JP2012236512A - Apparatus for maintaining standing posture for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately maintain a posture of a seated person in standing posture when a vehicle turns.SOLUTION: An apparatus for maintaining the standing posture for the vehicle maintains the standing posture of the person 12 seated in the vehicle 10 in the standing posture. The apparatus includes: a load supporting device 13 for contacting with soles of the seated person 12 to support feet of the seated person 12 and for forming a relative height difference between the right-and-left feet of the seated person 12 relative to a floor 17 of the vehicle 10; and a control unit 16 for controlling the load supporting device 13 so that the relative height difference is formed between the right-and-left feet of the seated person 12 when the vehicle 10 turns.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle standing posture holding device that holds the posture of a seated person who is seated in a vehicle in a standing posture.

  Conventionally, as this type of technology, for example, those described in the following documents are known (see Patent Document 1). This document proposes a technology of a seat device when performing a seating operation in a standing posture. The seat device includes a backrest pad formed by a backrest portion and a seat portion, and the backrest pad is attached to a driver's seat via an elevation adjustment mechanism. As a result, the driving posture can be selected, and the fatigue of the seated person due to long-time driving is reduced.

JP 2005-132525 A

  In the above conventional seat device, when the vehicle on which the occupant is boarding makes a turning motion, the hips and legs are caused by the inertia acting on the occupant's body due to the action of the turning acceleration (centrifugal force on the occupant). There was a possibility that the sheet portion could be easily separated. In addition, since the weight is supported by the foot (buttock), there is a possibility that the amount of the foot sinking increases outside the turning (the direction in which the trunk moves). For these reasons, there has been a problem that it becomes difficult to maintain the posture of the seated person when the vehicle turns.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle standing posture holding device that accurately holds the posture of a seated person in a standing posture when the vehicle turns. There is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized in that, when the vehicle turns, a relative height difference is formed between the left and right feet of a seated person seated in a standing posture on the vehicle floor. And

  According to the present invention, the height of the foot outside the turning of the vehicle from the floor of the vehicle is controlled to be higher than the height of the foot inside of the turning from the floor of the vehicle. It is possible to accurately maintain the position posture.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle provided with a vehicle standing posture maintaining apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the control unit in the standing position holding | maintenance apparatus for vehicles based on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation process in the standing position holding | maintenance apparatus for vehicles based on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a front view which shows the standing posture state of the seated person 12 based on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship between lane change operation | movement of a vehicle, lateral acceleration, and jerk. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation | movement process in the standing position holding | maintenance apparatus for vehicles based on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship of the linear combination of the turning motion of a vehicle based on Embodiment 2 of this invention, the lateral acceleration at the time of turning operation, and jerk, and the lateral acceleration and jerk. It is a front view which shows the standing posture state of the seated person 12 seated on the vehicle provided with the standing posture holding apparatus for vehicles based on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the correspondence of the jerk of the turning direction of a vehicle based on Embodiment 3 of this invention, and the target value of the height displacement of a load support part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
1A and 1B are diagrams showing a configuration of a vehicle provided with a vehicle standing posture holding apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1A is a top view, FIG. 1B is a side view, and FIG. FIG. (C) is a front view. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a driver (driver) of the vehicle 10 is supported by an occupant support device (seat device) 11 so as to be seated in a substantially standing posture. The seated person 12 seated in a substantially standing posture is held in the standing posture by the vehicle standing posture holding device when the vehicle 10 turns. The vehicle standing posture holding device includes a load support device 13, an actuator 14, an acceleration sensor 15, and a control unit 16.

  The load support device 13 includes a load support portion 131 provided on the floor surface 17 of the vehicle 10 and a rotating shaft 132 that rotates the load support portion 131. The load support portion 131 supports the lower limb of the seated person 12 by grounding (contacting) the support surface (front surface) with the sole of the seated person 12 seated while being supported by the seat device 11. Therefore, the load support portion 131 is provided on the floor surface floor 17 at a position where the sole of the seated person 12 who is seated supported by the seat device 11 comes into contact.

