Oscillation restraint device of upper half body of crew member

Abstract

To restrain upper half body of a crew member from being oscillated due to vibration of a longitudinal direction of a vehicle.SOLUTION: An oscillation restraint device 14 of an upper half body of a crew member contains a foot stand 16 which receives legs of the crew member 12 sitting on a seat 10 of the vehicle and is the foot stand 16 capable of moving in a cross direction and includes a right-side foot stand 16R which receives a right-foot stand 15R of the crew member 12 and a left-side foot stand 16L which receives a left-side foot 15L of the crew member 12, an acceleration sensor 30 which detects vibration of a longitudinal direction of the vehicle and a foot stand drive mechanism 18 which reciprocates and drives the right-side foot stand 16R and the left-side foot stand 16L in an opposite direction to each other and in substantially cross direction by corresponding to the vibration of the longitudinal direction detected by the acceleration sensor 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for suppressing the swaying of the upper body of a vehicle occupant.

Background Art

[0002] During vehicle travel, a vehicle occupant may feel unwell due to the body and head being swayed by vibrations, or may experience motion sickness. Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique for reducing lower limb fatigue by making the part of the vehicle floor where the occupant's feet are placed movable up and down and tiltable, and setting the floor part to a position where it is raised and tilted.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Even if the vehicle floor is raised and tilted, the swaying of the body and head cannot be suppressed. An object of the present invention is to suppress the swaying of the upper body of an occupant accompanying vibrations in the left - right direction of the vehicle.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The device for suppressing the swaying of the upper body of an occupant according to the present invention includes a footrest that receives the feet of an occupant seated on a vehicle seat and is movable in the front - rear direction, the footrest having a right - hand footrest that receives the right foot of the occupant and a left - hand footrest that receives the left foot of the occupant, a vibration detection sensor that detects vibrations in the left - right direction of the vehicle, and a footrest drive mechanism that reciprocally drives the right - hand footrest and the left - hand footrest in substantially the front - rear direction in opposite directions to each other in response to the left - right direction vibrations detected by the vibration detection sensor.

Effects of the Invention

[0006] By moving the right footrest and the left footrest in opposite directions along the front-rear direction, a moment is generated on the pelvis of the occupant, thereby suppressing the lateral swaying of the upper body of the occupant.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0007]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, unless otherwise specified, terms indicating relative positions and directions such as front, rear, left, right, up, and down represent relative positions and directions with respect to the vehicle. In FIG. 1, the direction of arrow FR is forward, the direction of arrow UP is upward, and the direction of arrow LH is leftward.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an occupant 12 seated on a seat 10 of a vehicle and a device 14 for suppressing the swaying of the upper body of the occupant 12. Hereinafter, the device 14 will be referred to as a sway suppression device 14. The sway suppression device 14 includes a footrest 16 that receives the feet 15 of the occupant and a footrest drive mechanism 18 that reciprocally drives the footrest 16. The footrest 16 has a right footrest 16R that receives the right foot 15R and a left footrest 16L that receives the left foot 15L. Each footrest 16 is supported so as to be reciprocally movable along a substantially front-rear direction, particularly along the direction in which the lower limbs 17 of the seated occupant 12 extend. The direction in which the lower limbs 17 extend may be the direction connecting the hip joint and the ankle (ankle joint). Also, the footrest 16 may move so as to have a component in the direction in which the lower limbs 17 extend. The footrest drive mechanism 18 includes two cams 22 driven by a motor 20. These cams 22 may be eccentric cams. The footrest drive mechanism 18 includes a push rod 24 that transmits the displacement of the cam 22 to the footrest 16.

[0010] One of the two cams 22 is a right cam 22R corresponding to the right pedestal 16R, and the other is a left cam 22L corresponding to the left pedestal 16L. The two cams 22 are coupled to a drive shaft 26 coupled to the output shaft of the motor 20. The drive shaft 26 may be directly coupled to the output shaft of the motor 20 and rotate integrally therewith, or may be connected to the output shaft via a speed reduction mechanism or a speed increase mechanism such as a gear pair or a gear train. The cam profiles of the two cams 22 are of the same shape with a phase difference of 180°. When the cam 22 is an eccentric cam, the cam 22 is a disk and is fixed to the drive shaft 26 at a position eccentric from its center.

[0011] One end of the push rod 24 is coupled to the pedestal 16, and the other end is in contact with the cam 22. When the cam 22 is an eccentric cam, the other end of the push rod 24 contacts the peripheral surface of the cam 22. A right push rod 24R is provided corresponding to the right cam 22R and the right pedestal 16R, and a left push rod 24L is provided corresponding to the left cam 22L and the left pedestal 16L. The push rod 24 is biased toward the cam 22, and the other end is always in contact with the cam 22. Also, the push rod 24 may be slidably supported along its longitudinal direction. The push rod 24 and the pedestal 16 may be fixedly coupled so that their relative positional relationship does not change, or may be coupled at the coupling point so as to be bent and rotatable relative to each other. A roller may be provided at the portion of the push rod 24 that contacts the cam 22. By providing the roller, the friction generated at the contact point between the push rod 24 and the cam 22 can be reduced.

[0012] When the two cams 22 are driven by the motor 20, the pedestal 16 reciprocates back and forth according to the cam profile. If the cam 22 is an eccentric cam, the pedestal 16 moves in a motion where the waveform of the displacement with respect to time is substantially sinusoidal. Also, since the cam profiles of the two cams 22 have a phase difference of 180°, the right pedestal 16R and the left pedestal 16L move in opposite directions to each other. That is, when the right pedestal 16R moves backward, the left pedestal 16L moves forward, and when the right pedestal 16R moves forward, the left pedestal 16L moves backward.

