Footrest and vehicle with such a footrest

Abstract

Footrest (9) for a vehicle occupant sitting in a passenger compartment (2) of a vehicle (1), in particular a motor vehicle, wherein the footrest (9) comprises a lower, first air cushion level (10) supported on the floor (5) of the vehicle (1) and serving to adjust the height of the footrest (9) and having one or more first air cushions (11) arranged next to and / or one above the other, and an upper, second air cushion level (12) having a massage function and having a plurality of second air cushions (13), and wherein the air cushion levels (10, 12) are separated from one another by means of a fixed support plate (18) which also carries out the height adjustment.

Description

The invention relates to a foot rest for a vehicle occupant seated in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle, according to the preamble of claim 1 of the invention. According to claim 8 of the invention, it further relates to a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, having such a foot rest.For the purposes of the present description, the usual direction of travel of a motor vehicle is to be denoted by "-x" ("minus x"), the direction opposite to its usual direction of travel is to be denoted by "+x" ("plus x"), the direction in the horizontal transversely to the x direction as viewed to the right as viewed from the usual direction of travel (-x), the direction in the horizontal transversely to the x direction as viewed to the left as viewed from the usual direction of travel (-x) is to be denoted by "-y", the direction in the vertical transversely to the x direction as viewed to the top as viewed from the usual direction of travel (-x) is to be denoted by "+z", and the direction in the vertical transversely to the x direction as viewed from the bottom as viewed from the usual direction of travel (-x) is to be denoted by "-z". This notation of the spatial directions in Cartesian coordinates corresponds to the coordinate system generally used in the motor vehicle industry. Moreover, terms such as "front", "rear", "top", "bottom", and terms having similar meaning content including the terms "right" and "left" are used in the manner that is usually used for the direction designation on a motor vehicle.DE 10 2006 006 362 A1 discloses a leg rest in a motor vehicle, which has an inflatable cushion fixedly mounted on a base plate. The base plate can be arranged, for example, on a foot mat.Furthermore, DE 203 13 390 U1 discloses a foot pad for resting on a ground surface, which foot pad comprises a battery-driven vibrator and is designed such that it can be used portable in an aircraft or other locations.U.S. Pat. No. 7,264,601 B2 relates to a spinal massage device which comprises an air reservoir and two additional air reservoirs which are arranged on both sides on the upper side of the air reservoir. In operation, air is alternately supplied to and removed from the two auxiliary air reservoirs, so that a massage effect is realized.DE 10 2009 039 470 A1 discloses a step plate of a footrest in a motor vehicle, which is height-adjustable with respect to the vehicle floor. The height of the tread plate can be adjusted by means of an air bellows which is arranged between tread plate and vehicle floor. Air can be fed into or discharged from the air bellows via a valve, so that the tread plate rises or falls relative to the vehicle floor.U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,658 A discloses a foot rest for an occupant of a motor vehicle, which foot rest comprises a foot plate which can be adjusted in height by means of an inflatable airbag having a plurality of air chambers arranged one above the other. The foot rest is arranged in a carpet cutout. In the deflated position of the air bag, the foot plate is disposed substantially flush with the adjacent carpet surface. US 2005 / 0 000 024 A1 discloses a portable footrest for a passenger of a vehicle, having an air cushion which can be inflated manually by means of the mouth or a hand pump and whose height and support angle can be adjusted by means of hook-and-loop fastener tapes. The hook and loop fastener tapes can also serve to attach battery-powered vibrators or chemical (flameless) heat sources to the air bag to stimulate blood flow in the passenger's leg or foot. DE 20 2012 004 674 U1 discloses a so-called foot comfort device for placement in the floor area in front of a motor vehicle seat, which device has a cushion- or cushion-like base body. An electromechanically or electropneumatically operated massage device is integrated into the main body. The massage device is connected to the on-board power supply system of the motor vehicle and can be controlled accordingly with regard to a wide variety of massage programs.Finally, DE 41 31 633 A1 discloses a so-called air massage device which uses in particular a plurality of inflatable air cushions of elongate design, which are arranged next to one another along a line and are fed with compressed air from a pump for their inflation. In addition, a hip massage section can also be formed here with two stacked air cushions. The air bags of the air massager are arranged on a base mat which is dimensioned for use as a resting bed and is also supplied with the compressed air from a pump. The massage device is controlled to selectively provide a massage mode of sequential inflation of the air bags. The base mat is collapsed into a flattened shape by discharging the compressed air therefrom when the massage mode is selected, and the air bags are collapsed into a flattened shape by discharging the compressed air therefrom when the sleep mode is selected. This is where the invention described below starts.It is an object of the invention to provide a foot rest for a vehicle occupant seated in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle, which foot rest, when height adjustment is used by means of inflatable air cushions, allows the simultaneous use of an effective massage function by means of correspondingly operated inflatable air cushions.The object set is achieved by a foot rest for a vehicle occupant seated in a passenger compartment of a vehicle, in particular of a motor vehicle, wherein the foot rest comprises a lower, first air cushion plane, which is supported directly or indirectly on the floor of the vehicle and serves for adjusting the height of the foot rest, with one or more first air cushions arranged next to and / or one above the other, and an upper, second air cushion plane, which has a massage function, with a plurality of second air cushions, and wherein the air cushion planes are separated from one another by means of a fixed support plate which carries out the adjustment of the height.The invention is based on the finding that air cushions require a support that is as stable as possible in