).

If the curve radius is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the procedure ends without increasing the sound output level of the left speaker 130 or the right speaker 132.

(third embodiment)

In the third embodiment of the present invention, the control unit 50 moves the sound image from the right side to the left side of the headrest 28 by controlling the left speaker 130 and the left speaker 132 when the vehicle is turning left. When the vehicle is turning right, the control unit 50 moves the sound image from the left side to the right side of the headrest 28 by controlling the left speaker 130 and the left speaker 132.

In the third embodiment, when the vehicle is turning left, the seat occupant on the seat main body 20 hears sound output from the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 near the ears as if the sound image were moving from the right sound output unit 132A to the left sound output unit 130A. When the vehicle is turning right, the seat occupant on the seat main body 20 hears sound output from the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 near the ears as if the sound were moving from the left sound output unit 130A to the right sound output unit 132A.

Thus, the seat occupant can recognize the turning direction of the vehicle from the moving direction of this sound image. In this way, the turning direction of the vehicle can be accurately communicated to the seat occupant seated on the seat main body 20 while keeping the cabin quiet.

Also in the third embodiment, the arithmetic processing unit 54 generates a control instruction for controlling the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 such that the sound image moves from the right side to the left side of the headrest 28 when the current position or the portion of the road at a distance in front of the current position is a left turn, and the sound image moves from the left side to the right side of the headrest 28 when the current position or the portion of the road at a distance in front of the current position is a right turn, based on the navigation information input to the input unit 52 and sends the control instruction to the output unit 56. Also in this case, the predetermined distance from the current position may be a distance that the vehicle needs to travel within several tens of seconds, and may be set according to the vehicle speed.

Further, in the third embodiment, based on the navigation information, when the curvature of the road at the current position or the curvature of the portion of the road at a predetermined distance ahead of the current position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (when the curve is suddenly rotated), the control instruction is corrected so that the moving speed of the sound image is faster than when the curvature is less than the predetermined value (when the curve is relaxed), and the corrected control instruction is transmitted to the output unit 56.

The control unit 50 performs a control action to increase the moving speed of the sound image as the acceleration/deceleration in the lateral direction, the steering angle, and the rate of change thereof increase.

As a result, the seat occupant can recognize the acceleration/deceleration in the lateral direction, the steering angle and the rate of change thereof, and the severity of the curve from the moving speed of the sound image.

The output sounds of the left speaker 130 and the right speaker are emitted from the sound output units 130A and 132A located in the portions of the headrest 28 near the left and right ears of the seat occupant, respectively, so that the turning direction of the vehicle can be accurately communicated to the seat occupant seated on the seat body 20 while keeping the cabin quiet.

Next, the operation mode of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 according to the third embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 8. The control routine shown in this flowchart is cyclically executed by the control unit 50 at prescribed time intervals.

This control procedure is performed during a turn when motion sickness is likely to occur. For this purpose, it is determined whether the vehicle is turning leftward (step S120). When the vehicle is turning left, sounds are output from the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 as if the sound image is moving from the right side to the left side (step S121). When it is not the case to turn left, or when the vehicle is turning right, the left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 output sounds as if the sound image is moving from left to right (step S122).

Next, it is determined whether the steering angle is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, for example, 35 degrees (step S123). If the steering angle is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the moving speed of the sound image is increased (accelerated) according to the vehicle speed (step S124).

If the steering angle is smaller than the predetermined value, it is determined whether the lateral acceleration is equal to or larger than the predetermined value (step S125). If the lateral acceleration is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the moving speed of the sound image is increased according to the vehicle speed (step S124).

If the lateral acceleration is less than a predetermined value, it is determined whether the curve radius is less than a predetermined value (step S126). A predetermined value of the curve radius is set according to the vehicle speed to decrease as the vehicle speed increases. For example, when the vehicle speed is 60km/h, it is set to 60m. If the curve radius is smaller than the predetermined value, the moving speed of the sound image is increased according to the vehicle speed (step S124).

If the curve radius is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the procedure ends without increasing the moving speed of the sound image.

The left speaker 130 and the right speaker 132 do not have to be provided on the left and right sides of the headrest 28, respectively, as long as the sound output units 130A and 32A are located on the left and right sides of the headrest 28, respectively.

(fourth embodiment)

A vehicle seat apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 9 and 10.

As shown in fig. 9, the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of this embodiment is provided with a seat main body 20 supported on a floor panel (not shown) of a vehicle such as an automobile via a pair of slide rail apparatuses 12 extending in the front-rear direction on both sides thereof.

The seat main body 20 includes a seat cushion 22 that provides a seating surface and a seat back 26 that is connected to a rear end portion of the seat cushion 22 via an electric reclining device 24 that is capable of changing an inclination angle of the seat back 26 about a horizontal axis and provides a back pad surface. The headrest 28 is attached to an upper portion of the seat back 26 via a pair of posts 230 extending upward from the seat back 26.

The headrest 28 includes a main portion 229 that supports the head of the seat occupant, and a neck support 233 that is provided in a lower portion of the main portion 229 and protrudes forward. The neck support 233 has the balloon 232 incorporated therein. The airbag 232 protrudes forward when supplied with compressed air and expands forward. Accordingly, the neck support 233 protrudes forward due to the expansion of the balloon 232.

The control unit 50 is disposed below the seat cushion 22.

The control system of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 will be described below with reference to fig. 10. The control unit 50 is based on an electronic information processing apparatus including a microcomputer, and includes an input unit 52, an arithmetic processing unit 54, and an output unit 56.

The input unit 52 is connected to an in-vehicle acceleration sensor (acceleration detection unit) 60, a steering angle sensor (steering angle detection unit) 62, and a vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection unit) 64 as behavior detection units for detecting behaviors of an automobile (vehicle).

The acceleration sensor 60 outputs information about longitudinal and lateral acceleration of the vehicle to the input unit 52. The steering angle sensor 62 outputs vector information about the steering angle of the vehicle to the input unit 52. The vehicle speed sensor 64 outputs information about the running speed of the automobile to the input unit 52.

Based on the input information from the input unit 52, the arithmetic processing unit 54 generates a control instruction to inflate the airbag 232 to a predetermined volume upon detecting a vehicle behavior that may cause motion sickness, such as a turn of an automobile, which can be detected from the lateral acceleration and the steering angle, and sends this control instruction to the output unit 56. This control instruction may be a vibration control instruction for a vibration operation for repeatedly expanding the airbag 232.

The inflation of the airbag 232 projects the neck support 233 forward, so that the neck of the seat occupant, particularly the cervical vertebra, can be supported in an advantageous manner, and the neck is prevented from rocking. This is effective in preventing or alleviating motion sickness.

The forward protrusion of the neck support 233 requires less movement than bending the left and right sides of the headrest, and can improve responsiveness.

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 54 corrects the control instruction so as to increase the degree of inflation of the airbag 232 or the degree of forward protrusion of the neck support 233 as the lateral acceleration, the rate of change of the lateral acceleration (difference), the steering angle, the rate of change of the steering angle (difference), and the vehicle speed increase.

Based on the navigation information input to the input unit 52, if the current position of the vehicle or a portion of the road on the travel route at a predetermined distance ahead of the current position is curved (curved road), the arithmetic processing unit 54 generates a control instruction to inflate the airbag 232 to a predetermined volume, and sends the control instruction to the output unit 56. This control instruction may be a vibration control instruction for vibrating the airbag 232 by repeatedly expanding and contracting the airbag 223. The predetermined distance from the current position may be a distance that the vehicle travels within several tens of seconds, and may be set according to the vehicle speed.

Further, based on the navigation information, the arithmetic processing unit 54 corrects the control instruction in such a manner that: the airbag 232 is inflated more or the forward protrusion of the neck support 233 is greater when the curvature is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (when the curve is suddenly rotated) than when the curvature of the road at the current position or the curvature of the portion of the road at a predetermined distance ahead of the current position on the travel route is less than the predetermined value.

The airbag control unit 258 is connected to the output unit 56. The balloon 232 is connected to a balloon control unit 258. The airbag control unit 258 includes electromagnetic intake/exhaust valves and the like, and variably sets the compressed air intake/exhaust cycle of the airbag 232 and the compressed air intake/exhaust operation time in each cycle based on a control instruction from the output unit 56.

As a result, the airbag 232 is repeatedly inflated and deflated at a cycle period (frequency) corresponding to the compressed air intake/exhaust cycle in accordance with the compressed air intake/exhaust operation time prescribed in each cycle. In other words, the airbag 232 vibrates at a variable frequency and variable amplitude determined by the control instruction, and can provide a vibration stimulus suitable for alleviating motion sickness to the seat occupant by using the neck support 233. Frequencies, amplitudes and waveforms that are effective in correcting autonomic nerve activity are also known to be effective in alleviating motion sickness. The vibration waveform can be determined by the speed at which the compressed air is supplied to the air bag 232 and discharged from the air bag.

In the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the fourth embodiment, the turning of the vehicle can be detected in advance due to the use of the navigation information. Accordingly, the airbag 232 may be inflated and the neck support 233 is protruded forward to more firmly hold the neck of the occupant before the turning of the vehicle occurs or before the vehicle enters a curve from a straight road. By thus securely holding the neck of the seat occupant before turning, motion sickness can be prevented more effectively.

The control unit 50 performs a control action that increases the inflation of the airbag 232 as the acceleration in the longitudinal direction, the acceleration in the lateral direction, the steering angle, and the rate of change thereof increase, and as the curve becomes more abrupt. As a result, the occupant is made aware of the strength of the longitudinal and lateral accelerations, the steering angle, the rate of change thereof, and the curvature of the curve by the amount of forward protrusion of the neck support 233, so that motion sickness can be more effectively prevented.

(fifth embodiment)

A vehicle seat apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to fig. 11.

In this embodiment, the headrest 28 includes an upper member 240 and a lower member 242, the upper member 240 being secured to the seat back 26 by a pair of posts 230 to form an upper portion of the headrest 28, the lower member 242 being disposed in a lower portion of the upper member 240 via a pair of cooperating guide rails 244 and 246 so as to be movable in a front-to-rear direction relative to the upper member 240 to form a lower portion of the headrest 28. The upper member 240 forms the body of the headrest 28, and the lower member 242 forms the neck support.

The post 230 is fixedly connected at its upper end to the upper member 240 and extends through a cavity 242A formed in the lower member 242. Together, the rails 244 and 246 form a linear guide so as to be relatively movable in the longitudinal direction. An upper rail 244 is fixed to a lower surface of the upper member 240, and a lower rail 246 is fixed to an upper surface of the lower member 242.

The linear actuator 248 is attached to the lower part of the upper member 240 via a bracket 245, and is provided with an actuation rod 249 connected to the lower member 242 via the bracket 245.

A linear actuator 248, which may be hydraulic or electric, is capable of displacing the lower member 242 forward and rearward relative to the upper member 240.

The linear actuator 248 may be controlled by a controller similar to the control unit 50 shown in fig. 11. Thus, the lower member 242 operates in the same manner as the neck support 233 of the above embodiment, and the same effects as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

It is also possible to arrange three airbags 232 laterally at the left, right and center of the headrest 28, and allow these airbags 232 to expand respectively so that the neck portion of the seat occupant can be held in a more advantageous manner.

(sixth embodiment)

In the following description, various directions such as front/rear, left/right, and up/down directions will be defined with respect to a vehicle.

As shown in fig. 12 and 13, the vehicle 2 to which the motion sickness prevention system 1 (see fig. 14) is applied is a four-wheel car. The vehicle 2 is provided with a vehicle cabin 3 for seating an occupant. A pair of front seats 305 and a pair of rear seats 306 are provided one behind the other on the floor 4 defining the bottom of the vehicle cabin 3. One of the front seats 305 constitutes a driver seat and the other constitutes a passenger seat.

The front seat 305 is disposed forward of the rear seat 306, and the rear seat 306 is disposed rearward of the front seat 305. Thus, the front seat 305 forms a front row of seats disposed forward of the rear seat 306, and is located in a front row of seats disposed in the vehicle cabin 3. The rear seats 306 form a rear row of seats located rearward of the front seats 305.

Each of the front seat 305 and the rear seat 306 is provided with a seat cushion 308 supported by the floor 4, a seat back 309 connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion 308, and a headrest 310 provided in an upper portion of the seat back 309.

In the sixth embodiment, each seat cushion 308 is attached to the floor 4 via a pair of slide rails 311 extending in the front-rear direction. Thus, the front seat 305 and the rear seat 306 are slidable in the front-rear direction with respect to the floor 4.

An instrument panel 312 is provided in front of the front seat 305. A pair of front doors 313 are provided on both sides of the front seat 305, and a pair of rear doors 314 are provided on both sides of the rear seat 306. The inner surfaces of the front door 313 and the rear door 314 are equipped with door trim 315 and 316.

A windshield 317 (also referred to as a front window) is provided above the instrument panel 312. A pair of front pillars (a pillars) 318 are provided on both sides of the windshield 317. The front pillar 318 extends obliquely upward toward the rear.

Next, the motion sickness prevention system 1 will be described. The motion sickness prevention system 1 is a system intended to prevent an occupant from suffering from motion sickness or to alleviate motion sickness even when the occupant is about to suffer from motion sickness. In the following disclosure, the term "preventing motion sickness" is understood to mean either case.

As shown in fig. 14, the motion sickness prevention system 1 includes a vehicle behavior sensor 321, a light emitting device 322, and a control unit 324 that controls the light emitting device 322 based on a signal from the vehicle behavior sensor 321.

The vehicle behavior sensor 321 is a device (acquisition device) for acquiring information (vehicle behavior information) on the behavior of the vehicle 2, and is connected to the control unit 324. Here, the behavior of the vehicle 2 includes, for example, turning of the vehicle 2, lateral acceleration of the vehicle 2, and the like. The behavior information acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 includes, for example, the front-rear acceleration, the lateral acceleration, the vertical acceleration, the roll rate, the pitch rate, the yaw rate, the front-rear speed, the lateral speed, the vertical speed, and the running speed of the vehicle.

