JPH045916A - Seat - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To more effectively reduce the fatigue of a seated person caused by seating many hours by overshooting temporarily a change of a seat surface shape, in a process for changing the seat surface shape of a seat to a set shape by a driving means. CONSTITUTION:A seat S which can change its seat surface shape is constituted of a seat cushion 1 and a seat back 3, and provided with a driving means PO for driving to change the seat surface shape to a set shape, and control means CON which is connected to the means concerned PO, and controls the driving means PO so that in the case of changing the seat surface shape to the set shape, it is projected temporarily form the set shape and overshot. According to said constitution, since the change of the seat surface shape is overshot temporarily and changed, effective stimulation for urging the circulation of blood and metabolism for reducing the fatigue can be given to a crewman, and the fatigue can be reduced more effectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Objective of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to a seat in which the shape of the seating surface of the seat can be variably controlled.

(Prior art) Conventional sheets of this type include, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-2
There is one as shown in FIG. 7 described in Japanese Patent No. 57333. This seat S consists of a seat cushion 101 and a seat back 103, and inside each support part such as a front support part, a center support part, and a side support part, there is a front air mat 1o5, a center air mat 107, and a cushion side air mat 1.
09.111, back side air mat 113°115
are provided, and the shape of the seating surface of the seat S is changed by inflating and deflating each air mat.

Then, each air mattress is controlled in constant synchronization by a timer to change the shape of the seating surface of the seat S, so that when driving for a long time, the seat side changes the occupant's posture over time to reduce fatigue. It has become.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in such a conventional vehicle seat, each of the air mattresses 105 to 115 is only periodically controlled at fixed time intervals set by a timer. When driving for hours, the driver tends to get used to it, and the effect of reducing fatigue may be diminished.

By the way, as a control pattern for controlling the actuator, for example, an actuator pressure increase/decrease pattern as shown in FIG. 8 can be considered.

In FIG. 8(a), the actuator is at the initial pressure P. This is a control pattern that continuously repeats increasing and decreasing the pressure between and the set pressure P, and FIG. 8(b) shows the initial pressure P. and set pressure P,
This is a control pattern that repeats pressure increases and decreases between the two at regular intervals. Moreover, FIG. 8(C) shows the initial pressure P. After increasing the pressure from the set pressure P1 to the set pressure P1 and holding the set pressure P1 for a certain period of time, the initial pressure P is reached.

This is a control pattern that repeats pressure increases and decreases with constant synchronization.

In such control patterns, the initial pressure is P in all cases. The larger the amplitude between P1 and the set pressure P1, the more effective it is for blood circulation, bones, and metabolism of the muscular system, and the greater the activation effect on the occupant, as shown in FIG. 8(a).

If the amplitude is maintained at a large amplitude as shown by the dotted lines in (b) and (C), it may not match the human senses and may cause a sense of discomfort or result in an unreasonable driving posture.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a seat that can more effectively reduce the fatigue of a seated person due to sitting for a long time by overshooting the seat.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a seat S comprising a seat cushion and a seat back, the seat shape of which can be changed; The configuration includes a drive means PO for driving the change to the set shape, and a means CON for controlling the drive means PO so that it once protrudes beyond the set shape and overshoots when changing the seat shape to the set shape. .

(Function) According to the above configuration, in the process of changing the seating surface shape of the seat S to the set shape by the driving means PO, it is possible to once overshoot and give a large stimulation to the seated person.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle seat S is composed of a seat cushion 1 and a seat back 3. Cushion side support parts 5 and 7 are provided on both sides of the seat cushion 1, and seat cushions are provided on both sides of the seat back 3. A back support section 9, 1] is provided.

A hip support air mat 13 is disposed as an actuator in the seat cushion 1 to support the buttocks of a seated person. A lumbar support air mat 17 and a back support air mat 19 are provided as actuators in the seat back 3 to support the lumbar vertebrae and back of the seated person.

Cushion side support air mats 21 and 23 are arranged as actuators in the cushion side support parts 5 and 7 to support the lower leg side parts of the seated person.
Inside the backside support part 9゜11 is a backside support air mat 25 that supports the side part of the upper body of the seated person.
．． 27 is provided as an actuator. By expanding and contracting each of these air mats 17 to 27, the seating surface of the seat S is deformed at that location.

Each of the air mats 17 to 27 is connected to a pipe line 31 branched from the discharge port of the pump 29.
A solenoid valve 33 and a pressure sensor 35 are interposed in each. These two pumps and the electromagnetic valve 33 constitute a driving means PO.

As an actuator, a stepping motor, a pie break, or the like may be used instead of the above-mentioned air mat.

The pump 29, the electromagnetic valve 33 and the pressure sensor 35
is connected to a microcomputer 37 as control means CON.

The microcomputer 37 is equipped with control pattern setting means for setting a control pattern for the actuator as shown in FIG.

In addition, the microcomputer 37 is configured to set an initial pressure P0 of the actuator to support the occupant in an optimal seating posture that matches the feeling of the occupant, and a set pressure P1 of the actuator to reduce fatigue. A manual pattern setting switch 39 for setting control patterns such as hold time T2 is connected.

The pump 29 is driven by a drive signal from the microcomputer 37, the air pressure of each air mat 17-27 is detected by a pressure sensor 35, and the opening/closing of each electromagnetic valve 33 is controlled based on the detected value.
7 are respectively inflated and contracted to change the shape of the seating surface of the seat S, thereby reducing the fatigue of the seated person.