order to provide a massage function in order to be able to bring about the desired massage effect. If said air cushions are arranged on a base mat inflated by means of compressed air, this makes it necessary according to the prior art (DE 41 31 633 A1) to discharge the compressed air from the base mat when the massage operating mode is selected. Only then are the air cushions supported almost directly against the floor on which the base mat is placed. The desired effective massage function is then provided. If the base mat were not air-empty, the air cushions could not be supported sufficiently and the desired massage effect would not be given, since the pressure forces applied by means of the air cushions would not be transmitted or only insufficiently transmitted to the foot of the vehicle occupant, but would be predominantly absorbed and dissipated by the inflated base mat.By contrast, with the support plate according to the invention, even when the first air cushions of the lower, first air cushion plane are inflated, a support of the respective second air cushions of the upper, second air cushion plane that is sufficient for the massage function is advantageously ensured.The dependent claims describe preferred refinements or refinements of the invention.The foot rest is then arranged in a trough-like embossing or recess of the floor of the passenger compartment directed downwards to the vehicle. This has the advantage that, despite additional installations, a reduction in the free interior of the passenger compartment is prevented. Preferably, the foot rest is dimensioned and arranged in the embossing or recess in a non-use position such that its upper edge merges planarly into the laterally adjacent upper edge of a floor covering applied to the floor of the passenger compartment. As the invention further provides, the air cushion planes can be separately acted upon by compressed air, whereby a higher adjustment of the foot rest can be carried out independently of a massage function or vice versa. As the invention still provides, a vehicle-mounted or mobile pneumatic system is or can be assigned to the air cushion levels. A mobile pneumatic system opens up application possibilities with regard to a mobile foot rest removable from the vehicle. In this respect, it is advantageous if the foot rest in a further embodiment of the invention is designed as an installation module comprising said height adjustment and foot massage and can be removed from the vehicle and operated independently of the same. Expediently, a mobile pneumatic system with an electrical energy store, for example an accumulator, for operating an electrically operated air pump of the pneumatic system is assigned to the mobile foot rest, so that the mobile foot rest can also be operated comfortably independently of a power grid.In order to be able to offer the vehicle without great changes to the vehicle body even without such a height-adjustable foot rest with massage function, the height-adjustable foot rest with massage function designed as a first installation module can be exchanged for at least one second and / or third installation module in the form of a foot rest, depending on the customer's desire. Accordingly, for example, the second installation module has a first air cushion plane for height adjustment with a foot mat arranged thereon. A massage function is not desired by the customer in this case. In contrast, with regard to the trough-like embossing or recess of the floor of the passenger compartment, the third installation module "only" has a dimensionally stable height compensation element with a foot mat or a floor covering arranged thereon. In this case, neither the height adjustment nor the massage function of the foot rest are desired by the customer.The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment schematically illustrated in the drawings. However, it is not limited to this, but covers all the embodiments defined by the patent claims. The following are shown: FIG. 1 shows a vehicle equipped with a foot rest according to the invention in a side view, FIG. 2 shows the floor of the passenger compartment between a front vehicle seat and the rear seat bench of the vehicle according to FIG. 1 with a foot rest arranged in a trough-shaped embossment or recess and designed as an installation module in a non-use position, FIG. 3 shows the foot rest according to FIG. 2 in a position of use, FIG. 4 shows a foot rest of the vehicle, which is designed as a second installation module, in a non-use position, and FIG. 5 shows a foot rest of the vehicle designed as a third installation module.FIG. 1 first shows a vehicle 1, in the present case a motor vehicle in the form of a passenger car, having a passenger compartment 2, in which two front seats 3 and one rear seat bank 4 are arranged. The floor 5 of the passenger compartment 2 is formed by at least one acoustic damping part, which is applied to the body shell, which is not designated in more detail, from a plastic foam, preferably from a polyurethane foam (PU or PUR, respectively), and has a floor covering 6 in the form of a carpet floor made in particular of Velour. Velours is understood here to mean a fabric with cut open loops.In the rear region of the passenger compartment 2, i.e. between the front seats 3 and the rear seat bench 4, two rear foot storage surfaces 7 are conventionally arranged, as viewed in the transverse direction (y direction), which typically serve for storing the feet of vehicle occupants seated on the rear seat bench 4. Both said floor 5 and the floor covering 6 form a trough-like embossing 8 or recess in the region of said foot rest surfaces 7 (cf. in particular. FIGS. 2 to 5 ).Within said embossing 8 a height-adjustable foot rest 9 is arranged (FIGS. 2 and 3 ). The foot rest 9 comprises a lower, first air cushion plane 10 with a first air cushion 11 and supported on the floor 5 of the vehicle 1 or its passenger compartment 2 and serving for said height adjustment, as well as an upper, second air cushion plane 12 with a plurality of second air cushions 13 having a massage function. Both the height adjustment and the massage function are accomplished by means of a pneumatic system 15 that can be operated by the vehicle occupant via, for example, a touchscreen or another known operating element 14 and is connected to the air cushions 11, 13. The pneumatic system 15 can be a vehicle-mounted or a mobile system, for which purpose it is explained in more detail below.The pneumatic system 15 has at least one air pump 16 which is operated by means of an electric motor, not shown in the drawing, and which in turn provides compressed air for operating the air cushions 11, 13 of the two air cushion planes 10, 12. For this purpose, an electronic open-loop and closed-loop control unit 17 electrically connected to the