JPH01240330A - Seat with automatic side boards - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an operator to be held at an optimum attitude by detecting the back of the operator sitting down on an industrial vehicle seat by a pressure sensor, and thereby driving a pair of side boards attached to the right and left sides of the seat respectively depending on detected signals. CONSTITUTION:A seat for an industrial vehicle is composed of a seat cushion 11, and of the back section 10. In this case, a pair of side boards 25 and 26 are rotatably attached onto the right and left sides of the back section 10. And the base section of the respective side boards 25 and 26 are connected with plural numbers of driving devices 4. And a pressure sensor 3 is provided for the front surface of the back section 10. And the output terminal cable of the pressure sensor 3 is furthermore connected with a control section 5, and the respective output terminals 56 and 57 of the control section 5 are connected with the respective control devices 4 respectively. The movement of the own weight of the operator sitting on the seat 1 is detected by the pressure sensor 3 so as to allow the control section 5 to control the driving devices 4 depending on the detected signals so that the respective side boards 25 and 26 are properly driven at all time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a seat for an industrial vehicle, and particularly to a seat for ensuring driver safety.

[Prior art]

As shown in FIG. 8, in an industrial vehicle such as a forklift truck 9 or a shovel loader.

The seat 1 on which the driver sits is provided above the chassis 91. As such a sheet 1, the one shown in FIG. 7 is currently used. This seat 1 consists of a seating section 11 and a back seat 10, both of which are generally fixed to the seating section 11 by a frame 12 via rubber bushings 16.

Mounting plate 13. Washer 14. It is fixed with bolt I5.

[Problem to be solved]

By the way, industrial vehicles can be used not only on flat areas.

It is used on rough roads with many bumps and at civil engineering construction sites.

It may also cause an uneven load. Therefore, the vehicle may tilt significantly or overturn at 2 o'clock. In such a case, the driver is only seated in the seat, so there is a risk that the driver may fall off the seat or even be thrown outside. However, in industrial vehicles, the seat is generally located at a higher position due to driving operations, vehicle structure, etc. (see FIG. 8), so the above-mentioned dangerous situation is more likely to occur and is more dangerous than in the case of a single passenger car.

Therefore, recently there has been a demand for the development of means to protect the driver in case of such a situation.

Furthermore, conventionally, there is a seat in which a shaft portion is provided on both sides of the back seat, but such shaft portions are fixed to the seat. The shaft is a hindrance for a large driver, making it difficult to drive, and the shaft is too wide for a small driver, making it useless in the event of a tilt or overturn.

In view of such problems, the present invention has been developed to
Regardless of your small stature, you can comfortably sit and drive.

The present invention also aims to provide a seat that can ensure the safety of the driver.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention provides a seat for an industrial vehicle, in which side supports are rotatably arranged on both sides of the seat back of the seat,
The base of the side support is connected to a drive device that drives the side support, and a plurality of pressure sensors are arranged on the front of the back seat, and the drive device is actuated by a detection signal from the pressure sensor. The seat with automatic side supports is characterized in that the side supports are rotatable.

What should be noted in the present invention is that rotatable side supports are provided on both sides of the seat back, and a plurality of pressure sensors are provided on the back seat, so that the back of the driver seated on the seat presses against the pressure sensors. The signal generated by this is sent to the control unit, and the side support is rotated to the optimal position for driving and safety, depending on the driver's body shape, the driver's position on the seat, etc. .

The side supports are disposed on both sides of the seat back, and their bases are connected to a drive device that rotates the side supports. The drive device is a servo motor.

Alternatively, an actuator such as hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure may be used.

In addition, the pressure sensor is placed in a location where the driver's body shape can be easily detected, such as in the seat back where the driver's back comes into contact most often. Therefore, a plurality of pressure sensors are used and mounted on the front surface of the seat back. It is preferable to arrange five or more pressure sensors in the horizontal direction so that the driver's body shape can be easily detected. Further, it is preferable to provide one to three rows in the five longitudinal directions.

As the pressure sensor, a device such as a semiconductor strain gauge is used that senses the pressing force when the driver's back presses against the seat. As this pressure sensor, a type of pressure switch that detects only the presence or absence of pressure can be used, but preferably a pressure sensitive element whose output value changes depending on whether the pressing force is high or low is used.

Therefore, it is preferable that the control unit calculates the pressure distribution based on the signal from the pressure sensor, and sets the side support to two rotational positions depending on the pressure distribution, that is, the body shape of the driver (see embodiments).