The vehicle behavior sensor 321 includes an acceleration sensor 321A that acquires the front-rear acceleration and the lateral acceleration of the vehicle 2. The vehicle behavior sensor 321 may also include a 6-axis inertial sensor 321B that detects longitudinal, lateral, and vertical accelerations, angular velocities such as roll rate, pitch rate, and yaw rate, a steering angle sensor 321C that detects steering angle, an accelerator sensor 321D that detects accelerator pedal depression, a brake sensor 321E that detects brake pedal depression, a vehicle velocity sensor 321F that detects vehicle velocity, and the like.

The light emitting device 322 is provided in the vehicle cabin 3, and emits light to the inside of the vehicle cabin 3. The light emitting device 322 is connected to and controlled by a control unit 324. The light emitting device 322 includes a linear lateral light emitting device 326 arranged in the vehicle width direction, a linear longitudinal light emitting device 327 arranged in the longitudinal direction, and a linear auxiliary light emitting device 328 arranged in the vertical direction.

The lateral light emitting device 326 includes a pair of the seat back light emitting device 331 and the instrument panel light emitting device 332.

As shown in fig. 12, 13 and 15, the seatback backlight emitting devices 331 are provided on the rear surfaces of the seatback 309 of the front seat 305, respectively. More specifically, the seatback backlight emitting devices 331 are each arranged at an upper portion of the rear surface of the seatback 309 of the corresponding front seat 305, and extend in the vehicle width direction (horizontal direction). Each of the seatback backlight emitting devices 331 includes a plurality of light emitting areas 331A (see fig. 15), which may be composed of a plurality of individual LEDs arranged in the vehicle width direction in an upper portion of the rear surface of the seatback 309. Each light emitting region 331A can individually blink.

As shown in fig. 12, 13 and 16, the instrument panel light emitting device 332 is provided on the instrument panel 312. In the sixth embodiment, the instrument panel light emitting device 332 is provided on a portion of the instrument panel 312 in front of the front seat 305, which forms a passenger seat, and extends in the vehicle width direction (horizontal direction). The instrument panel light emitting device 332 includes a plurality of light emitting regions 332A, which may be composed of a plurality of LEDs arranged in the vehicle width direction. Each light emitting region 332A can individually blink.

The longitudinal light emitting device 327 includes a plurality of floor light emitting devices 341, a plurality of door light emitting devices 342, and a plurality of pillar light emitting devices 343.

As shown in fig. 12, 13, 15, and 16, a floor light emitting device 341 is provided on the floor 4 so as to extend in the front-rear direction. The floor light emitting devices 341 are provided in pairs on the floor 4 between the front seat 305 and the rear seat 306. More specifically, the floor light emitting devices 341 are disposed in laterally spaced apart relation on a portion of the floor 4 forward of each rear seat 306. The floor light emitting device 341 is also provided in front of the front seat 305 forming the passenger seat. It should be noted that the floor light emitting device 341 is not provided in front of the front seat 305 forming the driver seat. Preferably, each pair of floor light emitting devices 341 is provided on the outer sides of the left and right legs, respectively, of an occupant seated on a corresponding seat located directly behind the floor light emitting devices 341. For example, the floor light emitting device 341 provided between the front seat 305 and the rear seat 306 on the floor 4 may extend slightly outside of the respective left and right slide rails 311 in the front-rear direction.

Each of the floor light emitting devices 341 includes a plurality of light emitting areas 341A, which may be composed of LEDs arranged in the front-rear direction. Each light emitting device 341A is capable of individually flashing.

Fig. 12, 13, 15, and 16 show a door light emitting device 342 including a front door light emitting device 345 provided in the door trim 315 of the left and right front doors 313, and a rear door light emitting device 346 provided in the door trim 316 of the left and right rear doors 314.

Each front door light emitting device 345 includes a main front door light emitting portion 345M extending longitudinally along an upper edge of the door trim 315 of the corresponding front door 313, and an auxiliary front door light emitting portion 345S extending longitudinally along an open end of the door pocket 315P provided in the door trim 315, and thus is laterally disposed beside the front seat 305 of the corresponding side.

Each of the front door light emitting devices 345 (the main front door light emitting portion 345M and the auxiliary front door light emitting portion 345S) includes a plurality of light emitting regions 345A composed of a plurality of individual LEDs arranged on the door trim 315 of the front door 313 in the front-rear direction. Each light emitting region 345A can individually blink.

Each of the rear door light-emitting devices 346 includes a main rear door light-emitting portion 346M extending in the front-rear direction along the upper edge of the door trim 316 of the rear door 314, and an auxiliary rear door light-emitting portion 346S extending in the front-rear direction along the opening of the door pocket 316P provided in the door trim 316. The rear door light emitting device 346 is thus disposed laterally beside the rear seat 306 on the corresponding side.

Each of the back door light emitting devices 346 (the main back door light emitting part 346M and the auxiliary back door light emitting part 346S) includes a plurality of light emitting areas 346A constituted by a plurality of individual LEDs arranged on the door trim 316 of the back door 314 in the front-rear direction. Each light emitting region 346A can individually blink.

Fig. 12, 15 and 16 show pillar light emitting devices 343 provided on the surfaces of the left and right front pillars 318 facing the cabin 3. Each pillar light emitting device 343 extends along a surface of the front pillar 318 on the cabin 3 side while being inclined upward toward the rear direction. Each of the pillar light emitting devices 343 includes a member extending forward due to the inclination of the front pillar 318 in the front-rear direction.

Each pillar light emitting device 343 includes a plurality of light emitting regions 343A composed of a plurality of individual LEDs arranged along the extending direction of the front pillar 318. Each light emitting region 343A can individually blink.

Fig. 12, 13 and 15 show an auxiliary light emitting device 328 including a pair of left auxiliary light emitting portions 328A provided along both lower side edges of the rear surface of the seat back 309 of the left front seat 305, and a pair of right auxiliary light emitting portions 328B provided along both lower side edges of the rear surface of the seat back 309 of the right front seat 305. The left auxiliary light emitting portion 328A and the right auxiliary light emitting portion 328B each include a plurality of light emitting regions (not shown in the drawings) composed of a plurality of individual LEDs arranged in the vertical direction, and each light emitting region can individually blink.

Fig. 14 shows a control unit 324 (see fig. 14) which is constituted by a computer having a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a RAM, a ROM, and a storage device, and controls the light emitting device 322 based on the vehicle behavior information acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321. More specifically, when the vehicle 2 is traveling, the control unit 324 repeatedly performs the light emission process for controlling the respective light emission regions included in the light emission device 322 based on the behavior information in such a manner that the respective light emission regions are individually controlled.

The light emission process performed by the control unit 324 will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 17. The light emission processing routine shown in the flowchart of fig. 17 is cyclically executed by the control unit 324 at predetermined time intervals.

In the first step ST201 of the light emission process, the control unit 324 determines whether the vehicle 2 is turning or whether the vehicle turning behavior is detected based on the behavior information acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321. In the sixth embodiment, when the magnitude of the lateral acceleration is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (hereinafter referred to as a lateral threshold value), the control unit 324 determines the turning behavior. When the magnitude of the lateral acceleration is equal to or greater than the lateral threshold value (when the turning behavior is detected), the control unit 324 executes step ST202, otherwise executes step ST203.

The control unit 324 determines the turning direction in step ST202, and controls the lateral light emitting device 326 to emit light such that the distribution of the light emitting areas dynamically changes in a manner corresponding to the turning behavior. More specifically, when the vehicle 2 is turning left (or the lateral acceleration detected by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is directed in the left direction), the control unit 324 controls the lateral light emitting device 326 such that the light emitting area moves left. When the vehicle 2 is turning right (or the lateral acceleration detected by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is directed in the right direction), the control unit 324 controls the lateral light emitting device 326 such that the light emitting area moves right.

In a certain embodiment, when the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects acceleration to the left, the control unit 324 controls the light emitting area of the lateral light emitting device 326 to blink from the left to the right.

As a result, when the vehicle 2 is turning left, the light emitting areas of the lateral light emitting devices 326 (the light emitting areas 331A of the seat back light emitting device 331 in fig. 18A) are sequentially lit from left to right. This lighting mode is perceived by the occupant as a dynamic movement of the light emitting region 331B of the seatback light emitting device 331 from left to right (a flow of the light emitting region from left to right).

When the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects the acceleration to the right, the control unit 324 controls the light emitting area of the lateral light emitting device 326 to blink from the right to the left.

As a result, when the vehicle 2 is turning right, the light emitting areas of the lateral light emitting devices 326 (the light emitting areas 331A of the seat back light emitting device 331 in fig. 18A) are sequentially lit from right to left. This lighting mode is perceived by the occupant as a dynamic movement of the light emitting region 331B of the seatback light emitting device 331 from right to left (flow of the light emitting region from left to right).

The control unit 324 controls timing of causing the respective light emitting areas of the lateral light emitting device 326 to blink one by one based on the magnitude of the lateral acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321. More specifically, as the magnitude of the lateral acceleration increases, the control unit 324 shortens the time interval (delay) in which the adjacent light emitting regions emit light one by one. Therefore, as the lateral acceleration of the vehicle 2 increases, the light emitting region 331B of the lateral light emitting device 226 moves faster.

When the vehicle 2 is turning left (or when the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects acceleration to the left), the control unit 324 performs a control action of turning off the right auxiliary light emitting portion 328B and turning on the flicker of the left auxiliary light emitting portion 328A in step ST 202. When it is detected that the vehicle 2 is turning right (or when the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects acceleration to the right), the control unit 324 performs a control action of turning off the left auxiliary light emitting section 328A and turning on the flicker of the right auxiliary light emitting section 328B in step ST 202. After starting the lighting control of the lateral light emitting device 326 and the blinking control of the auxiliary light emitting device 328, the control unit 324 executes step ST204.

In step ST203, the control unit 324 stops the light emission of the lateral light emitting device 326 and the auxiliary light emitting device 328. When the stop control is completed, the control unit 324 executes step ST204.

In step ST204, the control unit 324 determines whether the vehicle 2 is accelerating or decelerating based on the behavior of the vehicle 2 acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321. More specifically, when the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (hereinafter referred to as a longitudinal threshold), the control unit 324 executes step ST205, otherwise executes step ST206.

In step ST205, the control unit 324 controls the longitudinal light emitting device 327 to emit light so that the distribution of the light emitting areas can be dynamically changed in a manner corresponding to acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle 2. More specifically, when the vehicle 2 is accelerating (i.e., the front-rear acceleration detected by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is in the forward direction), the control unit 324 controls the longitudinal light emitting device 327 such that the lighted light emitting region moves from front to rear.

As a result, when the vehicle 2 is accelerating, the light emitting regions 341A of the longitudinal light emitting devices 327 (the light emitting regions 341B of the floor light emitting devices 341 in fig. 19A) are sequentially lit from front to back. This lighting mode is perceived by the occupant as the light emitting region 341B appears to dynamically move from front to back (the light emitting region 341B flows from front to back).

When the vehicle 2 is decelerating (or when the front-rear acceleration detected by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is in the backward direction), the control unit 324 controls the longitudinal light emitting device 327 such that the light emitting region moves forward from the rear.

As a result, when the vehicle 2 is decelerating, the light emitting regions 341A of the longitudinal light emitting devices 327 (the light emitting devices 341B of the floor light emitting devices 341 in fig. 19B) are sequentially lighted from the rear to the front. This lighting mode is perceived by the occupant as the light emitting region 341B appears to dynamically move from back to front (the light emitting region 341B appears to flow from back to front).

In step ST206, the control unit 324 performs a control action of stopping the light emission of the longitudinal light-emitting device 327, and ends this routine.

Next, the mode of operation of the motion sickness prevention system 1 will be described below.

When the vehicle 2 turns left, the control unit 324 controls the lateral light emitting device 326 to emit light in such a manner that: the light emitting area moves leftward along the extending direction of the lateral light emitting device 326. As a result, as shown in fig. 18A, the seat back light emitting device 331 emits light in such a manner that: the light emitting region 331B thereof moves leftward along the extending direction of the seatback light emitting device 331. Similar to the seatback light emitting device 331, the instrument panel light emitting device 332 also emits light in such a manner that: the light emitting region thereof moves leftward along the extending direction of the instrument panel light emitting device 332. At this time, the right auxiliary light emitting portion 328B is turned off, and the left auxiliary light emitting portion 328A blinks.

When the vehicle 2 turns right, the control unit 324 controls the lateral light emitting device 326 to emit light in such a manner that: the light emitting area moves rightward along the extending direction of the lateral light emitting device 326. As a result, as shown in fig. 18B, the seat back light emitting device 331 emits light in such a manner that: the light emitting region 331B thereof moves rightward along the extending direction of the seatback light emitting device 331. Similar to the seatback light emitting device 331, the instrument panel light emitting device 332 also emits light in such a manner that: the light emitting region thereof moves rightward along the extending direction of the instrument panel light emitting device 332. At this time, the right auxiliary light emitting portion 328A is turned off, and the left auxiliary light emitting portion 328B blinks.

When the vehicle 2 accelerates, the control unit 324 performs a control action that causes the longitudinal light emitting device 327 to emit light in such a manner that the light emitting region moves from front to back along the extending direction of the longitudinal light emitting device 327. As a result, as shown in fig. 19A, each floor light-emitting device 341 emits light such that its light-emitting region 341B moves rearward along the extending direction of the floor light-emitting device 341. Like the floor light emitting device 341, the pillar light emitting device 343 and the door light emitting device 342 also emit light in such a manner that: the light emitting areas move backward along their extending direction.

When the vehicle 2 decelerates, the control unit 324 performs a control action that causes the longitudinal light emitting device 327 to emit light in such a way that: the light emitting region moves from back to front along the extending direction of the longitudinal light emitting device 327. As a result, as shown in fig. 19B, each floor light emitting device 341 emits light such that its light emitting region 341B moves forward along the extending direction of the floor light emitting device 341. Like the floor light emitting device 341, the pillar light emitting device 343 and the door light emitting device 342 also emit light in such a manner that: the light emitting areas move forward along their extending direction.

