JP4649660B2 - Leg support device and vehicle seat provided with the leg support device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a leg support device for lifting a leg portion of a seated person sitting on a seat body, and a vehicle seat including the leg support device.

There have been proposed various leg support devices and vehicle seats including the leg support devices.
For example, an ottoman device that is a kind of leg support device described in Patent Document 1 is a plate-like ottoman body that lifts the lower part of a knee of a seated person sitting on a seat body, and an inclination angle of the ottoman body is adjusted. And an angle adjusting mechanism. In this ottoman device, the leg portion of the seated person is lifted by the action of the angle adjusting mechanism when the ottoman main body is rotated upward (in a direction in which the inclination angle is reduced). Conversely, when the ottoman body rotates downward (in the direction in which the inclination angle increases), the leg of the seat occupant descends, and the leg of the seat occupant reaches the floor in the middle.
As a driving source of the angle adjusting mechanism of the Ottoman device, a ball screw / nut mechanism, a motor for rotating the ball screw, and the like are used.

JP-A-11-253271

In the angle adjusting mechanism of the above-described ottoman device, the motor is generally driven at a constant output. That is, when the ottoman body is lowered, the motor is driven in the downward direction of the ottoman body. For this reason, when the ottoman body is lowered, the driving force of the motor and the weight of the occupant's legs are added in the descending direction of the ottoman body. Depending on the weight of the occupant's legs, the ottoman body is moved at a stable speed. It may not be able to descend slowly.
However, when lowering the ottoman body, it is desirable to slowly lower the occupant so as not to feel uneasy. On the other hand, when a downward load (such as the weight of a seated person's leg) is not acting on the ottoman body, it is desired to increase the descending speed from the viewpoint of speeding up the operation.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to stabilize the leg support so that the seated person does not feel uneasy when the leg support is lowered. The lowering speed is lowered slowly, and the lowering speed can be increased when a downward load (such as the weight of the leg of the seated person) is not acting on the leg support.

The above-described problems are solved by the inventions of the claims.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a leg support that lifts the leg of a seated person sitting on the seat body, a motor that lifts and lowers the leg support, and a downward load is applied to the leg support. Load discriminating means for discriminating whether or not there is a control means for controlling the motor, and when the control means lowers the leg support member, the load discriminating means has the leg support member. When it is determined that a downward load is acting on the motor, the motor lifts the leg support so that the motor lowers the driving force than the load so that the leg support descends at a predetermined speed due to the load. controls the motor so as to generate the direction, when the load determiner load downward to the leg support is determined to not act, the driving force to the motor legs support lowering direction to control the motor to generate a It is characterized in.

According to the present invention, when lowering the leg support, when the load determination means determines that a downward load is acting on the leg support, that is, the leg of the seated person on the leg support. When it is determined that the weight is added , the motor generates a driving force smaller than the load in the upward direction of the leg support so that the leg support is lowered at a predetermined speed by the load . Thus, the driving force of the motor serves as a brake when the leg support is lowered, and the leg support can be slowly lowered.
Further, when the load determining means determines that no downward load is applied to the leg support, that is, when it is determined that the weight of the leg of the seated person is not applied to the leg support. The motor generates a driving force in the leg support lowering direction. For this reason, the leg support is quickly lowered to the lower limit position.

According to invention of Claim 2, a leg part support body is located below the 1st range which raises a seated person's leg, and the 2nd range which does not lift the said seated person's leg part. It is the structure which can be moved up and down.
As described above, since the second range in which the seated person's leg is not lifted is provided, the leg support becomes an obstacle to the seated person by moving the leg support to the lower limit position of the second range. Disappear.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the leg support supporting the leg of the seated person is held at a predetermined height position by the motor generating a force in the upward direction of the leg support. And
For this reason, a device such as an electromagnetic brake which has been generally performed conventionally becomes unnecessary, and the equipment cost can be reduced.