operating element 14 is also provided, which controls valves, not shown in the drawing, in air inflow and air outflow lines of the air cushions 11, 13. Preferably, the two air cushion planes 10, 12 can be supplied with compressed air separately and accordingly independently of one another. As far as the air cushions 13 of the upper, second air cushion plane 12 performing the massage function are concerned, a plurality of massage operating modes for controlling said valves of the air inflow and air outflows assigned to the air cushions 13 can be stored in the electronic control and regulating unit 17, for example.In order to ensure, even when the first air cushion 11 of the lower, first air cushion plane 10 is inflated, adequate support of the second air cushions 13 of the upper, second air cushion plane 12 for adjusting the height of the foot rest 9, the two air cushion planes 10, 12 are separated from one another by means of a fixed support plate 18 which carries out the adjustment of the height. The support plate 18 preferably consists of a solid or dimensionally stable plastic plate which is fixedly connected at the bottom or bottom side to the first air cushion 11 of the lower, first air cushion plane 10, which is preferably supported directly on the floor 5, for height adjustment and at the top to the second air cushions 13 of the massage function (upper, second air cushion plane 12) by means of, for example, adhesive bonding, optionally in a detachable manner by means of Velcro. The second air bags 13 are protected from dirt and damage by a cover 19. The air cushions 11, 13 together with the support plate 18 and the cover 19 preferably form a first installation module 20 of the foot rest 9, which is prefabricated and provided for installation in the vehicle 1.The height-adjustable foot rest 9 or the first installation module 20 formed therefrom is arranged within the embossment 8 such that the upper edge 21 of the supporting surface 22 of the foot rest 9 for the feet 23 of the vehicle occupant in the basic position or non-use position of the foot rest 9 or, when the height adjustment and the massage function are not in use, passes over flatly into the laterally adjacent upper edge 24 of the floor covering 6 applied to the floor 5 (FIG. 2 ). In this basic position, in which no height adjustment is desired, the massage function of the upper second air cushion plane 12 can be used for the feet 23 of the vehicle occupant, if necessary.FIG. 3 shows the height-adjustable foot rest 9 in a use position, in which the lower, first air cushion plane 10 is acted upon by compressed air in such a way that the support surface 22 is height-adjusted upward and, moreover, is arranged inclined toward the rear of the vehicle about a transverse axis of the vehicle 1, which transverse axis is not illustrated in the drawing. Such an inclination can be brought about by a special design of the first air cushion 11 and / or by means of a plurality of differently inflatable air chambers of the first air cushion 11. Moreover, a plurality of first air cushions 11 arranged above and / or next to one another and separately pressurized with compressed air can also be provided (not shown in the drawing). The support plate 18 arranged between the air cushion planes 10, 12 has carried out the height adjustment together with the inclination. In this operating position or use position of the foot rest 9, too, the massage function of the upper second air cushion plane 12 can be used for the feet 23 of the vehicle occupant, since the support plate 18 ensures the support of the second air cushions 13 of the upper, second air cushion plane 12 that is sufficient for the massage function.If the height-adjustable foot rest 9 is designed as a mobile installation module 20, it can be removed from the vehicle 1 and operated independently of it by combining it with a mobile pneumatic system 15 with an electrical energy storage, such as an accumulator, or already being equipped with the mobile pneumatic system 15 with electrical energy storage (not illustrated in the drawing). With regard to the advantages of such a mobile installation module 20, it has already been explained above.In order to be able to offer the vehicle 1 without great changes to the vehicle body, depending on the customer's desire, even without such a height-adjustable foot rest 9 with a massage function, the height-adjustable foot rest 9 with a massage function, which foot rest is designed as a first installation module 20, can be replaced by at least one second and / or third installation module 25, 26 in the form of a foot rest 9', 9". The second installation module 25 then has, according to FIG. 4, a lower, first air cushion plane 10' with at least one first air cushion 11' for height adjustment and with a foot mat 27 or floor covering arranged thereon / m and held by a support plate 18', wherein the floor covering is preferably identical to the floor covering 6. A massage function is not desired by the customer in this case. According to FIG. 5, in contrast, the third installation module 26 "merely" has, with regard to the trough-like embossment 8 or recess of the floor 5 of the passenger compartment 2, a dimensionally stable height compensation element 28 with a foot mat 27 or a floor covering arranged thereon, which is preferably identical to the floor covering 6. The height compensation element 28 is designed in such a way that the upper edge 21 of the supporting surface 22 of the foot rest 9" for the feet 23 merges into the laterally adjacent upper edge 24 of the floor covering 6 applied to the floor 5. In this case, neither the height adjustment nor the massage function are desired by the customer.The exemplary embodiment described above is essentially directed to a height-adjustable foot rest 9 in the rear region of the passenger compartment 2. However, the invention is not limited to this exemplary embodiment, but rather also covers, of course, a foot rest 9 of the type according to the invention which is associated with vehicle occupants seated on the front seats 3.List of reference characters1 Vehicle 2 Passenger compartment 3 Front seat 4 Rear seat bank 5 Floor 6 Floor covering 7 Foot support surface 8 Embossing 9 Foot support 9' Foot support 9" Foot support 10 Lower, first air cushion plane 10' Lower, first air cushion plane 11 First air cushion 11' First air cushion 12 Upper, second air cushion plane 13 Second air cushion 14 Operating element 15 Pneumatic system 16 Air pump 17 Open- and closed-loop control unit 18 Support plate 18' Support plate 19 Reference 20 First installation module 21 Upper edge (foot support 9, 9', 9") 22 Support surface (foot support 9, 9', 9") 23 Feet (vehicle occupant) 24 Upper edge (floor covering 6) 25 Second installation module 26 Third installation module 27 Foot mat 28 Height compensation element

