Method for controlling operation of an electric seat

Abstract

Method for controlling the drive of an electric seat, the method comprising: a step (S100) of detecting a motor drive signal of the electric seat; a stop determination step (S200) for determining whether the motor is forcibly stopped or normally stopped during the previous driving when the motor drive signal is detected; and a driving step (S300b) for driving the motor with a preset driving power when the previous driving of the motor is forcibly stopped; and a sequential driving step (S300a) for controlling a plurality of on / off operations of the motor so that the motor is driven step by step in the stop determining step when it is determined that the previous driving of the motor by the user is normally terminated.

Description

[TECHNICAL FIELD]

[0001] The present invention relates to a drive control method for an electric seat that controls a motor drive of an electric seat. [STATE OF THE ART]

[0002] Generally, seats in a car are provided so that a vehicle occupant can sit at a front and a rear including the driver's seat, and the seats are arranged to be movable / slidable forward and backward in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle so as to provide a comfortable condition depending on the physical conditions / conditions of the vehicle occupant.

[0003] Conventionally, there are a manual method and an automatic method as methods for adjusting the position of the seat. The manual seat movement method maintains the state in which a seat frame is coupled to a vehicle body by a lock, and performs the positional movement in a manner in which the catch / hook element is released by manually operating a lever to apply a force to a required appropriate position.

[0004] However, since such a manual seat adjustment device may make a user feel uncomfortable and is extremely dangerous when it is necessary to move / slide the seat while driving, an automatically moving seat (hereinafter referred to as an "electric seat") which can be moved easily by switching operation or switch operation has attracted attention in recent years.

[0005] The electric seat is designed to enable posture adjustment and movement using a motor in addition to conventional mechanical operation. Furthermore, a posture memory system function for driving has been applied. This system stores the position and posture of the seat preset by the user for each user, and adjusts the position and posture to suit the user with a simple operation. Basically, to achieve this function, the electric seat is capable of moving the entire seat forward / backward (sliding forward / backward), moving the backrest forward / backward (adjusting forward / backward), and adjusting the front and rear height of the seat (front height up / down, rear height up / down).

[0006] However, when the conventional electric seat reaches the terminal end of the rail during forward and backward movement of the seat, there have been cases where the rail jams or power shortages have occurred due to friction with the adjacent structure. To solve this problem, when always operating at maximum power, there has been a problem where a shock or impact has occurred when the function is achieved, reducing comfort.

[0007] US 6 949 904 B2 describes a method for controlling a seat in a vehicle, wherein a step for determining a seat occupancy of the seat is carried out in order to adjust a driving force of an actuator moving the seat.

[0008] The items described as prior art are provided merely to facilitate an understanding of the background of the present invention and should not be considered as constituting prior art known to one of ordinary skill in the art. [REVELATION][TECHNICAL PROBLEM]

[0009] The present invention has been developed to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling an automatic seat that can quickly exit the electric seat at the time of restricting the movement while performing a smooth entry at the time of acquiring the function of the electric seat. [TECHNICAL SOLUTION]

[0010] According to the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling the driving of the electric seat, the method comprising a detection step of detecting a motor drive signal of an electric seat; a stop determination step of determining whether the motor forcibly stops during the previous driving or normally stops when the motor drive signal is detected; and a driving step of driving the motor with a preset drive power value when a previous driving of the motor is forcibly stopped.

[0011] The method according to the invention further comprises a sequential driving step for controlling a plurality of on / off operations of the motor so that the motor is driven stepwise in the stop determining step when it is determined that the previous driving of the motor by the user is normally terminated.

[0012] The sequential drive step can drive the motor at a preset normal power value after controlling a plurality of motor on / off operations.

[0013] The drive step can drive the motor with a preset normal power below the drive power value after initially driving the motor with the drive power.

[0014] The method may further include a step of detecting a current value and a voltage value of a motor; and a motor stopping step of forcibly stopping the operation of the motor and storing the forcible stop signal when the voltage is applied during driving of the motor and the current value is equal to or greater than a preset current limit value.

[0015] The motor termination step can terminate the operation of the motor and can store the normal termination signal when the voltage is not applied during driving of the motor and the current value is equal to or less than the preset normal current value.

[0016] The stop determination step may determine the forced / forced termination or normal termination of the previous driving of the motor based on whether the forced termination signal is stored or the normal termination signal is stored at the time of previous driving of the motor.

[0017] The drive power value can be a maximum power value / maximum power value of the motor. [BENEFICIAL EFFECTS]

[0018] According to the drive control method of the electric seat having the above-described structure, in a situation where there is no fear of jamming occurring, since the motor can be driven stepwise, the feeling of impact and the recoil noise at the initial driving of the motor can be reduced.