The invention according to claim 4 is a vehicle seat comprising the leg support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the leg support body of the leg support device is a seat cushion of a seat body. The seat main body and the leg support are externally facing the entrance / exit from the forward facing direction of the vehicle by the operation of the rotating mechanism. It is configured to be rotatable to an orientation position.

According to the present invention, when it is determined that the weight of the leg of the seated person is added to the leg support, a force in the leg support ascending direction is applied as a brake when the leg support is lowered. Therefore, the leg support comes to descend slowly at a stable speed.
If it is determined that the weight of the leg of the seated person is not added to the leg support, the leg support is quickly lowered to the lower limit position.

[Embodiment 1]
Next, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are Ottoman devices which are a kind of leg support devices used in a vehicle seat according to the present embodiment, and a wiring block diagram of the vehicle seat. FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams of the ottoman device. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement. FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of a vehicle including a vehicle seat, and FIGS. 6 to 9 are side views showing the configuration of the vehicle seat. In the figure, RH represents the vehicle right direction, LH represents the vehicle left direction, FR represents the vehicle front direction, and RR represents the vehicle rear direction.
In the embodiment described below, the driver's seat is exemplified as the vehicle seat 1.

<Outline of configuration of vehicle seat 1>
The vehicle seat 1 is located at the right front portion of the vehicle M as shown in FIG. A movable steering wheel 2 is disposed in front of the vehicle seat 1. Also, on the right and left sides of the vehicle M, on the right side of the driver's seat (vehicle seat 1) and the left side of the passenger seat 3, a so-called gull wing that opens and closes by turning up and down using an electric motor as a drive source. The motorized driver's seat door 4 and the passenger seat door 5 are equipped.
The vehicle seat 1 and the passenger seat 3 can be moved within a certain range in the vehicle front-rear direction by a back-and-forth movement mechanism 20 which will be described later, and are also moved to a front-facing position facing the front of the vehicle and the entrance / exit side by a rotation mechanism 30 which will also be described later. It is provided so as to be able to rotate about 90 ° horizontally between the facing outward position. Since the passenger seat 3 is configured in substantially the same manner as the vehicle seat 1, a support structure for the vehicle seat 1 will be described below.
As shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and the like, the vehicle seat 1 includes a seat body 10, a longitudinal movement mechanism 20 for moving the seat body 10 in a predetermined range in the vehicle longitudinal direction, and a seat body 10. The rotating mechanism 30 that rotates horizontally between the forward-facing position and the outward-facing position described above, the ottoman device 50 having the ottoman body 51 that pushes up the leg L of the seated person seated on the seat body 10 from below, and the seat body 10 A tilt mechanism 70 (see FIG. 9) that tilts back and forth and a control unit ECU that controls the operation of each of the mechanisms 20, 30, 50, and 70 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 2, the back-and-forth moving mechanism 20 includes a pair of left and right fixed rails 21 and 21 fixed on the floor F of the vehicle M, and a slide table that can slide back and forth along the fixed rails 21 and 21. 22. Further, on the floor F of the vehicle M, a slide motor 24 that is a drive source of the back-and-forth movement mechanism 20 is attached.
A rotation mechanism 30 is installed on the slide table 22 of the back-and-forth movement mechanism 20, and the seat body 10 is installed on a rotation base (not shown) of the rotation mechanism 30 via a tilt mechanism 70. In addition, a rotation motor 34 (see FIG. 2) that is a drive source of the rotation mechanism 30 is attached to the slide table 22.
The tilt mechanism 70 is a mechanism that tilts the seat body 10 back and forth, and is installed on the rotation base of the rotation mechanism 30. As shown in FIG. 9, the tilt mechanism 70 includes a pair of left and right tilt rails 72, 72, and the tilt rails 72, 72 are fixed on the rotating base in a state of being curved upward. Has been. Sliding blocks (not shown) are connected to the left and right tilt rails 72, 72, respectively, and a tilt frame (not shown) for supporting the seat body 10 is fixed to the sliding blocks. As a result, the tilt frame that supports the seat body 10 can move along the left and right tilt rails 72, 72.
On the rotation base of the rotation mechanism 30, a screw shaft 77 is rotatably supported along the tilt rails 72, 72, and a tilt motor 76 is connected to the screw shaft 77. A nut 78 is screwed onto the screw shaft 77, and the nut 78 is fixed to the tilt frame that supports the seat body 10. As a result, when the tilt motor 76 is driven, the seat body 10 tilts forward or backward while moving along the tilt rails 72 and 72 due to the screwing action of the nut 78 and the screw shaft 77. Become. The screw shaft 77 and the tilt motor 76 are supported by the rotary base so as to be swingable up and down so that the nut 78 fixed on the seat body 10 side can move smoothly along the screw shaft 77. .
As shown in FIG. 2, the seat body 10 includes a seat cushion 11 and a seat back 12, and a seating sensor 11 s for detecting whether or not a seated person is seated substantially inside the seat cushion 11. Has been.

