CN210337666U

CN210337666U - Self-adjusting vehicle seat

Info

Publication number: CN210337666U
Application number: CN201920708402.5U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 萨缪尔·博迪尤; 劳伦特·查伯特
Original assignee: Faurecia Sieges dAutomobile SAS
Current assignee: Faurecia Sieges dAutomobile SAS
Priority date: 2018-05-22
Filing date: 2019-05-17
Publication date: 2020-04-17
Anticipated expiration: 2029-05-17
Also published as: FR3081408B1; FR3081408A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle seat (1) comprising at least one seat element (2, 3), which seat element (2, 3) has at least one support area (21, 22), which support area (21, 22) is adapted to serve as a support for a user (U) sitting on the vehicle seat (1), wherein the support area has some shape and some mechanical properties, the vehicle seat (1) further comprising at least one airbag (51, 52), an inflation system (4) and a control device (6), the at least one airbag (51, 52) being adapted to adjust the shape and/or mechanical properties of the at least one support area (21, 22), the inflation system (4) being adapted to inflate and deflate the at least one airbag (51, 52), the control device (6) controlling the inflation system (4) in accordance with at least one morphological parameter of the user (U), the inflation system (4) is adapted to control the automatic inflation system (4).

Description

Self-adjusting vehicle seat

Technical Field

The present description relates to a self-adjusting vehicle seat.

More specifically, the present specification relates to a vehicle seat comprising:

-at least one seat element having at least one support area adapted as a support for a user sitting on the vehicle seat, wherein the support area has some shape and some mechanical properties;

-at least one airbag adapted to adjust the shape and/or mechanical properties of the support area;

-an inflation system for inflating and deflating said at least one airbag;

-control means adapted to control the automatic inflation system in accordance with at least one morphological parameter of the user.

Background

It is known from the prior art to use airbags to manually adjust the shape of the seating element support area. Patent US 4,938,528 describes an example of this type of system.

Such manual adjustment may sometimes not be appropriate for the morphology of the seat user.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The purpose of the present description is to remedy this drawback.

For this purpose, the control means are adapted to control the automatic inflation system according to at least one morphological parameter of the user U.

Due to these arrangements, the adjustments made by the airbag are always adapted to the shape of the seat user.

In some embodiments, one and/or the other of the following configurations may also be used:

-selecting said at least one morphological parameter from the gender, weight and height of the user;

-measuring at least one morphological parameter of the user by at least one morphological parameter sensor;

-a memory combined with said control means and containing said at least one morphological parameter of the user;

-the control means are further adapted to control the inflation system in accordance with at least one position parameter of the user;

-the at least one location parameter of the user is determined by at least one location sensor of the user;

-the control device is further adapted to control the inflation system in dependence of at least one position parameter of the seat;

-the vehicle seat comprises a seat back and the at least one position parameter of the seat comprises the inclination of the seat back;

-the at least one position parameter of the seat is determined by at least one seat position sensor;

-said at least one seating element comprises a plurality of airbags.

Drawings

Further features and advantages will become apparent in the following description of embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

figure 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle seat according to one embodiment;

figure 2 is a side view of the seat of figure 1 showing the air-bag incorporated into the seat back.

Detailed Description

It should be noted that in the figures, structural and/or functional elements common to the various embodiments may have the same reference numerals. In this manner, the elements have the same structure, dimensions and material properties, unless otherwise specified.

Unless otherwise stated, expressions such as "about", "substantially", "approximately", "about", etc., indicate that minor variations from the nominal values considered are possible, e.g. small percentages, in particular within 10.

In the following description, the terms "front" and "rear" and their synonyms are understood to mean the front and rear of the seat when the seat is in its normal position, the rear edge of the seat cushion being the edge extending vertically from the seat back of the seat in the front edge, this edge being the edge opposite the rear edge.

The terms "top," "bottom," "upper" and "lower," and their synonyms, are defined in their generally horizontal position relative to the seat cushion of the seat.

For clarity, only the steps and elements for understanding the embodiments are described in detail. In particular, the adjustment mechanism of the seat itself has not been described in detail; the described embodiments are compatible with conventional seeds with motorized adjustment.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle seat 1, in particular a self-adjusting vehicle seat.