Claims

Foot rest (9) for a vehicle occupant seated in a passenger compartment (2) of a vehicle (1), in particular of a motor vehicle, wherein the foot rest (9) comprises a lower, first air cushion plane (10), which is supported on the floor (5) of the vehicle (1) and serves for adjusting the height of the foot rest (9), with one or more first air cushions (11) arranged next to and / or above one another, and an upper, second air cushion plane (12), which has a massage function, with a plurality of second air cushions (13), and wherein the air cushion planes (10, 12) are separated from one another by means of a fixed support plate (18), which carries out the adjustment of the height.Foot rest (9) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the foot rest (9) is arranged in a trough-like embossing (8) or recess of the base (5) of the passenger compartment (2) which is directed towards the bottom of the vehicle.Foot rest (9) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the air cushion planes (10, 12) can be acted upon separately from one another with compressed air.Foot rest (9) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that a vehicle-fixed or mobile pneumatic system (15) is or can be assigned to the air cushion planes (10, 12).Foot rest (9) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the foot rest (9) is designed as an installation module (20) comprising said height adjustment and foot massage.Foot rest (9) according to claim 5, characterised in that the foot rest (9) is designed as a mobile installation module (20) and can be removed from the vehicle (1) and operated independently of the same.Foot rest (9) according to claim 6, characterised in that a mobile pneumatic system (15) with an electrical energy store, for example an accumulator, is assigned to the mobile foot rest (9).Vehicle (1), in particular motor vehicle, having a foot rest (9) according to one of Claims 1 to 7.Vehicle (1) according to Claim 8, characterized in that the foot rest (9) is designed as a first installation module (20) and can be exchanged at least for a second and / or third installation module (25, 26) in the form of a foot rest (9', 9").Vehicle (1) according to Claim 9, characterized in that the second installation module (25) has a first air cushion plane (10') for height adjustment with a foot mat (27) or a floor covering arranged thereon, and the third installation module (26) has a dimensionally stable height compensation element (28) with a foot mat (27) or a floor covering arranged thereon with respect to the trough-like embossing (8) or recess of the floor (5) of the passenger compartment (2).

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