JPH0747875A - Active control seat - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve drivability by driving a tilt means controlled, and tilting a seat cushion in an opposite direction to acceleration received to a vehicle, so as to hold a posture of occupant always flat, based on the acceleration, received to the vehicle, calculated by a car speed and a steering angle. CONSTITUTION:A constitution is provided so as to tilt a cushion pan of a seat in right/left directions by controlling an electric motor 14 forwardly/reversely rotated, and the electric motor 14 is controlled by an ECU27 of inputting output signals of a car speed sensor 28, steering sensor 29, door switch 30, seat belt switch 31, etc. That is, in the case of showing an auto mode by a signal from a changeover switch 33 and further an active mode by a signal from a changeover switch 34, the electric motor 14 is actuated in one direction or the other direction by a prescribed operating amount at a prescribed operating speed, to tilt the seat in an opposite direction to lateral acceleration received to a vehicle, through a link mechanism, corresponding to a level of lateral acceleration and a generated speed, and a posture of occupant is maintained always flat.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an active control seat which moves independently of the movement of a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a vehicle is subjected to a braking action, for example, the front wheels sink and the rear wheels rise. On the other hand, in a vehicle taking a curve to the right, the outer wheel sinks and the inner wheel rises due to the centrifugal force in the left direction. In addition, a vehicle traveling on an uneven road surface vibrates vertically depending on the road surface. For such movement of the vehicle,
There is an attempt to keep the posture of the vehicle constant regardless of the road condition and the movement of the vehicle.

An active suspension is provided as a means of embodying this attempt. A typical active suspension adds a power source to a normal (passive) suspension, supplies hydraulic pressure to an actuator according to road surface conditions and vehicle movement, and makes a stroke by itself.
It is configured to keep the posture of the vehicle constant. The power source is
It is continuously controlled by a function calculated based on signals from various sensors (vehicle height sensor, vehicle speed sensor, G sensor, steering angle sensor, hydraulic oil temperature sensor, etc.).

[0004]

In the active suspension as described above, when the actuator is moved so as to follow the fine unevenness of the road surface and the fine movement change of the vehicle, the work of the pump is increased and the number of sensors is increased, resulting in the control. It becomes complicated and costly. Therefore, this means is not always optimal for mass-produced vehicles.

Therefore, there is an attempt to tilt the seat cushion by using a link mechanism operated by a motor to always stabilize the posture of the occupant regardless of the traveling posture of the vehicle. This trial is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-68220. In this example, the motor tilts the seat cushion in a direction opposite to the lateral acceleration that the vehicle receives by the control means, and the seat tilt angle is a function of the steering angle. Since the motor is controlled so as to tilt the seat based on the steering angle, it is difficult to reliably stabilize the posture of the occupant. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention calculates the apparent lateral acceleration from the vehicle speed and the steering angle to determine the seat inclination, and preferably, according to the rising speed of the acceleration. The means for determining the operating speed of the drive means is basically adopted.

Specifically, the present invention is arranged on both sides of a seat cushion, and tilting means for tilting the seat, drive means for operating the tilting means, acceleration of the vehicle depending on vehicle speed and steering angle of the vehicle. There is provided an active control sheet having a control means for controlling the operation amount of the drive means based on the calculated acceleration.

[0008] Preferably, the control means further calculates a speed at the time of occurrence of acceleration that the vehicle receives by at least the steering speed of the vehicle, and controls the operating speed of the drive means based on the calculated speed at the time of generation of the acceleration. To do.

[0009]

The driving means for tilting the seat operates by controlling the operation amount based on the acceleration that the vehicle will receive calculated from the vehicle speed and the steering angle of the vehicle.
The seat cushion is tilted in a direction opposite to the acceleration received by the vehicle by the operation of the tilting means.

