Vehicular seat device

Abstract

To provide a vehicular seat device capable of timely coping with temporal change in the state of a vehicle.SOLUTION: A vehicular seat device according to the present invention is configured so that an electric motor is driven with a starting torque being calculated and determined using vehicle information, thereby, a movable portion can be operated with an appropriate starting torque according to a state of a vehicle or a user. Furthermore, since the configuration can suppress occurrence of a large impact when the movable portion starts to operate, for example, it can suppress the occurrence of a problem in which an object placed on a table falls or a drink in a drink holder spills out.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle seat apparatus to be installed in a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in the electric seat described in Patent Document 1, a limiting resistor is arranged in series with the winding resistor of the electric motor to start the electric motor at a low speed in order to suppress shock when the electric motor is started. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-141574 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a vehicle such as a car, the state of the vehicle (for example, a state of going down a slope or a state of accelerating or decelerating) or the state of an occupant (for example, a posture of the occupant) changes from moment to moment. The present disclosure discloses an example of a vehicle seat device that takes this into consideration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] It is desirable that a vehicle seat apparatus to be mounted on a vehicle has at least one of the following constituent features, for example. That is, the constituent elements are an electric motor (9) that generates a driving force to operate the movable part (2), an information acquisition part (11) that acquires vehicle information, and a control part (10) that controls the operation of the electric motor (9), and the control part (10) is capable of performing starting torque control that controls the torque generated at the time of starting using the vehicle information acquired by the information acquisition part (11).

[0006] This allows the vehicle seat apparatus to start the electric motor with a torque corresponding to the vehicle information, thereby enabling the movable part to operate with an acceleration suitable for the vehicle information.

[0007] The vehicle seat device may have the following configuration, for example. That is, it is desirable that the information acquisition unit (11) acquires at least one of the following vehicle information: acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle, tilt angle of the vehicle, temperature of the electric motor (9), air temperature in the cabin, power supply voltage that can be applied to the electric motor (9), and weight of the seated person.

[0008] Furthermore, it is desirable that the information acquisition unit (11) acquires at least one of the following vehicle information: the sleeping state of the seated person, the physical condition of the seated person, whether or not there is food or drink, the reclining angle of the seat back, the angle of the ottoman, and the distance between the front seat and the rear seat.

[0009] Incidentally, the symbols in each of the parentheses above are examples showing the correspondence with the specific configurations, etc. described in the embodiments described below, and the present disclosure is not limited to the specific configurations, etc. shown by the symbols in the parentheses above. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle seat device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a drive device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between speed and elapsed time. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram showing the magnitude of starting torque. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The following "embodiments of the invention" are examples of embodiments that fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure. In other words, the invention-specific matters described in the claims are not limited to the specific configurations and structures shown in the following embodiments.

[0012] In this embodiment, a vehicle seat device according to the present disclosure is applied to a seat device (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle seat device) mounted on a vehicle such as a car. Arrows and diagonal lines indicating directions are provided in each drawing to facilitate understanding of the relationships between the drawings and the shapes of components or parts.

[0013] Therefore, the vehicle seat apparatus is not limited to the directions shown in the drawings. The directions shown in the drawings are directions when the vehicle seat according to the present embodiment is assembled to a vehicle. Diagonally shaded drawings do not always represent cross-sectional views.

[0014] At least one of a component or part that is described and labeled with a reference numeral is provided unless otherwise specified, such as "one." The vehicle seat device disclosed in the present disclosure includes at least one of the components that are described and labeled with a reference numeral or the components illustrated.

[0015] (First embodiment) <1. Overview of the vehicle seat device> 1, a vehicle seat device 1 includes at least a seat body 2 and a slide device 5. The seat body 2 is where a user sits. The seat body 2 includes at least a seat cushion 3 and a seat back 4.

[0016] The seat cushion 3 is a portion for supporting the buttocks of a seated person. The seat back 4 is a portion for supporting the back of a seated person. The seat back 4 is rotatably connected to the seat cushion 3.

[0017] The seat body 2 according to this embodiment is also provided with an ottoman (not shown). The ottoman is provided on the front end side of the seat cushion 3 and supports the lower legs of a seated occupant. The ottoman is connected to the seat cushion 3 so as to be displaceable relative to the seat cushion 3.

