Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
  • G09B9/00—Simulators for teaching or training purposes
  • G09B9/02—Simulators for teaching or training purposes for teaching control of vehicles or other craft
  • G09B9/08—Simulators for teaching or training purposes for teaching control of vehicles or other craft for teaching control of aircraft, e.g. Link trainer
  • G09B9/10—Simulators for teaching or training purposes for teaching control of vehicles or other craft for teaching control of aircraft, e.g. Link trainer with simulated flight- or engine-generated force being applied to aircraft occupant
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G09—EDUCATION; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DISPLAY; ADVERTISING; SEALS
  • G09B—EDUCATIONAL OR DEMONSTRATION APPLIANCES; APPLIANCES FOR TEACHING, OR COMMUNICATING WITH, THE BLIND, DEAF OR MUTE; MODELS; PLANETARIA; GLOBES; MAPS; DIAGRAMS
  • G09B9/00—Simulators for teaching or training purposes
  • G09B9/02—Simulators for teaching or training purposes for teaching control of vehicles or other craft
  • G09B9/08—Simulators for teaching or training purposes for teaching control of vehicles or other craft for teaching control of aircraft, e.g. Link trainer
  • G09B9/12—Motion systems for aircraft simulators
  • G09B9/14—Motion systems for aircraft simulators controlled by fluid actuated piston or cylinder ram
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63G—MERRY-GO-ROUNDS; SWINGS; ROCKING-HORSES; CHUTES; SWITCHBACKS; SIMILAR DEVICES FOR PUBLIC AMUSEMENT
  • A63G31/00—Amusement arrangements
  • A63G31/16—Amusement arrangements creating illusions of travel

