JP2016088467A - Seating detection sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seating detection sensor capable of preventing damage thereto even when large local weight is applied thereto.SOLUTION: A seating detection sensor comprises: a bracket 11 fixedly installed on a plurality of spring frames 6 arranged on a seating section 4; and a sensor 10 which is arranged on the bracket 11. The bracket 11 has: holding sections 61 which hold the spring frames 6; a loading section 62 where the sensor 10 is loaded; and elastic sections 63 which are connected to positions between the holding sections 61 and the loading section 62 and allow at least portions thereof to elastically deform according to weight applied to the seating section 4.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a seating detection sensor capable of detecting whether an occupant is seated in a seat.

  Conventionally, for example, a seating detection sensor for detecting whether an occupant is seated in a seating portion of a seat mounted on a vehicle is known. As this seating detection sensor, a sensor that detects the seating of an occupant by a sensor such as a pressure sensor or a pressure sensor arranged immediately below the cushion of the seat is known (see Patent Document 1). In the seat device, a bracket is fitted into a spring frame disposed below the cushion, and a sensor is disposed above the bracket.

JP 2011-105277 A

  However, in the conventional seating detection sensor, for example, when an occupant puts his knees on the seat, a large local load is applied to the bracket, which may damage the bracket. As a solution, it has been studied to use a highly rigid material such as metal for the bracket, or to increase the rigidity by increasing the thickness of the bracket, but in this case the spring frame and bracket do not expand and contract The breakage of the spring frame and the bracket due to the problem is a problem.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a seating detection sensor capable of solving the above-described problems caused by the conventional technology and avoiding damage even when a large load is applied locally.

  A seating detection sensor according to an aspect of the present invention is a seating detection sensor configured to be able to detect a seating of an occupant on a seating portion of a seating device, and is fixed to a plurality of spring frames arranged in the seating portion. And a sensor disposed on the bracket. The bracket is connected between a holding portion that holds the spring frame, a placement portion on which the sensor is placed, and the holding portion and the placement portion, at least a part of which is connected to the seating portion. And an elastic part that elastically deforms according to the load.

  According to the seat device with a seating sensor according to one aspect of the present invention, the bracket includes a holding unit that holds the spring frame, and a mounting unit on which the sensor is mounted, and the holding unit and the mounting unit. The elastic part which at least one part elastically deforms according to the load to the said seating part is connected between. Due to the elastic deformation of the elastic portion, a local load on the seating portion is absorbed, and damage to the bracket can be avoided.

  In another embodiment of the present invention, the elastic portion is positioned below the spring frame. In still another embodiment of the present invention, the elastic part has a leaf spring.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a seating detection sensor capable of avoiding damage even when a large load is applied locally.

1 is a side view showing a seat device including a seating detection sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows a part of seat apparatus with which the seating detection sensor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention is included. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the bracket 11 by which the pressure sensor 10 is arrange | positioned. It is a side view which shows the structure of the bracket 11 by which the pressure sensor 10 is arrange | positioned. It is the schematic which shows the effect of 1st Embodiment. The modification of the seating detection sensor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention is shown. The modification of the seating detection sensor which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention is shown. It is a top view explaining the example of the structure of the seating detection sensor which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a side view explaining the example of the structure of the seating detection sensor which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is a side view explaining the example of the structure of the seating detection sensor which concerns on 4th Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, a seating detection sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First Embodiment]
First, a seating detection sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing a seat apparatus including a seating detection sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a part of the seat apparatus including the seating detection sensor.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the seat device 1 including the seating detection sensor according to the first embodiment is configured to include a seating portion 4 and include a headrest 2 and a backrest portion 3. it can. As an example, the seat device 1 is used as a seat of a vehicle such as an automobile (not shown).