<About the configuration of the ottoman device 50>
Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 and the like, an ottoman device 50 is provided at the front portion of the seat cushion 11. The ottoman device 50 includes an ottoman body 51 that lifts a leg L of the seated person. As shown in FIG. 8, the ottoman main body 51 includes an upper knee contact portion 51 u that receives the back side of the upper knee Lu above the knee (the lower surface side in the seated state) and a lower portion below the knee. The lower knee contact part 51d which receives the back side of the lower knee lower part Ld is provided. As shown in the drawing, the above-knee contact portion 51u and the below-knee contact portion 51d are bent in an L shape. Further, in the retracted state of the ottoman main body 51, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the above-knee contact portion 51u forms a substantially flush seating surface with the seat cushion 11. That is, the ottoman main body 51 of this example constitutes a part of the seat cushion 11 when stored.
The ottoman body 51 is provided so as to be movable between a storage position (lower limit position) located along the front portion of the seat cushion 11 and a holding position moved upward. An ottoman fixing frame (not shown) is attached to the lower surface side of the seat cushion 11, and two ottoman motors 53, 53 are connected to the lower surface of the ottoman fixing frame. The two ottoman motors 53 and 53 rotate in the same direction and at the same speed. Further, both ottoman motors 53, 53 are started and stopped simultaneously. The rotation of the ottoman motors 53, 53 is transmitted to a pair of left and right pinion gears 55, 55.
A pair of left and right ottoman rails 57, 57 are attached below the ottoman motors 53, 53 as shown in FIG. The left and right ottoman rails 57 and 57 are positioned in front of the seat cushion 11 and are curved in a downwardly convex direction. Each of the ottoman rails 57, 57 is provided with one sliding block (not shown) so that it can move smoothly without rattling.

A rear portion of the main body frame 59 fixed to the ottoman main body 51 side is fixed to each of the sliding block bodies. Furthermore, racks 60 are attached to the left and right body frames 59, 59, respectively. The left and right racks 60, 60 are curved in a downwardly convex direction like the ottoman rails 57, 57, respectively. The left and right racks 60, 60 are curved with the same curvature as the ottoman rails 57, 57. An ottoman main body 51 is attached between the front end portions of the pair of left and right main body frames 59 provided in this way. Further, pinion gears 55 and 55 are meshed with the pair of left and right racks 60 and 60, respectively.
For this reason, when the ottoman motors 53 and 53 are started and the left and right pinion gears 55 and 55 are rotated, the left and right racks 60 and 60 and thus the main body frames 59 and 59 are connected to the ottoman rails 57 and 59 through the meshing state with the respective racks 60 and 60. 57, so that the ottoman main body 51 moves up and down along an arc-shaped moving path (curved path).
As shown in FIG. 7, when the ottoman body 51 is returned to the retracted position (lower limit position), the above-knee contact portion 51u forms a substantially flush seat with the seat cushion 11 as described above. Further, in this retracted position, the below-knee contact portion 51d of the ottoman main body 51 is positioned in a state of protruding downward from the front end of the above-knee contact portion 51u.
On the other hand, when the ottoman motors 53 and 53 are started to the holding side (upward side), the ottoman body 51 rises from the storage position shown in FIG. 7 toward the upper holding position along the curved path. When the ottoman main body 51 starts to rise from the retracted position, the above-knee Lu of the seated person is first pushed upward by the above-knee contact portion 51u. Therefore, the seated person's above-knee Lu is rotated upward (clockwise in FIG. 7) about the hip point HP near the base. When the upper knee Lu is rotated upward, the lower knee Ld is rotated downward (counterclockwise in FIG. 7) around the knee N, and as a result, the seated person further bends the knee N. It becomes the state. In this way, the ottoman body 51 is further raised and the leg portion L of the seated person further bends the knee N, so that the below-knee contact portion 51d of the ottoman body 51 is brought into contact with the back surface of the seated person's below-knee Ld. . Thereafter, the ottoman body 51 is raised in a state where the above-knee contact portion 51u is brought into contact with the back surface of the seated person's above-knee Lu and the below-knee contact portion 51d is brought into contact with the back surface of the seated person's below-knee Ld. To the holding position.
A state where the ottoman body 51 is raised to the holding position is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, when the ottoman main body 51 reaches the holding position, the leg portion L of the seated person is held at a height where the foot FT is lifted from the vehicle floor F with the knee N folded.
That is, the ottoman motors 53 and 53 correspond to the motor of the present invention .

