Targeted occupant thermal comfort based on seat belt

Abstract

The present invention relates to targeted occupant thermal comfort based on seat belts. A seat system includes a seat bottom and a seat back at a rear of the seat bottom. A thermally managed seat belt includes a knee portion and a shoulder portion. The thermally managed seat belt can include a porous sleeve connected to a seat ventilation system or a vehicle ventilation system. The seat belt can alternatively or additionally include a heated fabric or a thermoelectric element.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The information provided in this section is for the purpose of presenting the general background of this disclosure. To the extent described in this section, neither the work of the currently named inventors, nor any aspect of this specification that may otherwise not qualify as prior art at the time of filing, is expressly or implicitly acknowledged as contradicting the prior art of this disclosure.

[0002] This disclosure relates to a targeted occupant thermal comfort system, and more specifically to a thermally controlled seat belt. Background Technology

[0003] Passenger comfort is an important aspect of vehicle design. Vehicles typically operate in temperatures ranging from well below 0°F to over 100°F. At these temperatures, it is desirable to provide alternative heating and cooling systems that allow passengers to feel comfortable regardless of the outside temperature, and that these alternative heating and cooling systems operate efficiently. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a seating system includes a seat base and a seat back located at the rear of the seat base. A heat-controlled seatbelt includes: a knee portion configured to extend over the knees of a passenger sitting on the seat base; and a shoulder portion configured to extend over the shoulders of the passenger.

[0005] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the thermally controlled seat belt includes a porous sleeve connected to a ventilation system.

[0006] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the ventilation system includes a heater and / or a cooler.

[0007] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the ventilation system includes a seat ventilation system that provides ventilation to at least one of the seat bottom and the seat back.

[0008] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the ventilation system includes a vehicle passenger compartment ventilation system.

[0009] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the porous sleeve includes a hole that opens in the direction toward the seat occupant.

[0010] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the thermally controlled seat belt includes a control unit for activating the thermally controlled seat belt based on the temperature of the vehicle passenger compartment.

[0011] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the thermally controlled seat belt includes a plurality of thermoelectric elements mounted to the strap, the thermoelectric elements being connected to a power source. A power controller adjusts the amount of power delivered from the power source to the thermoelectric elements.

[0012] According to another aspect of this disclosure, the thermally controlled seat belt includes a heated fabric connected to a power source. A power controller adjusts the amount of power supplied from the power source to the thermoelectric element.

[0013] The present invention also includes the following technical solutions.

[0014] Option 1. A seating system, comprising:

[0015] Seat bottom;

[0016] The seat back located at the rear of the bottom of the seat; and

[0017] A heated seat belt has: a knee portion configured to extend over the knees of a passenger sitting on the bottom of the seat; and a shoulder portion configured to extend over the shoulders of the passenger.

[0018] Option 2. The seating system according to Option 1, wherein the thermally controlled seat belt includes a porous sleeve connected to a ventilation system.

[0019] Option 3. The seating system according to Option 2, wherein the ventilation system includes a heater.

[0020] Option 4. The seating system according to Option 2, wherein the ventilation system includes a cooler.

[0021] Option 5. The seating system according to Option 4, wherein the thermally controlled seat belt includes a heated fabric connected to a power source.

[0022] Option 6. The seating system according to Option 2, wherein the ventilation system includes a seat ventilation system that provides ventilation to at least one of the seat bottom and the seat back.

[0023] Option 7. The seating system according to Option 2, wherein the ventilation system includes a vehicle passenger compartment ventilation system.

[0024] Option 8. The seating system according to Option 2, wherein the porous sleeve includes a hole that opens in the direction toward the seat occupant.

[0025] Option 9. The seat system according to Option 1, wherein the thermally controlled seat belt includes a control unit for activating the thermally controlled seat belt based on the temperature of the vehicle passenger compartment.

[0026] Option 10. The seating system according to Option 1, wherein the thermally controlled seat belt includes a plurality of thermoelectric elements mounted to the belt, the thermoelectric elements being connected to a power source.

[0027] Option 11. The seating system according to Option 10 further includes a power controller for adjusting the amount of power supplied from the power source to the thermoelectric element.