  A cushion pad 5 made of a cushioning material such as urethane is incorporated in the seat portion 4 of the seat device 1. Further, the seat portion 4 is provided with a spring frame 6 that is disposed below the cushion pad 5 and supports the cushion pad 5, for example. As shown in FIG. 2, the spring frame 6 can be an S spring frame formed by molding a metal member such as iron, aluminum, or SUS into a continuous S-shape, for example. The plurality of spring frames 6 are arranged in parallel to each other at substantially equal intervals with respect to the skeleton of the seat device 1. In addition to the S spring frame, the spring frame 6 can have a continuous Z-shape or a continuous spiral shape, and the shape is not limited. The plurality of spring frames are preferably arranged in parallel to each other, but various arrangement methods can be adopted as long as the cushion pad 5 can be flexibly supported.

The seating detection sensor according to the first embodiment is attached to the spring frame 6.
The seating detection sensor includes a pressure-sensitive sensor 10 that detects the seating of the seating portion 4 of the occupant 9 on the seating surface 4a. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the pressure-sensitive sensor 10 is disposed below a load position P where a large load is applied when the occupant 9 is seated on the seat 4. The weighted position P generally corresponds to the upper part of the buttocks of the occupant 9. As will be described later, the pressure-sensitive sensor 10 is configured to electrically detect this weight and output a detection signal. In this embodiment, a membrane sensor is used as the pressure sensor 10 as an example. However, this is merely an example, and various types of pressure-sensitive sensors can be used. Also, the seating detection sensor used for the seating detection sensor is not limited to the pressure-sensitive sensor, and other types of sensors can be used as long as they can detect the seating. For example, an acceleration sensor, a capacitance sensor, a magnetic sensor, or the like can be used.

  The pressure sensitive sensor 10 is electrically connected to an ECU 20 mounted on the vehicle. The ECU 20 controls the entire vehicle and controls the operation of various auxiliary devices such as airbag deployment control based on a detection signal from the pressure sensor 10.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the pressure-sensitive sensor 10 is fixedly disposed above the bracket 11 that is fixedly disposed on the spring frame 6. In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the bracket 11 is fixedly connected to two adjacent and parallel spring frames 6. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the single spring frame 6 is not limited thereto. Alternatively, one bracket 11 may be connected, or conversely, one bracket 11 may be connected to three or more spring frames 6.

The structure of the bracket 11 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the bracket 11, and FIG. 4 is a side view. The bracket 11 includes a holding portion 61, a placement portion 62, and an elastic portion 63.
The holding portion 61 is a portion that holds the spring frame 6. Moreover, the mounting part 62 is a part for mounting the pressure sensor 10 on the upper part, and is provided with the base part 62a and the side wall part 62b provided in the edge part and extended below. The pedestal portion 62a is configured such that the surface thereof is at a position lower than the upper end of the holding portion 61 by at least the thickness of the pressure sensor 10. Here, when the pressure sensor 10 is placed on the placement portion 62, it is preferable that the upper end of the pressure sensor 10 is lower than the upper end of the holding portion 61. This is because it is possible to obtain a state in which the pressure-sensitive sensor 10 does not always receive a load from the cushion pad 5.

  The elastic part 63 is connected between the holding part 61 and the mounting part 62, and at least a part of the elastic part 63 is constituted by an elastic body. In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the elastic body of the elastic portion 63 is configured by a leaf spring. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the elastic portion 63 has a structure of a leaf spring that extends in the horizontal direction and is then folded back into a U shape. The leaf spring structure is desirable in that the spring structure can be formed integrally with the holding part 61 and the mounting part 62 and is easy to manufacture.

  One end of the leaf spring portion is connected to the lower end 62bT of the side wall portion 62b, and the other end is connected to the lower end 61T of the holding portion 61. For this reason, the elastic part 63 is located below the spring frame 6 and the surface 62a of the mounting part 62 as a whole. As shown in FIG. 5, the elastic part 63 is positioned below the spring frame 6 and the surface 62a, so that a large escape path for the load (expansion and contraction of the spring) can be taken and damage to the bracket 11 can be avoided. .