<Outline of control of vehicle seat 1>
Each of the DC motors of the slide motor 24 of the longitudinal movement mechanism 20, the rotation motor 34 of the rotation mechanism 30, the ottoman motors 53 and 53 of the ottoman device 50, and the tilt motor 76 of the tilt mechanism 70 in the vehicle seat 1 is provided with a pulse sensor. The rotation direction and the rotation angle can be detected. The signal of the pulse sensor in each DC motor is input to the control unit ECU (see FIG. 2). Further, each DC motor is PWM-controlled by a control unit ECU and a motor drive circuit (see FIG. 1), and the output of each DC motor is adjusted.

<Control of the ottoman device 50>
As described above, the ottoman motors 53 and 53 of the ottoman device 50 are provided with the pulse sensors 53p and 53p, respectively, and the signals of the pulse sensors 53p and 53p are input to the control unit ECU as shown in FIG. . The control device ECU detects the rotation direction of the ottoman motors 53 and 53 based on the signals of the pulse sensors 53p and 53p, and determines whether the ottoman body 51 is rising or falling. Further, the control unit ECU detects the rotation angle of the ottoman motors 53, 53 based on the signals of the pulse sensors 53p, 53p, and the ascending speed or the descending speed of the ottoman body 51 based on the rotation angle per unit time. Is calculated.
Further, a signal from the seating sensor 11s of the seat cushion 11 is input to the control device ECU. As a result, the control device ECU can determine whether or not the seated person is seated on the seat cushion 11.
Based on the signals of the pulse sensors 53p, 53p of the ottoman motors 53, 53, the control device ECU calculates the output values of the ottoman motors 53, 53 and outputs the signals to the motor drive circuit (see FIG. 1). . The motor drive circuit controls the width of pulses supplied to the ottoman motors 53 and 53 based on the signal from the control unit ECU (PWM control), and outputs (C (constant) × T (torque) of the ottoman motors 53 and 53. ) × N (number of revolutions)).

Further, the control unit ECU is configured to be capable of PWM control output of brake signals of the ottoman motors 53, 53 to the motor drive circuit. The motor drive circuit receives the brake signal from the control unit ECU, stops the supply of electric power to the ottoman motors 53, 53, and electrically shorts the terminals of the ottoman motors 53, 53 (DC motor) (FIG. 1). (See (B) Short brake).
When the terminals of the DC motor are short-circuited and the motor is rotated by an external force, a counter electromotive force is generated in the coil, and a current I resulting from the counter electromotive force flows. As a result, a rotational force is generated between the coil through which the current I flows and the magnetic field of the motor in a direction that prevents the motor from rotating. This is a short brake.
The short brake is used when the ottoman body 51 is gently lowered.