FIGS. 3(a), 3(b), and 3(c) are explanatory diagrams of control patterns of the actuator in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3(a) shows that in the process of increasing the pressure of the actuator from the initial pressure Po to the set pressure P1 that causes the seat shape to protrude into the set shape in order to give stimulation to the occupant, the actuator is temporarily operated for a predetermined time T1 (for example, 1 to 2 seconds). minute). That is, the pressure is further increased from the set pressure P1 to a high pressure P2 so that the seat shape protrudes beyond the set shape. After overshooting, reduce the pressure and adjust the set pressure P to the set shape. Then, after holding this set pressure P1 for a certain hold time T2, the initial pressure P is restored again. Reduce the pressure to With this control pattern, for a certain period of time T3
It is repeated periodically every time.

Initial pressure P of the actuator. , set pressure P l
, overshoot pressure P2 and time T1°T2. T
3 is set in advance when the occupant is seated. For this setting, each value may be entered numerically, or a plurality of patterns may be set in advance and selected from among them.

Furthermore, the initial pressure P of the actuator. and set pressure P
1 can also be configured to be automatically set based on the sitting pressure distribution of the seated person detected by the pressure sensor 35.

Time T1. T2 and T3 can also be configured to detect the fatigue level of the seated person and to be variably set based on the detected fatigue level.

FIG. 3(b) shows the actuator at an initial pressure P. In the process of increasing the pressure from Pl to the set pressure Pl, the initial pressure P is set by overshooting the pressure P2 and then gradually reducing the pressure over a certain period of time T. This is a control pattern that returns to . Various patterns of pressure reduction at time T3 can be considered, such as gradually increasing the pressure reduction at first and gradually increasing the degree of pressure reduction.

FIG. 3(C) is a control pattern in which a high frequency component is added to the set pressure P1 during the hold time T2 in the control pattern shown in FIG. 3(a) to provide a vibrator effect. There are various patterns of this vibrator.

In this embodiment, the above-mentioned FIGS. 3(a), (b),
Lumbar support air mat 17 that supports the lumbar region of the seated person according to one of the control patterns shown in (C)
The aim is to reduce fatigue by approximating the movement pattern of humans to recover from fatigue.

In other words, in consideration of the fact that when the body is fatigued, it generally tries to recover from fatigue by stretching its back greatly.
By causing the actuator to once overshoot the set pressure P to a pressure P2, the occupant is given a back-stretching motion.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 4.

This control is started when the ON signal of the ignition switch is input to the microcoscipulator 37.

First, after the passenger is seated, the manual pattern setting switch 39
to set the initial pressure Po, etc. of the lumbar support air mat 17 and back support air mat 19, which maintain a sitting posture that suits the user's feeling. Also, the amount of pressure increase and time T of each of the air mats 17 and 19 to reduce fatigue.

T2, 73, etc. are set, and an actuator control pattern is selected (step s1).

With the above settings, the crew member will be able to operate as shown in Fig. 5 (a) for a certain period of time T3.
), the lumbar support air mat 17 and the back support air mat 19 have an initial pressure P. (Steps 82 to S6).

Then, when a certain period of time T3 has elapsed (step 56YE
S) The two pumps are driven by the drive signal from the microcomputer 37, and the air mat 17 is set at the set pressure P1.
The pressure is increased to (steps S7 and S8). air mat 17
becomes the set pressure P (step 88 YES)
, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the air mat 17 is once overshot from the set pressure P1 to the pressure P2 for a predetermined time T (step S9, 5IO), and then as shown in FIG. 5(c). The pressure is reduced to the set pressure P"1, and the holding time T is predetermined with the seat shape based on this set pressure P1.
2 (step Sll, 512). Then, when the hold time T2 has elapsed, the pressure is reduced to the initial pressure P again. The process returns to (steps 813 and 514). and,
If the ignition switch is ON, the timer is reset and the above flow is repeated again (step S15,
516).

As shown in Fig. 6(a) in the above-mentioned overshoot, when the pressure increase amount is set to a constant value with each air mattress 17. A stimulus is given, and in this case, the distance does not match that of humans, and the user may feel uncomfortable. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the pressure of the air mat 17 is increased to a pressure P2. Further, more realistic control can be achieved by detecting the pressure of each air mat 17 and 19 and adding an overshoot pressure increase proportional to the pressure increase to the set shape. In other words, each part of the seat surface is overshot in proportion to the amount of change to the set shape, and the overshoot amplitude of the lumbar support air mat 17 is increased to give flexion and extension motion to the occupant's lumbar vertebrae and surrounding muscles. to reduce fatigue.

Note that the seat of the present invention can be applied to other than vehicles, such as seats for ships, aircraft, etc., and general seats.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the configuration of the present invention, the seat shape is changed by overshooting the seat shape, which improves blood circulation and metabolism to reduce fatigue for the occupants. It is possible to provide an effective stimulus that promotes this, as well as provide a stimulus that reduces fatigue without causing any discomfort in the feeling, thereby making it possible to reduce fatigue more effectively.

If the amount of overshoot is proportional to the amount of change to the set shape, more realistic control can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS.
), (C) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a stimulation pattern, the fourth
The figure is a flow chart, Figure 5 (a), (b),
(c) is an explanatory diagram of the movement of the body due to the change in the shape of the seat;
Figure (a). (b) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the amplitude of overshoot,
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional sheet, and FIG. 8(a). (b) and (C) are explanatory diagrams of control patterns according to a conventional example. 1... Seat cushion 3... Seat back S・
... Seat po... Drive means CON... Control means

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A seat that is composed of a seat cushion and a seat back and whose seat shape can be changed, including a driving means for changing the seat shape to a set shape, and a drive means for driving the seat shape to change to a set shape, and a drive unit that changes the seat shape to the set shape once the seat shape is changed to the set shape. and means for controlling the driving means so that the driving means overshoots more than the driving means. (2) The seat according to claim 1, wherein the control means causes each part of the seat surface to overshoot in proportion to the amount of change to the set shape.