  The load support portion 131 is provided with a rotation shaft 132 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10 at the center thereof. The rotating shaft 132 is rotationally driven by the actuator 14. The load support unit 131 is movable in the left-right direction (perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the vehicle 10) about the rotation shaft 132 independently of the floor surface 17 of the vehicle 10 by the rotation of the rotation shaft 132. Tilt. The load support part 131 forms a relative height displacement from the floor surface floor 17 on the left and right support surfaces with the rotation shaft 132 as a boundary due to the inclination thereof. By such an action, the load supporting device 13 raises the right leg of the seated person 12 and lowers the left leg independently of the floor surface 17 of the vehicle 10 or lowers the right leg of the seated person 12 and lowers the left leg. It has a function of supporting the seated person 12 by raising it. That is, the load supporting device 13 supports the feet of the seated person 12 by contacting the soles of the seated person 12, and the relative height difference between the left and right feet of the seated person 12 with respect to the floor surface 17 of the vehicle 10. It functions as a load support means for forming the.

  For a seated person 12 who controls the vehicle 10, an operating system (handle, arm, etc.) using an arm and an operating system (pedal, etc.) using a foot are configured as operating devices. It can be installed on 13 load support portions 131.

  The actuator 14 rotationally drives the rotary shaft 132 of the load support device 13 based on the drive signal given from the control unit 16.

  The acceleration sensor 15 detects lateral acceleration in the lateral direction (lateral direction) of the vehicle when the vehicle 10 makes a turn, and gives the detected lateral acceleration to the control unit 16.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 16 includes a jerk calculation unit 161, an inclination amount calculation unit 162, and an actuator driving unit 163, and controls the actuator 14 to control the inclination operation of the load support device 13. Control.

  In FIG. 2, a jerk calculator 161 receives the lateral acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 15, and calculates the jerk (jerk acceleration = time change of acceleration) by differentiating the lateral acceleration.

  The tilt amount calculation unit 162 calculates the tilt amount of the load support unit 131 based on the jerk calculated by the jerk calculation unit 161. The amount of inclination can be calculated, for example, as (jumping rate × coefficient). Here, the coefficient is set in advance so as to obtain a correspondence relationship between the amount of inclination and the jerk by a desktop analysis such as an experiment or simulation using an actual machine and to define the correspondence relationship. This correspondence relationship is stored and prepared in the control unit 16 as a map, for example.

  The actuator driving unit 163 generates a drive signal for driving and controlling the actuator 14 based on the tilt amount calculated by the tilt amount calculating unit 162, and gives the generated drive signal to the actuator 14 to drive and control the actuator 14. That is, the actuator driving unit 163 drives and controls the actuator 14 so that the load supporting unit 131 of the load supporting device 13 has the tilt amount calculated by the tilt amount calculating unit 162.

  Such a control unit 16 includes, for example, a microcomputer provided with resources such as a CPU, a storage device, and an input / output device necessary for a computer that controls various operation processes based on a program (control logic) held in advance. It is realized by. Therefore, a series of processes for driving and controlling the actuator is realized by a specific means (control unit 16) in which software and hardware resources cooperate with each other.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure when controlling the load supporting device 13 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, first, the lateral acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 15 is read into the jerk calculation unit 161 (step S30), and then the jerk (J) is calculated by differentiating the lateral acceleration (α) (step S31). . Subsequently, the amount of inclination (H) is calculated by multiplying the calculated jerk (J) by the coefficient (a) described above (step S32). Next, a drive signal is generated based on the calculated tilt amount, and the generated drive signal is output to the actuator 14 to drive-control the actuator 14 (step S33). By executing such a procedure, the load support portion 131 of the load support device 13 is inclined.

  FIG. 4 is a front view showing a standing posture state of the seated person 12. FIG. 4A shows a state in which the vehicle 10 goes straight or stops, and FIG. 4B shows a state in which the vehicle 10 turns, for example, turns right. Is shown.

  In FIG. 4, when a seated person 12 seated in the vehicle 10 while maintaining a substantially standing posture is subjected to centrifugal force from the vehicle 10 as the vehicle 10 turns in the left-right direction during general traveling, its inertia As a result, a moment acts on the body and the lower limb, especially on the trunk, outward in the turning direction. In such a situation, the load support device 13 is controlled so that the foot shares a part of the body load, and the foot on the outside of the turn (the heel) is relatively higher than the foot on the inside of the turn. Is done. That is, in the load support device 13, the load support portion 131 is inclined so that the foot on the outside of the turn is relatively higher than the foot on the inside of the turn. As a result, it is possible to apply a reaction moment in a direction in which the standing posture stands vertically with respect to the ground outside the vehicle, and to push back the inclination of the body due to turning.

