JPH0690834A - System for controlling seat for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a burden on a rider on a vehicle while improving riding quality of the rider on the vehicle and ensuring the optimum driving position. CONSTITUTION:First air bag 9 - twelfth air bag 20 are disposed inside a vehicle seat at a plurality of positions for supporting the body of a rider on the vehicle. This system is provided with a compressor 22 for sending fluid into the respective air bags 9-20 to heighten the hardness, a first acceleration sensor 23 for detecting rolling acceleration, a second acceleration sensor 24 for detecting yawing acceleration and a third acceleration sensor 25 for detecting pitching acceleration. Further, it is provided with a control unit 26 for judging the magniture and direction of acceleration detected by the respective acceleration sensors 23-25 in the travelling of the vehicle to send fluid from the compressor 22 into the air bag corresponding to the direction of the largest acceleration acting on the rider on the vehicle seat.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle seat control system, and more particularly to a vehicle seat control system suitable for improving the riding comfort of a vehicle occupant and ensuring an optimal driving posture.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, seats mounted on a vehicle have a fixed hardness and shape for each seat, such as a hard seat and a soft seat. At the design stage of the vehicle, use of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, etc. By purpose or sports type,
According to the engine performance such as family type, hard seat or soft seat is selected and installed in the vehicle. For example, in the case of a sports type passenger car, a hard full bucket type seat is used in order to improve the holdability of the body of a vehicle occupant.

[0003]

As described above, conventionally, a hard seat or a soft seat is appropriately mounted according to the type of vehicle, but the hard seat is generally suitable for sports driving and the like. However, there is an aspect that it is not very suitable for normal driving and driving on congested roads. On the other hand, a soft seat is suitable for normal running, but is not very suitable for sports running. For example, when the vehicle is suddenly accelerated (decelerated), the weight of the vehicle occupant may shift. As a result, the occupant's eye point and driving posture are likely to change. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a seat that appropriately controls the holdability according to the running state of the vehicle.

[0004]

An object of the present invention is to improve the disadvantages of the prior art, and in particular, to improve the riding comfort of the vehicle occupant and ensure an optimal driving posture, and to reduce the burden on the vehicle occupant. The purpose is to provide the system.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle seat control system configured to automatically control the holdability of a vehicle seat according to the running state of the vehicle. Airbags arranged inside the vehicle seat and at a plurality of locations for supporting the body of the vehicle occupant, pressure supply means for sending fluid to the airbag to increase hardness of the airbag, and acceleration detection for detecting acceleration of the vehicle. Means for determining the magnitude and direction of the acceleration detected by the acceleration detecting means when the vehicle is running, and supplying the fluid from the pressure supply means to the airbag corresponding to the direction of the maximum acceleration acting on the occupant on the vehicle seat. It is configured to have a sending-in control means.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when the acceleration detecting means detects the acceleration applied to the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling, the detection output is sent to the control means. The control means determines the magnitude and direction of the acceleration based on the detection output of the acceleration detection means, and then activates the pressure supply means to supply the fluid to the airbag corresponding to the direction of the maximum acceleration applied to the occupant on the vehicle seat. To do. As a result, the hardness of the airbag increases, so that the holdability of the occupant's body is enhanced even when acceleration is applied to the occupant on the vehicle seat. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to improve the riding comfort of the vehicle occupant and ensure an optimal driving posture, and it is possible to reduce the burden on the vehicle occupant.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment to which the vehicle seat control system of the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the structure of the vehicle seat control system of the present embodiment mounted on a vehicle will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The vehicle seat 1 includes a back holding portion 2 and a right half body supporting portion 3.
The left waist support unit 4, the waist placement unit 5, the right waist support unit 6, the left waist support unit 7, and the headrest 8. The first airbag 9, the second airbag 10, the third airbag 11, and the fourth airbag 12 are mounted inside the backrest portion 2, and inside the waist mounting portion 5,
The fifth airbag 13, the sixth airbag 14, the seventh airbag 15, and the eighth airbag 16 are mounted. Also, the ninth airbag 1 is provided inside the right half body support portion 3.
7 is mounted, and inside the right waist support portion 6, a tenth airbag 18 is mounted. Further, the eleventh airbag 19 is mounted inside the left half body support unit 4, and the twelfth airbag 20 is mounted inside the left waist support unit 7. In this case, the first airbag 12 to the twelfth airbag 20 are housed in urethane.

First airbags 9 to 12 of the vehicle seat 1
Each of the tubes T is connected to the airbag 20, a high-speed control valve V is disposed in the middle of each tube T, and a proximal end side of each tube T has an accumulator 21 for storing compressed air and a compressed air. It is connected to a compressor 22 which is a pressure supply means for sending out air. The compressor 22 passes the compressed air through the accumulator 21, the high speed control valve V, and the tube T to the first airbag 9 to the first airbag.
2 It is designed to be sent to the airbag 20. As a result, the hardness of the first airbag 9 to the twelfth airbag 20 increases in proportion to the pressure sent from the compressor 22, and the holding property for the vehicle occupant is improved. In this case, the pressure source for increasing the hardness of the first airbag 9 to the twelfth airbag 20 may be gas or liquid other than air.