The bottom of the seat 1 is divided into several support areas and comprises, from front to rear in the longitudinal direction:

at least one front zone 21, which substantially corresponds to the zone located in the vicinity of the front edge of the cushion of the seat 1;

at least one intermediate zone 22, which substantially corresponds to the support zone of the thighs of the occupant U seated in the seat 1; and

at least one rear region 23, which substantially corresponds to the support region of the interface of the user U of the chair 1.

In addition, the seat cushion may comprise at least one

lateral area

24, 25, preferably two

lateral areas

24, 25 are provided on each of the left and right sides of the seat cushion of the seat 1. The

lateral zones

24, 25 correspond to lateral trim pieces, which correspond to seat cushions of the seat element with the seat 1.

The seat has a seat back D that can be tilted at an inclination angle a, for example measured from the vertical. The seat back D may include a plurality of support regions, and may include, in a vertical direction from top to bottom:

at least one upper region, which advantageously corresponds to a support region for the shoulders of a user U of the vehicle seat 1;

at least one intermediate region, advantageously corresponding to a support region of the thorax of the user U of the chair 1; and

at least one lower region 31 of the seat back, advantageously corresponding to a region substantially located in the vicinity of the pelvis of the user U of the seat 1.

The intermediate region may include:

a first intermediate zone 32, advantageously corresponding to a zone substantially located near the bottom of the thorax of the user U of the chair 1; and

a second intermediate zone 34, which corresponds to the support zone of the lower back of the user U of the chair 1. In addition, the support region corresponding to the seat back may include at least one

lateral region

35, 36, preferably two

lateral regions

35, 36 disposed on each side of the seat back D. The

lateral regions

35, 36 correspond to lateral trim parts of the seat element 3, which here correspond to the seat back D of the seat 1.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the form of the seat 1 in fig. 1 and a user U occupying the seat 1. The seat 1 comprises a first seat element 2 corresponding to a seat cushion of the seat 1 and a second seat element 3 corresponding to a seat back D of the seat 1, wherein the first seat element 2 and the second seat element 3 comprise at least the support region shown in fig. 1. The seat 1 comprises a first morphological parameter sensor 7 and a second morphological parameter sensor 8; these morphological parameter sensors are intended to detect at least one morphological parameter of the user U. The user U may be at least one morphological parameter such as, but not limited to: height T of user U, weight P of user U, gender G of user U (female or male noted as F or M, respectively), height Hv of vertebrae V of user U, length of head and shoulders of user U, separation of scapulae of user U, age of user U, body mass index of user U, and the like.

A first airbag 51 is disposed in seat 1 corresponding to support region 31 of seat back D and a second airbag 52 is disposed in seat 1 corresponding to support region 32 of seat back D. According to other embodiments, one or more further pouches may be placed in the described one or

more support areas

21, 22, 23, 24, 25 of the seat element 2, or in the described one or

more support areas

32, 34, 35, 36 of the seat element 3, or in any other part of the seat not described, which corresponds to a support area of the user U.

The term "airbag" is understood to mean a deformable sealed flexible envelope made of elastic material, capable of containing a fluid, such as air, thus adjusting its volume and shape. Such flexible materials are for example thermoplastic polyurethane "TPU", elastomers, flexible synthetic materials, etc. It is also possible to speak of "balloons", "bubbles" or "pockets" having inflatable properties.

Inflation system 5 is provided and serves as a single action device for inflating and maintaining at least one

airbag

51, 52 in a preferred inflated state. An inflation system is to be understood as meaning a set of electropneumatic elements with which a predetermined amount of air is distributed and arranged inside at least one

airbag

51, 52 of a

seat element

2, 3, in this case inside a first airbag 51 and/or inside a second airbag 52 of a seat element 3. The inflation system 5 can alternately or simultaneously achieve the suction of air, the blowing of air or a combination of the suction and blowing of air. The year may be ambient air or air in a closed loop throughout the inflation system and pocket, and can be replaced by a different fluid having associated physical characteristics for inflation of the

airbags

51, 52 described in this embodiment. Inflation system 5 is directly connected to airbag 51 to inflate it. According to various embodiments, the inflation system 5 for the

seat elements

2, 3 can be independent or connected to one or more inflation systems 5 of at least one

other seat element

2, 3, or even be centralized for all the

airbags

51, 52 of the seat 1. The inflation system 5 has accessories for pneumatic connections, such as are known from the prior art, and is without limitation and optionally of sufficient size and number of one to a plurality of pneumatic actuators, one to a plurality of electric actuators, one or more electric motors, one or more air manifolds for pneumatic connections (e.g., L, U, T, Y connectors, tubes, piping), couplers, pneumatic distributors, and the like. Thus, at least one

support area

21, 22 of the

seat element

2, 3 can for example see that its shape, its size or even its stiffness changes under the effect of partial or complete inflation or deflation of at least one

airbag

51, 52.