Note that, without using such control, it is also possible to directly operate the drive device in response to output signals from a plurality of pressure sensors, and to set the rotation position of the side port in an analog manner.

Note that the pressure sensor or the drive device may be brought into a non-operating state in connection with the operation of the vehicle's engine, for example, when the engine key of the vehicle is turned off. Also,
When the vehicle is in the non-operating state, it is preferable to widen the distance between the three side supports so that the driver can easily get on and off the vehicle (see FIG. 5).

Furthermore, drivers often move their bodies in the front and rear directions while driving a vehicle. The signal of the pressure sensor changes accordingly. Therefore, in order to prevent the distance between the side supports from changing each time due to the operation during driving,
It is preferable that the side support interval set at the beginning of seating is fixed. For example, the position may be fixed within 10 seconds to 1 minute after the engine key is turned on, or the position may be fixed by pressing a set button when the driver determines that the position is the optimum side support position.

In addition, if the driver's weight shifts excessively to the right or left due to a slope or a sharp turn, a pressure sensor detects this and rotates one side support toward the driver. It is preferable to ensure the safety of the driver (see Figure 6).

[Action and effect]

In the present invention, side supports are provided on both sides of the seat back, and the side supports are connected to a rotating drive device, and a pressure sensor is placed on the back seat to detect the driver's seat. The drive device is configured to operate based on a signal from the sensor.

Therefore, when the driver first sits on the seat, his or her back presses the plurality of pressure sensors. The pressed pressure sensor emits a constant signal.

Depending on the condition of the signal, the drive device operates and the side support rotates.

That is, when a large driver is seated, many pressure sensors in the width direction from the center detect the pressing force and issue a signal in accordance with the pressure. Therefore.

The drive device rotates the side supports to position the two side supports at a wide interval. Also.

When a small-sized driver is seated, only a small number of pressure sensors located at the center of the seat and nearby areas detect the pressing force. Therefore, the drive device rotates the side supports a lot to position the distance between the two side supports to the width of the back seat or even narrower therebetween. Note that the distance between the two side supports is expanded to a sufficiently wide state until the driver is seated.

In addition, when the driver's weight shifts excessively to either the left or right due to vehicle tilting or sharp turns while driving, a pressure sensor detects this and supports one or both side supports. approach the direction of the driver.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a seat for an industrial vehicle that allows the driver to comfortably sit and drive regardless of the body shape of the driver (large or small) and ensures the safety of the driver.

〔Example〕

A seat with automatic side supports according to an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

The seat 1 in this example has 1 seating section 11. Back seat 10. The back seat 10
Right and left side supports 2 rotatably provided on both sides of the
5.26, a drive device 4 for driving the 8-side support, and a pressure sensor 3 provided on the front surface of the back seat 10.
It becomes more. and.

The output end cable 30 of the pressure sensor 3 is connected to the control unit 5,
Further, the output terminal 56.57 of the control section is connected to the drive device 4.4.
Connect to each. The seat with side supports 1 thus constructed is mounted on a forklift truck 9 as shown in FIG. 8 above.

However, the right side support 25 is...

As shown in Figures 1 to 4, a pair of upper and lower arms 2
1.21, which arm 21.21 is integrally connected to the pivot shaft 22. The rotating shaft 22 is attached to a pair of upper and lower brackets 18 that protrude from the back seat.

Its upper and lower ends are pivotably connected.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the rotating shaft 22 has a semicircular worm wheel 29 fixed near its center. The worm wheel 29 meshes with a worm 43 in the drive device 4 to form a worm gear mechanism. Further, the drive device 4 includes a servo motor 41 and a worm 43 provided on its output shaft 42. The servo motor 41 is connected to the output end of the control unit 5. Note that the left side support 26 is also configured in the same manner as the side support 25 described above.

Next, a total of ten pressure sensors 3 are arranged and fixed in one horizontal row on the front surface of the back seat 10 (FIGS. 2 and 4). and,
As shown in FIG. 5, output ends 51 to 55 of each pressure sensor 32 to 36 are connected to the control section 5. In FIG. 5, the number of pressure sensors 3 is omitted for the sake of explanation. The pressure sensor 3
A semiconductor strain gauge was used. The control unit 5 calculates the optimum position of the side support based on the signal from the pressure sensor 3, and issues a signal to the servo motor 41 of the drive device 4 to rotate it forward or reverse, thereby performing side support)25.
26 to the optimum position.