[0013] The rocking suppression device 14 includes a control unit 28 that controls the operation of the motor 20. The control unit 28 drives the motor 20 when a predetermined condition is met, for example, when the vehicle body acceleration in the left - right direction becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The rocking suppression device 14 is provided with an acceleration sensor 30 for detecting vibrations in the left - right direction.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a view showing the seated occupant 12 as seen from the front and above. In particular, the pelvis 32 and the spinal column 34 of the occupant 12 are shown. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the suppression of the left - right rocking of the upper body of the occupant will be described.

[0015] When the right footrest 16R and the left footrest 16L are driven in opposite directions by the footrest drive mechanism 18, their movements are transmitted to the pelvis 32 of the occupant via the right lower limb 17R and the left lower limb 17L. Then, the pelvis 32 rotates about an axis extending in the front - rear direction of the occupant's body. By this rotation of the pelvis 32, a moment acts on the upper body 36.

[0016] When a lateral force F acts on the upper body 36 of the occupant 12 due to the lateral acceleration generated in the vehicle, the upper body 36 tends to fall in that direction. By rotating the pelvis 32 so as to generate a moment M in the direction to raise the upper body 36 that tends to fall, the movement of the upper body 36 can be suppressed. For example, when a force F is applied from the right (from the left of the vehicle) in FIG. 2, the upper body 36 tends to tilt to the left in FIG. 2. At this time, by moving the right footrest 16R backward, a force acting on the pelvis 32 via the right lower limb 17R is applied, and by moving the left footrest 16L forward, the forward movement of the pelvis 32 on the left lower limb 17L side is allowed. Due to such movements of the right footrest 16R and the left footrest 16L, a moment M opposite to the moment acting on the upper body 36 due to the lateral force F acts on the pelvis 32, and it rotates clockwise as shown by the dashed - dotted line in FIG. 2. This opposite - direction moment also acts on the upper body 36 via the pelvis 32. Further, even when the pelvis 32 rotates, the movement of the head of the occupant 12 is suppressed because the spinal column 34 bends.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a flowchart related to the control of the rocking suppression device 14. The control unit 28 acquires the lateral acceleration of the vehicle detected by the acceleration sensor 30 (S100). The control unit 28 determines whether the acquired vibration acceleration is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (S102). If it is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the control unit 28 controls the motor 20 to operate the pedestal drive mechanism 18 (S104). At this time, the rocking suppression device 14 performs an operation according to the acquired vibration acceleration. Specifically, the pedestal 16 is driven at a period corresponding to the detected vibration period so that a moment that resists the force generated by the vibration acceleration is generated. The operation of the rocking suppression device 14 continues until it is determined in step S102 that the vibration acceleration is less than the predetermined value. When it is determined in step S102 that the vibration acceleration is less than the predetermined value, the control unit 28 drives the motor 20 to return the pedestal 16 to the initial position. The initial position of the pedestal 16 is, for example, a position where the front-rear positions of the right pedestal 16R and the left pedestal 16L are the same position, that is, an aligned position. After step S106 ends, the control process returns to step S100 to continue monitoring the vibration acceleration.

[0018] The pedestal drive mechanism 18 may employ a cam mechanism (variable lift cam mechanism) capable of changing the displacement. This variable lift cam mechanism can be configured, for example, to drive the push rod 24 by the cam 22 via the rocker arm. The contact point between the rocker arm and the cam 22 becomes the force point, and the contact point with the push rod 24 becomes the action point. By moving the fulcrum of the rocker arm, the distance from the fulcrum to the force point and the distance from the fulcrum to the action point can be changed, and the amount of movement of the push rod 24 with respect to the displacement of the cam 22 can be changed. By adopting the variable lift cam mechanism, the amount of movement of the pedestal 16 can be changed according to the magnitude of the vibration acceleration. In step S104 of FIG. 3, when the vibration acceleration is large, the cam mechanism may be controlled so that the amount of movement of the pedestal 16 becomes large, and a large moment corresponding to a large lateral force may be generated.

[0019] By utilizing the movement of the footrest 16, it is possible to assist the movement of the occupant, particularly the movement of the lower limbs 17. The driving of the footrest 16 by the motor 20 can be stopped, and the occupant 12 can move the lower limbs 17 to move the footrest 16. The milking action of the muscles of the lower limbs 17 promotes blood flow, and by appropriately moving the joints and muscles, it is possible to suppress the continuation of the same posture for a long time. When the occupant moves the footrest 16, the motor 20 and the drive shaft 26 may be disconnected using a clutch or the like.

Explanation of Signs

[0020] 10 Seat, 12 Occupant, 14 Rocking suppression device, 15 Foot, 16 Footrest, 17 Lower limb, 18 Footrest drive mechanism, 20 Motor, 22 Cam, 24 Push rod, 26 Drive shaft, 28 Control unit, 30 Acceleration sensor (vibration detection sensor), 32 Pelvis, 34 Spine, 36 Upper body.

Claims

Claim 1 A footrest that receives the feet of an occupant sitting on a vehicle seat and is movable in the front-rear direction, the footrest having a right footrest that receives the right foot of the occupant and a left footrest that receives the left foot of the occupant, and a vibration detection sensor that detects vibrations in the left-right direction of the vehicle, and a footrest drive mechanism that reciprocally drives the right footrest and the left footrest in substantially the front-rear direction in opposite directions to each other in response to the left-right vibrations detected by the vibration detection sensor, and a device for suppressing the rocking of the upper body of the occupant, comprising the above components.

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