WO2019011550A1

WO2019011550A1 - Protection system for a passenger

Info

Publication number: WO2019011550A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/065496
Authority: WO
Inventors: Norbert Schnekenbühl; Uwe Wohanka
Original assignee: Zf Friedrichshafen Ag
Priority date: 2017-07-11
Filing date: 2018-06-12
Publication date: 2019-01-17
Also published as: DE102017211805A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a seat system (100) for a passenger (110) in a vehicle (105) comprising a seat (115) having a seat surface (120) and a backrest (125); and a rotating mechanism (150). The rotating mechanism (150) is designed to rotate the seat (115) around a vertical axis (140) as a response to a horizontally acting impact (145). The seat is rotated in such a manner that the backrest (125) is brought, as far as possible, between the direction from which the impact (145) is acting and the passenger (110) sitting on the seat surface (120).

Description

Protection system for a passenger

The invention relates to a technique for protecting a passenger of a vehicle. In particular, the invention relates to a protection of the occupant during an impact of the vehicle.

State of the art

A vehicle includes a seat in which a passenger can sit while driving. The passenger may be a driver of the vehicle and the vehicle may be a motor vehicle, such as a passenger car. In order to protect the passenger in the event of an accident, one or more protection systems may be provided. A restraint system can fix the passenger to the seat, and an airbag can support and slow the upper body of the passenger forward or laterally. Some protection systems are active by concretely affecting the passenger during or before the vehicle collides with another object. For determining or detecting the collision, one or more sensors may be provided on board the vehicle.

Protecting passengers on board a vehicle is still not optimal. Existing protective systems usually assume a predetermined attitude of the passenger at the moment of a collision. However, modern driving concepts provide for allowing the passenger an increased freedom of movement on board the vehicle. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved technique for protecting a passenger on board a vehicle. The invention solves this problem by means of the subjects of the independent claims. Subclaims give preferred embodiments again.

Disclosure of the invention

A seat system for a passenger of a vehicle includes a seat having a seat surface and a seat back; and a rotating device. The turning device is adapted to rotate the seat about a vertical axis in response to a horizontal impact. In this case, the rotation takes place in such a way that the backrest is brought as far as possible between the direction from which the impact acts and the passenger sitting on the seat surface.

In particular, the impact may affect the seating system and the passenger in the event of a collision or other accident. Usually, the impact initially acts on the vehicle and is transmitted from there via the seating system to the person. By turning the seat, the forces between the seat system and the person act more along the backrest, which can be a large bearing surface. This way, even large impact forces can be transmitted better without injuring the passenger. An existing upholstery of the backrest can be used to spring or damp the shock. The seat system is particularly suitable for a vehicle in which the passenger can turn his seat while driving about the vertical axis. For example, in a partially or fully autonomous vehicle, in particular a passenger car, the rotation of the seat may be made possible, for example, to allow an improved conversation with another passenger. In a further embodiment, the seat may also be rotated, for example, in response to a horizontally acting centrifugal force when cornering the vehicle. If there is a shock, so the seat can be further rotated or turned back to minimize the effects of power transmission as possible.

The seating system may be for a driver or a passenger of the vehicle. It can in principle be attached to any type of vehicle and is not limited to a passenger car. For example, the seating system can also be provided on board a commercial vehicle, a two-wheeled vehicle, an aircraft, a ship or boat, a pickup truck or a wheelchair.

In a first variant, the rotating device comprises a drive for actively rotating the seat. The rotating device may comprise, for example, an electric motor, a prestressed elastic element or a pyrotechnic propellant. It is preferred that the turning device can only rotate the seat so fast that the passenger is not likely to be injured by the rotation.

The turning device may be further configured to rotate the seat to a signal indicative of an impending shock. The signal may be provided, for example, by an on-vehicle driver assistance system (FAS). The seating system can thus be integrated into a safety concept of the vehicle so that different protection, safety or restraint systems can be improved in concert to protect the passenger. For this purpose, a plurality of sensors on board the vehicle can be evaluated and, in particular, an environment of the vehicle can be scanned in order to predict a collision with another object.

