Vehicle seat

Abstract

A vehicle seat includes an electrically powered device for moving at least one of a seat cushion and a seat back. The vehicle seat comprises an in-vehicle camera device and a processing device. The in-vehicle image capturing device captures an in-vehicle image including at least one of a seat cushion and a seat back. The processing device is configured to compare the in-vehicle image with an in-vehicle designated image when the at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back is at a designated position to calculate an absolute position of the at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back from a change amount of the at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back with respect to the designated position.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a seat, and more particularly to a vehicle seat. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, efforts have been actively made to provide access to a sustainable transportation system that also takes into account vulnerable road users such as the elderly or children. To achieve the above object, research and development have been carried out to further improve traffic safety or convenience through development related to vehicle seats.

[0003] Like electric vehicle windows and sunroofs, vehicle seats also use an electric motor pulse sensor to detect their positions. Electric vehicle windows and sunroofs can detect absolute positions, but for vehicle seats, only relative positions can be detected at present, rather than absolute positions.

[0004] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the detection of the existing window position, Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of the detection of the existing seat position. Please refer to Figure 1A , when detecting the window position, since the fully closed position of the window 12 that needs to be operated for convenient use is used as a reference point, the absolute positions of the electric vehicle window, sunroof, etc. can be obtained by increasing or decreasing the pulse count of the electric motor pulse sensor of the window 12. Please refer to Figure 1B , when attempting to detect the absolute position of the seat 14, the seat 14 needs to be moved to the front edge, rear edge, top edge or bottom edge to obtain the position of the seat 14 by increasing or decreasing the pulse count of the electric motor pulse sensor of the seat 14, but for convenient use, the frequency of this operation is very low. Since the manufacturer and service need to move the seat 14, there is a problem that it is not easy to detect the absolute position of the seat 14.

[0005] In addition, due to motor backlash and motor sensor hysteresis, a position deviation always occurs, and this position deviation gradually accumulates and becomes larger, so it is necessary to relearn regularly, but it is impossible to determine how to trigger the relearning. In addition, based on different triggering conditions, the customer may inadvertently start moving the seat suddenly, resulting in being trapped in the seat, or there may be a problem of incorrect learning due to overload during the process.

[0006] Patent Document 1 discloses that "when the electric seat control unit is started (power-on reset), the central processing unit (CPU) uses the posture of the seat at that time as the origin", which only teaches to obtain the seat position by relative position rather than absolute position.

[0007] [Prior Art Documents]

[0008] [Patent Documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 05-208630 Summary of the Invention

[0010] [Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

[0011] Regarding vehicle seats, the current technology cannot prevent the position from changing over time. Therefore, how to obtain the absolute position of the vehicle seat is an issue.

[0012] This case aims to obtain the absolute position of the vehicle seat in order to solve the above-mentioned issue. Moreover, it further contributes to the development of a sustainable transportation system.

[0013] [Technical Means for Solving the Problem]

[0014] The present invention provides a vehicle seat, which includes an electric device for moving at least one of a seat cushion and a seat back. The vehicle seat includes an in-vehicle camera device and a processing device. The in-vehicle camera device is used to capture an in-vehicle image including at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back. The processing device is used to compare the in-vehicle image with a specified in-vehicle image when at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back is in a specified position, so as to calculate the absolute position of at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back from the amount of change of at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back relative to the specified position.

[0015] In the vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention, the processing device also compares the in-vehicle image with the vehicle body part included in the specified image.

[0016] [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] The present invention can solve the problem that the seat needs to be moved to the front or rear in manufacturing and services by using an in-vehicle camera device to detect the absolute position of the seat.

[0018] To make the present disclosure more clearly understood, specific embodiments are hereinafter given and described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings as follows. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0019] Figure 1A It is a schematic diagram of the detection of the existing window position.

[0020] Figure 1B It is a schematic diagram of the detection of the existing seat position.