[0019] In addition, in a situation where there is a danger of jamming, since it is possible to quickly escape from the jamming, it can prevent the occurrence of a torque shortage phenomenon, prevent motor overheating and the occurrence of a power seat failure, and prevent misunderstanding of a failure and improve the satisfaction level and marketability. [DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS]

[0020] The detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present application, which will be described below, and the above-mentioned summary can be better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The preferred embodiments are shown in the drawings for the purpose of illustrating the present invention.

[0021] Fig. 1 shows a flowchart of a method for controlling driving of an electric seat according to an embodiment of the present invention. [BEST MODE]

[0022] Hereinafter, a method of controlling driving an electric seat according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] Fig.1 shows a flowchart of a method for controlling driving of an electric seat according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method for controlling driving of the electric seat according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step (S100) of detecting a motor drive signal of an electric seat; a stop determination step (S200) of determining whether the motor is forcibly stopped during the previous driving or normally stopped when the motor drive signal is detected; and a drive step (S300b) of driving the motor with a preset drive power value when the previous driving of the motor is forcibly stopped.

[0024] In the present embodiment, the drive motor is preferably a motor that moves the entire power seat in the longitudinal direction, but this is not necessarily the case, and the embodiment described later can be applied to any motors or drive devices used in the seat, such as a motor capable of moving the backrest of the power seat forward / backward (adjusting / tilting forward / backward) or a motor capable of adjusting / adjusting the front and rear height of the seat (front height up / down, rear height up / down).

[0025] In the case of an electric seat that moves in the front-backward direction, a rail that can be slid relative to each other is attached to a bottom surface of the seat and a floor of the vehicle so that the seat can be moved, and a motor for providing a driving force is provided so that the seat can slide relative to the floor. An operation switch is provided so that the driving of the motor can be operated / controlled. However, when the seat reaches a movable / traveling extreme end in the front-backward direction while the seat is moving according to the operation of the operation switch, a jamming phenomenon may occur between the rails due to the driving force of the motor, and in this case, it is necessary to control the motor so that it forcibly escapes from the jamming.

[0026] Accordingly, in the detection step (S100), it is possible to detect the drive signal of the motor whether the operation switch or the operation of the operation switch should be turned on / off, and when it is determined that the motor should be forcibly stopped by the clamping of the rail during the previous driving of the motor in the stop determination step (S200), a drive step (S300b) for driving the motor to a preset drive power value is performed, thereby quickly leaving the clamping state, so that it is possible to quickly switch to the drive state.

[0027] In particular, a drive control method for an electric seat according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0028] When the drive signal of the motor is applied in the detection step (S100), it is possible to determine in the stop determination step (S200) whether the motor is forcibly stopped during the previous driving or is normally stopped.

[0029] At this time, it is desirable to determine a forced termination or a normal termination by using the termination state at the time of the last termination of the motor when determining the state of the previous drive termination of the motor.

[0030] Using the termination records stored at the time of termination of the previous motor driving, the forced termination or normal termination of the motor during the previous driving can be determined. To do this, a step (S400) for detecting the current value and voltage value of the motor may be further performed. After the driving step (S300b) is performed, the voltage is applied when driving the motor when the current value is equal to or greater than the preset limit current value, and a step (S500) for forcibly stopping the motor driving and storing the forced termination signal may be further performed. The step (S400) for detecting the current value and voltage value may be performed not only after the driving step (S300b), but also before or after the detecting step (S100), or at any other time.

[0031] In the motor termination step (S500), the current limit value is a value that can be determined to be in a fixed / slidable state, such as a state where the rail is currently jammed. In a situation where the seat can no longer move even if current is applied to the motor, since the motor is not driven, the current load of the motor increases. When the current load value is equal to or greater than the current limit value, it is possible to determine that the existing rail is moving to the extreme distal end and entering the jammed state, and the rail can no longer move. Thus, the motor can be forcibly terminated, and the forcibly terminated state can be saved in another memory.

[0032] Therefore, in the stop determination step (S200) described above, it is possible to determine that the forced termination is performed in the previous driving of the motor by reading out the last termination state stored in advance from the memory, and thus it is possible to drive the motor with a preset drive value so that the rail can quickly exit from the clamping state.

[0033] In the clamped state, since there is a need for a power value much greater than the normal power value during a normal motor drive system, it is desirable that the drive power value be a value greater than the preset normal power value, preferably the maximum output power of the motor. In proportion to this, it is also possible to adjust the applied current value required to achieve each power value. The drive power value may be a power value that can escape / exit from the clamped state, and the normal power value may be the power value required during seat movement, and each power value can be set differently according to the designer's intention.

[0034] Meanwhile, in the drive step, after the motor is initially driven at the drive power value so that the rail can quickly exit the clamping state, the motor is subsequently driven at normal power. This prevents the overload from continuously being applied to the vehicle, enabling smooth and natural movement. The time during which the motor is operated at the drive power value can be adjusted differently by the designer.

