JP2005238931A - Ottoman - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ottoman capable of enhancing the safety in a head-on collision of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: The ottoman has an ottoman body which is arranged at a front end of a seat cushion with lower limbs of a seated person placed thereon. The ottoman body 14 at the service position is slidable backwardly, upwardly or back-upwardly in a head-on collision of a vehicle. Thus, in a head-on collision of the vehicle, lower limbs of an occupant placed on the ottoman body 14 are retracted backwardly as the ottoman body 14 slides, and strong interference of a front part (an instrument panel, a toe board or the like) of a cabin which is deformed and moved inward of the cabin in the head-on collision of the vehicle with the lower limbs placed on the ottoman body 14 can be avoided, and damages of the leg of the occupant can be reduced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ottoman that is placed in front of a seat cushion of a vehicle seat and places an occupant's lower limb.

  In recent years, some vehicle seats are equipped with ottomans. The ottoman is provided so as to be stored and deployed in a storage position stored below the front end of the seat cushion and a use position extending forward from the front end of the seat cushion. In the ottoman use position, the seated person can relax by placing his / her lower limbs on the ottoman, and in the ottoman storage position, the seated person can sit in a normal state with the soles on the floor.

When the occupant is riding with the lower limbs on the ottoman, there is a possibility of damaging the occupant's lower limbs at the time of a vehicle frontal collision. That is, there is a possibility that the instrument panel or toe board in the front part of the passenger compartment moves rearward at the time of the front collision of the vehicle, and the lower limbs are sandwiched between the instrument panel or toe board and the ottoman and may be damaged. For the purpose of reducing the damage to the occupant's lower limb during such a frontal collision, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure that absorbs energy by deforming a support member that supports the ottoman when a large force is applied to the ottoman. ing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-158995

  However, since the prior art has a structure that absorbs energy when the ottoman receives a large load, there is a possibility that the foot thrown forward will come into strong contact with the front end member of the vehicle body that is first immersed.

  The present invention has been made on the basis of such a conventional technique, and an object thereof is to provide an ottoman having improved safety at the time of a vehicle frontal collision.

  The ottoman of the present invention is an ottoman provided with an ottoman body that is disposed at the front end portion of a seat cushion and on which a seated person's lower limb is placed, and the ottoman body slides rearward, upward, or rearward in the event of a front collision of the vehicle. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, the ottoman body slides backward, upward, or rearward upward at the time of a vehicle front collision. As a result, the occupant's lower limb placed on the ottoman body is pulled backward, and the front end of the passenger compartment (instrument panel or toeboard) that deforms inside the vehicle interior at the time of a vehicle front collision, and the lower limb placed on the ottoman body By avoiding strong interference, damage to the occupant's leg can be reduced.

  The ottoman of the present invention is not limited to the structure applied to the front seat, and can be applied to the rear seats in the second and subsequent rows. When applied to the rear seat, there is an effect of reducing damage to the occupant's lower limb caused by deformation of a member in front of the rear seat (for example, the front seat).

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 show an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 10 in the figure denotes a front seat of the vehicle. The front seat 10 includes a seat cushion 11, a seat back 12 whose rear inclination angle can be adjusted by a reclining mechanism (not shown) on the rear end side, and an ottoman 13 disposed at the front end of the seat cushion 11. . The ottoman 13 of this embodiment is characterized in that the ottoman main body 14 set at the use position slides rearward and upward at the time of a vehicle front collision. Hereinafter, the ottoman 13 will be described in detail.

  The ottoman 13 includes an arm 15 attached to the seat cushion 11, and an ottoman body 14 attached to the distal end portion of the arm 15 via a collision safety mechanism 20.

  The ottoman main body 14 has a structure in which a pad is covered on a frame. The storage position (not shown) is stored below the front end portion of the seat cushion 11 together with the arm 15 and the front end portion of the seat cushion 11 is directed forward. It can be stored and deployed in the extended use position. 1 to 3 show only the use position of the ottoman body 14. When the ottoman main body 14 is set to the use position, the seated person can relax by placing the lower limbs on the ottoman main body 14, and the seated person can obtain a normal sitting state with the soles on the floor surface in the storage position of the ottoman main body 14. .

  The collision safety mechanism 20 operates only during a frontal collision. The collision safety mechanism 20 includes a slider 22 that is provided integrally with the ottoman body 14 and that is slidably attached to the tip of the arm 15, and an actuator 21 that is fixed to the arm 15 and drives the slider 22. I have. The actuator 21 expands by discharging gas based on a signal (not limited to an electrical signal) from an expansion unit 16 including a piston 17 and a cylinder 18 and a front collision detection sensor (not shown) that detects a front collision of the vehicle. And an inflator 19 for inflating the portion 16.