Next, the effect of the motion sickness prevention system 1 will be discussed below. When the vehicle 2 turns and the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects a lateral acceleration equal to or greater than a lateral threshold, the lateral light emitting device 326 emits light so that the light emitting region moves laterally. Accordingly, the occupant can recognize the lateral inertial force and the direction of the inertial force applied to his or her body due to the change in the light emitting area of the lateral light emitting device 326. As a result, the occupant can be made to respond to the inertial force in advance, and the difference or sense of incongruity between the semicircular canal and the vision of the occupant can be corrected, thereby preventing motion sickness.

The lateral light emitting device 326 extends in the lateral direction. Therefore, it is possible to change the distribution of the light emission regions in accordance with the movement of the vehicle 2 in the lateral direction, and the movement pattern of the vehicle 2 in the lateral direction can be appropriately communicated to the occupant. In particular, in the lateral light emitting device 326, the seatback light emitting devices 331 are disposed at the upper end of the rear surface of the seatback 309 of the front seat 305, so that even when a user seated on the rear seat 306 is operating a smart phone or reading a book as shown in fig. 20, the occupant can recognize light emission of the respective seatback light emitting devices 331 in a reliable manner.

The lateral light emitting devices 326 (the seat back light emitting device 331 and the instrument panel light emitting device 332) each include a plurality of light emitting areas 331A and 332A arranged laterally. The control unit 324 causes the light emitting areas 331A and 332A to blink from left to right when the acceleration sensor 321A detects acceleration to the left, and causes the light emitting areas 331A and 332A to blink from right to left when the acceleration to the right is detected. As a result, the light emitting region moves in the lateral direction according to the direction of the lateral acceleration. In this way, the control unit 324 can dynamically change the light emission regions of the lateral light emitting devices 326 by controlling the light emission timings of the light emission regions 331A and 332A. Since the moving direction of the lateral light emitting device 326 enables the occupant to predict the direction of the inertial force applied to the occupant's body, it is possible to prevent motion sickness.

When the vehicle 2 accelerates or decelerates and the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects a front-rear acceleration equal to or greater than the longitudinal threshold, the longitudinal light emitting device 327 emits light so that the light emitting region moves back and forth. More specifically, when the vehicle 2 accelerates and the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects an acceleration equal to or greater than the longitudinal threshold, in each of the floor light emitting device 341, the pillar light emitting device 343, and the door light emitting device 342 included in the longitudinal light emitting device 327, the light emitting area or the light emitting area is illuminated to move from front to back. In contrast, when the vehicle 2 decelerates and the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects deceleration equal to or greater than the longitudinal threshold, the light emitting region or the light emitting region is illuminated to move forward from behind.

Accordingly, due to the change in the light emitting area of any one of the floor light emitting device 341, the pillar light emitting device 343, and the door light emitting device 342, the occupant recognizes that the inertial force in the longitudinal direction is applied to the body of the occupant, and knows the direction of the inertial force. Thus, motion sickness can be prevented. Further, as shown in fig. 20, since the floor light emitting device 341 and the main rear door light emitting portion 346M are placed so as to be easily visible to an occupant seated in the rear seat 306 even when the occupant is operating a smartphone or the like, acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle 2 can be notified to the occupant in a reliable manner.

(seventh embodiment)

The motion sickness prevention system 1 of the seventh embodiment differs from the motion sickness prevention system of the sixth embodiment in that acquisition means are provided for acquiring behavior information for predicting the occurrence of a curve and for transmitting the behavior information to a control unit 324 in the form of a prediction means 350 (see fig. 3). This embodiment is similar to the sixth embodiment in other respects, and similar parts to those of the sixth embodiment may be omitted in the following description.

The prediction device 350 is an output device that acquires behavior information required to predict whether the vehicle 2 is about to turn, and includes a navigation device 352. The navigation device 352 acquires a route along which the vehicle 2 is expected to travel (hereinafter referred to as a planned travel route) based on an input from the occupant. The navigation device 352 recognizes the current position of the vehicle 2 by receiving GPS signals from positioning satellites, and outputs the current position of the vehicle 2 and the planned travel route to the control unit 324. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the prediction apparatus 350 may include an apparatus other than the navigation apparatus 352. Further, the prediction device 350 may be configured as a driving assistance system that sets a route to be followed by the vehicle 2 and autonomously drives the vehicle 2 along the set route.

The light emitting process of the seventh embodiment is different from that of the sixth embodiment in that the control unit 324 performs step ST211 instead of step ST201, and ends the light emitting process after performing steps ST202 and ST203. The light emission process of the seventh embodiment will be described below with reference to fig. 21.

In step ST211, the control unit 324 acquires information for predicting whether the vehicle 2 is about to turn from the prediction means 350, and predicts whether the vehicle 2 is about to turn after a predetermined period of time. The control unit 324 acquires the current position of the vehicle 2 and the planned travel route from the navigation device 352, and determines that the vehicle is about to turn if the route includes a right turn or a left turn within a predetermined distance from the current position of the planned travel route, or there is a curved road section on a portion of the route in front of the current position. In this case, the predetermined distance should be selected not to include both left and right bends, or two intersections. When the turning of the vehicle is predicted, the control unit 324 executes step ST202, otherwise executes step ST203.

Next, the operation mode and effect of the motion sickness prevention system 1 constructed in this manner will be discussed below. In step ST11, the control unit 324 predicts whether the vehicle 2 is about to turn. When a turn is predicted, the control unit 324 causes the lateral light emitting devices 326 (the seat back light emitting device 331 and the instrument panel light emitting device 332) to emit light in a manner corresponding to the turning direction. More specifically, when the vehicle 2 is about to turn left, the lateral light emitting device 326 emits light in such a manner that: the light emitting area is moved from left to right and when the vehicle 2 is about to turn right, the lateral light emitting device 326 is caused to emit light in such a way that: the light emitting area moves from right to left.

Therefore, before the left or right acceleration is applied to the occupant, the occurrence of the turning behavior of the vehicle 2 can be recognized in advance by the light emission of the lateral light emitting device 326. Further, when the turning behavior is predicted, the occupant can recognize the turning direction from the moving direction of the light emitting region of the lateral light emitting device 326. In other words, the occupant can predict in advance the inertial force applied to the body of the occupant when the vehicle 2 actually turns, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

(eighth embodiment)

The motion sickness prevention system 1 according to the eighth embodiment of the invention differs from the previous embodiments in that the speed of movement of the light emitting areas can be selected individually for each of the individual longitudinal light emitting devices 327. Since the present invention is similar to the foregoing embodiments in other respects, a description of these parts will be omitted in the following description.

When the vehicle behavior sensor 321 detects the front-rear acceleration, the control unit 324 causes the light emitting devices 327 (the floor light emitting device 341, the pillar light emitting device 343, and the door light emitting device 342) to emit light so that the light emitting region moves in a direction opposite to the direction of the front-rear acceleration detected by the vehicle behavior sensor 321, similarly to the foregoing embodiment.

However, when the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value (hereinafter referred to as an auxiliary longitudinal threshold value) that is larger than the longitudinal threshold value, the control unit 324 controls all the longitudinal light emitting devices 327 such that the light emitting region moves at the same speed in proportion to the acquired front-rear acceleration.

When the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is greater than the auxiliary longitudinal threshold, the control unit 324 controls the longitudinal light emitting device 327 such that the moving speed of the light emitting region of the longitudinal light emitting device 327 on the rear seat 306 side is proportional to the front-rear acceleration, similar to the case where the front-rear acceleration is equal to or less than the auxiliary longitudinal threshold, but the moving speed of the light emitting region of the longitudinal light emitting device 327 on the front and side of the front seat 305 (driver seat) is set to be slightly higher than the moving speed of the light emitting region on the rear seat 306 side.

More specifically, when the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 321 is greater than the auxiliary longitudinal threshold, the control unit 324 sets the movement speeds of the light emitting areas of the rear door light emitting device 346 and the floor light emitting device 341 equal to each other and proportional to the front-rear acceleration, and sets the movement speeds of the light emitting areas of the pillar light emitting device 343 and the front door light emitting device 345 higher than the movement speed of the light emitting area of the rear door light emitting device 346 (or the floor light emitting device 341).

Next, the effect of the motion sickness prevention system 1 constructed in this way will be discussed below. The front door light emitting device 345 corresponds to a front door light emitting device provided on a door trim 315 on the side of a front seat (front seat 305) on the floor 4, and is located on the side of the driver seat. One of the individual pillar light emitting devices 343 is also located in front of the driver's seat. The two light emitting means are easily visible to the driver.

When the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle 2 is greater than the auxiliary longitudinal threshold, the moving speed of the pillar light emitting devices 343 and the light emitting areas of the front door light emitting devices 345 beside the front seat 305 is higher than the moving speed of the light emitting areas beside the rear seat 306. As a result, when the vehicle 2 accelerates with the front-rear acceleration equal to or greater than the assist longitudinal threshold, the driver perceives that the front-rear acceleration is greater than the actual front-rear acceleration, thereby defeating the idea of excessively accelerating the vehicle 2, so that the safety of the vehicle 2 can be improved. On the other hand, the moving speeds of the light emitting areas of the rear door light emitting device 46 located beside the occupant seated on the rear seat 306 and the floor light emitting device 341 located in front of the front seat 305 and the rear seat 306 serving as the passenger seat are determined simply from the front-rear acceleration. Accordingly, an occupant seated in the rear seat can accurately perceive the front-rear acceleration, and thus is prevented from suffering from motion sickness.

In the above-described embodiment, the light emitting areas of the lateral light emitting devices 326 and the longitudinal light emitting devices 327 are configured to move according to the behavior of the vehicle 2, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and the distribution and moving speed of the light emitting areas may be changed according to other behaviors of the vehicle 2.

The light emitting device 322 may include a multicolor LED array extending in a prescribed direction. In this case, the control unit 324 may be configured to change the color of the light emitted from the light emitting device 322 according to the acceleration direction of the vehicle 2. As shown in fig. 22, the control unit 324 may control the light emitting devices 322 such that the light emitting areas 331A emit light from one side to the other side, and after all the light emitting areas 331A have emitted light, turn off all the light emitting devices before the light emitting devices 322 start sequentially emitting light from one side to the other side again.

In the above-described third embodiment, the moving speed of the light emitting region is set for each longitudinal light emitting device 327, but this is not restrictive, and the dynamic change speed of the distribution of the light emitting region of the light emitting device 322 may be set for each longitudinal light emitting device 327.

Although in the foregoing embodiment the prediction device 350 is composed of the navigation device 352 or the advanced driving assistance system, the present invention is not limited in this respect. The prediction device 350 may be any device as long as it predicts the behavior of the vehicle 2, and may include, for example, a road surface sensor that detects unevenness of a road surface in the traveling direction. Based on the unevenness detected by the road surface sensor, the control unit 324 may predict the vertical acceleration of the vehicle 2, and notify the occupant of the predicted vertical acceleration by turning on the vertically extending light emitting device 322 (more specifically, the pillar light emitting device 343).

In the sixth through eighth embodiments of the invention, the cabin includes two rows of seats or front seats 305 and rear seats 306, although the invention is not limited in this respect. Three or more rows of seats may be arranged in a vehicle cabin. For example, when the cabin contains a front seat 305, a middle seat, and a rear seat 306, the front seat 305 will be a front row seat located forward of the middle seat, the middle seat will be a front row seat located forward of the rear seat, and the rear seat will be a rear row seat located rearward of the middle seat.

The seat back light emitting device 331 and the auxiliary light emitting device 328 are provided on rear surfaces of the front seat 305 and the middle seat, respectively, which may be considered to form a front seat. In addition, the floor light emitting device 341 may be provided on a portion of the floor 4 between the front-row seats and the rear-row seats, or on a portion of the floor 4 between the front seat 305 and the middle seat, between the middle seat and the rear seat 306, and in front of the front seat serving as the passenger seat. In addition, when three rows of seats are provided in the vehicle interior, and the door light emitting devices 342 are provided to extend in the front-rear direction on both sides of the front seat 305, the middle seat, and the rear seat 306, the control unit 324 may make the moving speed of the light emitting areas of the door light emitting devices 342 located on the front seat 305 (driver seat) side higher than that in proportion to only the acceleration, and slightly higher than that of the door light emitting devices 342 located on the middle seat and the rear seat 306 side.

The positions where the lateral light emitting devices 326 and the longitudinal light emitting devices 327 are disposed are not limited to those in the sixth to eighth embodiments. For example, the lateral light emitting device 326 may include a front light emitting device 329 (see fig. 15 and 16) disposed on a portion of the ceiling 5 extending in the lateral direction along the upper edge of the windshield 17 above the windshield 17. The longitudinal light emitting device 327 may include a top lighting device 333 (see fig. 12) extending in the front-rear direction along the lateral edge of the ceiling 5 defining the upper edge of the cabin 3. At this time, the front light emitting device 203 and the top light emitting device 204 can also be used as lights for illuminating the cabin 3. Further, the longitudinal light emitting device 327 may include a trim lower edge light emitting device 335 (see fig. 20) at the lower edge of the door trim 15 and 16. They may also act as a greeting light to illuminate the feet when an occupant gets on or off the vehicle.

In the sixth to eighth embodiments of the present invention, the floor light emitting device 341 is also provided on the front side of the front seat 305 serving as the passenger seat, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the floor light emitting device 341 may be provided only in a portion of the floor between the front seat 305 and the rear seat 306. Further, the floor light emitting device 341 may be provided on the front side of all the front seats 305. In the eighth embodiment, the floor light emitting device 341 may be provided in front of the front seat 305 serving as the driver seat, and when the front-rear acceleration is greater than the auxiliary longitudinal threshold, the control unit 324 may control the moving speed of the light emitting region of the floor light emitting device 341 to be greater than the moving speed of the longitudinal light emitting device 327 located on either side of the rear seat 306.

In the sixth embodiment described above, it is configured such that the control unit 324 causes the light emitting region of the lateral light emitting device 326 including the seatback light emitting device 331 to blink or emit light from left to right when the acceleration sensor 321A detects acceleration to the left, and to blink or emit light from right to left when the acceleration sensor 321A detects acceleration to the right. However, the order of blinking pattern and lighting the lateral light emitting device 326 is not limited to this example, and may take other forms as long as the occupant can recognize at least one of the direction of acceleration and the direction of inertial force.