The inflation system 5 may be driven by a control device 6. The control unit 6 can be, for example, an electronic control device, in particular comprising an electronic control circuit. The control means 6 is constituted by an electronic unit, typically comprising an electronic processor card and a memory 62, by which the control means 6 stores at least one morphological parameter of the user U and uses it to determine the inflation adjustment, to be supplied to at least one

bag

51, 52 to provide an inflation suitable for the morphology of the user U. For example, if the user is short, the control device 6 can drive the inflation system 5 to deflate a pocket included in the upper portion of the seat back D, which does not correspond to a support area effective for supporting the user U. The control device 6 assigns an inflation command C to the inflation system 5 according to at least one morphological parameter stored in the memory 62 by the user U. For example, the control device 6 has a weight of the user U below 50kg in the memory and deduces therefrom that the pocket 51 corresponding to the support surface 31 of the seat element 2 has to be inflated. The control means 6 are able to associate said morphological parameters of the user U with the inflation instructions C according to a continuous or discontinuous function or by reference to a data table. According to another embodiment not shown here, the seat 1 does not comprise morphological parameter sensors 7, 8 for the user U, in which case the seat provides a human-machine interface by means of which the user U of the seat 1 can input at least one morphological parameter feature; the human-machine interface can be an autonomous electronic device structurally separate from the vehicle and/or from the seat 1 and comprising a system for communicating with the control means 6 and a system for modifying said morphological parameters stored in the memory 62.

Furthermore, if inflation command C is empty or if there is no inflation command C from control device 6 to inflation system 5, inflation system 5 does not inflate at least one

airbag

51, 52. For example, in the event of a power supply failure or a car shut-down or the absence of a user U in the seat, the inflation system 5 is not driven by the control device 6. No air is injected through inflation system 5 and

airbags

51, 52 are in a deflated state.

The control device 6 for the

seat element

2, 3 can be operated autonomously and/or independently or connected to the control device 6 of the

other seat element

2, 3 or even be centralized for all command systems of the seat 1. The control device 6 can in this way be specific to one vehicle seat 1 or manage the control of several vehicle seats. The control device 6 can be combined or integrated in a control unit that manages the entire car. The control means 6 are therefore adapted to advantageously drive the inflation system 5 independently of each other.

The reproduction control means 6 may be used below to reproduce a part of a data table associating at least one morphological parameter of the user U with an inflation command C of the inflation system 5.

The vertebrae V of the user U are differently arranged in the vertical direction according to the female F or male M gender of the user U. The vertebrae of user U are numbered consecutively from top to bottom of the spine: c7, T2, T4, T6, T8, T10, T12. For example, if gender G of user U is male M, height Hv of his T8 vertebrae is 0.662 relative to overall height Hv, while if gender G of user U is female F, height Hv of his T8 vertebrae is 0.671 relative to overall height Hv. According to one embodiment, the control device 6 takes into account a plurality of morphological parameters of the user to transmit the inflation instructions C to the inflation system 5. For example, the above data table considers the height of the user U and its weight P in addition to the gender G of the user U; the inflation instructions C are best suited to associate the user U with parameters providing inflation adjustments appropriate to their modality. The command C for example comprises an identifier of the

airbags

51, 52 on which the operating code, for example a number, for example from 1 to 6, is applied for the embodiment of said chair 1 comprising six airbags. The instructions C can also be constituted by any suitable information by which the inflation system 5 can provide the user U with a suitable inflation, in particular a distribution of the pressure and/or the volume of fluid to be injected into at least one

airbag

51, 52. For example, in order to support a vertebra V of a user U of sex G female F, of height T <140cm and weight P >50kg, named T4, it can be determined using the above-mentioned data table that said vertebra T4 is located at a height relative to the total height Hv0.843, and that the inflation instructions C for inflating the

bags

1, 2, 3, 4 will be delivered by the control device 6 to the inflation system 5. In the case of the hands, such a data table may spell out a configuration of thousands of inflation instructions C from a plurality of morphological parameters that vary from one user U to another.

