Vehicle seats

Abstract

An example of a vehicle seat that does not use a large electromagnetic solenoid is disclosed. SOLUTION: A vehicle seat 1 includes an air bag 7 built into the seat back that inflates and deflates according to the inflow and outflow of air, a compressed air generator 9 that generates compressed air to be supplied to the air bag 7, an injection valve 11 connected directly or indirectly to the air inlet of the air bag 7, an exhaust valve 13 connected directly or indirectly to the air outlet of the air bag 7, an acceleration sensor 19 that detects the acceleration of the vehicle, and a controller 15 that is capable of performing acceleration control to control the opening of at least one of the injection valve 11 and the exhaust valve 13 using the detection signal of the acceleration sensor 19. This makes it possible for the vehicle seat 1 to impart a repulsive force to the seated occupant according to the acceleration of the vehicle without using a large electromagnetic solenoid.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] For example, in the vehicle seat described in Patent Document 1, the initial load of a spring built into the seat back is changed according to the acceleration of the vehicle. The initial load of the spring refers to the force that causes the spring to compress and deform in advance. In other words, in the vehicle seat described in Patent Document 1, the amount of compressive deformation increases as the acceleration of the vehicle increases, thereby applying a large repulsive force to the seated occupant. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Chinese Patent No. 117465306A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the invention described in Patent Document 1, the initial load is generated using electromagnetic force. However, if the acceleration of the vehicle is high, the initial load may exceed 400 N. Therefore, generating the initial load using electromagnetic force requires a large electromagnetic solenoid. The present disclosure discloses an example of a vehicle seat that takes this into consideration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] A vehicle seat to be mounted on a vehicle desirably has at least one of the following components, for example. That is, the components are an air bag (7) built into the seat back (5), which is inflated and deflated according to the flow of air in and out; a compressed air generating unit (9) which generates compressed air to be supplied to the air bag (7); an injection valve (11) connected directly or indirectly to the air inlet of the air bag (7); an exhaust valve (13) connected directly or indirectly to the air outlet of the air bag (7); an acceleration sensor (19) which detects acceleration; and a control unit (15) capable of performing acceleration control which controls the opening degree of at least one of the injection valve (11) and the exhaust valve (13) using the detection signal of the acceleration sensor (19).

[0006] This makes it possible for the vehicle seat to use compressed air to apply a repulsive force to the seat occupant that corresponds to the acceleration of the vehicle, i.e., without using a large electromagnetic solenoid.

[0007] The vehicle seat may have the following configuration, for example. That is, it is desirable to provide an accelerator opening input unit (17) to which a signal indicating the operation amount of an accelerator provided in the vehicle is input, and the control unit (15) starts executing acceleration control when the operation amount of the accelerator becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined operation amount.

[0008] When executing the acceleration control, the control unit 15 preferably first executes an initial control to open the exhaust valve 13 to discharge air from the air bag 7, and then executes a push control to adjust the opening of the injection valve 11 so that the air pressure in the air bag 7 increases as the acceleration of the vehicle increases, thereby amplifying the acceleration felt by the seat occupant when the vehicle accelerates.

[0009] Furthermore, when executing the acceleration control, the control unit (15) preferably first executes initial control by opening the injection valve (11) to increase the air pressure in the air bag (7) compared to before the injection valve (11) was opened, and then executes pull control by adjusting the opening of the exhaust valve (13) so that the air pressure in the air bag (7) decreases in response to an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle. This can reduce the acceleration felt by the seated occupant when the vehicle accelerates.

[0010] It is preferable that the control unit 15 stops the acceleration control when the acceleration of the vehicle becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined acceleration. The air bag 7 is preferably disposed in a portion of the seat back 5 corresponding to the thorax of the seated occupant. Furthermore, the air bag 7 is preferably provided in the top panel portion of the seat back 5.

[0011] 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]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a vehicle seat according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram of a vehicle seat according to a first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the operation according to the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] 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.