More specifically, the control unit 324 may control the light emitting region 331A of the seat back light emitting device 331 and/or the light emitting region 332A of the instrument panel light emitting device 332 to blink (or light up) from right to left when the acceleration sensor 321A detects a leftward acceleration (for example, when the vehicle 2 turns left), and to blink (or light up) from left to right when the acceleration sensor 321A detects a rightward acceleration (for example, when the vehicle 2 turns right). As a result, the occupant can recognize the direction of the acceleration from the change in the light emitting area of at least one of the seatback light emitting device 331 and the instrument panel light emitting device 332, and prepare for the inertial force due to the acceleration in advance, so that motion sickness can be prevented.

Similarly, in the seventh embodiment, the control unit 324 controls the lateral light emitting device 326 such that the light emitting region moves from left to right when a leftward turn of the vehicle 2 is predicted from the route acquired by the navigation device 352, and the light emitting region moves from right to left when a rightward turn of the vehicle 2 is predicted from the route acquired by the navigation device 352. However, the moving direction of the light emitting region is not limited by this example. More specifically, the control unit 324 may control the lateral light emitting device 326 such that the light emitting region moves from right to left when a leftward turn of the vehicle 2 is predicted from the route acquired by the navigation device 352, and the light emitting region moves from left to right when a rightward turn of the vehicle 2 is predicted from the route acquired by the navigation device 352.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 324 causes the light emitting region of the longitudinal light emitting device 327 to blink or light up from front to back when the acceleration sensor 321A detects a forward acceleration, and causes the light emitting region of the longitudinal light emitting device 327 to blink or light up from back to front when the acceleration sensor 321A detects a backward acceleration. However, the order in which the light emitting regions of the longitudinal light emitting devices 327 blink or emit light may be freely selected as long as the occupant can recognize at least one of the direction of acceleration and the direction of inertial force.

Specifically, the control unit 324 may control at least one of the light emitting region 341A of the floor light emitting device 341, the light emitting region 342A of the door light emitting device 342, and the light emitting region 343A of the pillar light emitting device 343 to flash or emit light from the rear to the front when the forward acceleration is detected by the acceleration sensor 321A, and flash or emit light from the front to the rear when the backward acceleration is detected by the acceleration sensor 321A. As a result, the occupant can recognize the direction of the acceleration from the change in the light emitting area of the longitudinal light emitting device 327, and can prepare for the inertial force due to the acceleration in advance. Thus, motion sickness can be prevented.

(ninth embodiment)

As shown in fig. 23, a motion sickness prevention system 400 (see fig. 24) is provided in the vehicle 2 constituted by a four-wheeled automobile.

The vehicle 2 is provided with a vehicle cabin 3 that includes a pair of front seats and a pair of rear seats 406 disposed behind the front seats 405. One of the front seats 405 constitutes a driver seat and the other constitutes a passenger seat.

The bottom of the cabin 3 is defined by a floor 4. The front seat 405 and the rear seat 406S each include a seat cushion 410 placed on the floor 4, a seat back 411 connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion 410, and a headrest 412 provided in an upper portion of the seat back 411.

In this embodiment, the vehicle 2 is provided with a navigation device 413 that acquires the current position of the vehicle 2, receives an input of a destination from an occupant, and sets a route from the current position to the destination.

In this embodiment, the vehicle 2 is able to switch between a manual driving mode in which the driver has operation authority and an autonomous driving mode in which the vehicle 2 has operation authority. During the autonomous driving mode, the vehicle 2 autonomously travels along a route set by the navigation device 413. However, the vehicle 2 is not limited to a vehicle capable of switching between the manual driving mode and the autonomous driving mode.

As shown in fig. 23A and 23B, the front seat 405 and the rear seat 406 are each configured to be rotatable about an axis X extending vertically through the floor 4. Thus, for example, by rotating the front seat 405 (see fig. 23B), the occupant can arrange the front seat 405 and the rear seat 406 to face each other.

Next, the motion sickness prevention system 400 will be described below. The motion sickness prevention system 400 is a system that aims to prevent an occupant from getting motion sickness and to reduce the severity of motion sickness even if the occupant should get motion sickness. In this disclosure, reducing the severity of motion sickness may simply be referred to as preventing motion sickness.

As shown in fig. 24, the motion sickness prevention system 400 includes a vehicle behavior sensor 415 provided in the vehicle 2, a control unit 416 that acquires an output of the vehicle behavior sensor 415, and a terminal device 417 (which may be referred to as a mobile terminal device when it is portable).

The vehicle behavior sensor 415 is a device (acquisition device) that acquires behavior information on the behavior of the vehicle 2 on which the occupant sits. Behavior information acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415 includes, for example, front-back acceleration, lateral acceleration, vertical acceleration, roll rate, pitch rate, yaw rate, and vehicle speed.

In this embodiment, the vehicle behavior sensor 415 is constituted by a 6-axis inertial sensor 415A that acquires longitudinal, lateral, and vertical accelerations and angular velocities (roll rate, pitch rate, and yaw rate) of the vehicle 2 as behavior information. However, the vehicle behavior sensor 415 is not limited to this example, and may include, for example, a three-axis inertial sensor 415B, a single-axis or multi-axis acceleration sensor 415C, a vehicle speed sensor 415D, and the like. The vehicle behavior sensor 415 may include, for example, a steering angle sensor 415E that detects a steering angle, an accelerator sensor 415F that detects depression of an accelerator pedal, and a brake sensor 415G that detects depression of a brake pedal.

The control unit 416 includes a computer having a Central Processing Unit (CPU), RAM, ROM, and a storage device. The control unit 416 is connected to various in-vehicle devices including the vehicle behavior sensor 415 and the navigation device 413, and controls the vehicle 2 based on an input from the vehicle behavior sensor 415, a route set by the navigation device 413, and the like, and can autonomously travel along the route set by the navigation device 413.

The control unit 416 is configured to communicate with the terminal device 417 in the vehicle cabin 3 via wireless LAN, infrared communication, bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like. The control unit 416 acquires the behavior information of the vehicle 2 detected by the vehicle behavior sensor 415, and transmits it to the terminal device 417 as necessary. In this embodiment, the control unit 416 acquires the lateral acceleration and the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle 2 from the 6-axis inertial sensor 415A, and transmits the acquired lateral acceleration and front-rear acceleration to the terminal device 417.

The terminal device 417 may be a smart phone equipped with a central processing unit (CPU, hereinafter referred to as processing device 421), a RAM 422, a ROM 423, a storage device 424, a GPS receiver 425, a touch panel 426, and the like. The touch panel 426 has a screen 427 for displaying information to the occupant, and serves as a display unit for displaying information to the occupant. The touch panel 426 also serves as an input unit that receives input from an occupant. Each individual occupant in the cabin 3 may hold such a terminal device 417.

Based on the behavior information of the vehicle 2 transmitted from the control unit 416, the processing device 421 performs a display process for displaying information on the screen of the touch panel 426. Details of the display process will be described below with reference to fig. 25, which shows a flowchart of the display process.

In the first step ST401 of the display process, the processing device 421 determines whether the magnitude of the lateral acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415 is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value (hereinafter referred to as a first lateral threshold value). The processing means 421 performs step ST402 when the magnitude of the lateral acceleration is equal to or smaller than the first lateral threshold value, and the processing means 421 performs step ST403 when the magnitude of the lateral acceleration is larger than the first lateral threshold value.

In step ST402, the processing means 421 determines whether the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration is equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold value (first longitudinal threshold value). If the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration is equal to or smaller than the first longitudinal threshold, the processing means 421 ends the display process. If the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration is greater than the predetermined threshold value, the processing means 421 performs step ST404.

In step ST403, the processing means 421 determines whether the direction of the lateral acceleration is to the left. When the direction of the lateral acceleration is leftward, the processing means 421 performs step ST405, and when it is not leftward (i.e., rightward), the processing means 421 performs step ST406.

In step ST404, the processing means 421 determines whether the direction of the front-rear acceleration is forward. If the front-rear acceleration is forward, the processing means 421 performs step ST407, otherwise (i.e., if the direction of the front-rear acceleration is backward), the processing means 421 performs step ST408.

In step ST405, as shown in fig. 26, the processing device 421 displays a vehicle icon V representing the vehicle 2 and an arc-shaped arrow (an arrow having an end attached to an arc-shaped line) extending leftward and forward from the vehicle icon V on the screen 427 of the touch panel 426. At this time, the processing device 421 displays the vehicle icon V at a reference position in the lower center portion of the screen 427.

As shown in fig. 26A, the arcuate line extends from the vehicle icon V to the left front. The curved line indicates the track of the left turn of the vehicle icon V, and the arrow of the curved line indicates that the vehicle icon V is about to turn left. The curved arrow indicates the direction of movement of the vehicle icon V and corresponds to the predicted turning direction of the vehicle 2. The processing means 421 makes the radius of the arc line (the radius of the circle of which the arc line is a part) smaller when the lateral acceleration is greater than the second lateral threshold value (see fig. 26B) which is greater than the first lateral threshold value (see fig. 26A) when the lateral acceleration is equal to or smaller than the second lateral threshold value. Further, as shown in fig. 26C, the processing device 421 may display a vehicle icon V inclined leftward with respect to the vertical direction on the screen 427. At this time, the processing device 421 may set the inclination angle θ (see fig. 26C) of the vehicle icon V to increase (more specifically, to increase in proportion) with an increase in the magnitude of the lateral acceleration. When the display is completed, the processing means 421 ends the display process.

In step ST406, the processing device 421 displays a vehicle icon V representing the vehicle 2 and an arc-shaped arrow extending from the vehicle icon V to the right front on the screen 427 of the touch panel 426. In this embodiment, at this time, the processing means 421 controls the display such that the radius of curvature of the arcuate line is smaller when the lateral acceleration is greater than the second lateral threshold (refer to fig. 27A) than when the lateral acceleration is equal to or less than the second lateral threshold (refer to fig. 27B). Further, as shown in fig. 27C, the processing device 421 may display a vehicle icon V inclined rightward with respect to the vertical direction on the screen 427. At this time, the processing device 421 may set the tilt angle δ (see fig. 26C) of the vehicle icon V to increase (more specifically, to increase in proportion) with an increase in the magnitude of the lateral acceleration. When the display is completed, the processing means 421 ends the display process.

In step ST407, the processing device 421 displays a vehicle icon V graphically symbolizing the vehicle 2 at a reference position (see solid lines in fig. 28A and 28B) on the screen 427 and at a shift position in front of the reference position. (see dashed lines in FIGS. 28A and 28B). The processing device 421 determines the distance between the reference position and the displaced position based on the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415 (see fig. 28A and 28B). More specifically, as the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415 increases, the processing device 421 increases the distance between the reference position and the displaced position. As a result, when the front-rear acceleration is large (see fig. 28A), the two vehicle icons V are vertically separated on the screen 427 of the terminal device 417, as compared with when the front-rear acceleration is small (see fig. 28B). Further, the processing device 421 also displays an arrow pointing from the vehicle icon V at the reference position to the vehicle icon V at the shift position on the screen 427 to indicate a direction from the reference position to the shift position. When the display is completed, the processing means 421 ends the display process.

In step ST408, the processing device 421 displays a vehicle icon V graphically symbolizing the vehicle 2 at a reference position on the screen 427 and at a shift position behind the vehicle icon V at the reference position (see fig. 28C). The processing device 421 determines the distance between the reference position and the shift position based on the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415. More specifically, as the front-rear acceleration acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415 increases, the processing device 421 sets a larger distance between the reference position and the displaced position. As a result, when the front-rear acceleration is large, two vehicle icons V are vertically displayed separately from each other on the screen 427 of the terminal device 417, as compared with when the front-rear acceleration is small. Further, the processing device 421 also displays an arrow pointing backward from the vehicle icon V located at the reference position to the vehicle icon V located at the shift position, which indicates that the vehicle icon V is moving from the reference position to the shift position, on the screen 427. When the display is completed, the processing means 421 ends the display process.

Next, the effect of the motion sickness prevention system 400 constructed in this manner will be discussed below. In the motion sickness prevention system 400, when an acceleration equal to or greater than the first lateral threshold value is applied to the vehicle 2 in the lateral direction (no in ST 401), or when an acceleration equal to or greater than the first longitudinal threshold value is applied in the longitudinal direction (no in ST 402), the terminal device 417 displays the behavior of the vehicle 2.

More specifically, when the vehicle 2 turns left and the vehicle behavior sensor 415 detects a leftward acceleration greater than the first lateral threshold, the screen 427 of the terminal device 417 displays the vehicle icon V and an arc-shaped arrow extending leftward and forward from the vehicle icon V, as shown in fig. 26A and 26B. When the vehicle 2 turns right and the vehicle behavior sensor 415 detects that the acceleration in the right direction is greater than the first lateral threshold, the screen 427 of the terminal device 417 displays a vehicle icon V and an arc-shaped arrow extending from the vehicle icon V to the right front, as shown in fig. 27A and 27B.

Further, when the vehicle 2 accelerates forward and the vehicle behavior sensor 415 detects a forward acceleration greater than the first longitudinal threshold, the screen 427 of the terminal device 417 displays the vehicle icon V at the reference position and the shift position, and an arrow representing movement from the reference position to the shift position, as shown in fig. 28A, 28B, and 28C.

In this way, the terminal device 417 displays an arrow or an arc-shaped arrow directed in the front-rear direction on the screen 427 based on the behavior information acquired by the vehicle behavior sensor 415 to indicate the moving direction of the vehicle icon V. As a result, the occupant who operates the terminal device 417 can easily visually understand the behavior of the vehicle 2. Therefore, the occupant can understand in which direction the inertial force is to be applied and in which direction the inertial force is to be directed, and can be prepared for the inertial force in advance. This is effective in preventing the seat occupant from suffering from motion sickness, thereby preventing motion sickness.