The control means 6 drive the inflation system 5 according to at least one morphological parameter of the user U, preferably selected from the gender G of the user U (M for male or F for female), the weight P of the user U and the height T of the user U. According to other embodiments, the at least one morphological parameter of the user U may be, for example but not limited to: height Hv of its vertebrae V, length of its head and shoulders, separation of its scapulae, its age, its body mass index, etc. Said at least one morphological parameter can be associated with the inflation command C by means of a data table, or according to a continuous or discontinuous mathematical function or according to a mathematical series, with a correspondence between said morphological parameter and the inflation command C.

In view of the problem statement accompanying the passenger facing the appropriate posture, the present specification seeks to address that it must be taken into account that the user U can change the seat and that the user can see some particular morphological feature change, in particular height, weight or torso length. Therefore, an embodiment of the invention provides that the command device 6 of at least one

seat element

2, 3 has at least one form parameter sensor 7, 8 for the user U. This morphological parameter is automatically captured by the morphological parameter sensors 7, 8, with which self-adjustment of the morphology of the user U by the seat 1 can be carried out in order to be stored in the memory 62 and associated, by the command device 6, with an inflation command C for the inflation system 5. At least one sensor 7, 8 can be of the pneumatic, resistive, capacitive, inductive or magnetic field type. The at least one sensor 7, 8 can be present independently or not in its operation and power supply. At least one sensor 7, 8 is connected to the control device 6 with or without electrical wires. At least one sensor 7, 8 may be partially or completely structurally integrated in at least one

airbag

51, 52 and/or at least one

support region

21, 22 of a

seat element

2, 3. Other sensor types may naturally be envisaged by the person skilled in the art in order to improve the detection of the morphological parameters of the occupant of the vehicle seat 1. Further, each sensor, regardless of its type, can only be combined in one or

more support regions

2, 3 of a single vehicle seat 1.

In some use conditions of a vehicle seat, the seat occupant may need to adjust their position in the seat. This is particularly true when the seat occupant remains in the same position for a long period of time. For example, when the occupant is a driver, the seat occupant maintains a substantially stationary position and naturally feels the impact of the movement. The changed position, e.g. a lazy position, involves a suitable adjustment of the seat 1 with respect to the form and the user position by a suitable inflation of at least one

airbag

51, 52. In another embodiment, the control means 6 take into account at least one position parameter of the user U on the seat 1 in addition to at least one morphological parameter of the user U. In particular, the position of the pelvis of the user U on at least one

support area

21, 22 of the

seat element

2, 3, in particular on a support area 23 of the seat element 2 corresponding to the seat cushion of the seat 1, is used to determine whether the user U is correctly seated, meaning on the bottom of the seat 1, or whether it is poorly seated, for example by tricking on the seat 1 relative to the at least one

support area

21, 22 of the

seat element

2, 3. The positional parameter of the user U on the seat 1 can be, for example, the distance of the user's body from the seat back D, or even the height of the shoulders of the user U relative to the seat back D of the seat 1 for placing all or part of the legs of the user U on the element of the seat 2 corresponding to the seat cushion of the seat 1.

The present description also aims to provide the user U of the seat 1 with the possibility of changing the sitting position at regular times, in order to prevent excessive weight on the intervertebral discs, for example due to improper adjustment of the seat 1. According to an embodiment of the invention, the control means 6 will automatically take into account any new position of the user U with respect to at least one of the

support areas

21, 22 and act on the inflation system 5 so as to always transmit an adjustment of the seat 1 suitable for the form and posture of the user U, whether or not the user U is in a position to adjust the seat itself. At least one

position sensor

9, 10 of the user U is placed in at least one of the

support areas

21, 22, 23, 24, 25 such that an occupant of the seat can place his pelvis thereon and can detect the presence and/or weight of the occupant to determine his position. In the embodiment shown in fig. 2, the seat back 3 comprises two morphological parameter sensors 7, 8 of the user U. The seat element 2, which corresponds to the seat cushion of the seat 1, comprises two