Next, the detailed configuration of the vehicle seat control system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The first acceleration for detecting the roll (rolling) acceleration of the vehicle body is provided at an appropriate position of the vehicle of the present embodiment. Sensor 23, body yaw (body swing)
A second acceleration sensor 24 for detecting the acceleration and a third acceleration sensor 25 for detecting the pitch (pitch) acceleration of the vehicle body are provided, and the detection outputs of the acceleration sensors 23 to 25 serving as the acceleration detecting means are the vehicle. It is adapted to be supplied to a control unit 26 which is a control means mounted on the.
The control unit 26 determines the magnitude and direction (positive or negative) of the absolute value of each acceleration based on the detection output of each acceleration sensor 23 to 25, and controls the corresponding high-speed control valve V to move to the corresponding airbag. A control for sending pressure from the compressor 22 is performed. This allows
The hardness of the airbag of the vehicle seat 1 is automatically increased according to the traveling state when the vehicle is traveling.

Here, FIG. 3 shows the definition of the roll, yaw, and pitch coordinate systems in the vehicle of this embodiment.
For rolls, counterclockwise is defined as positive when viewed from the front of the vehicle (arrow Y1), and for yaw, counterclockwise is defined as positive when viewed from above the vehicle (arrow Y2).
Regarding the pitch, the counterclockwise direction is defined as positive when viewed from the right side of the vehicle (arrow Y3).

Next, the operation of the vehicle seat control system of the present embodiment constructed as described above will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

The control unit 26 of the vehicle determines whether or not the ignition switch is on (step S1),
If the ignition switch is not on, that is,
When the vehicle is in the non-traveling state, all the high-speed control valves V of the tubes T connected to the first airbag 9 to the twelfth airbag 20 inside the vehicle seat 1 are closed and the compressor 22 is deactivated. (Step S2), the procedure returns to step S1 to determine the on / off state of the ignition switch.

The control unit 26 detects the pitch acceleration P by the third acceleration sensor 25 when the ignition switch is in the ON state, that is, when the vehicle is in the traveling state (step S3), and the first acceleration sensor 23 detects the pitch acceleration P. The roll acceleration R is detected (step S4), and the yaw acceleration Y is detected by the second acceleration sensor 24 (step S4).
5). Then, it is determined whether the pitch acceleration P, the roll acceleration R, and the yaw acceleration Y are all "0" (step S
6) If all are "0", the process returns to step S1, while if not all "0", the process proceeds to step S7.

The control unit 26 compares the absolute values of the pitch acceleration P, the roll acceleration R, and the yaw acceleration Y. If the maximum value of these three accelerations is two or more, the process proceeds to (step S1), If the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P, the process proceeds to (step S8), and the maximum value is the roll acceleration R.
If the maximum value is the yaw acceleration Y, the process proceeds to (step S11), and the process proceeds to (step S14) (step S7).

When the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P in the judgment of step S7, the control unit 26 judges whether the direction of the pitch acceleration P is positive or negative based on the definition of the coordinate system of FIG. 3 (step S8). ), If the pitch acceleration P is positive,
The high-speed control valve V of the tube T connected to the first airbag 9 to the fifth airbag 13 is opened, the compressor 22 is operated, and the pressure is sent from the compressor 22 to the first airbag 9 to the fifth airbag 13. (Step S9). As a result, the hardness of the first airbag 9 to the fifth airbag 13 increases, so the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P.
In addition, even when the vehicle seat 1 is acting in the forward direction, the holdability of the vehicle seat 1 on the body of the occupant is enhanced. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to maintain a good riding comfort and driving posture of the occupant. After the process of step S9, the process proceeds to (step S1).

The control unit 26 controls the high speed control valve of the tube T connected to the sixth air bag 14, the seventh air bag 15 and the eighth air bag 16 when the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P and is negative. V is opened and the compressor 22 is operated to send pressure from the compressor 22 to the sixth airbag 14, the seventh airbag 15, and the eighth airbag 16 (step S10). Thereby, the sixth airbag 14, the seventh airbag 15, the eighth airbag 1
Since the hardness of No. 6 increases, the holdability of the vehicle seat 1 against the body of the occupant is improved even when the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P and the maximum value is acting in the negative direction. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to maintain a good riding comfort and driving posture of the occupant. After the process of step S10, the process proceeds to (step S1).

On the other hand, if the maximum value is the roll acceleration R in the determination of step S7, the control unit 26 is set to the position shown in FIG.
It is determined whether the direction of the roll acceleration R is positive or negative based on the definition of the coordinate system (step S11), and if the roll acceleration R is positive, the third airbag 11, the seventh airbag 15, the ninth airbag. 17, the high-speed control valve V of the tube T connected to the tenth airbag 18 is opened, and the compressor 22 is operated so that the compressor 22 operates the third airbag 11, the seventh airbag 15, the ninth airbag 17,
The pressure is sent to the tenth airbag 18 (step S1
2). As a result, the hardness of the third airbag 11, the seventh airbag 15, the ninth airbag 17, and the tenth airbag 18 increases, so that even when the maximum value is the roll acceleration R and acting in the forward direction. Therefore, the holdability of the vehicle seat 1 on the body of the occupant is improved. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to maintain a good riding comfort and driving posture of the occupant. After the process of step S12 (step S
Go to 1).