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to improved means for simulating at low cost the sensations of motion that would be experienced by a seated traveller in a vehicle, without creating such movements.
• a special material within the pad which has a strong gradient of hardness with compression, provides the hardness varying in effect so that by changing the air pressure in the pads the degree to which the body is supported by the material may be altered and thus the apparent hardness of the supporting surface can be controlled.
• the term "hardness" of a material as used herein means the rate at which the opposing force increases as a body intrudes into its surface.
• the brain interprets the apparent hardness of a surface with which the skin is in contact in part as a measure of the force which is being applied to the skin by that surface. Further, a human being quickly learns that force produces acceleration and that the sensations of acceleration are preceded by certain clues such as an increase in the apparent hardness of a surface which is in contact with the person's body. It is therefore possible to produce false perceptions stimulating the sensations of motion by arranging to apply an appropriate pattern of hardness variations, synchronised with other stimulations such as visual and audible sensations. The illusion is the basis of the flight simulator "g seat" as previously developed, in particular by Kron and described in his US Patent referred to above.
• the operation of the seat induces a peculiar and to some extent unreal feeling. This is because, in the absence of real changes in acceleration, the transfer of body pressures to different areas of hardness has a side effect that causes the pad contact area to compensate automatically whenever the human occupant makes any unconscious movement. The result is that the seat areas themselves feel "alive".
• a second cause of unreality is the absence of a "scrubbing" or "tug" to the clothing that accompanies a real lateral accelerating force applied to a body in contact with a supporting surface.
• the body tends to roll or slide across the surface with which it is in contact for example when experiencing a cornering force in a road while producing a noticeable transverse "tug" sensation associated with the clothing and the skin, which the brain learns to expect.
• the surfaces of the seat - especially the surface of the seat pan - should be designed to move slightly in the appropriate directions so as to seek to imitate the "scrubbing" cue.
• simulator seat Previous designs of simulator seat have applied hardness modulation by means of pressure pads, or have applied real seat motions directly, or have added pressure pad systems to gross movements of a seat such as on an aircraft training simulator.
• the present invention seeks to provide a form of simulator that does not rely on pressure-pad hardness modulators (although such may be optionally provided) nor involve the gross physical movments of known simulators.
• a simulator seat to which a (limited) seat motion is applied is provided with means by which additional cues which provide the user with perception of motion are generated without requiring actual motion to take place apart from very small cue motions.
• apparatus for simulating motion comprising a support surface capable of at least limited rotary displacement about at least one axis, and optionally also translation in a direction transverse the said one axis, whereby to provide a simulated sensation of motion to a user supported by the support surface.
• a method of simulating motion by causing displacements of a support surface in relation to a user supported thereby in the directional sense of the relative motion which would take place between the user and the support surface as a consequence of the simulated motion.
• the support surface is further provided with means for varying its apparent hardness in synchronisation with displacement about or transverse the said one axis whereby to influence the perception of apparent motion on the part of a user supported on the said surface.
• a first auxiliary support surface contactable by a part of a user supported on the said support surface and displaceable with respect to the said support surface at least in the said direction transverse the said one axis is provided.
• the said first auxiliary support surface is also displaceable with respect to the said support surface in at least one direction generally transverse to the said transverse direction.
• Embodiments of the invention may also be envisaged in which there is at least one second auxiliary surface inclined to the said support surface and diplaceable therewith about the said at least one axis and/or in the said direction transverse the said one axis.
• auxiliary surface may be, for example, a sides surface against which a user's hips may engage as the support surface is tilted and/or laterally shifted, to give the user a further clue to reinforce the perception of apparent movement.
• auxiliary surface spaced from the said support surface and displaceable by translation in at least two directional senses of at least one direction in association with the displacement of the said support surface.
• Additional cues to reinforce the perception of apparent movement may be provided if the said support surface, and/or the said first auxiliary surface and/or the second auxiliary surface has or have means for varying its apparent hardness.
• the said means for varying the apparent hardness of the said support and/or auxiliary surfaces is operative to vary the apparent hardness of a limited region of the overall area of the said support surface and/or auxiliary surface.
• a motion base having at least three axes of freedom may be incorporated into the structure of a simulator seat so that the seat pan may be moved though a small distance and through small angles in relation to the fixed part of the seat, the movements of the seat pan being optionally arranged to induce simultaneous or phased variations in the apparent hardness of the seat surface for example by varying the extent to which hard protrusions extend into the body of the seat cushion, the seat pan optionally being also provided with other means for supporting the deadload of the seat occupant .
• the hardness variations produced in such a system should be in the correct sense to convince the occupant that the seat is moving against the inertia of the body of the occupant.
• the technique also produces the appropriate sensations of skin tension.
• Figure 1 illustrates a 3-axis motion base of the type which may be used in a construction embodying the present invention
• Figure 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of a known hardness modulation system
• Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of another hardness modulation system which can be used in embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 4 is a diagramatical view of a set of three linear actuators usable for creating the movement of a seat pan incorporated in an embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 5 is a cross section illustrating the major components of alternative embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 6 is another cross sectional view showing an alternative support system;
• Figure 7 is a schematic plan view of a support surface showing the location of some of the actuators usable theren;
• Figure 8 is a schematic side view of a seat formed as an embodiment of the present invention.