The seating system is preferably equipped by means of an interface via which it can receive the signal. The control of the rotation can be wholly or partially outside the seating system. In particular, the control of a rotational speed, a rotational angle or a rotational acceleration may be determined by an external processing system.

It may also be provided a sensor for determining the shock in the seating system. This allows the seating system to operate in an improved, self-sufficient manner and the turning function of the seating system can also be ensured if the external processing system should fail.

In another variant, which can be combined with the aforementioned variant, there is a passive control of the rotation of the seat. In this case, the vertical axis is removed in the horizontal direction from a center of gravity of the seat including the passenger, so that the rotary device is formed by the eccentrically mounted mass of the seat and the passenger. In the manner of a pendulum, the seat can be rotated about the vertical axis when the horizontal impact begins to act. Part of the energy of the impact can be used to turn the seat around the vertical axis so that the rest of the energy is improved between the backrest and the backrest Passenger can be transferred. This variant can require no external power supply and no processing device, so that the rotational function of the seat can be ensured, for example, when interrupting a power supply.

For determining a rotational angle of the seat, a scanning device may be provided. The angle of rotation may be provided to that processing device which controls active rotation of the seat in the event of impact or which controls another security system for the passenger on board the vehicle. Both the rotation of the seat and the coordination of the rotation with other safety devices can be controlled so improved.

In yet another embodiment, the rotating device includes a controllable brake to stop rotational movement of the seat at a predetermined angle of rotation. In particular, the brake can be controlled to dampen a pendulum oscillation about the vertical axis. The rotation of the seat can be controlled so improved to a predetermined value.

In one embodiment, the seating system includes processing means configured to control the rotating device based on the impact.

This allows the seating system to be independent of an external controller or external security system. However, the combination with an external control system is still possible, so that, for example, an operation in which the built-in and an external processing device cooperate possible. In case of failure of the external processing device, the control of the seating system can also be completely taken over by the internal processing device.

A method of protecting a passenger in a vehicle, wherein the passenger is seated in a seat having a seat back, includes steps of detecting an impending horizontally-acting impact on the vehicle; determining the direction from which the impact acts on the vehicle; and turning the seat about a vertical axis to bring the backrest between the passenger and the particular direction. The method may be carried out on a processing device which is either integrated into or separated from the above seating system. In either case, the processing means may comprise a programmable microcomputer and the method may be in the form of a computer program product. Features or advantages of the method can be applied to the seating system and vice versa.

Brief description of the figures

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the attached figures, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a seating system for a vehicle

Fig. 2 is an illustration of the operation of a seat system;

3 shows a vehicle with a seat system; and

4 illustrates a flow chart of a method for controlling a seat system.

Detailed description of embodiments

FIG. 1 shows a seating system 100 for a vehicle 105. The vehicle 105 may be any vehicle that allows the transport of a passenger 1 10. The passenger 1 10 is located in a seat 1 15, which comprises a seat surface 120 and a backrest 125 attached thereto. Preferably, a headrest 130 is provided separately or as part of the backrest 125. In the illustrated embodiment, the seat 1 15 is connected by means of a console 135 to the vehicle 105.

It is proposed that the seat 1 15 be rotatable relative to the vehicle 105 about a vertical axis 140 extending in the vertical direction. The seat 1 15 may in the event of a shock 145, for example in the event of a collision of the Vehicle 105 with another stationary or moving object, are rotated so that the backrest 125 between the person 1 10 and the direction of the shock 145 is located. In the exemplary representation of FIG. 1, the impact 145 acts on the vehicle 105 from the front, contrary to its usual direction of travel. The seat 1 15 may be rotated by about 180 ° before or during the action of the impact 145 from the illustrated position in which the person looks 1 10 in the direction of travel, so that the backrest 125 can transmit the impact 145 on the person 1 10 , If a plurality of seats 15 are to be rotated on board the vehicle 105, then the directions of rotation can be coordinated with one another in order, for example, to avoid a collision of limbs of the passengers 11. An unoccupied seat 1 15 does not have to be turned or can be turned so that an adjacent, occupied seat 1 15 can be turned easier, faster or safer. If seat 1 15 is oriented in a further example, as shown in FIG. 1, and another vehicle travels from behind onto vehicle 105, then seat 1 15 does not need to be rotated, since seat back 125 is already located between passenger 1 10 and the shock 145 is located.

