Vehicle seat

Abstract

To provide a vehicle seat which can realize a low height of a seat cushion.SOLUTION: A vehicle seat 10 includes: a hard member 40; and a strain sensor 44. The hard member 40 is integrally formed at a bottom surface 18A of a seat cushion pad 18, and a recess 42 is arranged toward an upper side in the hard member 40 in which the strain sensor 44 is accommodated in the recess 42. Thereby, the strain sensor 44 can be accommodated in a seat cushion 12 in a seat side view, and height of the seat cushion 12 is not varied due to existence of the strain sensor 44 so as to suppress the seat cushion 12 from raising due to thickness of the strain sensor 44 so that the vehicle seat can realize a low height of a seat cushion 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle seat. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a technology in which strain sensors for detecting weight are arranged at the front and rear of a retainer connecting a seat frame and a slide rail on the inner side in the seat width direction. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-105299 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In electric vehicles, batteries are installed under the floor, and therefore, in order to secure vertical space within the vehicle cabin, it is desirable that the seat cushion of the vehicle seat be set as low as possible (so-called low height).

[0005] However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, since the strain sensor is disposed inside the retainer provided between the seat frame and the slide rail in the seat width direction, it is difficult to reduce the height of the vehicle seat.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In consideration of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle seat that allows a seat cushion to have a low height. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The vehicle seat according to the invention described in claim 1 comprises a hard member integrally molded on the bottom surface of the seat cushion and having a recess recessed toward the upper side of the seat, and a load sensor housed within the recess.

[0008] The vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 1 includes a hard member and a load sensor. The hard member is integrally molded on the bottom surface of the seat cushion and has a recess formed toward the upper side of the seat. The load sensor is housed in this recess.

[0009] In this way, by integrally molding a hard member on the bottom surface of the seat cushion, it is possible to ensure the rigidity and elasticity required for a seat cushion even if the thickness of the seat cushion is made thin.

[0010] In the present invention, a recess is provided in a hard member provided on the bottom surface of the seat cushion, and the load sensor is housed in the recess, so that the load sensor can be housed within the seat cushion when viewed from the side of the seat.

[0011] In other words, the height of the seat cushion does not change depending on whether or not a load sensor is installed, and it is possible to suppress the increase in the height of the seat cushion due to the thickness of the load sensor, thereby reducing the effect of the presence or absence of a load sensor on the reduction of the height of the vehicle seat.

[0012] In addition, in the present invention, a hard member is integrally molded on the bottom surface of the seat cushion, and a recess is provided in the hard member to house the load sensor, which is easier to work with than, for example, providing a load sensor inside the seat cushion.

[0013] The "load sensor" may be a strain gauge type or a piezoelectric type.

[0014] The vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 2 is the vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 1, wherein the hard member is frame-shaped and is arranged on the upper side of the seat cushion frame that supports the seat cushion from the lower side of the seat and forms the skeleton of the seat cushion.

[0015] In the vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 2, the hard member is frame-shaped. That is, the hard member is provided on the outer side of the bottom surface of the seat cushion, and no hard member is provided on the inner side of the bottom surface of the seat cushion (the center of the seat cushion). The center of the seat cushion supports the buttocks of a seated occupant sitting on the seat cushion, but the cushioning properties of the seat cushion are ensured by not providing a hard member in the center of the seat cushion.

[0016] The seat cushion is supported from below by a seat cushion frame that forms the framework of the seat cushion, and the hard member is disposed above the seat on the seat cushion frame, so that a reaction force is applied to the hard member by the seat cushion frame and can be reliably detected by the load sensor.

[0017] That is, in the present invention, it is possible to maintain the cushioning properties of the seat cushion while ensuring the function of the load sensor.

[0018] The vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 3 is the vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 1, further comprising an elastic member provided on the seat cushion frame for elastically supporting the buttocks of a seated occupant seated on the seat cushion, and a support member provided on the elastic member for being in surface contact with the hard member.

[0019] The vehicle seat according to the invention of claim 3 further includes an elastic member and a support member. The elastic member is provided on the seat cushion frame and elastically supports the buttocks of a seated occupant sitting on the seat cushion. The support member is provided on the elastic member and is capable of surface contact with the hard member.