The control unit 26 is connected to the fourth air bag 12, the eighth air bag 16, the eleventh air bag 19, and the twelfth air bag 20 when the maximum value is the roll acceleration R and is negative. High-speed control valve V for tube T
And the compressor 22 is actuated to open the fourth airbag 12 and the eighth airbag 1 from the compressor 22.
6, pressure is sent to the 11th airbag 19 and the 12th airbag 20 (step S13). As a result, the hardness of the fourth airbag 12, the eighth airbag 16, the eleventh airbag 19, and the twelfth airbag 20 increases, so that even when the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P and acting in the negative direction. Therefore, the holdability of the vehicle seat 1 on the body of the occupant is improved. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to maintain a good riding comfort and driving posture of the occupant. Step S1
After the process of 3, the process proceeds to (step S1).

On the other hand, when the maximum value is the yaw acceleration Y in the determination of step S7, the control unit 26 determines whether the direction of the yaw acceleration Y is positive or negative based on the definition of the coordinate system of FIG. If the yaw acceleration Y is positive in step S14), the high-speed control valve V of the tube T connected to the ninth airbag 17 and the tenth airbag 18 is opened, the compressor 22 is operated, and the compressor 22 starts the ninth.
Pressure is sent to the airbag 17 and the tenth airbag 18 (step S15). As a result, the ninth airbag 1
Since the hardness of the seventh and tenth airbags 18 is increased, the holdability of the vehicle seat 1 against the body of the occupant is improved even when the maximum value is the yaw acceleration Y and the positive action is applied. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to maintain a good riding comfort and driving posture of the occupant. Step S15
After the process of (1), the process proceeds to (step S1).

When the maximum value is the yaw acceleration Y and the value is negative, the control unit 26 opens the high speed control valve V of the tube T connected to the eleventh airbag 19 and the twelfth airbag 20, and also the compressor. Activate 22
Pressure is sent from the compressor 22 to the eleventh airbag 19 and the twelfth airbag 20 (step S16). As a result, the 11th airbag 19 and the 12th airbag 2
Since the hardness of 0 increases, the holdability of the vehicle seat 1 against the body of the occupant is improved even when the maximum value is the pitch acceleration P and the negative value is acting. Therefore, regardless of the traveling state of the vehicle, it is possible to maintain a good riding comfort and driving posture of the occupant. After the process of step S16, the process proceeds to (step S1).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pitch acceleration P, the roll acceleration R, and the yaw acceleration Y are detected when the vehicle is running, and based on the direction (positive or negative) of the maximum acceleration among these accelerations, That is, by sending pressure from the compressor 22 to the airbag corresponding to the direction of the acceleration applied to the occupant's body in the vehicle seat 1, the hardness of the airbag is automatically controlled to be higher than usual. It is possible to improve the holdability for the passenger of No. 1. Therefore, it is possible to improve the riding comfort of the vehicle occupant and ensure an optimal driving posture, and reduce the burden on the vehicle occupant.

In the present embodiment, the vehicle seat is divided as shown in FIG. 2 and a predetermined number of airbags are housed in each divided area. The number of airbags is not limited to that of this embodiment.

[0024]

As described above, according to the vehicle seat control system of the present invention, when the vehicle is traveling, the fluid is supplied from the pressure supply means to the airbag corresponding to the direction of the maximum acceleration acting on the occupant on the vehicle seat. The vehicle's seat holding property is automatically controlled by feeding the vehicle and increasing the hardness of the airbag, so that it is possible to improve the ride comfort of the vehicle occupant and ensure an optimal driving posture regardless of the running state of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to achieve remarkable effects such as reducing the burden on the vehicle occupant.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram centering on a sensor system of a vehicle seat control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram centering on a pressure supply system of the vehicle seat control system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the definition of the roll-yaw-pitch coordinate system of the vehicle according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vehicle Seat 9 1st Airbag 10 2nd Airbag 11 3rd Airbag 12 4th Airbag 13 5th Airbag 14 6th Airbag 15 7th Airbag 16 8th Airbag 17 9th Airbag 18th 10 Airbag 19 11th Airbag 20 12th Airbag 21 Accumulator 22 Compressor 23 1st Acceleration Sensor 24 2nd Acceleration Sensor 25 3rd Acceleration Sensor 26 Control Unit V High Speed Control Valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle seat control system configured to automatically control the holdability of a vehicle seat in accordance with the running state of the vehicle, in a plurality of locations inside the vehicle seat and supporting a body of a vehicle occupant. It is provided with an arranged airbag, a pressure supply means for feeding a fluid to the airbag to increase the hardness of the airbag, and an acceleration detection means for detecting the acceleration of the vehicle, and the acceleration detection means detects the acceleration when the vehicle is running. Vehicle seat control characterized by being equipped with control means for judging the magnitude and direction of acceleration and sending fluid from the pressure supply means to an airbag corresponding to the direction of maximum acceleration acting on the occupant on the vehicle seat system.