In particular, when the vehicle 2 is autonomously driven, the direction and arrangement of the seats 405 and 406 in the cabin 3 can be freely arranged. Thus, as can be seen from fig. 23A and 23B, the orientation of the occupant can be changed by the arrangement of the seats 405, 406. In this case, if only an arrow indicating the turning direction of the vehicle 2 is displayed on the screen 427 of the terminal device 417, the occupant may misunderstand the direction of the own motion and incorrectly estimate the direction of the inertial force to be applied.

As shown in fig. 26 and 27, a vehicle icon V and an arrow indicating the turning direction of the vehicle icon V are displayed on a screen 427 of the terminal device 417. Therefore, the occupant can easily recognize that the direction indicated by the arrow indicates the turning direction of the vehicle 2, regardless of the seating position or posture. Accordingly, the occupant can more accurately estimate the direction of the inertial force applied to his or her body, thereby preventing motion sickness.

Further, as shown in fig. 28, when the vehicle 2 accelerates forward with an acceleration greater than the first longitudinal threshold, a vehicle icon V is displayed on the screen 427 at the reference position and the shift position. As the magnitude of the acceleration increases, the processing device 421 increases the distance between the reference position and the displacement position. Accordingly, the occupant can recognize the magnitude of the acceleration from the distance between the two vehicle icons V. This allows the occupant to estimate the magnitude of the inertial force to be applied, and prepare for the inertial force in advance.

When the vehicle 2 turns in either direction and the lateral acceleration is greater than the second lateral threshold, the processing device 421 causes the radius of the displayed arc-shaped arrow superimposed on the vehicle 2 to be greater when the lateral acceleration is greater than the second lateral threshold than when the lateral acceleration is greater than the first threshold and equal to or less than the second lateral threshold. Accordingly, the occupant can easily recognize the magnitude of the lateral acceleration applied to the vehicle 2 according to the shape of the arcuate arrow. Therefore, the occupant can estimate the magnitude of the inertial force applied to his or her body, and prepare for the inertial force in advance.

(tenth embodiment)

The motion sickness prevention system 400 according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention is different from the motion sickness prevention system of the ninth embodiment in that the control unit 416 transmits the steering angle acquired by the steering angle sensor 415E, the depression amount of the accelerator pedal acquired by the accelerator sensor 415F, and the depression amount of the brake pedal acquired by the brake sensor 415G to the terminal device 417. Further, as shown in fig. 29, another difference is that the processing device 421 performs ST411 to ST414 instead of steps ST401 to ST404 of the display process. This embodiment is similar to the ninth embodiment in other respects, and other configurations are omitted from the following disclosure.

In step ST411, the processing device 421 determines whether the magnitude of the steering angle acquired by the steering angle sensor 415E is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (hereinafter referred to as a steering angle threshold). The processing means 421 performs step ST412 when the magnitude of the steering angle is smaller than the steering angle threshold value, and performs step ST413 when the magnitude of the steering angle is equal to or larger than the steering angle threshold value.

In step ST412, the processing means 421 determines whether the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal is depressed. More specifically, when the depression amount of the accelerator pedal or the depression amount of the brake pedal is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, the processing device 421 determines that the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal is depressed. If the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal is depressed, the processing means 421 executes step ST414, and if the accelerator pedal or the brake pedal is not depressed, the display process is ended.

In step ST413, the processing device 421 determines whether the vehicle 2 is turning left based on the steering angle acquired by the steering angle sensor 415E, and executes step ST405 when the vehicle is turning left, and executes step ST406 when the vehicle is not turning left (or turning right).

In step ST414, the processing device 421 determines whether the accelerator pedal is depressed. More specifically, in step ST414, when the depression amount of the accelerator pedal is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the processing device 421 determines that the accelerator pedal has been depressed. Step ST407 is performed when the processing means 421 has determined that the accelerator pedal is depressed, and step ST408 is performed when it is determined that the accelerator pedal is not depressed (i.e., when the brake pedal is depressed).

In steps ST405 and ST406, the processing device 421 acquires the turning radius based on the steering angle acquired by the steering angle sensor 415E. The storage means 424 stores a table indicating the relationship between the steering angle and the turning radius, and the processing means 421 acquires the turning radius from the acquired steering angle by using the table. Then, as shown in fig. 30, the processing device 421 draws an arc arrow according to the acquired turning radius, and simultaneously displays the turning radius (for example, by displaying "R300") and the arc arrow.

Next, the operation mode and effect of the motion sickness prevention system 400 constructed in this manner will be described below. For example, when the steering angle becomes equal to or greater than the steering angle threshold value due to steering to the left by the driver (yes in ST411, yes in ST 413), a vehicle icon V is displayed on the screen 427 of the touch panel 426, as shown in fig. 8. Then, an arc arrow extending from the vehicle icon V toward the left front is displayed. When the steering angle becomes equal to or greater than the steering angle threshold value due to steering to the right by the driver (yes in ST411, no in ST 413), the screen 427 of the touch panel 426 displays the vehicle icon V and an arc arrow extending from the vehicle icon V to the right. As in the first embodiment, this allows the occupant to easily recognize the turning direction of the vehicle 2. Accordingly, the occupant can estimate the direction of the inertial force, thereby preventing motion sickness.

In the tenth embodiment, when the accelerator pedal is depressed without lateral steering (yes in ST12, yes in ST 14), an arrow directed to the front is displayed, and when the brake pedal is depressed (yes in ST12, no in ST 14), an arrow directed to the rear is displayed. This allows the seat occupant to estimate the direction of the inertial force, thereby preventing motion sickness.

(eleventh embodiment)

In the motion sickness prevention system 400 according to the eleventh embodiment of the present invention, the navigation device 413 outputs a route to the terminal device 417, and the display process performed by the processing device 421 of the terminal device 417 is slightly different from the first embodiment. However, this embodiment is similar to the ninth embodiment in other respects, and therefore other structures thereof are omitted in the following disclosure.

In the eleventh embodiment, the processing device 421 performs the display process while the occupant runs the application to enjoy the game. The screen 427 of the touch panel 426 displayed when the application is being executed is referred to as an application execution screen 427A (refer to fig. 32), and a display process performed by the processing device 421 is described below with reference to fig. 31.

In a first step ST421 of the display process, the processing means 421 acquires the current position of the vehicle 2 based on the GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 425. When the acquisition of the current position is completed, the processing means 421 performs step ST422.

In step ST422, the processing device 421 determines whether the vehicle 2 is about to turn left after a predetermined time based on the current position acquired in step ST421 and the route set by the navigation device 413. More specifically, when it is detected that the portion of the route immediately in front of the current position of the vehicle 2 (e.g., the portion of the route at a predetermined distance in front of the vehicle) includes a curved road that turns left or a left turn at an intersection, the processing device 421 determines that the vehicle 2 plans a left turn. In this case, the predetermined distance may be selected such that this distance range does not include both left-turning and right-turning turns at the same time, and is short enough not to include two intersections. When the processing means 421 determines that the vehicle is about to turn left, step ST423 is performed. Otherwise, step ST424 is performed.

In step ST423, the processing device 421 displays the light-emitting area 440 superimposed on the upper left edge of the application execution screen 427A, as shown in fig. 32A. The light emitting area 440 may be of any form that can be recognized by an occupant focusing on a game, and may be defined as, for example, a rectangular area painted white. When the display is completed, the processing means 421 ends the display process.

In step ST424, the processing device 421 estimates the turning direction of the vehicle 2 based on the own position acquired in step ST421 and the route set by the navigation device 413, and determines whether the vehicle 2 is about to turn right. More specifically, the processing device 421 determines that the vehicle 2 is about to turn right when the portion of the route immediately in front of the current position of the vehicle 2 contains a curve that turns right or a right turn at an intersection. Upon determining that the vehicle is about to turn right, the processing device 421 executes step ST425. Otherwise, the display process is ended.

In step ST425, the processing device 421 displays the light-emitting area 440 superimposed on the upper right edge of the application execution screen 427A of the touch panel 426, as shown in fig. 32B. When the display is completed, the processing means 421 ends the display process.

Next, the effect of the motion sickness prevention system 400 constructed in this manner will be discussed below. When the left turn of the vehicle 2 is predicted based on the route set by the navigation device 413, a light emitting region 440 is displayed at the upper left edge of the application execution screen 427A (fig. 10A). On the other hand, when the vehicle is predicted to turn right, a light-emitting region 440 is displayed at the upper right edge of the application execution screen 427A (see fig. 10B).

In this way, the light emitting region 440 is superimposed on the application execution screen 427A. At this time, the light emitting region 440 is displayed at the edges of the application execution screen 427A in the turning direction of the vehicle 2 (i.e., the left edge when turning left and the right edge when turning right). As a result, the occupant can obtain the turning direction of the vehicle 2, so that the occupant can predict in advance the direction of the inertial force to be applied to the occupant. Therefore, the occupant can be prepared for inertial force in advance, thereby preventing motion sickness of the occupant.

The processing device 421 can predict turning behavior of the vehicle such as a left turn or a right turn by identifying a portion of the route immediately in front of the vehicle 2 from the current position determined by the GPS receiver 425 and the predetermined route set by the navigation device 413. Therefore, by using the navigation device 413 as the acquisition device for predicting and acquiring the behavior information about the behavior of the vehicle 2, the turning behavior of the vehicle 2 can be easily acquired in advance, and the behavior of the vehicle 2 can be notified to the occupant, so that the turning direction can be notified to the occupant in advance.

(twelfth embodiment)

The motion sickness prevention system 400 according to the twelfth embodiment of the present invention is different from the motion sickness prevention system of the tenth embodiment in that the biological sensors 450 (refer to fig. 23A and 23B) are provided in the front seat 405 and the rear seat 406, respectively, and the display process performed is different from that of the tenth embodiment but similar to that of the tenth embodiment in other respects. Therefore, other portions of the tenth embodiment are omitted from the following disclosure.

The biological sensor 450 is provided on the surfaces of the seat backs 411 and the seat cushions 410 of the front seat 405 and the rear seat 406 to acquire biological signals such as heart rate data and perspiration levels of the seated occupant. In this embodiment, the biosensor 450 acquires heartbeat data. Each of the individual biosensors 450 outputs the acquired bioelectric signal to the control unit 416, and the control unit 416 appropriately transmits the acquired bioelectric signal to the terminal device 417 together with information indicating the acquired position (position in the seat) of the biosensor 450.

As shown in fig. 33, the display process according to the twelfth embodiment is different from the display process of the tenth embodiment in that step ST431 is performed before step ST421, but otherwise the same, and thus a description of steps other than step ST431 will be omitted in the following disclosure.

In step ST431, the processing device 421 acquires its own position in the vehicle cabin 3 by communicating with the control unit 416 in the vehicle cabin 3. Then, each processing device 421 extracts heartbeat data of the corresponding occupant from the bioelectric signal received by the control unit 416 based on the acquired own position. Thereafter, the processing means 421 determines whether there is a sign of motion sickness based on fluctuations in the heartbeat data, the power spectrum of the heartbeat, or the like. In a twelfth embodiment, the processing means 421 determines that there is a symptom or sign of motion sickness when an increase in the high frequency component of the heart beat power spectrum indicative of parasympathetic activity of the heart is observed. Upon determining that there is a sign of motion sickness, the processing device 421 proceeds to step ST421. Otherwise, the display process ends.

Next, the effect of the motion sickness prevention system 400 constructed in this manner will be discussed below. In step ST431, the processing device 421 determines whether the occupant has signs of motion sickness using the biosensor 450. When there is a sign and acceleration is applied to the left, right, or forward, a light emitting area 440 is displayed on an application execution screen 427A of the touch panel 426. On the other hand, when the occupant has no sign of motion sickness, the light-emitting area 440 is not displayed on the application execution screen 427A of the terminal device 417 even if acceleration is applied to the left, right, or forward. In other words, when the processing device 421 determines that there is no sign of motion sickness in the occupant (no in ST 431), the display of the behavior of the vehicle 2 on the screen 427 is stopped. As a result, the display of the application execution screen 427A on the terminal device 417 is not blocked by the light emitting area 440, the vehicle icon V, the arc arrow, or the like, so that the occupant can enjoy a video or a game.

In the above disclosure, the terminal device 417 is held by each occupant and is a portable smart phone, but the present invention is not limited in this respect. The terminal device 417 may be, for example, a flat terminal device 460 (see fig. 23A) supported on the back surface of the seat back 411, or a non-portable terminal device 417 (which may be fixed to the seat back 411 of the front seat 405). Further, the terminal device 417 may be detachably held by a door trim provided on the door, or may be fixed to the door trim.

Although the vehicle 2 is a four-wheel car in the above disclosure, the invention is not limited in this respect. The vehicle 2 may be a bus, truck, rail car, or the like. Further, the motion sickness prevention system 1 can be applied to any vehicle including ships, airplanes, etc.

In the eleventh embodiment, the light emitting area 440 is superimposed on the application execution screen 427A, but the present invention is not limited in this respect. For example, as shown in fig. 34A and 34B, a vehicle icon V may be displayed on the application execution screen 427A of the terminal device 417 together with the light emitting area 440. As a result, the occupant can recognize the direction of the inertial force with respect to the vehicle 2 regardless of the posture of the occupant.

Further, in the tenth embodiment, when the application is being executed, the processing device 421 may display the light emitting region 440 superimposed on the application execution screen 427A, and move or deform the light emitting region 440 to match the behavior of the vehicle 2. The processing means 421 moves the light emitting area 440 in a direction corresponding to the turning direction. More specifically, for example, when the vehicle 2 turns left, the processing device 421 moves the light emitting region 440 to the left as shown in fig. 35A. When the vehicle 2 turns right, the light emitting region 440 moves rightward. Further, when the vehicle 2 accelerates without turning, the processing device 421 may move the light emitting region 440 forward as shown in fig. 35B, and when the vehicle 2 decelerates without turning, the light emitting region 440 may move backward.

Further, when the vehicle 2 turns left or right, the processing device 421 may acquire a turning radius (more specifically, a curvature of a road on the running route or the like) from the running route for the vehicle 2 to run set by the navigation device 413, and may superimpose the acquired turning radius on the application execution screen 427A, as shown in fig. 36.