[0021] Figure 2 It is a block diagram of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 3 It is a configuration diagram of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 4It is a flowchart of a method for calculating the position of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figures 5A to 5E It is an example of calculating the position of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 6 It is an example of calculating the position of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 7 It is a flowchart of a method for calculating the position of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Symbol Explanation

[0028] 12: Window

[0029] 14, 54a, 54b, 54c, 54d: Seat

[0030] 20, 20a, 20b, 20c, 54: Vehicle seat

[0031] 21: Seat cushion

[0032] 22: Seat back

[0033] 23: Electric device

[0034] 24, 52: In-vehicle camera device

[0035] 25: Processing device

[0036] 30, 50: Vehicle

[0037] 54d: Seat back

[0038] 56a, 56b, 56c: Component

[0039] 58: Pillar

[0040] 500a, 500b, 500c, 500d: Image

[0041] d, d1, d2: Distance

[0042] h, h1, h2: Height

[0043] P1: At the roof

[0044] P2: At the rear interior light

[0045] S1, S2: Direction

[0046] θ: Angle

[0047] S402~S406, S702~S718: Step Detailed Implementation

[0048] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0049] Based on the expectation that devices such as in-vehicle cameras that can be used as driving recorders and prevent infants from being left in the vehicle will become standard equipment in the future, in an embodiment of the present invention, sensing devices such as cameras or millimeter-wave radars configured in the vehicle check the images of the sliding, reclining, tilting, height, headrest, seat cushion, lumbar support, thigh support, etc. of the seat when there is no passenger in the driver's seat, and compare them with the pre-stored image data and position data to detect the absolute position of each of the above. Among them, in an embodiment of the present invention, the change in the image and the position comparison result is also checked, the images and data with large changes are removed, and the position is determined by calculating the average value of multiple detection results, thereby improving the accuracy of the detected position.

[0050] Figure 2 It is a block diagram of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 It is a configuration diagram of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 , for example, the vehicle seat 20 of this embodiment is installed or configured at the position of the driver's seat in the vehicle 30 to detect its own position. In this embodiment, the vehicle 30 is, for example, an automobile powered by an internal combustion engine such as a diesel engine or a gasoline engine, an electric vehicle powered by an electric motor, or a hybrid vehicle with both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, etc. In some embodiments, the vehicle seat 20 can also be used to detect the positions of one or more other vehicle seats (such as vehicle seats 20a, 20b, 20c) in the vehicle 30, and there is no limitation here.

[0051] The vehicle seat 20 includes a seat cushion 21, a seat back 22, an electric device 23 such as a motor for moving the seat cushion 21 and / or the seat back 22, and includes an in-vehicle camera device 24 and a processing device 25 configured in the vehicle 30.

[0052] The in-vehicle camera device 24 is, for example, a sensor such as a millimeter-wave radar, a lidar (Light Detection And Ranging, LiDAR), a sonar, an ultrasonic wave, an infrared ray, or a camera or a video camera including a charge-coupled device (Charge Coupled Device, CCD), a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor, CMOS) device, or other types of photosensitive devices, and there is no limitation here. The in-vehicle camera device 24 is, for example, configured on the instrument panel, the center console, the rearview mirror, the interior light, the roof, etc. of the vehicle 30, for example Figure 3At the roof P1 above the center console shown or at the rear interior light P2, it is used to capture an in-vehicle image including at least one of the seat cushion 21 and the backrest 22.

[0053] The processing device 25 is implemented, for example, by a processor such as an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) or a Central Processing Unit (CPU) executing a program, or by hardware such as a Large Scale Integration (LSI), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or by a combination of software and hardware. The implementation manner of this embodiment is not limited.

[0054] Figure 4 It is a flowchart of a vehicle seat position calculation method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please also refer to Figure 2 and Figure 4 , the vehicle seat position calculation method of this embodiment is applicable to Figure 2 the vehicle seat 20. The following describes the detailed steps of the vehicle seat position calculation method of this embodiment in combination with each component in the vehicle seat 20.

[0055] In step S402, the in-vehicle imaging device 24 is controlled by the processing device 25 to capture an in-vehicle image including at least one of the seat cushion 21 and the backrest 22. Among them, the processing device 25, for example, sends a request to the in-vehicle imaging device 24 to capture an in-vehicle image at the time of intelligent and keyless door locking in the ignition-off state (IG-OFF), but this embodiment is not limited thereto.