[0020] The load sensor is mounted on a hard member integrated into the bottom surface of the seat cushion, and when a seated occupant sits on the seat cushion, the seat cushion sinks downward due to the weight of the seated occupant, applying a reaction force to the hard member so that the load can be detected reliably by the load sensor.

[0021] A vehicle seat according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the vehicle seat according to the third aspect of the present invention, wherein a protrusion is provided on the support member so as to face the recess.

[0022] In the vehicle seat according to the invention described in claim 4, a convex portion is provided on the support member opposite a concave portion formed on the hard member, thereby sandwiching the load sensor between the concave portion and the convex portion, thereby ensuring reliable detection of the load. [Effects of the Invention]

[0023] As described above, the vehicle seat according to the present invention can achieve a low height for the seat cushion. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a vehicle seat according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the diagonally front left side. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view corresponding to FIG. 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic end view taken along the line AA shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] Hereinafter, a vehicle seat according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the arrows FR, UP, and W shown as appropriate in each drawing indicate the front side, upper side, and left-right direction (seat width direction) of the vehicle seat, respectively. Furthermore, when the front-rear, up-down, and left-right directions are used in the following description unless otherwise specified, they refer to the front-rear direction of the seat, the up-down direction of the seat, and the left-right direction (width direction) of the seat, respectively.

[0026] (Vehicle seat configuration) First, the configuration of the vehicle seat according to this embodiment will be described.

[0027] 1 and 2, a vehicle seat 10 according to this embodiment includes a seat cushion 12 that supports the buttocks and thighs of a seated occupant (seated occupant), and a seat back 14 that supports the back of the seated occupant. The seat cushion 12 includes a cushion frame 16 that forms a framework of the seat cushion 12 and has a substantially rectangular frame shape in a plan view, and a seat cushion pad 18 that covers the cushion frame 16 and elastically supports the seated occupant.

[0028] The cushion frame 16 is composed of a pair of left and right cushion side frames (side frames) 20 arranged on the left and right sides of the seat cushion 12, a front frame 22 and a front shaft 24 that span the front ends of the left and right cushion side frames 20 in the seat width direction, and a rear shaft 26 that spans the rear ends of the left and right cushion side frames 20 in the seat width direction, and is connected to the vehicle floor 30 via a pair of left and right slide rails 28.

[0029] On the other hand, the seat back 14 is configured to include a seat back frame 32 that forms the skeletal member of the seat back 14 and has a rectangular frame shape when viewed from the front, and a seat back pad (not shown) that covers the seat back frame 32 and elastically supports the seated occupant.

[0030] The seatback frame 32 is composed of a pair of left and right backside frames 34 arranged on the left and right sides of the seatback 14, an upper frame (not shown) that spans the upper ends of the left and right backside frames 34 in the seat width direction, and a lower frame 36 that spans the lower ends of the left and right backside frames 34 in the seat width direction.

[0031] The lower ends of the left and right back side frames 34 are connected to hinge portions 38 provided along the seat width direction at the rear ends of the cushion side frames 20. The hinge portions 38 are equipped with a reclining mechanism, and the hinge portions 38 allow the seat back 14 to rotate (i.e., recline) relative to the seat cushion 12.

[0032] In this embodiment, the seat cushion 12 includes a seat cushion pad 18 and a hard member 40. The seat cushion pad 18 is made of a foam such as urethane foam.

[0033] The hard member 40 has a generally rectangular frame shape and is made of, for example, resin. As shown in Fig. 3, the hard member 40 is molded integrally with the seat cushion pad 18 and is provided on the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18. Furthermore, a pair of left and right side portions 48A are provided at both ends of the hard member 40 in the seat width direction, and at the front and rear of the rear side (at positions corresponding to the buttocks of the seated occupant), respectively, have recesses 42 formed in a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape recessed toward the upper side of the seat. A strain sensor (load sensor) 44 is housed in each of the recesses 42.

[0034] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, both ends of a cushion spring 46 disposed in the front-to-rear direction of the seat are engaged with the front shaft 24 and the rear shaft 26, respectively, in the cushion frame 16, and are bridged between the front shaft 24 and the rear shaft 26 along the front-to-rear direction of the seat.