  Accordingly, it is possible to relatively reduce the muscular strength required to maintain the posture of the seated person 12 during vehicle movement such as turning of the vehicle 10. The muscle strength is a force that attempts to maintain a more stable posture by simultaneously generating an antagonistic muscle force by contracting the extensor and flexor muscles and increasing the rotational fixing torque of the joint to fix the joint. Thereby, it is possible to reduce a sense of discomfort in the muscles for a long time sitting and improve a sense of security.

  Also, this action can assist the burden on the seated person 12 who wants to maintain his posture, particularly the muscular action of the lower limbs and trunk. Thereby, the posture of the seated person 12 can be stabilized even when turning.

  It should be noted that the load generated on the body is not simply the muscle force generated, but the muscle force such as the fixation of the lower limb joint and trunk joint (spine) by the antagonizing muscle moves from the turning outer leg to the turning inner leg. Since it is the same, localization of a muscle burden can be prevented and a sense of incongruity can be reduced.

  Further, when the vehicle 10 turns, the turning outside of the floor floor 17 is inclined downward, so that the load support device 13 has an inclined surface in which the relative height of the left and right feet is opposite to the downward inclination. Form. Thereby, the head inclination angle of the seated person 12 with respect to the ground outside the vehicle becomes shallow when the vehicle 10 is stopped or when the vehicle goes straight. As a result, the inclination of the visual field can be relaxed and the sense of security for maintaining the posture with respect to the driving operation can be improved.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a turning operation of the vehicle, for example, a general lane change operation, and lateral acceleration and jerk. In FIG. 5, (a) shows the amount of movement of the vehicle forward (x direction) and side (y direction) per hour when the lane is changed at a vehicle speed of about 80 km / h, and FIG. The lateral acceleration and jerk change over time corresponding to FIG.

  In FIG. 5, simply following the time change of the acceleration, the magnitude of the initial turning is slow, and there is a possibility that the response to the load change of the seated person 12 is delayed. Further, at the time of 2 seconds in FIG. 5 where the maximum acceleration is received, the transition to the next vehicle movement (from left turn to right turn) has already started. At this time, in order to change the load change of the seated person 12 to the next step, it is necessary to shift the control in the reverse direction such that the height indicates the height of the support surface of the load support portion 131. Therefore, by controlling the load support device 13 based on the jerk adopted in the first embodiment, the posture of the seated person 12 can be stabilized in synchronization with the behavior change of the vehicle 10.

  In addition, muscles that hold the body posture have a function of a receptor that senses muscle stretch, and in body posture maintenance, reflexes that respond instantaneously to the stimulation by this receptor without commands from the brain. A mechanism that corrects changes in posture by function (physical reflex) works. For this reason, the height change of the foot is controlled by using the load change value (acceleration = jerk: acceleration change) as a variable instead of the load value (acceleration) itself, so that the naturalness synchronized with the sense of the seated person 12 is also achieved. It is possible to assist in maintaining a proper posture.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, when acceleration (centrifugal force) is applied to the side of the seated person's body during the turning motion of the vehicle, the left and right feet (踵) of the seated person 12 supported by the load support device 13. The height difference of the part is displaced. That is, due to the inclination of the load support portion 131, the foot in the body movement direction (the direction of centrifugal force) is pushed up so as to be higher than the foot on the opposite side. Thereby, the center-of-gravity axis of the trunk moves toward the inside of the turn from the turning outside position at the time of turning in the front view. As a result, the entire trunk (upper body) can be stably held in a vertical state to the ground that is close to when stopped or when going straight.

Moreover, the effect | action with respect to the seated person 12 accompanying the turning of the vehicle 10 shows the change of the turning acceleration by a centrifugal force as a change of the load by the dead weight from a foot | leg part (buttock part). By paying attention to this, the relative height difference between the left and right feet is generated and controlled based on a change in load (force), that is, a change in acceleration (jumping degree), thereby providing posture maintenance for the seated person 12. It is possible to assist the foot support quickly in synchronization with the action of the muscles. This makes it possible to quickly and accurately hold the seated person's posture when the vehicle turns (Embodiment 2).
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control procedure when controlling the load supporting device 13 according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, not only jerk but also acting acceleration is taken in linearly as a variable in control. Thereby, it is possible to control the relative height displacement of the load support part 131 of the seated person 12 when the vehicle 10 is in a constant acceleration state, that is, when the vehicle 10 is continuously tilted due to steady turning or road surface conditions. In order to determine the constant acceleration state, a threshold value is set for the acceleration value, and if acceleration greater than this threshold value occurs, the subsequent steady acceleration state is estimated. Add to variable. In that case, it is conceivable to introduce acceleration and jerk in a form of linear combination.