• actuators 3 which may be electromagnetic actuators of the form described in one of our several co-pending applications such as
• the central member 5 functions both as a support for the deadload and as a constraining element that prevents the upper platform from twisting or being laterally displaced Linear Motion parallel to the yaw axis (heave) may also be achieved.
• the underlying surface of the seat pan may be considered to be the upper platform 2 in a similar construction that is moved by small actuators 3 in relation to the stationary part of the seat 1
• Figure 2 illustrates the general principles of a prior art pressure pad hardness modulator.
• the occupant of the seat has part of the body surface upon or bearing against the surface of a membrane filled with air at variable pressure (being varied in this illustration by means of the piston and chamber to which it is connected).
• the hardness is modulated by varying the relative proportion of the area of the skin that is in contact with the underlying hard surface.
• the seat occupant may be considered to be lifted from or lowered onto a hard surface by the action of the device.
• FIG. 3 illustrates the alternative method of hardness modulation that is adopted in certain embodiments of this invention.
• the upper diagram shows the system in its condition of softest support; in which the occupant is supported by or bears against a relatively thick cushioned surface 30 that transfers the force onto a hard underlying plate 32 forming the base of the seat pan.
• the seat pan plate 32 is the moving element of a motion platform.
• the plate has in it a number of holes, through which pass hard protrusions 34 from a fixed underlying surface 35.
• the cushion-carrying plate 32 is lowered, as in the central diagram. It will be understood that the cushion becomes harder, because the effective area of the underlying support surface, now the top of the protrusions 34, has decreased and the cushion 30 is more compressed. The sensation is that the seat has pushed upwards into the cushion 30 - although the reverse is actually true.
• the seat pan 30 is tilted through a small angle, as in the lowest diagram. It will be understood that the buttocks of the occupant will experience an increased hardness in the direction of the downward tilt and a decreased hardness on the opposite side. It will also be understood that the occupant will experience the correct rolling and skin shear sensations for such a motion and again it will produce the sensation that the seat is moving in the opposite direction.
• Figure 4 shows a diagrammatic arrangement of the three actuators 41 to create the 3- axis motion of the seat pan.
• the actuators form a triangle, two at the rear, in the region of the ischial probosces and one at the front of the seat pan.
• the seat pan is supported a small distance above the stationary part of the seat structure. It will be understood that the actuators 41 are not constrained to fit into this space but may conveniently extend downwards into cavities beneath the lower plate and be angled if necessary.
• Figure 5 illustrates one of the ways in which the deadload of the seat occupant may be supported. It will be understood that if electromagnetic actuators 41 are used it is necessary to support the deadload by means other than electromagnetic forces in order to reduce the power consumed.
• the diagrams show a centrally-placed gas- filled bellows 51 as described in our co-pending application GB9709737.0.
• the bellows need not be circular and may follow the contour of the periphery of the moving plate.
• a mechanical spring or a set of proprietary high- pressure nitrogen gas struts may be employed.
• the large bellows 51 might be inflated by a small pump or the mechanical systems (not shown) adjusted by a manual screw tensioning arrangement so as to adapt the support to the weight of the occupant.
• Figure 6 shows an alternative low-cost support arrangement in which the cavity separating the two surfaces is packed (between the raised hardness-modulating pillars and the actuators themselves) with resilient closed-cell plastic foam 61.
• Figure 7 illustrates a plan view of the main area of the seat, showing the presence of side pads 55 on supports 56 (actually sloping inwards) that bear upon the outer surfaces of the thighs of the occupant. It will be understood that when the seat pan is tilted to one side, the pressure on that thigh will be increased and the pressure on the other thigh will be decreased, as appropriate to the acceleration that is being simulated. Similarly, vertical movements of the seat pan will produce appropriate sensations on the thighs by a wedging action.
• the diagram also shows the backrest 56 with cushion 55 by which a portion of the weight of the occupant is supported. (See also figure 8)
• a number of small actuators may be fitted to the backrest in more elaborate versions of the seat, so as to drive hardness modulators in areas of the back support cushion so as to simulate strong forward or braking accelerations.
• small movements of the backrest may also be produced by an appropriate coupling by levers in anti sense to the motions of the seat pan.
• a forward tilt of the seat pan simulating a braking action or negative surge, may be arranged to induce a small backward tilt of the seat back.
• a downward motion of the seat pan simulating a strong upward surge, may be arranged to produce a small upward motion of the seat back, and so on,
• Figure 8 shows a side view of the seat, demonstrating the small backward angle that is necessary to ensure, that the occupant sits firmly into place and that the feet are outstretched with the heels resting on a raised footrest unit 52 with cushion 51.
• a small actuator (not shown) may be used to transfer sensations of vehicle vibration to the feet via the footrest, so as to enhance the illusion of a moving seat.
• Hardness modulations may also be simulated by displacing the protrusion 34 in relation to the seat 32 to vary the apparent hardness of the cushion 30 without requiring tilting of the seat pan.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• Aviation & Aerospace Engineering (AREA)
• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Educational Administration (AREA)
• Educational Technology (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Seats For Vehicles (AREA)
• Chairs Characterized By Structure (AREA)
• Chair Legs, Seat Parts, And Backrests (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=10842089

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (10)

Families Citing this family (9)

Family Cites Families (10)

• 1998
  • 1998-11-10 GB GBGB9824499.9A patent/GB9824499D0/en not_active Ceased
• 1999
  • 1999-11-10 EP EP99954207A patent/EP1138032A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1999-11-10 IL IL14302299A patent/IL143022A0/xx unknown
  • 1999-11-10 WO PCT/GB1999/003745 patent/WO2000028505A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-11-10 JP JP2000581619A patent/JP2002529798A/ja active Pending
  • 1999-11-10 AU AU10625/00A patent/AU1062500A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-11-10 KR KR1020017005882A patent/KR20010089432A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-11-10 CA CA002350406A patent/CA2350406A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1999-11-10 BR BR9915243-6A patent/BR9915243A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-11-10 CN CN99814909A patent/CN1334950A/zh active Pending

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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