[0035] On the other hand, in the stop determination step (S200), in the same manner as the forced termination determination described above, it may be determined whether the previous driving of the motor is terminated normally. That is, if the previous driving of the motor is stored as terminated normally, it may be designated as determining that the previous driving of the motor is terminated normally.

[0036] Normal termination means that the motor driving is stopped by the user operating the operation switch so that the motor is no longer driven, rather than forced termination due to an external force such as a jamming phenomenon. Performing normal termination while the motor is previously driven may mean that there is no jamming or the like on the rail. When the seat is within the adjustable / movable range of the rail, it may mean that the motor driving is stopped, although there may be a situation where a motor power value as high as the drive power value is not required.

[0037] Accordingly, if it is determined that the previous driving of the motor by the user is normally terminated in the stop determination step (S200), it is desirable to perform a sequential driving step (S300a) for controlling a plurality of on / off operations of the motor so that the driving of the motor is performed stepwise / slowly. If the motor is sequentially driven in the state where the rail is jammed / blocked, the power of the motor becomes insufficient at the time of initial driving. Thus, the rail cannot escape from the jamming, or a quick response to the user's operation cannot occur. Accordingly, if the forced termination occurs during the previous driving of the motor, the motor is driven by the drive power value at the time of initial driving.However, in the case where a large power value is provided in the normal termination state, since the feeling of impact and the recoil sound may be generated, the sequential driving is performed to enter a natural and smooth driving state.

[0038] In the above-mentioned sequential driving, while controlling the on / off operations of the current applied to the motor to repeatedly drive or de-energize the motor, the total power is lower than in the case of continuously supplying the power, and the power can gradually increase as the on / off time is gradually increased. When the motor is driven at normal power after controlling a plurality of motor on / off operations, it is possible to enter the driving state naturally and smoothly. As a result, any shock that may occur during the initial movement of the seat is absorbed, and the seat can move smoothly.

[0039] On the other hand, in the motor stop step (S500), when the voltage is not applied during motor driving and the current value is equal to or less than the normal current value, it is determined that the user operated the operation switch to intentionally stop motor driving, and the motor driving is stopped, and a normal stop signal may be stored. Further, the stored normal stop signal may be used in the stop determination step (S200) at the time of the next motor driving. It is preferable that the normal current value is a current value required for the motor to output a normal power value.

[0040] According to the drive control method of the electric seat having the above-described configuration, the jamming occurrence situation is distinguished from the normal termination situation in a situation where there is no risk of jamming occurrence situation, the motor can be driven stepwise, and it is possible to reduce a feeling of impact and the recoil noise during initial driving of the motor.

[0041] In addition, in a situation where there is a risk of jamming, since it is possible to quickly escape from jamming, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of torque deficiency phenomenon, prevent motor overheating or electric seat failure, and prevent misunderstanding of failure and improve satisfaction and marketability.

[0042] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms in addition to the above-described embodiments without departing from its spirit or scope. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiments should be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the present invention may accordingly be modified within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents without being limited to the foregoing description. Description of reference symbols S100 acquisition step S200 Stop determination step S300a Sequential drive step S300b drive step S500 Engine termination step

Claims

[1] A method for controlling the drive of an electric seat, the method comprising: a step (S100) of detecting a motor drive signal of the electric seat; a stop determination step (S200) for determining whether the motor is forcibly stopped or normally stopped during the previous driving when the motor drive signal is detected; and a drive step (S300b) for driving the motor with a preset drive power when the previous driving of the motor is forcibly stopped; and a sequential drive step (S300a) for controlling a plurality of on / off operations of the motor so that the motor is driven step by step in the stop determining step when it is determined that the previous driving of the motor by the user is normally terminated. [2] The method according to claim 1, wherein the sequential driving step (S300a) drives the motor at a preset normal power value after controlling a plurality of on / off operations of the motor. [3] The method according to claim 1, wherein the driving step (S300b) drives the motor at a preset normal power below the drive power value after initially driving the motor with the drive power. [4] The method of claim 1, further comprising: a step (S400) for detecting a current value and a voltage value of a motor; and a motor termination step (S500) for forcibly stopping the operation of the motor and storing the forcible termination signal when the voltage is applied during driving of the motor and the current value is equal to or greater than a preset current limit value. [5] The method according to claim 4, wherein the motor termination step (S500) terminates the operation of the motor to store a normal termination signal when the voltage is not applied during driving of the motor and the current value is equal to or less than a preset normal current value. [6] The method according to claim 1, wherein the stop determination step (S200) determines the forced termination or the normal termination of the previous driving of the motor depending on whether the forced termination signal is stored or the normal termination signal is stored during the previous motor driving. [7] The method according to claim 1, wherein the drive power value is a maximum power value of the motor.

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