For rotating the seat 1 15, a rotating device 150 is preferably provided, which may be arranged, for example, in the region of the console 135 or the seat surface 120. The rotating device 150 may be passively powered by the energy of the shock 145 or actively from another source of energy. In one embodiment, a processing device 155 is provided that is configured to control the rotating device 150. For this purpose, the processing device 155 can be connected to an interface 160, via which a signal can be received which indicates the imminent impact 145 or comprises parameters for a rotation of the seat 15 to be carried out. It may also be provided a sensor 165, which may be designed in particular as an inertial sensor to determine the impact 145 locally. The processing device 155 may determine and control the rotation based on the signal or the sample of the sensor 165. In a further embodiment, a scanning device 170 is provided which is adapted to scan a rotational angle of the seat 15. The sensed angle of rotation may also be provided via the interface 160 to an external system onboard the vehicle 105. In the illustrated embodiment, the rotating device 150 is preferably carried out actively. The vertical axis 140 extends through or as close as possible to a center of gravity 175, which the seat 1 15 has together with the person 1 10. An applied torque can be minimized.

Figure 2 shows an illustration of the operation of a seat system 100. In this embodiment, the rotating device 150 may also be made passive. In this case, a distance between the vertical axis 140 and the center of gravity 175 is greater. In the illustrated embodiment, the distance is shown exaggerated for clarity, usually the distance during passive rotation is a few centimeters to a few decimeters.

The seat 1 15 is initially rotated as shown by solid lines. Now acts a shock 145 laterally on the seating system 100, ie in a direction transverse to the line connecting the center of gravity 175 with the vertical axis 140, the seat 1 15 rotates together with the driver 1 10 in the manner of a rotary pendulum in the direction from which the Impact 145 acts on the vehicle 105. As a result, the backrest 125 can be automatically rotated between the passenger 1 10 and the direction of the impact 145.

Although a purely passive rotation of the seat 1 15 is possible, so except the shock 145 no external energy must be applied to rotate the seat 115 about the vertical axis 140, the rotation can still be influenced. For example, the rotating device 150 may include a brake to selectively dampen or mitigate the rotational movement. In particular, it can be prevented that the rotational movement moved by the impact 145 overshoots an optimum rotational position. The optimum rotational position is reached when the connection of the vertical axis 140, about which the seat 1 15 is rotatably mounted, with the center of gravity 175 as closely as possible in the direction of the impact 145. By activating the brake, which may also include a parking brake, in particular a positive locking device, it is possible to prevent a rotation from the optimum rotational position during the impact 145. FIG. 3 shows an illustration 300 of a vehicle 105 with the seating system 100 of FIG. 1. By way of example, only one seat system 100 is provided for a passenger 110, and in another embodiment, several seat systems 100 for a plurality of passengers 110 may be mounted on board the vehicle 105. The vehicle 105 here includes an example of a passenger car, in other embodiments, any other vehicle may be included, for example, another land vehicle or a watercraft or aircraft.

Preferably, the vehicle 105 includes an environmental monitoring system 305 having a number of sensors 310. Typically, different sensors 310 are used at different locations of the vehicle 105. For example, radar sensors, LiDAR sensors, a video camera or a thermal camera can be used. By means of the environment monitoring system 305, objects in the environment of the vehicle 105 can be detected and in particular analyzed with respect to their relative movement to the vehicle 105. By means of the environment monitoring system 305, it is possible to determine and extrapolate a trajectory of another object with respect to the vehicle 105, so that immediately before a collision with the vehicle 105 it is already known from which direction the impact 145 takes place and optionally also how much the impact 145 will be. This information can be forwarded by means of the interface 160 to the seating system 100 or its processing device 155. The above-described rotation of the seat 15 can alternatively be controlled by means of the processing device 155 or by means of another control device on board the vehicle 105.

FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of a method 400 for controlling a seat system 100 like that of the preceding figures. The method 400 preferably relates to an embodiment with an active influence on the rotational movement of the seat 1 15. In this case, both a rotational acceleration and a rotational deceleration of the seat 1 15 can be controlled. In a first step 405, an environment of the vehicle 105 is scanned. This step is optional and is preferably performed by means of a system which is connected to the seating system 100 via the interface 160. In a step 410, it is detected that an impact or other horizontally acting impact 145 is present, just entering or imminent. In a step 415, the direction of the impact 145 is determined. Preferably, the remaining time to the occurrence of the impact 145 or the strength of the impact 145 is determined.

In a step 420, the seat 1 15 is rotated as possible so that the backrest 125 between the passenger 1 10 and the determined in step 415 direction of the shock 145 is located. In parallel, in one step 425, one or more additional measures to protect people 1 10 may be performed on board the vehicle 105. Such measures may include, for example, biasing a restraint system of the passenger 110 on the seat 15, performing emergency braking of the vehicle 105, stabilizing the direction of travel of the vehicle 105, or deploying an airbag in or on the vehicle 105. These actions may be performed concerted with the rotation in step 420. In particular, a sequence and a strength of the individual measures can be coordinated with one another in order to best forward the acting or impending impact 145 to the person 110 in such a way that it is as far as possible unharmed.

Bezuaszeichen

system

vehicle

passenger

Seat

seat

backrest

headrest

console

vertical axis

shock

rotator

processing device

interface

sensor

scanning

main emphasis

presentation

Environment monitoring system

sensor

method

Scanning environment

Capture impending impact

Determine impact direction

Turn seat opposite direction

further active occupant protection measures

Claims

claims

1 . A seat system (100) for a passenger (110) of a vehicle (105), the seat system (100) comprising: a seat (15) having a seat surface (120) and a seat back (125); a turning device (150) adapted to rotate the seat (1 15) about a vertical axis (140) in response to a horizontal impact (145), and wherein the rotation is such that the seatback (125) is as possible between the direction from which the impact (145) acts and a passenger (1 10) seated on the seat surface (120) is brought.

2. seating system (100) according to claim 1, wherein the rotating device (150) has a drive for actively rotating the seat (1 15).

The seat system (100) of claim 2, wherein the turning device (150) is adapted to rotate the seat (15) to a signal indicative of an impending impact (145).

The seating system (100) of claim 3, further comprising an interface (160) for receiving the signal.

The seating system (100) of claim 3 or 4, further comprising a sensor (165) for determining the impact (145).

6. seating system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the vertical axis (140) in the horizontal direction from a center of gravity (175) of the seat (1 15) with the passenger (1 10) is removed, so that the rotating device (150) the eccentrically mounted mass of the seat (115) and the passenger (1 10) is formed.

7. seating system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a scanning device (170) for determining a rotational angle of the seat (1 15).

8. The seat system (100) according to claim 7, wherein the rotary device (150) has a controllable brake, in order to prevent a rotational movement of the seat (1 15) in a agreed to stop rotation.

A seat system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising processing means (155) arranged to control the rotary device (150) based on the impact (145).

A method (400) for protecting a passenger (110) in a vehicle (105), the passenger (110) sitting in a seat (115) with a seat back (125), and the method (400) following Comprising steps (410) of an impending, horizontally acting impact (145) on the vehicle (105); Determining (415) the direction from which the impact (145) acts on the vehicle (105); and rotating (420) the seat (15) about a vertical axis (140) to bring the seat back (125) between the passenger (110) and the particular direction.