position sensors

9, 10 for the user U. Also, the embodiment shown in fig. 2 is purely illustrative, and the seat back 3 and/or the seat cushion 2 can comprise sensors in different numbers or positions in the seat 1. In particular, each support area or some support areas of the seat 1 can comprise a sensor. The distribution of sensors in the seat 1 can be used to determine the position of the occupant in the seat 1, since locally detecting the sensors from the support areas 3, 4 indicates that a part of the occupant's body is in contact with the seat 1. Since in this way the presence of contact with the occupant of the seat 1 can be detected individually in various positions of the seat or at least in some positions of the seat (the rear region 23 of the seat cushion 2 or the lower region 31 of the seat back 3), an indication of the presence of the occupant and/or an indication of the position of the occupant can be obtained, for example with the head and shoulders upright or in a lazy position, because of the distribution of the sensors in the various regions of the seat and because of the individualization of each measurement value obtained by these various sensors. The control devices 6 for a plurality of

seat elements

2, 3 can then be driven on the basis of the measurement values provided by the sensors, and any control device 6 of a

seat element

2, 3 that does not require a specific action is inactive.

In another embodiment, the control device 6 takes into account at least one position parameter of the vehicle seat in addition to at least one morphological parameter of the user U and/or at least one position parameter of the user on the seat 1. The at least one position parameter of the seat 1 is preferably the inclination a of the seat back D of the seat 1. A is the inclination of the seat back D of the seat 1 with respect to a rising vertical axis in fig. 1, but the angle a can be selected with respect to another reference, such as a horizontal axis or an element of the seat 1, in order to describe the inclination of the seat back D. The at least one position parameter of the seat 1 can be selected in the spatial position of the seat 1, in particular in the longitudinal and/or transverse and/or height position of the seat 1 in the vehicle compartment.

According to an embodiment of the seat 1, a seat position sensor is proposed for automatically capturing said at least one position parameter of the seat 1. This sensor can be mechanical or electrical and is incorporated directly in the adjustment element for the position of the seat 1, such as a control handle for tilting the seat back D or a back-and-forth translation rail for the seat.

It is clear that the self-adjusting seat is not limited to the previously described embodiments, but is provided as an example only. It includes various modifications, alternatives, and other variations which may occur to those skilled in the art, particularly in light of the foregoing description of any combination of the various embodiments which may be employed, alone or in combination, in the context of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat (1) comprising:

-at least one seat element (2, 3) having at least one support area (21, 22), which support area (21, 22) is adapted as a support for a user (U) sitting on the vehicle seat (1), wherein the support area has some shape and some mechanical properties;

-at least one airbag (51, 52), said airbag (51, 52) being adapted to adjust the shape and/or mechanical properties of said at least one support area (21, 22);

-an inflation system (4), said inflation system (4) being adapted to inflate and deflate said at least one airbag (51, 52);

-a control device (6), said control device (6) controlling said inflation system (4);

characterized in that said control means (6) are adapted to control the automatic inflation system (4) according to at least one morphological parameter of said user (U).

2. The vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one morphological parameter is selected from the gender, weight and height of the user (U).

3. Vehicle seat (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that said at least one morphological parameter is at least a combination of the weight and the height of said user (U).

4. The vehicle seat (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said at least one morphological parameter is a body mass index of the user (U).

5. The vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one morphological parameter of the user (U) is measured by at least one morphological parameter sensor (7, 8).

6. Vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that a memory (62) is combined with said control device (6) and contains said at least one morphological parameter of said user (U).

7. Vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that said control means (6) are further adapted to control said automatic inflation system (4) as a function of at least one position parameter of said user (U).

8. The vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one position parameter of the user (U) is determined by at least one position sensor (9, 10) of the user (U).

9. The vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the control device (6) is further adapted to control the automatic inflation system (4) as a function of at least one position parameter of the seat (1).

10. The vehicle seat (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that the vehicle seat (1) comprises a seat back (D) and the at least one position parameter of the seat comprises an inclination angle (a) of the seat back (D).

11. Vehicle seat (1) according to claim 9, characterized in that the at least one position parameter of the seat is determined by at least one seat position sensor.

12. Vehicle seat (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one seat element (2, 3) comprises a plurality of airbags (51, 52).