Further, the size and moving speed of the light emitting region 440 may be selected based on behavior information of the vehicle 2. For example, the control unit 416 may acquire the vehicle speed from the vehicle speed sensor 415D, acquire the turning direction of the vehicle 2 from the steering angle sensor 415E, and acquire the front-rear acceleration of the vehicle 2 from the 6-axis inertial sensor 415A, and transmit them to the processing device 421. When the processing device 421 displays the light emitting region 440 on the application execution screen 427A, the processing device 421 may set the moving speed of the light emitting region 440 according to the vehicle speed. More specifically, the processing means 421 preferably increases the moving speed of the light emitting region 440 as the vehicle speed increases. Further, the processing device 421 may set one of the luminance and the size of the light emitting region 440 according to the magnitude of the front-rear acceleration. More specifically, the processing means 421 preferably increases the luminance of the light emitting region 440 or increases the size of the light emitting region 440 as the magnitude of the acceleration/deceleration increases.

Accordingly, the occupant can recognize the turning direction, speed, and acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle 2 from the behavior of the light emitting region 440 such as movement and deformation thereof superimposed and displayed on the application execution screen 427A. Accordingly, the occupant can predict the direction and magnitude of the inertial force and prepare in advance, thereby preventing motion sickness. In addition, motion sickness can be prevented by moving the light emitting region 440 to move the line of sight of the occupant and to control the posture of the occupant.

In the twelfth embodiment, the biosensor 450 is provided on the front seat 405 and the rear seat 406, but the present invention is not limited in this respect. The biosensor 450 may include, for example, a camera provided in the terminal device 417, and the processing device 421 may determine whether there is a sign of motion sickness based on the direction of the line of sight of the occupant acquired by the camera. However, by providing the biosensor 450 in the seat 405, 406 on which the occupant sits as in the twelfth embodiment, the biosensor 450 can be disposed closer to the occupant. Thus, the biometric information of the occupant can be acquired more accurately by the biosensor 450.

In the twelfth embodiment, when the symptom of motion sickness is detected, the processing means 421 displays the behavior of the vehicle on the screen 427, and when it is determined that there is no symptom, does not display the behavior of the vehicle 2. However, the invention is not limited in this respect. The processing device 421 may be configured to receive an input from the occupant regarding selection of display/non-display behavior on the touch panel 426 (receiving unit), and switch the display of the behavior based on the input.

Specifically, the processing device 421 displays buttons on the screen 427 for receiving input from the occupant as to whether or not it is desired to display the behavior of the vehicle 2. When the touch panel 426 detects an input corresponding to the desire of the display behavior, the processing means 421 performs step ST21. Further, when an input corresponding to a desire not to display the behavior of the vehicle 2 is detected on the touch panel 426, the processing device 421 ends the display process. As a result, when there is an input corresponding to the desire of display on the touch panel 426, the behavior of the vehicle 2 is displayed on the screen 427, and when there is an input corresponding to the desire not to be displayed, the behavior of the vehicle 2 is not displayed on the screen 427 (i.e., the display of the behavior on the screen 427 is stopped). Thus, the occupant can arbitrarily select the display/non-display of the behavior.

In the ninth to eleventh embodiments, the turning direction and acceleration/deceleration of the vehicle 2 are displayed on the screen 427 by the vehicle icon V and the arrow and the light emitting area 440, but such behavior information may be displayed by characters (e.g., high, medium or low acceleration, sharp, medium or slight curve, etc.). However, in the above-described embodiment, the arrows and the light emitting areas 440 are displayed on the screen 427 instead of characters, so that the occupant can more intuitively understand the turning direction of the vehicle 2.

In addition, as shown in fig. 37A, the vehicle 2 is provided with a left light emitting device 1311L for illuminating a left portion of the vehicle cabin 3 and a right light emitting device 1311R for illuminating a right portion of the vehicle cabin 3. The control unit 416 may be configured to control light emission of both the left and right light emitting devices 1311L and 1311R based on behavior information of the vehicle 2. The left light emitting device 1311L is turned on, for example, when the vehicle 2 turns left (specifically, when the vehicle behavior sensor 415 detects acceleration in the left direction, or when the travel route acquired by the navigation device 413 indicates a turn to the left). In contrast, when the vehicle 2 turns right (specifically, when the vehicle behavior sensor 415 detects acceleration in the right direction, or when the travel route acquired by the navigation device 413 indicates a turn to the right), the right light emitting device 1311R is turned on.

In addition, the control unit 416 may be connected to a plurality of lateral light emitting devices 1313, each provided with a plurality of light emitting areas 1315 arranged in a lateral direction and configured to be individually lit, so that selected areas of the lateral light emitting devices 1313 may be lit and the distribution of the lit areas may be changed according to the behavior information. More specifically, the control unit 416 may control the lateral light emitting device 1313 such that the light emitting region 1315 is lit so as to move from left to right when the vehicle 2 is about to make a left turn (or when the vehicle behavior sensor 415 has detected a leftward acceleration, or when the travel route acquired by the navigation device 413 indicates a leftward turn), as shown in fig. 37B, and to move from right to left when the vehicle 2 is about to make a right turn (or when the vehicle behavior sensor 415 has detected a rightward acceleration, or when the travel route acquired by the navigation device 413 indicates a rightward turn).

Further, the control unit 416 may be connected to a plurality of longitudinal light emitting devices 1317, each including a plurality of light emitting areas 1315 arranged in the front-rear direction and configured to be individually lit, so that selected areas of the longitudinal light emitting devices 1317 may be lit, and the distribution of the lit areas may be changed according to the behavior information. More specifically, the control unit 416 may control the light emitting region of the longitudinal light emitting device 1317 such that the light emitting region may be lit in a front-to-rear movement when the behavior sensor 415 detects a forward acceleration (or when the vehicle behavior sensor 415 indicates acceleration), and such that the light emitting region may be lit in a rear-to-front movement when the behavior sensor 415 detects a rearward acceleration (or when the vehicle behavior sensor 415 indicates deceleration).

As a result, the display on the screen 427 of the terminal device 417 is synchronized with the light emission of the left light emitting device 1311L, the right light emitting device 1311R, the lateral light emitting device 1313, and the longitudinal light emitting device 1317 of the vehicle 2, so that the occupant can reliably determine the turning direction and can prevent motion sickness in an efficient manner. The left and right light emitting devices 1311L and 1311R are preferably provided on the ceiling of the cabin 3. Also, the lateral light emitting device 1313 may be provided on the rear surface of the seat back 411 of the front seat 405, and the longitudinal light emitting device 1317 may be provided on the upper edge of the door trim.

(thirteenth embodiment)

Fig. 38 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat arrangement 10 according to a thirteenth embodiment of the invention. The vehicle seat apparatus 10 includes a seat cushion 22 supported by a vehicle body, a seat back 26 connected to the seat cushion 22, and a headrest 28 connected to the seat back 26. Each of the seat cushion 22, the seat back 26, and the headrest 28 includes a cushion 625 (see fig. 39) made of a foamed resin such as polyurethane foam, and a skin member 626 (see fig. 39) covering the seating surface side of the cushion 625. By pulling the skin member 626 into the cushion 625, a plurality of linearly recessed selvedge portions 627 are formed in the longitudinal and transverse directions on the surfaces of the seat cushion 22 and the seat back 26 on the seating surface side.

Fig. 39 shows a selvedge structure of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 of the thirteenth embodiment. The selvedge structure includes a pad 625 having a selvedge groove 629 formed therein, a plurality of engagement members 616 disposed in a bottom portion of the selvedge groove 629 in spaced apart relation along a length (longitudinal direction) of the selvedge groove 629 and fixedly attached to the pad 625, and a selvedge member 614 extending in the selvedge groove 629 along the length of the selvedge groove 629.

The skin member 626 covering the surface of the cushion 625 includes a plurality of selvedge edges 611 each extending along the length of the selvedge groove 29 in a respective selvedge groove 29, and each selvedge edge portion 611 is connected to the joining member 616 via a respective selvedge member 614. Each selvedge member 614 comprises a first edge portion 612 connected to the selvedge edge portion 611 and a second edge portion 613 (joined portion) fastened to the free end edge of the first edge portion 612 and joined by a joining member 616.

The gasket 625 is made of a foamed resin such as polyurethane foam. The selvedge groove 29 is open toward the seating surface, and extends in the longitudinal direction (front-rear direction in the case of the seat cushion 22, vertical direction in the case of the seat back 26) and the lateral direction. The bottom surfaces of the selvedge grooves 29 extend at substantially the same position in the thickness direction and on a substantially common plane.

The respective engagement members 616 are each comprised of a clip comprising a base plate 615 embedded in a pad 625 at the bottom of the selvedge groove 29 and a pair of locking claws 621 extending from the base plate 615 to the selvedge groove 29. The base plate 615 of the engagement member 616 composed of clips is embedded in the gasket 625 during foaming of the gasket 625.

The selvedge edge portion 611 of the skin member 626 is formed by bringing both edge portions of the skin member 626 into contact with each other in mutually aligned relation and connecting them by stitching or the like. Alternatively, the selvedge edge portion 611 may be formed by folding the skin member 626 to form a groove having an upwardly facing open side, and joining the portions thereof abutting each other by stitching or the like. Pad 625 is provided with an uneven surface as shown in fig. 40. Since the bottom surface of the selvedge groove 29 extends at a constant position in the thickness direction of the pad 625, the free edge of the selvedge edge portion 611 may have a convex or concave profile.

As shown in fig. 39, each selvedge member 614 includes a first edge portion 612 and a second edge portion 613, the first edge portion 612 being made of a cloth-like member such as nonwoven fabric, extending along the length of the selvedge groove 29 and being connected to the corresponding selvedge edge portion 611 by a seam 620 or the like, and the second edge portion 613 being made of resin or the like, extending along the length of the corresponding selvedge groove 29 and being connected to the free edge of the first edge portion 612 on the side of the selvedge groove 29.

Each selvedge member 614 extends linearly but is capable of bending deformation when no force is applied. The second edge portion 613 bulges in the thickness direction on both sides of the first edge portion 612 and has sufficient rigidity to be engaged by the locking claw 621 of the engaging member 616. The second edge portion 613 has a higher bending stiffness than the first edge portion 612. In other words, the first edge portion 612 can be more easily bent than the second edge portion 613. The second edge portion 613 is formed by injection molding, and the first edge portion 612 is connected to the second edge portion 613 by being placed in a molding cavity during molding of the second edge portion 613. If the first edge portion 612 and the second edge portion 613 are made of the same resin, the selvedge member 614 may be formed by extrusion molding. The first edge portion 612 is folded back along the connection with the selvedge edge portion 611.

The second edge portion 613 constituted by a resin member bulging in the thickness direction may be replaced by a combination of a first wire held by the first edge portion 612 and an arch ring joined by the first wire, and the joining member 616 in the form of a clip may be replaced by a second wire configured to join the arch ring (although not shown in the drawings).

The first edge portion 612 is provided with a deformable portion 617 as shown in fig. 41A. The selvedge member 614 is more flexible and deformable at the yielding portion 617 than at the other portions. The deformable portion 617 is formed by a notch cut from the edge on the side of the first edge portion 612 that is connected to the skin member 626. The recess forming the deformable portion 617 has a predetermined length on the free edge side of the first edge portion 612. The deformable portion 617 may be formed by a portion thinner than the rest of the first edge portion 612 instead of the recess. The illustrated yielding portion 617 has a rectangular shape when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the surface of the cloth-like first edge portion 612, but may have other shapes such as triangular, circular, and semicircular. Preferably, the first edge portion 612 is more easily deformed than the second edge portion 613 even in the portion displaced from the easily deformed portion 617 in the longitudinal direction of the selvedge groove 29.

As shown in fig. 43, preferably, the engaging member 616 is provided at a position offset from the easily deformable portion 617 in the longitudinal direction of the selvedge groove 29. However, the engaging member 616 may be provided at a position aligned with the easily deformable portion 617, as indicated by a two-dot chain line in fig. 43. The deformable portion 617 is provided at a portion of the selvedge edge portion 611 that is bent into a convex or concave shape.

As shown in fig. 43, the edge of the first edge portion 612 remote from the second edge portion 613 is provided with a plurality of marks 618. At least one pair of marks 618 is provided on both sides of the deformable portion 617. Further, the selvedge edge portion 611 of the skin member 626 is provided with a mark 619 at a position thereof corresponding to the mark 618 of the first edge portion 612. The marks 618 and 619 are preferably notches having shapes matching each other, but may also be marks made with a pen or the like, which can be erased after the selvedge edge portion 611 and the first edge portion 612 are connected to each other. At least a portion of the markings 618 and 619 may be provided in a position aligned with the engagement member 616.

The assembly method associated with the selvedge structure will be described below with reference to fig. 41 to 43.

First, as shown in fig. 41, a worker cuts the first edge portion 612 to provide the deformable portion 617 and places a mark 618 on an edge of the first edge portion 612 of the selvedge member 614, the edge of the first edge portion 612 being remote from the edge to which the second edge portion 613 is attached. The deformable portion 617 is provided in a portion of the selvedge edge portion 611 that is bent into a concave or convex shape. Then, the worker makes the mark 619 on a portion of the selvedge edge portion 611 of the skin member 626 corresponding to the mark 618.

The worker then aligns the mark 619 of the selvedge edge portion 611 with the mark 618 of the first edge portion 612 and aligns the edge of the selvedge edge portion 611 with the edge of the first edge portion 612 remote from the second edge portion 613. The selvedge member 614 is then folded over the skin member 626 along the selvedge edge portion 611. The worker stitches together the first edge portion 612 of the selvedge member 614 and the selvedge edge portion 611 of the skin member 626 in overlapping relationship with each other. The dashed line in fig. 42 represents suture 620. Suture 620 is positioned to avoid marks 618 and 619 formed by the notches. The connection between the first edge portion 612 and the selvedge edge portion 611 may also be achieved by means other than stitching, such as adhesive bonding.

Then, the worker folds first edge portion 612 along suture 620 such that skin member 626 is positioned away from second edge portion 613 with respect to first edge portion 612. The worker inserts the second edge portion 613 into the selvedge groove 29 and causes the second edge portion 613 to be engaged by the engaging member 616.