  At the time of a vehicle frontal collision, gas is discharged from the inflator 19 into the expansion part 16 based on the detection of the frontal collision detection sensor, and the expansion part 16 expands. With this expansion, the slider 22 and the ottoman body 14 fixed to the slider 22 slide rearward and upward.

  Here, the slider 22 is curved in a substantially arc shape as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, and the upper inclination angle gradually increases from the front end toward the rear end in a state where the ottoman main body 14 is set at the use position. ing. For this reason, the ottoman body 14 is positioned rearward and upward after the slide (at the time of frontal collision) than before the slide (normal state), and the inclination angle is increased from α0 (see FIG. 3) to α1 (see FIG. 3). Become.

  Hereinafter, the effects of the ottoman 13 of the vehicle seat 10 of this embodiment will be summarized.

  First, the structure is such that the ottoman body 14 at the use position slides rearward and upward in the event of a vehicle front collision. Therefore, at the time of a vehicle front collision, the occupant's lower limb on which the ottoman body 14 is placed can be retracted rearward and upward along with the slide of the ottoman body 14. As a result, strong interference between the front part of the passenger compartment (instrument panel, toe board, etc.) and the lower limb placed on the ottoman body 14 can be avoided and the occupant's lower limb can be damaged. Can be reduced.

  In particular, in this embodiment, since the ottoman main body 14 moves not only to the rear but also to the upper side at the time of a vehicle front collision, the ottoman main body 14 after the sliding movement restricts the forward movement of the occupant's thigh. In other words, the ottoman 13 after the slide movement restricts the occupant from being thrown forward, and has the further effect of reducing damage caused by a secondary collision with the occupant's instrument panel and the front window.

  Secondly, the ottoman 13 of this embodiment includes a slider 22 that slidably holds the ottoman body 14 with respect to the seat cushion 11, and an actuator that slides the slider 22 based on collision detection by a vehicle front collision detection sensor. 21. Therefore, the ottoman main body 14 can be slid and moved with a relatively simple structure at the time of a vehicle front collision.

  Third, since the ottoman 13 of this embodiment has an insulator for the actuator 21, the insulator widely used in the airbag system can be used as it is, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the structure in which the ottoman body slides rearward and upward has been described, but a structure in which the ottoman body slides rearward or upward may be employed.

  In the above embodiment, an expansion member composed of a piston and a cylinder is used as an actuator. However, in the present invention, an expansion member having another configuration may be used, or the slider is driven at the time of a frontal collision. If so, the actuator may be changed to another configuration.

  In addition, the structure applied to the front seat adjacent to the front end of the vehicle, such as the ottoman of the above embodiment, is expected to be most effective, but the ottoman of the present invention has a structure applied to the front seat. It is not limited and can be applied to the rear seats in the second and subsequent rows. When applied to the rear seat, there is an effect of reducing damage to the occupant's lower limb caused by deformation of a member in front of the rear seat (for example, the front seat).

The side view which shows schematic structure of the ottoman of this embodiment. FIG. 2A is a side view showing the vicinity of the actuator of the ottoman, FIG. 2A is a view showing a normal state, and FIG. 2B is a view showing a state at the time of a vehicle front collision. The side view explaining the behavior of an ottoman at the time of a vehicle front collision and the behavior of an occupant accompanying it.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Front seat (vehicle seat)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Seat cushion 12 ... Seat back 13 ... Ottoman 14 ... Ottoman main body 15 ... Arm 16 ... Expansion part 17 ... Piston 18 ... Cylinder 19 ... Inflator 20 ... Collision safety mechanism 21 ... Actuator 22 ... Slider

Claims (5)

An ottoman with an ottoman body that is placed at the front end of the seat cushion and places a lower limb of a seated person,
The ottoman body slides backward at the time of a vehicle front collision. An ottoman with an ottoman body that is placed at the front end of the seat cushion and places a lower limb of a seated person,
The ottoman body slides upward when a vehicle front collision occurs. An ottoman with an ottoman body that is placed at the front end of the seat cushion and places a lower limb of a seated person,
The ottoman body slides rearward and upward at the time of a vehicle front collision. The ottoman according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A slider that allows the ottoman body to slide freely on the vehicle or seat cushion,
An actuator that slides the Ottoman body backward or upward or rearward and upward based on a collision detection signal from a collision detection sensor that detects a vehicle front collision;
Ottoman characterized by comprising. The ottoman according to claim 4,
The ottoman is characterized in that the actuator includes an inflator that discharges gas based on collision detection by the collision detection sensor.

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