[0014] In this embodiment, a vehicle seat according to the present disclosure is applied to a seat (hereinafter referred to as a vehicle seat) 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.

[0015] Therefore, the vehicle seat is not limited to the orientation shown in each drawing. The orientation shown in each drawing is the orientation when the vehicle seat according to this embodiment is assembled to a vehicle. Diagonally shaded drawings do not always represent cross-sectional views.

[0016] At least one of a component or part that is described with a reference numeral is provided unless otherwise specified, such as "one." In other words, unless otherwise specified, such as "one," two or more components may be provided. The vehicle seat disclosed in the present disclosure includes at least one of the components, such as the components or parts, that are described with a reference numeral and the structural parts shown in the drawings.

[0017] (First embodiment) <1. Overview of vehicle seats> As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle seat 1 includes at least a seat cushion 3 and a seat back 5. The seat cushion 3 is a portion for supporting the buttocks of a seated occupant. The seat back 5 is a portion for supporting the back of the seated occupant.

[0018] The seat back 5 contains at least one air bag 7. The air bag 7 is an air bladder that expands and contracts in response to the flow of a compressible fluid such as air. The air bag 7 is located in a portion of the top panel of the seat back 5 that corresponds to the thorax of the seated occupant.

[0019] The top panel of the seat back 5 is a portion having a support surface that is substantially perpendicular to the front-to-rear direction of the seat. In other words, the top panel is the portion that receives the inertial force acting on the seated occupant when the vehicle accelerates toward the front of the seat.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle seat 1 includes, in addition to the air bag 7, at least a compressed air generator 9, an injection valve 11, an exhaust valve 13, a control unit 15, an input unit 17, an acceleration sensor 19, and the like.

[0021] The compressed air generator 9 generates compressed air to be supplied to the air bag 7. The compressed air generator 9 has a compressed air tank 9A, an air pump 9B, and the like. The compressed air tank 9A stores compressed, high-pressure air. The air pump 9B supplies compressed air to the compressed air tank 9A.

[0022] The operation of the air pump 9B is controlled by the control unit 15. The control unit 15 operates the air pump 9B when the air pressure in the compressed air tank 9A falls below a lower limit, and stops the air pump 9B when the air pressure in the compressed air tank 9A rises above an upper limit.

[0023] For this reason, a detection signal from a pressure sensor (not shown) that detects the air pressure inside compressed air tank 9A is input to control unit 15. Injection valve 11 is connected directly or indirectly to the air inlet of air bag 7.

[0024] Injection valve 11 according to this embodiment is provided on a pipe connecting the air outlet of compressed air tank 9A and the air inlet of air bag 7. Exhaust valve 13 is connected directly or indirectly to the air outlet of air bag 7.

[0025] Exhaust valve 13 according to this embodiment is provided in a pipe connecting the air outlet and the air-opening port of air bag 7. Therefore, when exhaust valve 13 opens, the inside of air bag 7 communicates with the atmosphere, and so when the air pressure inside air bag 7 is higher than atmospheric pressure, the air inside air bag 7 is released to the atmosphere.

[0026] The control unit 15 is a controller capable of executing acceleration control. In acceleration control, the opening degree of at least one of the injection valve 11 and the exhaust valve 13 is controlled using a detection signal from an acceleration sensor 19. The acceleration sensor 19 is a sensor that detects the acceleration of the vehicle seat.

[0027] The control unit 15 is provided with an input unit 17. The input unit 17 is an accelerator opening input unit to which a signal indicating the operation amount of an accelerator provided in the vehicle is input. The accelerator is an operation unit of an acceleration control device of the vehicle. The acceleration control device is a fuel injection device of an internal combustion engine, a motor control device, etc.

[0028] Then, the control unit 15 determines whether the amount of operation of the accelerator has reached or exceeded a predetermined amount based on the signal input to the input unit 17, and when it determines that the amount of operation has reached or exceeded the predetermined amount, it starts acceleration control.