The effects of the foregoing embodiments will be discussed below. Since the easily deformable portion 617 is provided, the selvedge member 614 can be easily maintained in a bent state along the selvedge edge portion 611, and the connection between the selvedge member 614 and the selvedge edge portion 611 having an edge bent into a convex or concave shape is facilitated. Since the marks 618 and 619 are provided on both sides of the deformable portion 617, the connection between the selvedge member 614 and the selvedge edge portion 611 with a convex or concave shaped edge is facilitated. Since the selvedge member 614 is connected to the selvedge edge portion 611 having an edge that is curved into a convex or concave shape, the curved shape of the seating surface of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 can be easily reproduced as designed.

Since the first edge portion 612 is more easily bent and deformed than the second edge portion 613, the connection work such as sewing between the selvedge edge portion 11 and the first edge portion 612 is facilitated.

When the selvedge edge portion 611 and the first edge portion 612 are connected to each other by stitching, the selvedge edge portion 611 and the first edge portion 612 are stitched together in a mutually overlapping state such that their edges are aligned. Therefore, it is easier to align the marks 618 and 619 with the selvedge member 614 in the bent state than in the case where the selvedge edge portion 611 and the first edge portion 612 are connected in such a manner that their edges abut each other.

At least a portion of the markings 618 and 619 are provided in alignment with the engagement member 616 so that the selvedge edge portion 611 can be inserted into position in the selvedge recess 29. Since the seam 620 is provided at a position avoiding the marks 618 and 619 formed by the notches, the strength of the connection between the selvedge edge portion 611 and the first edge portion 612 is not compromised.

The second edge portion 613 is deformed so as to be bent most at a position aligned with the deformation facilitating portion 617. When the engaging member is provided only at a position avoiding the deformable portion 617 in the longitudinal direction of the selvedge groove 29, since the second edge portion 613 is engaged by the engaging member 616 at a position avoiding the maximum deformation portion, it is convenient to engage the second edge portion 613 with the engaging member 616. Accordingly, when the engaging member 616 is disposed at a position aligned with the easily deformable portion 617, since the most severely curved portion of the selvedge edge portion 611 engages the engaging member 616 via the selvedge member 614, unevenness of the seating surface of the vehicle seat apparatus 10 is favorably reproduced as designed.

Even if the edge of the selvedge edge portion 611 has unevenness, a long one-piece selvedge member can be used without dividing the selvedge member into a plurality of pieces, and an increase in the number of parts can be avoided.

It should be noted that the present invention can be applied not only to road vehicle seats but also to other vehicle seats, seats used in houses, and the like, as long as the seats include a cushion and a skin member.

(fourteenth embodiment)

A clip and a vehicle seat according to a fourteenth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 44 to 50.

As shown in fig. 44 and 45, the vehicle seat 701 has a seat cushion frame 704 that forms the structural frame of the seat cushion. A cushion (not shown) is attached to the seat cushion frame 704. The outer surface of the pad is covered with a skin member (not shown in the drawings).

The seat cushion frame 704 has a pair of cushion side members 705 extending in the front-rear direction on both sides, and a front member 706 extending laterally between the front ends of the left and right cushion side members 705. The rear ends of the left and right cushion side members 705 extend obliquely upward.

The vehicle seat 701 is also provided with a seat back frame 707 that forms a structural frame of the seat back, and a pressure receiving member 708 (lumbar support) supported by the seat back frame 707. A cushion (not shown in the drawings) is attached to the seat back frame 707 and the pressure receiving member 708. The outer surface of the pad is covered with a skin member (not shown in the drawings).

The seat back frame 707 includes a pair of rear side members 709 extending vertically on both sides of the seat back frame 707, an upper member 710 extending laterally between upper ends of the left and right rear side members 709, and a lower member 711 extending laterally between lower ends of the rear side members 709. The upper member 710 is made of a metal plate, in particular, a channel member having an opening side facing rearward. The upper member 710 includes a front wall portion 710A facing forward and rearward, an upper wall portion 710B extending rearward from an upper edge of the front wall portion 710A, and a lower wall portion 710C extending rearward from a lower edge of the front wall portion 710A. The lower ends of the rear side members 709 are connected to the rear ends of the respective left and right cushion side members 705 via recliner mechanisms.

A plurality of wires 712 extend between the upper member 710 and the lower member 711. In this embodiment, the wire 712 extends vertically in the seat back frame 707 in a symmetrical fashion. The wire 712 is made of metal. The lower end of each wire 712 is connected to the lower member 711, and the upper end of the wire 712 is connected to the upper member 710 via a clip 713. The lower ends of the wires 712 may be connected to each other. The wire 712 supports the pressure receiving member 708 at a position between the upper member 710 and the lower member 711. Each of the individual wires 712 includes a first rod portion 715 and a second rod portion 716 connected to each other via a bend 714 in an upper portion thereof. Each first stem portion 715 is disposed above the bend 714 and extends linearly and vertically. The second stem portion 716 is inclined at an inclination angle α relative to the first stem portion 715 (see fig. 46 and 47) and extends downwardly and rearwardly from the bend 714. The inclination angle α is an obtuse angle equal to or greater than 90 degrees and equal to or less than 180 degrees.

The pressure receiving member 708 is a plate-like member that supports the back of the seat occupant. The pressure receiving member 708 is engaged by the upper member 710 and the lower member 711 via a wire 712. The pressure receiving member 708 is preferably flexible and made of a resin material or the like. The pressure receiving member 708 is disposed forward of the lower portion of the seat back frame 707 and in the lower portion of the seat back frame 707. The pressure receiving member 708 extends laterally and vertically in the seat back frame 707. A portion of the pressure receiving member 708 may overlap with the front side of the lower member 711.

An upper end of each wire 712 (first member) is connected to the upper member 710 (second member) via a clip 713. The clip 713 is flexible and made of, for example, resin. As shown in fig. 46 and 47, the clip 713 has a first portion 717, a second portion 718, and a connecting portion 719, as shown in fig. 46 and 47. The connecting portion 719 connects the first portion 717 and the second portion 718 to each other. The first portion 717 has a first axis A1 (see fig. 46 and 47), and the second portion 718 has a second axis A2 (see fig. 46 and 47) inclined with respect to the first axis A1. The first portion 717 and the second portion 718 may have a rectangular parallelepiped or cylindrical outer profile. In this embodiment, the first portion 717 is formed as a rectangular parallelepiped extending along the first axis A1, and the second portion 718 is formed as a rectangular parallelepiped extending along the second axis A2. The length of the first portion 717 along the first axis A1 is longer than the length of the second portion 718 along the second axis A2. The angle between the first axis A1 and the second axis A2 is preferably set equal to the inclination angle α between the first rod portion 715 and the second rod portion 716.

The first portion 717 has a first end face 722 at one end and a second end face 723 at the other end in a direction along the first axis A1. The first portion 717 has a first groove 724 formed along the first axis A1. As shown in fig. 48, the first recess 724 is defined by a bottom 724A and a pair of side walls 724B that protrude above the bottom 724A from opposite side edges of the bottom 724A. In other words, the first groove 724 has a slotted opening 724C extending along the first axis A1 and reaching the first end face 722 and the second end face 723.

The second portion 718 has a third end face 725 at one end and a fourth end face 726 at the other end in a direction along the second axis A2. The second portion 718 has a second groove 727 formed along a second axis A2. As shown in fig. 49, the second groove 727 is defined by a bottom 727A and a pair of side walls 727B which protrude above the bottom 727A from opposite side edges of the bottom 727A. In other words, the second groove 727 has slotted openings 727C extending along the second axis A2 and reaching the third and fourth end faces 725, 726.

The connection 719 extends between the second end face 723 and the third end face 725. The connecting portion 719 is formed in a plate shape and connects the side wall 724B on one side of the first portion 717 and the side wall 727B on the other side of the second portion 718 to each other. The third groove 728 is defined by the connection 719, the second end face 723, and the third end face 725. The third groove 728 extends in a direction perpendicular to each of the first axis A1 and the second axis A2. The third groove 728 is connected with an end of the first groove 724 on the second end face 723 side and with an end of the second groove 727 on the second end face 725 side. The opening direction of the first groove 724 matches one end of the third groove 728 in the extending direction thereof, and the opening direction of the second groove 727 matches the other end of the third groove 728 in the extending direction thereof. In other words, the first groove 724 and the second groove 727 are open in opposite directions.

The first groove 724 receives at least a portion of the first stem portion 715. A pair of first protrusions 729 protrude toward each other from respective side walls 724B defining the first recess 724 on one side of the slotted opening 724C. As shown in fig. 48, the width of the first groove 724 at the open end is set smaller than the diameter of the first lever portion 715 by the first projection 729. The side surfaces 724D of the slotted opening 724C forming the first recess 724 are inclined in such a manner as to be closer to each other toward the bottom 724A of the first recess 724. More specifically, the surfaces of the first protrusions 729 on the open end side are inclined in such a manner as to be closer to each other toward the bottom 724A of the first recess 724.

The second recess 727 receives at least a portion of the second rod portion 716. A pair of second protrusions 730 protrude toward each other from respective side walls 727B defining the second groove 727 on one side of the slotted opening 727C. As shown in fig. 49, the width of the second groove 727 at the open end is set smaller than the diameter of the second lever portion 716 by the second projection 730. The side faces 727D of the slotted opening 727C forming the second slot 727 are inclined in such a manner as to be closer to each other toward the bottom 727A of the second slot 727. More specifically, the surfaces of the second protrusions are inclined in such a manner as to be closer to each other toward the bottom 727A of the second groove 727.

An engagement portion 731 for engaging the wire 712 with the upper member 710 is provided on an outer surface of the side wall 724B of the first portion 717. The upper member 710 has a plurality of engagement holes 732 in a front wall portion 710A thereof for engaging the clips 713. As shown in fig. 50, in the illustrated embodiment, engagement holes 732 are formed in each of the left and right portions of the front wall portion 710A of the upper member 710. Each engagement hole 732 is formed in the upper member 710 in a penetrating manner in the front-rear direction. The engaging portion 731 is flexible and made of, for example, resin. The engagement portion 731 includes a support portion (pillar portion) 733 extending substantially perpendicularly from an outer surface of the side wall 724B of the first portion 717, and a plurality of elastic claws 734 protruding from a tip end 733B of the support portion 733 toward a base end 733A of the support portion 733. In the illustrated embodiment, a pair of resilient claws 734 are symmetrically formed with respect to the support portion 733 and arranged along the first axis A1. Each elastic claw 734 has a base portion 734A provided at a tip 733B of the supporting portion 733. Each elastic claw 734 extends away from the outer peripheral surface of the support portion 733 as it moves from the base portion 734A to the base end 733A, and has a free end portion 734B.

The clip 713 is fixed to the upper member 710 by passing the support portion 733 through the engagement hole 732 together with the elastic claw 734 until the free end portion 734B of the elastic claw 734 abuts against the back surface of the upper member 710.

The process of fixing the wire 712 to the upper member 710 is described below. First, the worker places the clip 713 behind the bent portion 714 of the wire 712 such that the third groove 728 opens forward and extends laterally. Then, the worker receives the bent portion 714 of the wire 712 in the third groove 728 from the front. Subsequently, the worker rotates the clip 713 about an axis extending through the third groove 728 in the front-rear direction. As a result, the first stem portion 715 enters the first recess 724 and the second stem portion 716 enters the second recess 727. At this time, the first lever portion 715 passes between the first protrusions 729, and the second lever portion 716 passes between the second protrusions 730. As a result, the first lever portion 715 is interposed between the first protrusions 729 and is firmly fixed, and the second lever portion 716 is interposed between the second protrusions 730 and is firmly fixed. As a result, the clip 713 is connected to the wire 712.

Next, the worker inserts the engagement portion 731 of the clip 713 and the wire 712 engaged therewith into the engagement hole 732. Thereby, the clip 713 is fixed to the upper member 710.

The wire 712 includes a first stem portion 715 and a second stem portion 716 with the bend 714 therebetween, and the first stem portion 715 is retained in a first groove 724 of the clip 713 while the second stem portion 716 is retained in a second groove 727 of the clip 713. Thereby, the clip 713 can be easily placed with respect to the wire 712, so that the assembling work becomes easy. The first groove 724 and the second groove 727 are open in different directions. Since the opening width of the first groove 724 is narrower than the diameter of the first lever portion 715 due to the presence of the first protrusion 729, and the opening width of the second groove 727 is narrower than the diameter of the second lever portion 716 due to the presence of the second protrusion 730, the clip 713 is prevented from falling off the wire 712.

The side surfaces 724D forming the open ends of the first grooves 724 are inclined in such a manner as to be closer to each other toward the bottom 724A of the first grooves 724, and the side surfaces 727D forming the open ends of the second grooves 727 are inclined in such a manner as to be closer to each other toward the bottom 727A of the second grooves 727. Due to this structure of the side surfaces 724D and 727D, the wire 712 can be easily accommodated by the first and second grooves 724 and 727 by a worker pushing the wire 712 into the first and second grooves 724 and 727.

The third groove 728 is defined by the connection portion 719, the second end face 723, and the third end face 725, and the first groove 724 and the second groove 727 are open toward the third groove 728 along the extending direction of the third groove 728. With this structure, by inserting the bent portion 714 of the wire 712 into the third groove 728 from the front and then rotating the clip 713 about an axis passing through the third groove 728 and extending in the front-rear direction, the worker can easily fit the first and second lever portions 715 and 716 into the first and second grooves 724 and 727, respectively. Since the angle formed by the first axis A1 and the second axis A2 is set to be equal to the inclination angle α between the first lever portion 715 and the second lever portion 716, the clip 713 can be easily positioned with respect to the wire 712 by using a simple structure. The front wall portion 710A of the upper member 710 is provided with an engagement hole 732 so that an engagement portion 731 provided in a first portion 717 of the clip 713 can be inserted into the engagement hole 732 from the front.

(fifteenth embodiment)

A clip and a vehicle seat according to a fifteenth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 51. In fig. 51, components corresponding to those in fig. 50 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and may be omitted in the following description.