[0028] Option 12. The seating system according to Option 1, wherein the thermally controlled seat belt includes a heated fabric connected to a power source.

[0029] Option 13. A seating system, comprising:

[0030] Seat bottom;

[0031] The seat back is located at the rear of the bottom of the seat;

[0032] A seat ventilation system configured to provide an air supply to at least one of the seat bottom and the seat back; and

[0033] A seat belt having: a knee portion configured to extend over the knees of a passenger sitting on the bottom of the seat; and a shoulder portion configured to extend over the shoulders of the passenger, the seat belt including a sleeve connected to the seat ventilation system.

[0034] Option 14. The seating system according to Option 13, wherein the seating ventilation system includes a heater.

[0035] Option 15. The seating system according to Option 13, wherein the seating ventilation system includes a cooler.

[0036] Option 16. The seating system according to Option 15, wherein the seat belt includes a heated fabric connected to a power source.

[0037] Option 17. The seating system according to Option 13, wherein the porous sleeve includes a hole that opens in the direction toward the seat occupant.

[0038] Option 18. A seating system comprising:

[0039] Seat bottom;

[0040] The seat back is located at the rear of the bottom of the seat;

[0041] A vehicle passenger compartment ventilation system configured to supply air to the passenger compartment; and

[0042] A seat belt having: a knee portion configured to extend over the knees of a passenger sitting on the bottom of the seat; and a shoulder portion configured to extend over the shoulders of the passenger, the seat belt including a sleeve connected to the ventilation system of the vehicle's passenger compartment.

[0043] Option 19. The seating system according to Option 18, wherein the passenger compartment ventilation system includes a heater.

[0044] Option 20. The seating system according to Option 18, wherein the passenger compartment ventilation system includes a cooler.

[0045] Further aspects of the applicability of this disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, claims, and drawings. The detailed description and specific examples are intended for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Attached Figure Description

[0046] This disclosure will be more fully understood through a detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0047] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle seat system having a thermally controlled seat belt connected to a vehicle ventilation system, based on the principles of this disclosure.

[0048] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle seat system having a thermally controlled seat belt connected to a seat ventilation system, based on the principles of this disclosure.

[0049] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle seat system with heated seat belts, which have heated fabric; and

[0050] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a vehicle seat system with a thermoelectric element in the seat belt, which has a thermostatic seat belt.

[0051] In the accompanying drawings, reference numerals may be used repeatedly to identify similar and / or identical elements. Detailed Implementation

[0052] refer to Figure 1The vehicle 10 is shown as including a seat 12 having a seat base 12a, a seat back 12b, and a thermally controlled seat belt 14 according to the principles of this disclosure. The vehicle 10 includes a ventilation system 16 having a duct system 18 having an external air inlet portion 18a and an internal air inlet 18b, each connected to a fan 24. Cooling coils 24 and heating coils 26 are disposed in a duct 18c downstream of the fan 22, and the duct 18c is connected to a vent 28 within the passenger compartment 30. An additional duct 18d is connected to the thermally controlled seat belt 14 for supplying air from the vehicle ventilation system 16 to the thermally controlled seat belt. A valve 32 may be disposed in the duct 18d to control the amount of air supplied from the vehicle ventilation system 16 to the thermally controlled seat belt 14. The thermally controlled seat belt 14 may be constructed with a plurality of holes 34 ( Figure 2 The sleeve (best shown in the image) is made of holes 34 that direct ventilation air to the passenger in the seat 12. The holes 34 can be optionally located on the inside of the seat belt 14, along the edge of the seat belt 14, and on the outside of the seat belt 14, as well as combinations thereof.

[0053] The thermally controlled seat belt 14 according to the principles of the present invention can be controlled using various technologies. Figure 1 In this embodiment, the vehicle ventilation system 16 operates according to a known operating state, either manually controlled by the passenger or automatically controlled based on the temperature of the passenger compartment 30. Valve 32 can be manually or automatically controlled to deliver heated or cooled air to the thermally controlled seatbelt 14.