[0029] The control unit 15 is configured by a microcomputer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. The control unit 15 controls acceleration control, the air pump 9B, etc. in accordance with a program stored in advance in a nonvolatile storage unit (not shown) such as a ROM.

[0030] <2. Acceleration control (see Figure 3)> The acceleration control is started when the amount of operation of the accelerator exceeds a predetermined amount, and is stopped when the control unit 15 determines that the acceleration of the vehicle, i.e., the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 19, is equal to or less than the predetermined acceleration.

[0031] The "predetermined amount of operation" is, for example, about 1 / 2 or 2 / 3 of the maximum amount of operation. The "predetermined acceleration" refers to an acceleration that can be perceived as 0 km / h^2 by a seated person.

[0032] In the vehicle seat 1 according to this embodiment, either push control or pull control can be executed as the acceleration control, and the seated person can arbitrarily select whether to execute the push control or the pull control.

[0033] In this embodiment, the push control is assumed to be used in a front seat such as the driver's seat, and the pull control is assumed to be used in a rear seat, etc. However, it is up to the seat occupant to decide which acceleration control to execute, or whether to execute any acceleration control at all.

[0034] <Push control> When executing push control, the control unit 15 first opens the exhaust valve 13 to discharge the air in the air bag 7, and then executes initial control to close the exhaust valve 13, and then adjusts the opening of the injection valve 11 so that the air pressure in the air bag 7 increases in accordance with an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle.

[0035] In other words, push control is control that increases the air pressure inside air bag 7 in response to an increase in the inertial force acting on the seated occupant. Therefore, the inertial force felt by the seated occupant increases in response to an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle.

[0036] <Pull control> When performing pull control, the control unit 15 first performs initial control by opening the injection valve 11 to increase the air pressure in the air bag 7 compared to before the injection valve 11 was opened, and then adjusts the opening of the exhaust valve 13 so that the air pressure in the air bag 7 decreases in accordance with an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle.

[0037] In other words, pull control is control that reduces the air pressure inside air bag 7 in response to an increase in the inertial force acting on the seated occupant. Therefore, the inertial force felt by the seated occupant decreases in response to an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle.

[0038] 3. Features of the vehicle seat according to this embodiment The vehicle seat 1 according to this embodiment may use compressed air to apply a repulsive force to the seated occupant that corresponds to the acceleration of the vehicle. In other words, the vehicle seat 1 may apply a repulsive force to the seated occupant that corresponds to the acceleration of the vehicle without using a large electromagnetic solenoid.

[0039] The vehicle seat 1 according to this embodiment is capable of executing push control, which can amplify the acceleration felt by the seated occupant when the vehicle accelerates. The vehicle seat 1 according to this embodiment is capable of executing pull control, which can reduce the acceleration felt by the seated occupant when the vehicle accelerates.

[0040] (Other embodiments) In the above-described embodiment, the acceleration control is stopped when the acceleration of the vehicle becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined acceleration, but the present disclosure is not limited to this.

[0041] That is, in the present disclosure, for example, in push control, the push control may be stopped when the air pressure in air bag 7 reaches a predetermined upper air pressure limit, and in pull control, the pull control may be stopped when the air pressure in air bag 7 reaches a predetermined lower air pressure limit.

[0042] In the above-described embodiment, the acceleration control is initiated when the accelerator pedal operation amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured to initiate the acceleration control when, for example, the rate of increase in the accelerator pedal operation amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined rate of increase.

[0043] In the above-described embodiment, the initial control is executed when the push control is executed. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, in the present disclosure, for example, if the air pressure in the air bladder 7 is already equal to or lower than a predetermined air pressure when the acceleration control is started, the execution of the initial control may be omitted.

[0044] In the initial control of the push control according to the above-described embodiment, exhaust valve 13 is opened to discharge the air from air bag 7, and then exhaust valve 13 is closed. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, in the present disclosure, for example, the air pressure inside air bag 7 may be set to a value corresponding to the acceleration without closing exhaust valve 13.