An upper portion of each wire 712 has a first curved portion 835 curved rearward by about 90 degrees and a second curved portion 836 curved downward by about 90 degrees. The wire 712 has a first rod portion 815, a second rod portion 816, and an intermediate rod portion 814 that are connected together by a first bend 835 and a second bend 836. The first lever portion 815 is disposed above the first bend 835 and extends vertically linearly. The intermediate lever portion 814 is disposed between the first and second curved portions 835 and 836, is connected substantially perpendicularly to the first lever portion 815, and extends linearly in the front-rear direction. The second rod portion 816 is disposed below the second bend 836, is connected substantially vertically to the intermediate rod portion 814, and extends linearly vertically.

The clip 813 according to the fifteenth embodiment includes a first portion 817 extending in the same direction as the first lever portion 815, a connecting portion 819 extending in the same direction as the intermediate lever portion 814, and a second portion 818 extending in the same direction as the second lever portion 816, all of which are directly and integrally connected to each other. Thus, clip 813 has a crank shape that conforms to the upper portion of wire 712. The first portion 817, the connecting portion 819, and the second portion 818 are each provided with an external shape, which is, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped, a cylinder, or the like.

The first portion 817 has a fifth end face 822 at one end along its own axis and is connected to an end of the connecting portion 819 at the other end. The second portion 818 has an end connected to the other end of the connection portion 819, and has a sixth end face 823 at the other end.

The first portion 817 has a first recess 824 extending along its own axis. The first recess 824 has a slotted opening 824A and receives the first stem portion 815 therein. The second portion 818 has a second recess 827 extending along its own axis. The second recess 827 has a slotted opening 827A and receives the second rod portion 816 therein. The connecting portion 819 has a third recess 828 extending along its own axis. The third recess 828 has a slotted opening 828A and receives the intermediate lever portion 814 therein. The first, second and third grooves 824, 827 and 828 extend continuously from one to the other via the connection corresponding to the first and second curved portions 835 and 836. The first, second and third grooves 824, 827 and 828 may have substantially the same shape as the first groove 724 of the fourteenth embodiment.

The engagement portion 731 is provided on the first portion 817.

A process of fixing the wire 712 to the upper member 710 will be described below. The worker pushes the first lever portion 815 into the first recess 824, pushes the second lever portion 816 into the second recess 827, and pushes the intermediate lever portion 814 into the third recess 828 from the front. As a result, the first portion 817 is fixed to the first stem portion 815, the second portion 818 is fixed to the second stem portion 721, and the connecting portion 819 is fixed to the intermediate stem portion 814, respectively, with the result that the clip 813 is fixed to the wire 712.

Next, the worker inserts the engaging portion 731 of the clip 813 and the wire 712 connected thereto into the engaging hole 732. Thereby, the clip 813 is fixed to the upper member 710.

The clip 813 is thus fixed to the wire 712 in a stable manner in a manner in which the first lever portion 815 is received by the first recess 824, the second lever portion 816 is received by the second recess 827, and the intermediate lever portion 814 is received by the third recess 828.

(sixteenth embodiment)

A clip and a vehicle seat according to a sixteenth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 52. In fig. 52, components corresponding to those in fig. 51 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and may be omitted in the following description.

The wire 712 also has a fourth lever portion 842 extending rearward from the upper end of the first lever portion 815 via a third bend 841.

The clip 913 according to the sixteenth embodiment also has a fourth portion 914 extending from the upper end of the first portion 817 in the same direction as the fourth lever portion 842. The fourth portion 914 has a fourth groove 915 extending along an axial direction of the fourth portion 914. The fourth groove 915 has a slotted opening 915A to receive the first lever portion 815. The fourth groove 915 is connected to the first groove 824. Similar to the first groove 824, the fourth groove 915 may have substantially the same shape as the first groove 724 of the fourteenth embodiment.

The clip 913 has an engagement portion 731 integrally formed at the top end of the fourth portion 914.

A process of fixing the wire 712 to the upper member 710 will be described below. The worker inserts the first lever portion 815 into the first recess 824, inserts the second lever portion 816 into the second recess 827, inserts the intermediate lever portion 814 into the third recess 828, and inserts the fourth lever portion 842 into the fourth recess 915 by pushing the first lever portion 815, the second lever portion 816, the intermediate lever portion 814, and the fourth lever portion 842 from the front until the lever portions are fully received in the respective recesses. As a result, the first portion 817 is connected to the first stem portion 815, the second portion 818 is connected to the second stem portion 721, the connecting portion 819 is connected to the intermediate stem portion 814, and the fourth portion 914 is connected to the fourth stem portion 842, with the result that the clip 813 is firmly fixed to the wire 712.

Next, the worker inserts the engaging portion 731 of the clip 913 to which the fourth lever portion 842 and the wire 712 are fixed into the engaging hole 732 from the front. At this time, the fourth lever portion 842 also passes through the engagement hole 732 while the engagement portion 731 is inserted into the engagement hole 732. Thereby, the clip 813 is fixed to the upper member 710.

The first lever portion 815 is received in the first recess 824, the second lever portion 716 is received in the second recess 827, the intermediate lever portion 814 is received in the third recess 828, and the fourth lever portion 842 is received in the third recess 828, such that the clip 913 is connected to the wire 712 in a stable manner. Since the engaging portion 731 is provided at the tip end of the fourth portion 914, the fourth portion 914 serves as the supporting portion 733 of the fourteenth embodiment, so that a separate supporting portion 733 does not need to be provided. This can simplify the structure of the clip 813.

(seventeenth embodiment)

A clip according to a seventeenth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 53. In fig. 53, components corresponding to those in fig. 48 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and may be omitted in the following description.

As shown in fig. 53, the upper member 710 has a cylindrical protrusion 942 on the edge of the engagement hole 932. The protrusion 942 protrudes forward from the edge of the engagement hole 932. The protrusion 942 may be, for example, a burr generated when the engagement hole 932 is drilled from the rear side of the upper member 710 using a drill.

The first portion 717B of the clip 713 has a columnar support portion 933 protruding outward from the outer surface and a fifth groove 943 formed annularly around the support portion 933 on the outer surface. The support portion 933 has a large diameter portion 933A fitted into the engagement hole 932 on the base end side, and a sharp small diameter portion 933B smaller in diameter than the large diameter portion 933A on the free end side. The protrusion 942 is prevented from interfering with the first portion 717B by the fifth groove 943.

The clip 713 is fixed to the upper member 710 by inserting the large diameter portion 933A of the support portion 933 into the engagement hole 932. The clip 713 according to the seventeenth embodiment has a simpler structure than the clip 713 according to the fifteenth and sixteenth embodiments.

Not all the constituent elements shown in the above-described embodiments are necessary for the broad concept of the present invention, but they may be appropriately selected, omitted, and replaced without departing from the gist of the present invention.

List of reference numerals

1: motion sickness prevention system 2: transportation means

3: vehicle cabin 4: floor board

5: ceiling 10: seating arrangement

12: slide rail device 20: seat body

22: the seat cushion 22A: foam pad

23: slit 24: electric reclining device

25: cushion portion 25A: foam pad

26: seat back 27: slit(s)

28: headrest 30: air bag (vibration generator)

32: airbag (vibration generator) 34: resin sheet

36: resin sheet 50: control unit

52: input unit 54: arithmetic processing unit

56: the output unit 58: air bag control unit

60: acceleration sensor (behavior detection unit)

62: steering angle sensor (behavior detecting unit)

64: vehicle speed sensor

66: inclination angle sensor (inclination angle detecting unit)

70: navigation device 101: prevention system

130: left speaker 130A: sound output unit

132: right speaker 132A: sound output unit

158: speaker control unit 203: front light emitting device

204: top light emitting device 226: left (right) light emitting device

229: main portion 230: column

232: airbag 233: neck support

240: upper member 242: lower component

242A: opening 244: guide rail

245: support 246: guide rail

248: linear actuator 249: operating lever

258: the airbag control unit 305: front seat

306: rear seat 308: seat cushion

309: seat back 310: headrest for head

311: slide rail 312: instrument board

313: front door 314: back door

315: door trim 315P: door pocket

316: door trim 316P: door pocket

317: windshield 318: front pillar

321: vehicle behavior sensor 321A: acceleration sensor

321B: 6-axis inertial sensor 321C: steering angle sensor

321D: accelerator sensor 321E: brake sensor

321F: vehicle speed sensor 322: light emitting device

324: control unit 326: left (right) light emitting device

327: front (rear) light emitting device 328: auxiliary light emitting device

328A: left auxiliary light emitting section 328B: right auxiliary light emitting part

329: front light emitting device 331: backlight emitting device for chair

331A: the light emitting device 331B: light emitting region

332: instrument panel light emitting device 332A: light emitting device

333: top light emitting device 335: light emitting device for lower edge of decoration

341: floor light emitting device 341A: light emitting device

341B: light emitting region 342: door light emitting device

342A: light emitting device 343: pillar light emitting device

343A: light emitting device 345: front door light emitting device

345A: light emitting device

345M: main front door light emitting part

345S: auxiliary front door light emitting part

346: rear door light-emitting device 346A: light emitting device

346M: main rear door light emitting part

346S: auxiliary rear door light emitting part

350: prediction means 352: navigation device

400: motion sickness prevention system 405: front seat

406: rear seat 410: seat cushion

411: seat back 412: headrest for head

413: navigation device 415: vehicle behavior sensor

415A: 6-axis inertial sensor 415B: 3-axis inertial sensor

415C: acceleration sensor 415D: vehicle speed sensor

415E: steering angle sensor 415F: accelerator sensor

415G: brake sensor 416: control unit

417: terminal device 421: processing device

422：RAM 423：ROM

424: storage device 425: GPS receiver

426: a touch panel 427: screen panel

427A: application execution screen 440: light emitting region

450: biosensor 460: flat terminal device

611: selvedge edge 612: a first edge part

613: second edge portion 614: selvedge component

615: substrate 616: joint member

617: deformable portion 618: marking

619: mark 620: suture thread

621: locking pawl 625: gasket for a vehicle

626: skin member 627: selvedge part

629: selvedge groove 701: vehicle seat

704: seat cushion frame 705: cushion side member

706: front member 707: seat back frame

708: the pressure receiving member 709: rear side part

710: upper member 710A: front wall part

710B: upper wall 710C: lower wall part

711: the lower member 712: wire rod

713: clip 714: bending part

715: first rod portion 716: a second rod part

717: first portion 717B: first part

718: second portion 719: connecting part

721: the second shaft portion 722: first end surface

723: second end face 724: first groove

724A: bottom 724B: side wall

724C: slotted opening 724D: side surface

725: third end face 726: fourth end face

727: second groove 727A: bottom part

727B: side wall 727C: slotted opening

727D: side 728: third groove

729: first projection 730: second protruding part

731: engagement portion 732: joint hole

733: support 733A: base end

733B: tip 34: elastic claw

734A: base 34B: free end

813: clip 814: intermediate lever portion

815: first rod portion 816: a second rod part

817: first portion 818: second part

819: connection part 822: fifth end face

823: sixth end face 824: first groove

824A: slotted opening 827: second groove

827A: slotted opening 828: third groove

828A: slotted opening 835: a first bending part

836: the second curved portion 841: third bending part

842: fourth pole portion 913: clip

914: fourth section 915: fourth groove

915A: slotted opening 932: joint hole

933: support portion 933A: large diameter portion

933B: small diameter portion 942: protruding part

943: fifth groove 1311L: left lighting part

1311R: right illumination section 1313: left (right) light emitting device

1315: light emitting region 1317: front (rear) light emitting device

Claims

1. A vehicle seat apparatus comprising a seat main body provided with a seat cushion and a seat back connected to a rear portion of the seat cushion in a manner capable of changing an inclination angle thereof about a horizontal axis, wherein the vehicle seat apparatus further comprises:

A plurality of vibration generators provided in the seat cushion and the seat back and configured to apply vibration stimulus to a seated occupant;

a reclining angle detection unit for detecting a reclining angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion;

a behavior detection unit for detecting a behavior of a vehicle; and

a control unit configured to receive the tilt angle detected by the tilt angle detection unit and the behavior of the vehicle detected by the behavior detection unit, and to activate the vibration generators of the seat cushion and the seat back when the received vehicle behavior satisfies a prescribed behavior standard in such a manner that: when the inclination angle is smaller than a predetermined value, the vibration generator of the seat cushion vibrates with a greater intensity than the vibration generator of the seat back, and when the inclination angle is equal to or larger than the predetermined value, the vibration generator of the seat back vibrates with a greater intensity than the vibration generator of the seat cushion.

2. The vehicle seat apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the behavior detection unit includes an acceleration detection unit for detecting an acceleration of the vehicle, and the control unit makes the intensity of the vibration generated by the vibration generator larger when the acceleration is high than when the acceleration is low.

3. The vehicle seat apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the behavior detection unit includes a steering angle detection unit for detecting a steering angle of the vehicle, and the control unit makes the intensity of the vibration generated by the vibration generator larger when the steering angle is large than when the steering angle is small.

4. A vehicle seat apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit includes an input unit that receives input of navigation information from a navigation apparatus mounted on the vehicle, the navigation information including current position information of the vehicle and travel route information of the vehicle on map data, and the control unit causes the intensity of vibration generated by the vibration generator to be greater when a curvature of a road on a travel route at a current position or a predetermined distance ahead of the current position is equal to or greater than a predetermined value than when the curvature is less than the predetermined value.

5. The vehicle seat apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the vehicle seat apparatus further comprises a vehicle speed detection unit for detecting a running speed of the vehicle, and the control unit increases the intensity of the vibration in accordance with the detected running speed.

6. The vehicle seat arrangement according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the vibration generator is configured to adjust the intensity of the vibration by changing at least one of the amplitude and frequency of the vibration.

7. The vehicle seat apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vibration generator is laterally arranged, and the information on the behavior of the vehicle includes information on a turning direction of the vehicle, the control unit reinforcing the vibration of the vibration generator on a side toward which the vehicle is turning to be larger than the vibration of the vibration generator on a side away from which the vehicle is turning.

8. The vehicle seat apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the vibration generator provided on the seat cushion includes a vibration generator that applies vibration stimulus to buttocks of a seat occupant.

9. The vehicle seat apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the vibration generator includes an airbag that is selectively inflated by being supplied with compressed air.