[0018] The slide device 5 slidably supports the seat body 2. The slide device 5 includes at least a fixed rail 6, a movable rail 7, and a drive device 8 (see FIG. 2). The fixed rail 6 is a rail member that is fixed directly or indirectly to the vehicle.

[0019] The movable rail 7 is a member slidably connected to the fixed rail 6. The seat body 2 is directly or indirectly connected to the movable rail 7. Therefore, the seat body 2 slides relative to the vehicle. Hereinafter, the seat body 2 will also be referred to as the movable part 2.

[0020] The driving device 8 is a device that drives the movable rail 7 to slide. As shown in FIG. 2, the driving device 8 has at least an electric motor 9, a control unit 10, an information acquisition unit 11, etc. The electric motor 9 generates a driving force that slides the movable rail 7. Note that the electric motor 9 according to this embodiment is a brushed DC motor.

[0021] The information acquisition unit 11 acquires vehicle information. The vehicle information refers to, for example, information indicating the state of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as vehicle information) and information indicating the state of the user (hereinafter referred to as user information).

[0022] Vehicle body information refers to, for example, the acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle, the inclination angle of the vehicle relative to the horizontal plane, the temperature of the electric motor 9, the air temperature inside the vehicle, the power supply voltage that can be applied to the electric motor 9, and the weight of the seated person. User information refers to, for example, the sleeping state of the seated person, the physical condition of the seated person, whether or not they have eaten or drunk something, the reclining angle of the seat back 4, the angle of the ottoman, the distance between the front seat and the rear seat, etc.

[0023] For this reason, the information acquisition unit 11 is configured with sensors and cameras that can acquire vehicle body information and user information. Information such as the sleeping state of the seated person, the physical condition of the seated person, whether or not they have eaten or drunk, and the distance between the front and rear seats is acquired based on images captured by the camera.

[0024] Information such as the acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle, the inclination angle of the vehicle relative to the horizontal plane, the temperature of the electric motor 9, the air temperature inside the vehicle, the power supply voltage that can be applied to the electric motor 9, the weight of the seated person, the reclining angle of the seat back 4, and the angle of the ottoman is obtained based on the detection signals of the sensors.

[0025] The control unit 10 is a controller that controls the operation of the electric motor 9 and is also capable of executing starting torque control. The control unit 10 includes a data acquisition unit 10A, a torque calculation unit 10B, a torque control unit 10C, and the like.

[0026] The data acquiring unit 10A reads the vehicle information acquired by the information acquiring unit 11. The torque calculating unit 10B uses the read vehicle information to calculate and determine the torque generated when the electric motor 9 starts (hereinafter referred to as starting torque).

[0027] The torque control unit 10C controls the electric motor 9 so that a starting torque is generated in the electric motor 9. The torque control unit 10C according to this embodiment controls the starting torque by controlling the ratio between the energized time and the non-energized time (duty ratio).

[0028] The control unit 10 according to this embodiment is configured as an electronic control unit (ECU) configured as a computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc. The functions of the control unit 10 are realized by the CPU executing software pre-stored in a non-volatile storage unit such as a ROM.

[0029] <2. Details of starting torque control> The starting torque control is a control that changes the torque generated when the electric motor 9 starts, that is, the starting torque, by using the vehicle information acquired by the information acquisition unit 11. When the starting torque changes, the acceleration when the movable part 2 is displaced changes accordingly (see FIG. 3).

[0030] In other words, the starting torque control is equivalent to acceleration control. In other words, the starting torque control is equivalent to controlling the displacement acceleration of the movable part 2 by using the vehicle information acquired by the information acquisition unit 11 when displacing the movable part 2.

[0031] <Example of starting torque control> The chart shown in FIG. 4 shows the magnitude of the starting torque calculated and determined by the torque calculation unit 10B when the vehicle information includes the "air temperature inside the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as the temperature)" and the "inclination angle of the vehicle relative to the horizontal plane (hereinafter referred to as the inclination angle)."

[0032] For example, when the tilt angle is 0, i.e., when the vehicle is horizontal, a "medium" starting torque is always selected regardless of the temperature. Also, when the temperature is below 50°C, if the tilt angle increases so that the front of the vehicle is higher than the rear, the starting torque selected increases accordingly.