Next, the operation of the ottoman device 50 will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. Here, a program for executing the processing based on the flowchart is stored in the ROM of the control unit ECU.
When the seated person is seated on the seat body 10, that is, when the seating sensor 11s is on (YES in step S101), when the rising timing of the ottoman body 51 is reached (YES in step S102), the ottoman motors 53 and 53 are raised. Start on the side. As a result, the ottoman body 51 rises from the storage position shown in FIG. 7 toward the upper holding position along the curved path.
At this time, the control device ECU and the motor drive circuit are loaded with respect to a load (reverse load) in a direction that prevents the ottoman body 51 from being lifted, that is, the weight of the leg L of the seated person, the weight of the ottoman body 51, and the ottoman rails 57, 57. The outputs of the ottoman motors 53 and 53 are controlled so as to overcome the sliding resistance of the sliding block body and to raise the ottoman body 51 at a predetermined speed.

When the ottoman main body 51 starts to rise from the retracted position, the above-knee Lu of the seated person is first pushed upward by the above-knee contact portion 51u. Therefore, the seated person's above-knee Lu is rotated upward (clockwise in FIG. 7) about the hip point HP near the base. When the upper knee Lu is rotated upward, the lower knee Ld is rotated downward (counterclockwise in FIG. 7) around the knee N, and as a result, the seated person further bends the knee N. It becomes the state. In this way, the ottoman body 51 is further raised and the leg portion L of the seated person further bends the knee N, so that the below-knee contact portion 51d of the ottoman body 51 is brought into contact with the back surface of the seated person's below-knee Ld. .
Thereafter, the ottoman body 51 is raised in a state where the above-knee contact portion 51u is brought into contact with the back surface of the seated person's above-knee Lu and the below-knee contact portion 51d is brought into contact with the back surface of the seated person's below-knee Ld. Thus, the holding position shown in FIG. 8 is reached (step S103). When the ottoman body 51 reaches the holding position, the control device ECU and the motor drive circuit control the outputs of the ottoman motors 53 and 53 so that the ottoman body 51 is held at that position.
Here, the holding position of the ottoman body 51 is set to a necessary lift amount for lifting the seated person's foot FT from the vehicle floor F by a certain distance. This setting is stored in the control unit ECU and can be changed arbitrarily.

Next, when the lowering timing of the ottoman body 51 is reached (YES in step S104), ottoman lowering control is performed (step S105). When the ottoman lowering control is started, the supply of power to the ottoman motors 53 and 53 is stopped. As a result, the ottoman body 51 is lowered by the weight of the leg L of the seated person and the own weight. The lowering operation of the ottoman body 51 is transmitted to the ottoman motors 53 and 53 via the racks 60 and 60 and the pinion gears 55 and 55, and the ottoman motors 53 and 53 rotate in the lowering direction. Then, the downward rotation of the ottoman motors 53, 53 is input to the control unit ECU by the pulse sensors 53p, 53p. That is, it is possible to determine whether or not a downward load (reverse load) is applied to the ottoman body 51 from the signals of the pulse sensors 53p and 53p when the ottoman motors 53 and 53 are powered off. That is, the pulse sensors 53p and 53p correspond to the load determination means of the present invention.
When it is determined that there is a reverse load (YES in step 112 in FIG. 4), the control device ECU performs PWM control output of the brake signals of the ottoman motors 53 and 53 to the motor drive circuit. The motor drive circuit receives the brake signal from the control device ECU and electrically shorts the terminals of the ottoman motors 53, 53 (step S113). As a result, a counter electromotive force is generated in the coils of the ottoman motors 53 and 53, and a force (torque) that prevents the ottoman motors 53 and 53 from rotating in the descending direction is generated by the current I resulting from the counter electromotive force. Then, the control device ECU performs PWM control output of the brake signal so that the torque becomes the brake, so that the ottoman main body 51 gently descends along the ottoman rails 57 and 57 at a stable speed.