  In FIG. 6, first, the lateral acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 15 is read into the jerk calculation unit 161 (step S60), and then the jerk (J) is calculated by differentiating the lateral acceleration (α) (step S61). . Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the acceleration is larger than the threshold value (α0) (step S62). As a result of the determination, if the acceleration is equal to or less than the threshold value, the inclination (H) is calculated by multiplying the calculated jerk (J) by the coefficient (a) described in the first embodiment (step S63).

On the other hand, when the acceleration is equal to or greater than the threshold, the calculated jerk (J) is multiplied by the coefficient (a) described in the first embodiment, and the acceleration is multiplied by a coefficient (b) different from the coefficient (a). Multiplication is performed, and the result of both multiplications is added to calculate the amount of inclination (H) (step S64). Next, a drive signal is generated based on the tilt amount calculated in step S63 or step S64, and the generated drive signal is output to the actuator 14 to drive-control the actuator 14 (step S65). By executing such a procedure, the load support portion 131 of the load support device 13 is inclined.

  The coefficient (b) is set in advance so as to obtain a correspondence relationship between the tilt amount and the acceleration by a desktop analysis such as an experiment or simulation using an actual machine and to define the correspondence relationship. This correspondence relationship is stored and prepared in the control unit 16 as a map, for example. The coefficient (a) and the coefficient (b) are set as a + b = 1.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the turning operation of the vehicle, the relationship between the lateral acceleration and the jerk during the turning operation, and the relationship between the linear acceleration and the jerk. In FIG. 7, (a) shows the amount of movement of the vehicle per hour (two-dimensional, x-axis and y-axis) during a turning operation at a vehicle speed of about 80 km / h. FIG. 4B shows temporal changes in the relationship between the lateral acceleration and the jerk and the linear combination of the lateral acceleration and jerk corresponding to FIG.

  In the example of steady circular turning as shown in FIG. 7A, when the vehicle motion is determined only by the jerk, after the maximum acceleration change rate is shown, the height setting value of the support surface is the jerk. Asymptotically approaching zero. However, since the acceleration does not change at this time, but the acceleration value itself exists, control is performed to maintain a constant relative height of the support surface as shown in the linear relationship between the lateral acceleration and jerk shown in FIG. The most appropriate body stabilization can be achieved.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, in the control for relatively increasing the height of the foot part outside the turn when the vehicle 10 is turning, the magnitude (value) of the relative height of the left and right foot parts by the acceleration. It is possible to add control of the height (time) of the height. Thus, when it is necessary to maintain the foot relative height for a certain period of time, such as corresponding to the steady inclination of the vehicle due to steady turning or road surface conditions, the posture maintenance of the seated person 12 can be assisted. it can.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 8 is a front view showing a standing posture state of the seated person 12 when the vehicle standing posture holding device according to the third embodiment of the present invention is adopted, and FIG. When the vehicle is stopped, FIG. 5B shows a state where the vehicle 10 is turning, for example, turning right.

  The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a load support device 80 is provided instead of the load support device 13, and a target value for the height displacement of the seated person 12 is set and controlled. It is that.

  The load support device 80 includes a load support portion 801 (801a, 801b) and an actuator 802. The load support portion 801 displaces the left and right feet of the seated person 12 independently from each other independently of the height from the floor surface 17. That is, the load support portion 801 includes independent load support portions 801a and 801b corresponding to the left and right feet of the seated person 12, respectively. The load supporter 801 displaces the height of the right leg of the seated person 12 by the load supporter 801a, and displaces the height of the left leg of the seated person 12 by the load supporter 801b. As a result, the load support device 80 comes into contact with the sole of the seated person 12 to support the foot of the seated person 12, and is relatively high with respect to the left and right legs of the seated person 12 with respect to the floor surface 17 of the vehicle 10. It functions as a load support means for forming a difference.

  The actuator 802 drives each of the load support portions 801a and 801b based on the drive signal given from the control unit 16 and independently displaces the height thereof.