[0045] In the above-described embodiment, the initial control is executed when the pull control is executed. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, in the present disclosure, for example, if the air pressure in the air bladder 7 is already equal to or higher than a predetermined air pressure when the acceleration control is started, the execution of the initial control may be omitted.

[0046] In the above-described embodiment, the air bag 7 is provided only in the seat back 5. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured such that the air bag 7 is provided in the seat cushion 3 in addition to the seat back 5, for example.

[0047] Air bag 7 in the above-described embodiment is used only for acceleration control. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, in the present disclosure, for example, air bag 7 may also function as a massage air bag.

[0048] The air bladders 7 in the above-described embodiments are configured to inflate and deflate in approximately the same manner across the entire width of the seat back 5. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured such that, for example, air bladders 7 are disposed at both one end and the other end of the seat back 5 in the width direction, and each air bladders 7 is controlled independently.

[0049] In this case, for example, when accelerating to turn right, the air pressure in the left air bag 7 may be made higher than the air pressure in the right air bag 7, and when accelerating to turn left, the air pressure in the right air bag 7 may be made higher than the air pressure in the left air bag 7.

[0050] The acceleration sensor 19 according to the above-described embodiment is provided in the vehicle seat 1. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured, for example, to include an acceleration signal input unit that receives a signal from an acceleration sensor provided in the vehicle, and to perform acceleration control using the signal input to the acceleration signal input unit.

[0051] In the above-described embodiment, inlet valve 11 and outlet valve 13 are provided independently. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this. That is, the present disclosure may be configured, for example, such that air bag 7 is provided with one communication port, and that communication port is provided with one three-way valve.

[0052] The three-way valve switches between connecting the inside of air bag 7 to compressed air tank 9A and connecting the inside of air bag 7 to the atmosphere. In other words, the three-way valve functions as injection valve 11 and exhaust valve 13. The communication ports function as an air inlet and an air outlet.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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]

[0055] 1... Vehicle seat 3. Seat cushion 5... Seat back 7... Air bladder 9... Compressed air generating section 11... Injection valve 13... Exhaust valve 15... Control section 17... Input section 19... Acceleration sensor

Claims

1. In a vehicle seat to be mounted on a vehicle, an air bag built into the seat back that expands and contracts according to the flow of air in and out; a compressed air generating unit that generates compressed air to be supplied to the air bag; an injection valve connected directly or indirectly to the air inlet of the air bladder; an exhaust valve connected directly or indirectly to the air outlet of the air bag; an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration; a control unit capable of performing acceleration control that controls the opening degree of at least one of the injection valve and the exhaust valve by utilizing a detection signal from the acceleration sensor; A vehicle seat comprising:

2. an accelerator opening input unit to which a signal indicating an operation amount of an accelerator provided in the vehicle is input; 2. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the control unit starts executing the acceleration control when the operation amount of the accelerator becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined operation amount.

3. 3. The vehicle seat according to claim 2, wherein, when the acceleration control is performed, the control unit first performs an initial control in which the exhaust valve is opened to discharge air from the air bag, and then performs a push control in which the opening of the injection valve is adjusted so that the air pressure in the air bag increases in accordance with an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle.

4. 3. The vehicle seat of claim 2, wherein, when the acceleration control is performed, the control unit first performs initial control by opening the injection valve to increase the air pressure in the air bag compared to before the injection valve was opened, and then performs pull control by adjusting the opening of the exhaust valve so that the air pressure in the air bag decreases in accordance with an increase in the acceleration of the vehicle.

5. 5. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the control unit stops the acceleration control when the acceleration of the vehicle becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined acceleration.

6. 5. The vehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein the air bag is disposed in a portion of the seat back that corresponds to a thorax of a seated occupant.

7. 7. The vehicle seat according to claim 6, wherein the air bag is provided in a top panel portion of the seat back.

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