This prevents the seated person's foot FT from slowly landing on the floor F or the like, and does not give the seated person anxiety.
In this way, when the seated person's foot FT reaches the floor F or the like, the weight of the seated person's leg L applied to the ottoman main body 51 is reduced, so that the load in the downward direction (reverse load) is significantly reduced. For this reason, the descending speed of the ottoman main body 51 becomes substantially zero, and a decrease in the descending speed is detected by the pulse sensors 53p and 53p. That is, a decrease in reverse load (no reverse load) is detected by the signals of the pulse sensors 53p and 53p. As a result, the determination in step S112 in FIG. 4 is NO, and the control device ECU outputs an ottoman lowering signal to the motor drive circuit. In response to this, the motor drive circuit drives the ottoman motors 53 and 53 in the downward direction. Thereby, the ottoman body 51 is returned to the storage position at a relatively high speed (YES in step S115). In this manner, after the seated person's foot FT has arrived on the floor F or the like, the ottoman body 51 is returned to the storage position at a relatively high speed, so that the storing operation is quickened.
That is, the control device ECU that executes processing based on the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4 corresponds to the control means of the present invention. Furthermore, from the holding position of the ottoman main body 51 to the position of the ottoman main body 51 at the timing when the occupant's foot FT reaches the floor F or the like corresponds to the first range in which the leg of the occupant is lifted in the present invention. From the position of the ottoman main body 51 to the retracted position at the timing when the foot FT arrives at the floor F or the like corresponds to the second range in which the leg portion L of the seated person is not lifted in the present invention.

Next, the operation of the ottoman device 50 in a state where no seated person is seated on the seat body 10 will be described.
When the seated person is not seated on the seat body 10, that is, when the seating sensor 11s is off (step S101 NO in FIG. 3), when the rising timing of the ottoman body 51 is reached (YES in step S106), the ottoman motors 53, 53 Is activated to the ascending side, and the ottoman body 51 rises to a fixed position and is held at that position.
Further, when the lowering timing of the ottoman body 51 is reached (YES in step S108), the ottoman motors 53, 53 are started to the lowering side, and the ottoman body 51 is returned to the storage position.
Here, in this embodiment, the raising / lowering range of the ottoman body 51 when the seated person is not seated on the seat body 10 is set within the second range.

<Overall Operation of Vehicle Seat 1>
The operations of the forward / backward movement mechanism 20, the rotation mechanism 30, the ottoman device 50, and the tilt mechanism 70 that constitute the vehicle seat 1 are associated with each other by the control device ECU.
First, the time of getting off will be described. When a occupant seated in the driver's seat operates a drop-off start switch (not shown), the electric driver's seat door 4 is pivoted upward and opened. Next, the steering wheel 2 starts to move toward the retracted position.
When the retracting operation of the steering wheel 2 is started, the slide motor 24 is activated at the same time or after a certain time thereafter, and the seat body 10 starts to retract toward the rearmost.
Further, during the backward movement of the seat body 10, the ottoman motors 53, 53 are activated and the operation of the ottoman device 50 is started. When getting off, first, the ottoman body 51 starts to rise from the retracted position toward the holding position, whereby the leg portion L of the seat occupant is pushed upward, thereby lifting the seat occupant's foot FT from the vehicle floor F. The When a seated person is not seated on the seat body 10, the ottoman body 51 is raised to a fixed position (a position lower than when a seated person is present) and held at that position. The fixed position is set to a position where the ottoman body 51 and the like do not interfere with the rocker portion R.
When the retracting operation of the seat body 10 and the raising operation of the ottoman body 51 are completed, the rotation motor 34 is activated and the seat body 10 starts to rotate rightward from the forward position toward the entrance / exit toward the front of the vehicle. During this rotating operation, the leg portion L of the seated person is held in the holding position by the ottoman device 50, and the foot FT is prevented from interfering with the rocker portion R.
Next, during the rotation operation of the seat body 10, the tilt motor 76 is activated and the tilt mechanism 70 starts to operate. This timing is set at the time when the seated person's foot FT passes through the locker R and the pillar and reaches the outside of the passenger compartment as the seat body 10 rotates.
When the tilt mechanism 70 starts to operate, the seat body 10 starts to tilt in the forward tilt direction by moving to the outside of the passenger compartment while rotating toward the entrance / exit. At this stage, the seated person's foot FT passes through the rocker portion R and the pillar (entrance / exit) and reaches the outside of the passenger compartment. When the tilt-down operation of the seat body 10 is completed, the relative height of the front portion with respect to the rear portion of the seat cushion 11 is lower than that in the seated state and becomes almost horizontal, so that the seated person can easily get up easily. Become.
Further, during the rotation operation of the seat body 10 toward the entrance / exit and the tilt-down operation toward the forward tilt side, the ottoman device 50 starts to operate toward the storage side. The storing operation of the ottoman body 51 is performed at a lower speed than the ascending operation. This is to give the seated person a sense of security by slowly landing on the road surface GL or the vehicle floor F with the foot FT.
As described above, when the seat body 10 rotates toward the entrance / exit, the tilt-down operation is completed, and the ottoman body 51 is returned to the storage position, a series of operations when the vehicle seat 1 is unloaded is completed.