  The control unit 16 sets the target value of the height displacement of the load support portions 801a and 801b according to the correspondence shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between the jerk (horizontal axis) of the turning direction of the vehicle 10 and the target value (vertical axis) of the height displacement of the load support portions 801a and 801b. These correspondences are obtained in advance by desktop analysis such as experiments or simulations with actual machines, and are stored and prepared in the control unit 16 as a map, for example. Note that the target value of the height displacement of the load support portions 801a and 801b may be set according to the technique employed in the second embodiment, that is, the linear combination relationship in which acceleration is added to the jerk. In that case, the relationship between the value obtained by adding acceleration to the jerk and the target value of the height displacement is obtained in advance by desktop analysis such as experiments or simulations with an actual machine, and stored in the control unit 16 as a map, for example. Keep it.

  Returning to FIG. 8, for example, when the vehicle 10 turns to the right, the load support portion 801 b is displaced upward to raise the height of the left leg of the seated person 12, thereby turning as in the first embodiment. Control is performed so that the outer foot is relatively higher in height than the inner foot. On the contrary, the load support portion 801a is displaced downward to lower the height of the right foot of the seated person 12, so that the foot on the outside of the turn is relative to the foot on the inside of the turn as in the first embodiment. It is also possible to control the height to be higher. In addition, the above operations can be combined and performed simultaneously to raise the foot outside the turn and lower the foot inside the turn to form a relative height difference between the left and right feet of the seated person 12. When the vehicle 10 turns left, the left and right foot heights are controlled to be opposite to the above.

  Thus, in the said Embodiment 3, the displacement of the relative height of the right-and-left foot part which is supporting the load can be changed independently right and left. As a result, it is possible to assist in maintaining the posture of the seated person 12 by raising only the foot outside the turn, or to assist in maintaining the posture of the seated person 12 by lowering only the foot inside the turn. Become. In addition, it is possible to change the foot portion on the outer side of the turn to be higher and the foot portion on the inner side of the turn to be lower by interlocking the ascending and descending operations. Thereby, the freedom degree at the time of setting the relative level difference of the foot part outside and inside of turning can be raised. This degree of freedom is an effective measure when the load support part cannot simply be raised or lowered in response to restrictions such as height related to the space such as the passenger compartment and the physical characteristics of the seated person 12, particularly the height. be able to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Vehicle 11 ... Seat apparatus 12 ... Seated person 13, 80 ... Load support apparatus 14,802 ... Actuator 15 ... Acceleration sensor 16 ... Control unit 17 ... Floor floor 131, 801, 801a, 801b ... Load support part 132 ... Rotation Axis 161 ... jerk calculation part 162 ... inclination amount calculation part 163 ... actuator drive part

Claims (4)

In a vehicle standing posture holding device for holding the posture of a seated person seated in a standing posture on a vehicle,
A load support means capable of supporting a foot of the seated person in contact with the sole of the seated person and forming a height difference relative to the left and right feet of the seated person with respect to a floor surface of the vehicle;
When the vehicle turns, the left and right sides of the seated person are positioned such that the height of the foot outside the vehicle turning from the floor of the vehicle is higher than the height of the foot inside the turning from the floor of the vehicle. A vehicle standing posture holding apparatus, comprising: a control unit that controls the load support unit so as to form a relative height difference with respect to the foot. An acceleration detecting means for detecting an acceleration in a lateral direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle;
The load support means has a height from a floor surface of the vehicle at a foot outside the turning direction of the vehicle based on a jerk calculated by the control means by differentiating the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means. The vehicle standing posture holding device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is controlled so as to be higher than a height from a floor surface of the vehicle at a foot inside the turning direction of the vehicle. An acceleration detecting means for detecting an acceleration in a lateral direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle;
The load support means is configured to detect a foot on the outer side in the turning direction of the vehicle based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means and the jerk calculated by the control means by differentiating the acceleration detected by the acceleration detection means. In which the height from the floor surface of the vehicle is controlled to be higher than the height from the floor surface of the vehicle at the inner foot in the turning direction of the vehicle, and the control state is maintained. The vehicle standing posture holding device according to claim 1. The said load support means raises or descends a seated person's right and left leg independently, respectively, and forms a relative height difference with the said seated person's right and left leg. 4. The vehicle standing posture holding device according to claim 1.

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