[0035] A plurality of cushion springs 46 (four in this example) are provided along the seat width direction, and are elastically deformable along the seat front-rear direction and the seat width direction, and these cushion springs 46 are capable of elastically supporting the buttocks of a seated occupant sitting on the seat cushion 12. However, the cushion springs 46 are not limited to this as long as they can elastically support the buttocks of a seated occupant. For example, they may be sheet-like members.

[0036] Here, a resin support member 48 having a substantially rectangular frame shape is attached to the cushion spring 46. The support members 48 are provided on both outer sides of the cushion spring 46 in the seat width direction, and in correspondence with the front and rear portions of the seat.

[0037] Furthermore, a pair of left and right side portions 48A provided at both ends of the support member 48 in the seat width direction are formed to overlap a pair of left and right side portions 40A provided at both ends of the hard member 40 in the seat width direction. A substantially rectangular parallelepiped convex portion 50 is provided on the side portion 48A so as to face the concave portion 42 formed in the side portion 40A of the hard member 40.

[0038] In this embodiment, for example, the strain sensor 44 is disposed on the upper surface of the protrusion 50, and the strain sensor 44 is housed in the recess 42. That is, in this embodiment, the strain sensor 44 is disposed between the recess 42 recessed in the hard member 40 integrally molded with the seat cushion pad 18 and the protrusion 50 protruding from the support member 48 provided on the cushion spring 46 of the cushion frame 16.

[0039] (Actions and Effects of Vehicle Seats) Next, the operation and effects of the vehicle seat according to this embodiment will be described.

[0040] 2 and 3, the vehicle seat 10 includes a hard member 40 and a strain sensor 44. The hard member 40 is integrally formed with the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18. As a result, in this embodiment, the rigidity and elasticity required for the seat cushion 12 can be ensured even if the thickness of the seat cushion 12 is reduced.

[0041] In this embodiment, a recess 42 is provided in a hard member 40 provided on the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18 toward the upper side of the seat, and a strain sensor 44 is housed in the recess 42. This allows the strain sensor 44 to be housed in the seat cushion 12 when viewed from the side of the seat.

[0042] In other words, in this embodiment, the height of the seat cushion 12 does not change depending on whether or not the strain sensor 44 is present, and it is possible to suppress the increase in height of the seat cushion 12 due to the thickness of the strain sensor 44, thereby making it possible to achieve a low height for the seat cushion 12.

[0043] In other words, in this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the influence of the presence or absence of the strain sensor 44 on the reduction in the height of the vehicle seat 10. In this way, by realizing a reduction in height, it becomes possible to package the vehicle as one to which a heat pump cycle is applied.

[0044] In addition, in this embodiment, the height of the seat cushion 12 does not change depending on whether or not the strain sensor 44 is present, so there is no need to distinguish between different types of cushion frames 16 depending on whether or not the strain sensor 44 is present, making it possible to reduce the number of types of cushion frames 16.

[0045] In this embodiment, the hard member 40 is integrally molded with the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18, and a recess 42 is provided in the hard member 40, and the strain sensor 44 is housed in the recess 42. This improves workability compared to, for example, providing the strain sensor 44 inside the seat cushion 12.

[0046] In addition, in this embodiment, the hard member 40 has a frame shape. That is, the hard member 40 is provided on the outer side of the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18, and the hard member 40 is not provided on the inner side of the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18 (the center of the seat cushion 12). The center of the seat cushion 12 supports the buttocks of a seated occupant sitting on the seat cushion 12, but since the hard member 40 is not provided in the center of the seat cushion 12, the cushioning properties of the seat cushion 12 are ensured in this embodiment.

[0047] Meanwhile, the seat cushion 12 is supported from below the seat by a cushion frame 16 that forms the framework of the seat cushion 12, and the hard member 40 is disposed above the seat of the cushion frame 16. As a result, in this embodiment, a reaction force is applied to the hard member 40 by the cushion frame 16, and this can be reliably detected by the strain sensor 44. That is, in this embodiment, it is possible to maintain the cushioning properties of the seat cushion 12 while ensuring the function of the strain sensor 44.