That is, the control unit 5 receives a signal from the pressure sensor 3, and if the signal indicates that the pressure sensor 3 is being pressed widely in the lateral direction from the center (that is, the driver is a large driver), , correspondingly side supports 25.26
The servo motor 41 is rotated so as to increase the distance between the two. Moreover, when the pressure sensor 3 is pressed relatively narrowly near the center, the servo motor 41 is rotated so as to narrow the space between the side supports 25 and 26, contrary to the above. Further, when the driver on the seat shifts his weight extremely to the right or left, the side supports in two opposite directions are moved closer to the driver.

Further, the control unit 5 controls the control unit 5 when the driver is seated on the seat 1 and presses the back of the driver against the back seat 10.

The pressure distribution is detected by the pressure sensor 3, and the servo motor 41 is rotated so that the side supports 25 and 26 come to the optimal position as described above, and after setting the optimal position, this is maintained (
(fixed) function. Therefore, even if the pushing force of the pressure sensor 3 fluctuates due to the driver moving his or her body in the front-back direction while operating the forklift, the side support 25.26
does not rotate each time. However, after setting the side support position in this way, only when there is an extreme change in the driver's weight position as described above,
1 Reinforced polypropylene resin 5 To ensure driver safety
emits a signal to rotate one or both side supports as described above.

Since the seat with side supports of this example is configured as described above, it has the function and effect of the ninth order.

This will be explained mainly using FIGS. 5 and 6.

That is, until the driver first sits on seat 1.

The side supports 25, 26 are in an expanded state as shown in solid lines in FIG. In other words, the side support is back seat 1
It is located at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal axis of 0.

Therefore, when the driver B sits on the seat 1, the back surface of the driver B presses the pressure sensors 33 to 35 of the pressure sensors 32 to 36 of the pressure sensor 3.

The output waveform is shown by dotted line C in the figure. At this time.

When the engine key of the vehicle is turned on (input), an output signal corresponding to the pressure distribution is transmitted from each pressure sensor 32 to 36 to the control unit 5 through its output terminals 51 to 55.

The control unit 5 receives the above signal and controls the side support)
25 and 26 are calculated, and signals are issued from the cables 56 and 57 to rotate the servo motor 41 of the drive device 4 as described above. And side support 25.2
6 to the optimal position for this driver B, as shown by the chain line in the figure.

Make it still. In FIG. 5, the number of pressure sensors is shown as 5 for explanation purposes, but if this number is 10 or 20, the above calculation in the control section 5 and the position of the side support are as follows.
More precision. However.

After the side support is stationary at this position, this state is maintained and operation is performed.

Next, when the vehicle is traveling on a rough road or the like and tilts or makes a sharp turn, and the weight of the driver B moves extremely to the right as shown in FIG. 6, the pressure sensors 32 to 36 are Particularly, the pressure sensors 35 and 36 on the right side detect a strong pressing force (output waveform C in the figure). Therefore, in response to this signal, the control unit 5 detects and calculates this dangerous condition and drives the servo motor 41 of the drive device 4 in order to rotate the left side support 26 in the direction of the driver B as shown in the figure. Rotate. Thereby, the driver B is held safely on the seat 1. Note that after the above-mentioned weight bias is eliminated, the side supports 25 and 26 are returned to the initial state (optimal position).

Note that after the engine key is turned off, the above setting is canceled and the side supports 25 and 26 are placed in the expanded state (solid line in Figure 5) as described above, making it easier for the driver to get off the vehicle or get on the next ride. do.

According to the nine seats described above, the positions of the side supports 25 and 26 are comfortable for the driver.

It can be set to the optimal position for driving. Additionally, when the vehicle is tilting or making a sharp turn, which is dangerous for the driver, the position of the side support can be changed to protect the driver.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 6 show a seat with automatic side support according to an embodiment, FIG. 1 is a perspective view thereof, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the drive device portion, and FIG. 4 5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating its operating state, FIG. 7 is a conventional seat, and FIG. 8 is a side view of a forklift truck equipped with a seat. 1. Sheet. 10... Back seat. 25.26 ・ ・ ・Side support. 22...Rotation axis. 3.32-36...pressure sensor. 4... Drive device. 4I... Servo motor. 5...Control unit. B... Driver.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a seat for an industrial vehicle, side supports are rotatably arranged on both sides of the seat back of the seat, the bases of the side supports are connected to a drive device that drives the side supports, and the back seat has a plurality of side supports on the front side thereof. 1. A seat with automatic side supports, characterized in that a pressure sensor is disposed, and a detection signal from the pressure sensor operates the drive device to rotate the side supports.