[0056] In step S404, the processing device 25 compares the captured in-vehicle image with the in-vehicle specified image when at least one of the seat cushion 21 and the backrest 22 is in a specified position. For example, if the image captured by the in-vehicle imaging device 24 is an image of the seat cushion 21, the processing device 25 will compare this image with the in-vehicle specified image when the seat cushion 21 is in a specified position; if the image captured by the in-vehicle imaging device 24 is an image of the backrest 22, the processing device 25 will compare this image with the in-vehicle specified image when the backrest 22 is in a specified position; if the image captured by the in-vehicle imaging device 24 is an image including the seat cushion 21 and the backrest 22, the processing device 25 will compare this image with the in-vehicle specified image when the seat cushion 21 and the backrest 22 are in a specified position. The specified positions include the leading edge, trailing edge, top edge, bottom edge, or any position within the movable range of the seat cushion 21, and the forward tilt, rear tilt, or any angle within the tilt range of the backrest 22, and there is no limit here.

[0057] In step S406, the processing device 25 calculates the absolute position of at least one of the seat cushion 21 and the seat back 22 from the amount of change of at least one of the seat cushion 21 and the seat back 22 relative to a specified position. In some embodiments, changes such as the set position of the camera and the fixed position of the seat can be excluded by considering the change of the nominal data image. Specifically, based on the fact that the camera is set at the same position on the vehicle, if the viewing angles are the same, the position of the seat can be determined according to the size of the seat in the image. Specifically, by setting an element with a known size so that it is always within the viewing range of the camera, the absolute position of the seat can be calculated from the amount of change of the measured size of this element relative to the known size.

[0058] For example, Figures 5A to 5E is an example of calculating the position of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 5A , in this embodiment, an in-vehicle imaging device 52 is arranged inside the vehicle 50 to capture images of the vehicle seat 54 in nominal positions (such as front, middle, and rear positions). Please refer to Figures 5B to 5D , the images 500a, 500b, and 500c are nominal data images of the vehicle seat 54 in the middle, front, and rear nominal positions respectively, which are pre-captured by the in-vehicle imaging device 52.

[0059] Among them, in this embodiment, an element with a known size is set at the design reference position, and the size of this element in the image is pre-acquired and saved as nominal data. Considering the changes such as the position of the in-vehicle imaging device 52 in the image of the seat design reference position, the seat manufacturer will save a large number of data images in advance. By capturing the camera image of the whole vehicle at the seat design reference position and comparing it with the previous data images, the change of the camera position can be eliminated.

[0060] Specifically, by pre-acquiring and saving the height h of the element 56a on the seat 54a in the image 500a, the height h1 of the element 56b on the seat 54b in the image 500b, and the height h2 of the element 56c on the seat 54c in the image 500c, and combining the distances d, d1, and d2 between the in-vehicle imaging device 52 and the vehicle seat 54 when the vehicle seat 54 is in the middle, front, and rear nominal positions, a relationship diagram of the element height and the seat distance as shown in Figure 5E can be constructed. After that, by capturing the actual in-vehicle image of the seat and identifying the element on the seat in the image, the actual seat distance can be estimated according to the height of this element, thereby calculating the absolute position of the seat.

[0061] In some embodiments, since the seat position is affected not only by the forward and backward movement but also by the recline of the seat back, the angle of the seat back relative to the fixed part of the vehicle body (such as a vehicle pillar) at its absolute position can be stored. In addition to the angle of the seat back in the currently captured in-vehicle image and the angle of the absolute position, the angle of the seat back relative to the fixed part of the vehicle body is also compared, so as to relatively determine the absolute position.

[0062] For example, Figure 6 is an example of calculating the vehicle seat position according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to Figure 6 , in this embodiment, the in-vehicle camera device 52 configured in the vehicle 50 as shown in Figure 5A is also used to capture the in-vehicle image 500d of the vehicle seat 54. By comparing the direction S1 of the seat back 54d in the in-vehicle image 500d with the direction S2 of the vehicle pillar 58, the angle θ of the seat back 54d relative to the vehicle pillar 58 can be calculated, and it is used to calculate the absolute position of the vehicle seat 54.