[0010]

EXAMPLE A seat cushion frame 1 with reference to FIG.
Has a frame shape made of steel, and rotatably supports the sector gear 2 inside the front portions of the left and right side pieces thereof. Further, the central portion of the bell crank 3 is rotatably supported inside the rear portion of the left and right side pieces. Upward arm 4 of sector gear 2
And the bell crank 3 downward piece 5 to the coil spring 6
The rotary motion of the sector gear 2 around the pin 7 can be transmitted to the bell crank 3 via the coil spring 6.

Both ends of the hollow bar 8 are fixed to the left and right side pieces of the frame 1 so as to extend in the lateral direction of the seat behind the mounting position of the sector gear 2. A pair of brackets 9 are rotatably arranged on the left and right of the bar 8 and springs 10 wound around the bar 8 are arranged on the sides of the bracket 9, and one end of the spring 10 is attached to the bracket 9. To combine. The other end 11 of the spring 10 extends in the direction of the sector gear 2. Each bracket 9 is connected to the sector gear 2 via a link 12.

A rotary shaft 13 is arranged between the sector gear 2 and the bar 8 in parallel with the bar 8. Both ends of the rotary shaft 13 are rotatably supported by the left and right side pieces of the frame 1. The rotary shaft 13 is
It cooperates with the electric motor 14 with a reduction gear supported by the bar 8 to rotate in accordance with the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the motor 14. The operation of the motor 14 is controlled by the ECU 27. A pair of pinions 15 are fixed to the left and right of the rotary shaft 13, one pinion 15 is directly meshed with the sector gear 2, and the other pinion 15 is connected to the sector gear 2 via an idle gear 16.
Mesh with.

A cushion pan 18 is arranged above the frame 1. The front portions of the left and right side pieces of the cushion pan 18 are connected to the ends 11 of the coil spring 10 wound around the bar 8, and the rear portions thereof are bell cranks. The tip of the upward facing piece 19 of 3 is supported.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned link mechanism will be described. In FIG. 6, when the electric motor 14 is operated in one direction to rotate the rotary shaft 13 in the clockwise direction, the right pinion 15 rotates in the same direction, and the right sector gear 2 rotates in the counterclockwise direction. For this reason, the bell crank 3 also rotates clockwise, and the upward piece 19 thereof is lifted to raise the right side of the cushion pan 18. On the other hand, the rotational movement of the left pinion 15 is transmitted to the left sector gear 2 via the idle gear 16 and rotates the sector gear 2 in the clockwise direction. This movement is transmitted to the left side bell crank 3 to rotate the bell crank 3 counterclockwise. That is, the left side of the cushion pan 18 is lowered. Thus, the cushion pan 18 tilts to the upper right and the lower left. When it is desired to tilt the seat cushion in the opposite direction, the electric motor 14 is operated in the other direction to rotate the rotary shaft 13 in the counterclockwise direction.

Referring to FIG. The vehicle speed sensor 2 for detecting the speed of the vehicle is connected to the input ports P1 to P7 of the ECU 27.
8. A steering sensor 29 for detecting a steering angle and a steering speed of a vehicle, a door switch 30 for detecting an open / closed state of a vehicle door, a seat belt switch 31 for detecting a detached state of a vehicle seat belt, and an on / off state of a vehicle ignition. Ignition switch 32 and ECU 2 for detection
Selector switches 33 and 34 for selectively switching the operation of No. 7
Are connected. In addition, the output port P8 of the ECU 27,
The electric motor 14 is connected to P9 via a drive circuit 35.

FIG. 7 shows the posture of the occupant 26 when the seat 25 is tilted left and right.