Next, the operation of each mechanism 20, 30, 50, 70 when riding will be described.
First, when a seated person sits on the seat body 10 tilted forward and operates a boarding / unstarting switch (not shown), the ottoman motors 53 and 53 of the ottoman device 50 are activated to the ascending side, and the ottoman body 51 is moved from the storage position. Begins to rise toward the holding position. When a seated person is not seated on the seat body 10, the ottoman body 51 is raised to a fixed position and held at that position.
Further, the tilt mechanism 70 is activated during the ascending operation of the ottoman body 51, and the seat body 10 is tilted up. When the tilt motor 76 of the tilt mechanism 70 is activated and the seat body 10 is tilted up, the front portion of the seat cushion 11 is lifted with respect to the rear portion while the seat body 10 moves toward the vehicle interior side.
When the tilt-up operation is started, the rotation mechanism 30 starts to operate and the door 4 starts to close. The start of the operation of the rotation mechanism 30 is set when the seat occupant's foot FT moves to the vehicle interior side by the tilt mechanism 70 to a position where it does not interfere with the entrance / exit of the rocker portion R or the pillar. The ottoman body 51 is raised to the holding position, the leg L of the seated person is pushed up from below, and the seat body 10 is rotated toward the forward position facing the front of the vehicle with the seat body 10 tilted up.
When the seat body 10 and the seated person reach the forward-facing position facing the front of the vehicle, the rotation motor 34 is stopped and the rotation operation ends. When the rotation operation ends, at the same time, the steering wheel 2 is taken out to a usable position where the turning operation can be performed. Separately from this, the slide motor 24 of the forward / backward movement mechanism 20 is activated to the forward side, and the seat body 10 advances from the rear most.
Simultaneously with the start of the forward movement of the seat body 10, the ottoman motors 53, 53 are controlled to descend, and the ottoman body 51 descends from the holding position toward the storage position.
After the rotation operation of the seat body 10 is completed, the seat body 10 advances to a seat position that matches the height of the seated person. Thereafter, the descending of the ottoman body 51 causes the seat occupant's foot FT to land on the vehicle floor F, and the ottoman body 51 is returned to the retracted position.

<Advantages of Ottoman Device 50 of Vehicle Seat 1>
According to the vehicle seat 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above, when it is determined that the weight of the leg portion L of the seated person is added to the ottoman body 51 when the ottoman body 51 is lowered. The ottoman motors 53 and 53 generate a force in the upward direction of the ottoman so that the ottoman main body 51 is lowered at a predetermined speed by the load. For this reason, the force in the upward direction of the ottoman serves as a brake when the ottoman body 51 descends, and the ottoman body 51 can slowly descend.
In addition, when it is determined that the weight of the leg L of the seated person is not applied to the ottoman main body 51 when the foot FT of the seated person is halfway on the floor F, the ottoman motors 53 and 53 are moved in the ottoman descending direction. The driving force is generated. For this reason, after the seated person's foot FT has arrived on the floor F, the ottoman body 51 is quickly returned to the retracted position.
Further, since the ottoman body 51 is provided with a second range in which the leg portion L of the seated person is not lifted, the ottoman body 51 does not interfere with the seated person by moving the ottoman body 51 to the retracted position. .
In addition, since the ottoman motors 53 and 53 generate a driving force in the upward direction of the ottoman, the ottoman main body 51 is held in the holding position, and thus a device such as an electromagnetic brake that has been generally performed conventionally becomes unnecessary. The equipment cost can be reduced.