[0054] In such Figure 2 In the alternative embodiment shown, seat 12 includes a ventilation system 40, which may have a cooling coil 42 and / or a heating coil 44 communicating with a duct 46a to distribute cooled or heated air to the seat bottoms 12a and 12b. The duct 46b is connected to a thermally controlled seatbelt 14 for delivering air from the seat ventilation system to the thermally controlled seatbelt 14. A valve 48 may be provided in the duct 46b to control the amount of air delivered from the seat ventilation system 40 to the thermally controlled seatbelt 14. The thermally controlled seatbelt 14 may be made of a sleeve having a plurality of holes 34 that direct ventilation air to the passenger in seat 12. The holes 34 may optionally be provided on the inside of the seatbelt 14, along the edge of the seatbelt 14, and on the outside of the seatbelt 14, as well as combinations thereof.

[0055] exist Figure 2In one embodiment, the seat ventilation system 40 operates according to a known operating state, either manually controlled by the passenger or automatically controlled based on the temperature of the passenger compartment 30, to deliver heated or cooled air to the thermally controlled seat belt 14.

[0056] In such Figure 3 In another embodiment shown, the thermally controlled seat belt 14 may include a heated fabric 50. This heated fabric 50 can be connected to a power source 52 via a power control unit 54. The heated fabric 50 heats when current is supplied from the power control unit 54 to it. Various types of flexible fabric heating materials are available. In particular, the heated fabric 50 may include, but is not limited to, a PTC film 50, which is flexible and may be disposed within the seat belt sleeve 14 or configured as a layer attached to the seat belt web material. The PTC film 50 is known to have the ability to adjust and control its temperature by resistive heating when AC or DC power is supplied. For known PCT films, the resistivity increases exponentially with increasing temperature until a set temperature at which it ceases to conduct electricity. Therefore, due to the increased resistance and the power applied approaching zero, the PCT film will not exceed the set temperature. The heated fabric 50 may be used separately from or in conjunction with a vehicle or seat ventilation system, such that, for example, the heated fabric 50 provides heat and the seat or vehicle ventilation system provides cooling. The operation of the thermally controlled seat belt 14 with heated fabric 50 can be manually or automatically controlled based on the temperature of the passenger compartment.

[0057] In such Figure 4 In another embodiment shown, the heated seat belt 14 may include a thermoelectric unit 60 mounted thereon. The thermoelectric unit 60 operates via the Peltier effect. The device has two sides, and when a DC current flows through it, it carries heat from one side to the other, making one side cooler and the other hotter. The thermoelectric unit 60 can be connected to a power source 62 via a power control unit 64. When current is supplied to the thermoelectric unit 60 from the power control unit 64, the thermoelectric unit 60 heats up. The thermoelectric unit 60 may be used separately from or in conjunction with a vehicle or seat ventilation system, such that, for example, the thermoelectric unit 60 provides heat and the seat or vehicle ventilation system provides cooling. Alternatively, the thermoelectric units 60 may be alternated such that the cooling side of thermoelectric unit 60a faces the passenger, and an adjacent thermoelectric unit 60b has its heating side facing the passenger, such that thermoelectric unit 60b is activated by the power control unit 64 when heating is needed, and thermoelectric unit 60a is activated by the power control unit 64 when cooling is needed. The operation of the thermally controlled seat belt 14 with thermoelectric unit 60 can be manually or automatically controlled based on the temperature of the passenger compartment.

[0058] Although the seating system disclosed herein is described in the context of vehicle seating, it should be understood that the inventive concept can be applied to various seats used in trains, airplanes, ships, recliners, etc.

[0059] The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit this disclosure, its application, or its use. The broad teachings of this disclosure can be implemented in many forms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes specific examples, its actual scope should not be limited thereto, as other modifications will become apparent from a study of the drawings, specification, and the following claims. It should be understood that one or more steps within the method may be performed in a different order (or simultaneously) without altering the principles of this disclosure. Furthermore, although each of the embodiments is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described with respect to any embodiment of this disclosure may be implemented in any other embodiment and / or combined with features in any other embodiment, even if such combination is not explicitly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and substitutions of one or more embodiments for each other remain within the scope of this disclosure.