[0063] In some embodiments, by checking the changes in the image and the position comparison result, the images and data with large changes can be removed, and the position can be determined by calculating the average value of multiple detection results, thereby improving the accuracy of the detected position.

[0064] Figure 7 is a flowchart of a vehicle seat position calculation method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please also refer to Figure 2 and Figure 7 , the vehicle seat position calculation method of this embodiment is applicable to the vehicle seat 20 of Figure 2 . The following describes the detailed steps of the vehicle seat position calculation method of this embodiment in combination with each component in the vehicle seat 20.

[0065] In step S702, the processing device 25 determines whether the absolute position has not been learned. If it is determined that the absolute position has been learned, the process ends.

[0066] If it is determined that the absolute position has not been learned, then in step S704, the processing device 25 uses an in-vehicle camera device 24 such as a camera or a radar to check the image and position of the vehicle seat 20 at a specific time. The specific time is, for example, the intelligent, keyless door-locking time when the ignition is off (IG-OFF). When the processing device 25 sends a request to the in-vehicle camera device 24 such as a camera or a radar, the confirmation of the image and position is performed. In addition, the processing device 25 performs the confirmation of the image and position when the absolute position has not been learned.

[0067] In step S706, the processing device 25 determines whether there is no passenger on the driver's seat through the image of the vehicle seat 20. If there is a passenger, the process ends.

[0068] If there is no passenger in the driver's seat, in step S708, the processing device 25 uses the images and positions of the in-vehicle imaging device 24 such as a camera or radar to check the positions of the seat 20 such as sliding and tilting, and in step S710, the processing device 25 compares the currently acquired images and positions with the pre-stored image data and position data, so as to judge the absolute position of the vehicle seat 20 in step S712.

[0069] It should be noted that after each implementation of the position judgment of the vehicle seat 20 in this embodiment, in step S714, it is further judged whether the position judgment has been implemented 5 times currently. Among them, the above judgment times are only for illustrative purposes, and this embodiment is not limited thereto. If the position judgment has not been implemented 5 times, return to step S708 to perform the next position judgment.

[0070] If the position judgment has been implemented 5 times, in step S716, the processing device 25 checks the position changes in these 5 position judgments, and determines the position of the vehicle seat 20 according to the average value of these 5 position judgments. In some embodiments, when the processing device 25 judges the position, for example, it will remove the images and data with large changes, and use the remaining positions to calculate the average value to be used as the position of the vehicle seat 20. Thus, the accuracy of the detected position can be improved.

[0071] Finally, in step S718, the processing device 25 learns the currently determined position. Among them, the processing device 25, for example, stores the images and data related to the determined position in the internal storage device for use in judging whether the absolute position has been learned later.

[0072] In summary, the vehicle seat of the embodiment of the present invention realizes the detection of the absolute position of the seat by using an in-vehicle imaging device, radar, etc., can solve the problem that the manufacturer and service need to move the seat to the front or rear, and can avoid the triggering conditions for re-learning due to position deviation and the problem of incorrect learning. In addition, the vehicle seat of the embodiment of the present invention does not need to add a limit switch or other position sensors, and maintains the current system configuration of the motor pulse sensor, and can realize the detection of the absolute position of the seat without increasing the cost.

[0073] However, although the present disclosure has been disclosed as above with embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any person skilled in the art can make some movements and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be defined by the appended claims and their equivalent scope.

Claims

1. A vehicle seat, the vehicle seat including an electric device for moving at least one of a seat cushion and a seat back, characterized in that, Comprising: An in-vehicle imaging device that captures an in-vehicle image including at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back; And A processing device that compares the in-vehicle image with a specified in-vehicle image when at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back is in a specified position, so as to calculate the absolute position of at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back from the amount of change of at least one of the seat cushion and the seat back relative to the specified position.

2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein The processing device compares the in-vehicle image with the vehicle body part included in the specified image.

Images