The operation of the ECU 27 will be described. ECU 27
Is operated according to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 to control the operation of the electric motor 14. More specifically, the signal from the change-over switch 33 indicates the auto mode and the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 28 indicates the speed of 0 km / h.
, The signal from the seat belt switch 31 indicates the released state, the signal from the door switch 30 indicates the opened state, and the signal from the ignition switch 32 indicates the off state (recognizing that the occupant 26 is getting off the vehicle). Then, in step S1 of FIG. 3, the electric motor 1
4 is operated in one direction at a set amount and a set speed, and the seat 25 is raised inside the vehicle and lowered on the door side by the operation of the link mechanism. As a result, the occupant 26 can easily get on and off. Further, in the above-mentioned case, the signal from the seat belt switch 31 indicates the wearing state, the signal from the door switch 30 indicates the closing state, and the signal from the ignition switch 32 indicates the on state (when an occupant has boarded the vehicle. 4), the electric motor 14 is operated in the other direction at the set amount and the set speed in step S2 of FIG. 4, and the sheet 25 becomes parallel by the operation of the link mechanism. This stabilizes the posture of the occupant 26. Alternatively, it may be possible to recognize that the occupant has entered the vehicle by a switch that is turned on / off when the occupant is seated.

When the signal from the change-over switch 33 indicates the automatic mode and the signal from the change-over switch 34 indicates the active mode, during normal operation (vehicle speed sensor 2
The signal from 8 indicates the set speed or more, the signal from the door switch 30 indicates the closed state, the signal from the seat belt switch 31 indicates the worn state, and the ignition switch 32
Signal indicates that it is in an ON state), the electric motor 14 is operated in one direction or the other direction at the predetermined operation amount and the predetermined operation speed obtained in step S4 of FIG. 2 in step S3 of FIG. The operation of the link mechanism causes the seat 25 to tilt in a desired direction at a desired amount and at a desired speed (corresponding to the magnitude and the generation speed of the lateral acceleration in the direction opposite to the lateral acceleration received by the vehicle). This allows
The posture of the occupant 26 can always be stabilized regardless of the traveling posture of the vehicle. Note that, as shown in FIG. 5, the predetermined operation amount obtained in step S4 is the vehicle speed determined by the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 28 and the steering sensor 29.
Is obtained from a map based on the lateral acceleration calculated as a function of the steering angle determined by the signal from the vehicle and the predetermined operating speed is determined by the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 28 and the steering sensor 29. It is obtained from a map or the like based on the steering speed determined by the signal.

Although the lateral acceleration is counteracted by the tilting of the seat in the illustrated example, a motor for raising and lowering the front and rear of the seat is arranged in the front and rear of the seat, and the front and rear of the seat is raised and lowered according to acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle. It may be free.

[0020]

[Effect] According to the present invention, the lateral acceleration that the vehicle is likely to receive is calculated based on the vehicle speed and the steering angle, and the posture of the seat is changed according to the result of this calculation. Be certain. Further, since the rise of the acceleration of the vehicle according to the steering speed of the vehicle (the speed at which the steering wheel is turned) is calculated and the posture change time of the seat is controlled, the response to the steering is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram showing a control means according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of control means.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of control means.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control means.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing main operations of a control means.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing tilting means according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing tilting of a seat cushion.

[Explanation of symbols]

 14 Electric Motor 25 Seat 27 ECU 28 Vehicle Speed Sensor 29 Steering Sensor 30 Door Switch 31 Seat Belt Switch 32 Ignition Switch 33 Changeover Switch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kunio Nishiyama 1 Toyota-cho, Toyota-shi, Aichi Toyota Motor Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A tilting means arranged on both sides of a seat cushion for tilting a seat, a driving means for operating the tilting means, an acceleration received by the vehicle according to a vehicle speed and a steering angle of the vehicle, and the calculated acceleration. An active control sheet having control means for controlling the operation amount of the drive means based on the above. 2. The control means further calculates an acceleration generation speed received by the vehicle based on at least the steering speed of the vehicle, and controls the operating speed of the drive means based on the calculated acceleration generation speed. Active control sheet. 3. The active control seat according to claim 1, wherein the control means further assumes an occupant getting on and off the vehicle, and controls the operation of the drive means based on the assumed getting on and off of the occupant.