[0060] Spatial and functional relationships between components (e.g., between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) are described using various terms, including “connected,” “joined,” “coupled,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top,” “above,” “below,” and “set.” Unless explicitly described as “direct,” the relationship between the first and second components described in the above disclosure can be a direct relationship in which no other intermediary components exist between the first and second components, or an indirect relationship (spatially or functionally) in which one or more intermediary components exist between the first and second components.

[0061] In this application, which includes the following limitations, the term "controller" may be replaced by the term "circuit". The term "controller" may refer to, or include, any of, or include the following: application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC); digital, analog, or mixed analog / digital discrete circuit; digital, analog, or mixed analog / digital integrated circuit; combinational logic circuit; field-programmable gate array (FPGA); processor circuitry (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that executes code; memory circuitry (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that stores code executed by the processor circuitry; other suitable hardware components that provide the aforementioned functionality; or, for example, some or all of the above in a system-on-a-chip.

[0062] As used above, the term "code" can include software, firmware, and / or microcode, and can refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, data structures, and / or objects. The term "shared processor circuit" covers a single-processor circuit that executes some or all of the code from multiple modules. The term "group processor circuit" covers a processor circuit that, in conjunction with additional processor circuitry, executes some or all of the code from one or more modules. References to multiple processor circuits cover multiple processor circuits on a discrete die, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiple cores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a single processor circuit, or a combination of the above. The term "shared memory circuit" covers a single-memory circuit that stores some or all of the code from multiple modules. The term "group memory circuit" covers a memory circuit that, in conjunction with additional memory, stores some or all of the code from one or more modules.

[0063] The term "memory circuit" is a subset of the term "computer-readable medium." As used herein, the term "computer-readable medium" does not cover transient electrical or electromagnetic signals propagated through a medium (e.g., on a carrier wave); therefore, the term "computer-readable medium" can be considered tangible or non-transient. Non-limiting examples of non-transient, tangible computer-readable media are non-volatile memory circuits (e.g., flash memory circuits, erasable programmable read-only memory circuits, or mask read-only memory circuits), volatile memory circuits (e.g., static random access memory circuits or dynamic random access memory circuits), magnetic storage media (e.g., analog or digital magnetic tape or hard disk drives), and optical storage media (e.g., CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs).

[0064] The apparatus and methods described in this application can be implemented, in part or in whole, by a dedicated computer created by configuring a general-purpose computer to perform one or more specific functions embodied in a computer program. The aforementioned function blocks, flowchart components, and other elements serve as a software specification that can be translated into a computer program through the routine work of a technician or programmer.

Claims

1. A seating system, comprising: Seat bottom; The seat back is located at the rear of the bottom of the seat; A heated seat belt having a knee portion configured to extend over the knees of a passenger sitting on the bottom of the seat; And the shoulder portion, which is configured to extend over the passenger's shoulder, the thermally controlled seat belt includes a plurality of thermoelectric elements mounted to the belt, the thermoelectric elements being connected to a power source; as well as A power controller for adjusting the amount of power supplied from the power source to the thermoelectric element. Each thermoelectric element has a heating side and a cooling side. When a DC current flows through the thermoelectric element, it carries heat from the cooling side to the heating side. The multiple thermoelectric elements are arranged alternately such that the cooling side of the first thermoelectric unit (60a) faces the passenger, and the heating side of the adjacent second thermoelectric unit (60b) faces the passenger. When heating is required, the second thermoelectric unit (60b) is activated by the power controller, and when cooling is required, the first thermoelectric unit (60a) is activated by the power controller.

2. The seating system according to claim 1, wherein, The thermally controlled seat belt includes a perforated sleeve that connects to the ventilation system.

3. The seating system according to claim 2, wherein, The ventilation system includes a heater.

4. The seating system according to claim 2, wherein, The ventilation system includes a cooler.

5. The seating system according to claim 2, wherein, The ventilation system includes a seat ventilation system that provides ventilation to at least one of the seat bottom and the seat back.

6. The seating system according to claim 2, wherein, The ventilation system includes the vehicle passenger compartment ventilation system.

7. The seating system according to claim 2, wherein, The porous sleeve includes a hole that opens in the direction toward the seat occupant.

8. The seating system according to claim 1, wherein, The power controller activates the thermally controlled seat belts based on the temperature of the vehicle's passenger compartment.

Images