<Example of change>
Various modifications can be made to the embodiment described above. For example, in the present embodiment, a short brake that electrically shorts the terminals of the ottoman motors 53 and 53 when the ottoman main body 51 descends is employed, but other methods are also possible. For example, it is possible to reduce the driving force in the upward direction of the ottoman motors 53, 53 by PWM control so that the driving force becomes smaller than the reverse load, and to apply a brake when the ottoman body 51 descends. is there. The “force in the upward direction” refers to the rotational force in the upward direction in a state where the ottoman motors 53, 53 are not energized (short brake), and the “drive force in the upward direction” refers to the ottoman motor. The rotational force in the ascending direction in a state in which power is supplied to 53 and 53 shall be said.
Further, although the leg support device of the present invention has been described by taking the ottoman device as an example, the present invention can also be applied to a footrest device having a lifting function.

It is the wiring block diagram (A figure) of the ottoman apparatus used for the vehicle seat which concerns on this embodiment, and the schematic diagram (B figure) showing a short brake. It is a wiring block diagram of the vehicle seat which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of an ottoman apparatus. It is a flowchart showing operation | movement of an ottoman apparatus. It is a schematic plan view of a vehicle provided with a vehicle seat. It is a side view showing the structure of the vehicle seat. It is a side view of the drive mechanism of an ottoman device. It is a side view of the drive mechanism of an ottoman device. It is a side view of a tilt mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

M ... Vehicle 1 ... Vehicle seat 10 ... Seat body 11 ... Seat cushion 11s ... Seating sensor 12 ... Seat back 22 ... Slide table 24 ... Slide motor 20 ... Front / rear drive mechanism 30 ... Rotation mechanism 34 ... Rotation motor 50 ... Ottoman device ( Leg support device)
51 ... Ottoman body (leg support)
53 ... Ottoman motor (motor)
53p ... Pulse sensor (load discrimination means)
55 ... Pinion gear 57 ... Ottoman rail 60 ... Rack L ... Seated person's leg FT ... Seated person's foot ECU ... Control device (control means)

Claims (4)

A leg support for lifting a leg of a seated person seated on the seat body;
A motor for raising and lowering the leg support;
Load determining means for determining whether a downward load is applied to the leg support;
Control means for controlling the motor,
When the load discriminating unit determines that a downward load is acting on the leg support when the leg support is lowered , the control unit causes the leg support to The motor is controlled such that the motor generates a driving force smaller than the load in the leg support ascending direction so that the motor descends at a predetermined speed, and the load determination means moves downward on the leg support. If the load is determined to not act, leg support device and controls the motor to generate a driving force to the motor legs support lowering direction. The leg support device according to claim 1,
The said leg part support body is a structure which can be raised / lowered over the 1st range which raises a seated person's leg part, and the 2nd range which is located below the 1st range and does not lift the said seated person's leg part. A leg support device. The leg support device according to claim 1 or 2,
A leg support device that holds a leg support supporting a leg of a seated person at a predetermined height position by generating a force in a direction in which the leg support is raised by the motor . A vehicle seat comprising the leg support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
The leg support of the leg support device is disposed in front of the seat cushion of the seat body, and is installed on the rotation mechanism together with the seat body.
By the operation of the rotation mechanism, the seat body and the leg support are configured to be rotatable from a forward position facing the front of the vehicle to an outward position facing the entrance / exit. .

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