[0033] When body weight is used as vehicle information, in principle, the greater the body weight, the greater the starting torque calculated and determined, because the acceleration of the movable part 2 is proportional to the starting torque and inversely proportional to the body weight.

[0034] Furthermore, when the seated person is asleep, when the seated person is in poor health, when there is food or drink on the table (not shown), when the reclining angle of the seat back 4 is large, when the angle of the ottoman is large, or when the distance between the front seat and the rear seat is small, a small starting torque is calculated and determined.

[0035] In other words, when the starting torque is T and the various vehicle information acquired by the information acquisition unit 11 are x1, x2,..., xn, the starting torque T is a function of the various vehicle information, that is, T=f(x1, x2,..., xn).

[0036] 3. Features of the vehicle seat device according to this embodiment In the vehicle seat device 1 according to this embodiment, the electric motor 9 is driven with a starting torque calculated and determined using vehicle information, so that the movable part 2 can be operated with an appropriate starting torque according to the state of the vehicle and the user.

[0037] Furthermore, since it is possible to prevent large impacts from occurring when the movable part 2 starts to operate, it is possible to prevent problems such as items placed on the table falling or drinks spilling from the drink holder.

[0038] (Other embodiments) In the above-described embodiment, the seat body 2 is the movable part, and the movable part is displaced by the slide device 5. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure is also applicable to cases where, for example, a seat back, an ottoman, or the like is the movable part.

[0039] The electric motor 9 according to the above-described embodiment is an electric motor used in the slide device 5. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, for example, the present disclosure may be applied to the control of an electric motor that operates a seat back, an ottoman, or the like.

[0040] In the above-described embodiment, the starting torque is controlled by controlling the duty ratio. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured to control the starting torque by controlling, for example, the magnitude of the applied voltage.

[0041] In the above-described embodiment, the starting torque T is determined in three stages. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, as shown by T=f(x1, x2, . . . , xn), the starting torque may be determined in two stages, four or more stages, or continuously, depending on various vehicle information.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, multiple types of vehicle information are used. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured such that starting torque is determined using, for example, one type of vehicle information. Furthermore, the vehicle information is not limited to the types exemplified in the above-described embodiment.

[0043] In the above-described embodiment, the starting torque is directly controlled using vehicle information. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. In other words, since T = a × m (a: acceleration, m: mass), the present disclosure may be configured to indirectly control the starting torque by controlling acceleration using vehicle information, for example.

[0044] In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle seat according to the present disclosure is applied to a vehicle. However, the application of the invention disclosed in this specification is not limited thereto. That is, the present disclosure can also be applied to seats used in vehicles such as railway cars, ships, and aircraft, as well as stationary seats used in theaters, homes, etc.

[0045] Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments as long as it conforms to the spirit of the disclosure described in the above-described embodiments. Therefore, the present disclosure may be a configuration in which at least two of the above-described embodiments are combined, or a configuration in which any of the components illustrated or described with reference numerals in the above-described embodiments is eliminated. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1... Vehicle seat device 2... Seat body (movable part) 3. Seat cushion 4... Seat back 5... Slide device 6... Fixed rail 7... Movable rail 8... Drive unit 9... Electric motor 10... Control section 10A... Data acquisition section 10B... Torque calculation section 10C... Torque control section 11… Information acquisition department

Claims

1. In a vehicle seat device to be mounted on a vehicle, an electric motor that exerts a driving force to operate the moving part; an information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information; a control unit that controls the operation of the electric motor and is capable of executing start-up torque control that controls torque generated at start-up using the vehicle information acquired by the information acquisition unit; A vehicle seat device comprising:

2. 2. The vehicle seat device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires at least one of the vehicle information: acceleration / deceleration of the vehicle, the vehicle inclination angle, the temperature of the electric motor, the air temperature in the vehicle compartment, the power supply voltage that can be applied to the electric motor, and the weight of the seated occupant.

3. 3. The vehicle seat device according to claim 1, wherein the information acquisition unit acquires at least one of the following vehicle information: the sleeping state of the occupant, the physical condition of the occupant, the presence or absence of food or drink, the reclining angle of the seat back, the angle of the ottoman, and the distance between the front seat and the rear seat.

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