[0048] In this embodiment, the cushion frame 16 further includes a cushion spring 46 and a support member 48. The cushion spring 46 is provided on the cushion frame 16 and elastically supports the buttocks of a seated occupant sitting on the seat cushion 12. The support member 48 is provided on the cushion spring 46 and is capable of surface contact with the hard member 40.

[0049] The strain sensor 44 is provided on a hard member 40 that is integrated with the bottom surface 18A of the seat cushion pad 18 that constitutes part of the seat cushion 12. When a seated occupant sits on the seat cushion 12, the seat cushion 12 sinks downward due to the weight of the seated occupant. The support member 48 comes into surface contact with the hard member 40, and the support member 48 applies a reaction force to the hard member 40. This allows the strain sensor 44 to reliably detect the load in this embodiment.

[0050] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a protrusion 50 is provided on the support member 48, facing the recess 42 formed in the hard member 40. This allows the strain sensor 44 to be sandwiched between the recess 42 and the protrusion 50, making it possible to detect the load more reliably.

[0051] (Supplementary information about this embodiment) In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, recesses 42 are provided at the front and rear of the rear side of the pair of left and right side portions 48A of the hard member 40, and strain sensors 44 are housed in these recesses 42, respectively.

[0052] That is, in this embodiment, four strain sensors 44 are required, but four is not necessarily required as long as it is possible to reliably detect the presence or absence of a seated occupant. For example, the strain sensors 44 may be provided at positions corresponding to the seat bones of the seated occupant, or further, the strain sensors 44 may be provided only at the positions corresponding to the seat bones of the seated occupant on the inner side in the vehicle width direction. In this way, by reducing the number of strain sensors 44, it is possible to reduce the number of work steps and reduce costs.

[0053] In this embodiment, the hard member 40 and the support member 48 are each made of resin, but they may also be made of sheet metal. Although the strain sensor 44 is used as the load sensor, it is not limited to a strain gauge type as long as it can reliably detect whether or not an occupant is seated in the vehicle seat 10. For example, other load sensors, such as a piezoelectric type, may also be used.

[0054] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a protrusion 50 is provided on the support member 48, but the protrusion 50 is not necessarily required as long as the strain sensor 44 is housed within the recess 42 recessed in the hard member 40.

[0055] Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and one embodiment may be appropriately combined with various modified examples, and the present invention may of course be embodied in various forms as long as it does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

[0056] <Additional Notes> The following configurations may be appropriately combined to form the vehicle front frame structure according to the present invention.

[0057] (Configuration 1) The vehicle seat includes a hard member integrally molded on the bottom surface of the seat cushion and having a recess formed therein that is recessed toward the upper side of the seat, and a load sensor housed within the recess.

[0058] (Configuration 2) The hard member is frame-shaped and is disposed above the seat of a seat cushion frame that supports the seat cushion from below the seat and forms the framework of the seat cushion.

[0059] (Configuration 3) The seat cushion further includes an elastic member provided on the seat cushion frame for elastically supporting the buttocks of a seated occupant seated on the seat cushion, and a support member provided on the elastic member for being in surface contact with the hard member.

[0060] (Configuration 4) A protrusion is provided on the support member opposite the recess. [Explanation of symbols]

[0061] 10 Vehicle seats 12 seat cushions 14 Seat back 16 Cushion frame (seat cushion frame) 18 Seat cushion pad (seat cushion) 18A Bottom (bottom of seat cushion) 40 Hard materials 42 recess 44 Strain sensor (load sensor) 46 Cushion spring (elastic member) 48 Support member 50 convex part

Claims

1. a hard member integrally formed on the bottom surface of the seat cushion and having a recess recessed toward the upper side of the seat; a load sensor accommodated in the recess; A vehicle seat comprising:

2. 2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the hard member is frame-shaped and is disposed above the seat cushion frame that supports the seat cushion from below and forms a framework for the seat cushion.

3. an elastic member provided on the seat cushion frame for elastically supporting the buttocks of a seated occupant seated on the seat cushion; a support member provided on the elastic member and capable of surface contact with the hard member; The vehicle seat of claim 1 further comprising:

4. 4. The vehicle seat according to claim 3, wherein the support member has a protrusion formed thereon opposite the recess.

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