  The spring coefficient of the spring structure of the elastic portion 63 needs to be set to such an extent that the pressure sensor 10 can detect the seating by the load when the occupant 9 is seated on the seating portion 4. If the spring is too soft and the elastic portion 63 is deformed by a slight load, the pressure sensor 10 cannot detect the load. On the contrary, if the elastic portion 63 is not deformed even if the spring is too hard and a large load is applied, the bracket 11 may be plastically deformed or broken.

  Therefore, it is preferable to set the spring coefficient of the elastic part 63 to such an extent that the elastic part 63 is not significantly deformed even when the lightest person among the passengers to be detected is seated. As an example, it is preferable to set the spring constant of the elastic portion 63 to such an extent that the elastic portion 63 does not deform even if a person included in the top 5% in the weight ranking among adult women sits down. Further, the spring coefficient of the spring structure of the elastic portion 63 is large enough that the spring structure functions before a stress that causes plastic deformation or breakage occurs in the bracket 11 when a large load is locally applied to the seating portion 4. It is necessary to set it. The spring coefficient of the spring structure of the elastic portion 63 is preferably set to a magnitude that causes elastic deformation after the pressure sensor 10 detects seating.

  6 and 7 show a modification of the first embodiment. In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the pressure-sensitive sensor 10 is directly placed on the surface 62 a of the placement portion 62. Instead, the pressure-sensitive sensor 10 is placed on the placement portion 62 via the cushion foam 12. It may be placed on the surface 62a. Further, a cushioning material 13 such as a rubber dome may be sandwiched between the pressure sensor 10 and the cushion pad 5.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a seating detection sensor according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The overall configuration and usage of the seating detection sensor according to the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2). However, the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the slit 11 is formed in the leaf spring portion of the elastic portion 63 in the structure of the bracket 11. By forming such a slit S in the leaf spring portion, the elastic force of the spring can be adjusted, and the load on the seat portion 4 can be absorbed more flexibly.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, with reference to FIG. 9, a seating detection sensor according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.
The overall configuration and usage of the seating detection sensor according to the third embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2). However, the third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the spring portion of the elastic portion 63 is constituted by a so-called torsion spring 63T in the structure of the bracket 11. Although one torsion spring 63T is shown on each of the left and right sides in FIG. 9, a plurality of torsion springs 63T may be provided in the depth direction of the drawing. Even with such a spring mechanism, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a seating detection sensor according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The overall configuration and usage of the seating detection sensor according to the fourth embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment (FIGS. 1 and 2). However, the fourth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the spring portion of the elastic portion 63 is constituted by a so-called spiral spring 63H in the structure of the bracket 11. Although one spiral spring 63H is shown on each of the left and right in FIG. 10, a plurality of spiral springs 63H may be provided in the depth direction of the drawing. Even with such a spring mechanism, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.

[Others]
Although some embodiments have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Seat apparatus with a seating detection sensor 2 Headrest 3 Backrest part 4 Seating part 4a Seat surface 5 Cushion pad 6 Spring frame 9 Occupant 10 Pressure sensor 11 Bracket 12 Cushion foam 13 Buffer material 20 ECU
S slit 61 holding part 62 mounting part 63 elastic part 63T torsion spring 63H spiral spring

Claims (4)

A seating detection sensor configured to be able to detect a seating of an occupant on a seating portion of a seating device,
A bracket fixedly disposed on a plurality of spring frames disposed on the seat portion;
A sensor disposed on the bracket;
The bracket is
A holding part for holding the spring frame;
A mounting section on which the sensor is mounted;
A seating detection sensor, comprising: an elastic part connected between the holding part and the mounting part, wherein at least a part thereof is elastically deformed in response to a load on the seating part.   The seating detection sensor according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is positioned below the spring frame.   The seating detection sensor according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion includes a leaf spring. The seating detection sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a spring coefficient of the elastic portion is set to a magnitude that causes elastic deformation after the sensor detects seating.

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