Active Headrest Mechanism for Neck Injury Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing headrest mechanisms in vehicles are complex and costly, and they often shake during normal driving, causing discomfort and noise, while failing to effectively support the head and neck of passengers in rear-end collisions due to their limited space and design.
Innovation Solution
An active headrest with a simple structure featuring a guide bar, sliders, a moving bar, a front cover, a pivoting guide unit, a driving spring, and a latch unit that adjusts forward and rearward inclinations to support the head and neck during collisions, while preventing shake and enhancing user convenience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a headrest is moved forwardly and upwardly to support the head in rear-end collisions, then neck injury prevention is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The headrest mechanism is divided into separate functional components: a guide bar for linear motion, a moving bar for pivoting motion, sliders for vertical movement, and a pivoting guide unit for angular adjustment. This segmentation allows each component to perform a specific function, simplifying the overall design while achieving the dual motion capability needed for effective collision protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The headrest mechanism transitions from a static position to a dynamic active position during rear-end collisions. The driving spring provides automatic dynamic response, pushing the sliders upward along the guide bar when collision forces are detected, enabling the headrest to move forwardly and upwardly without complex control systems.
2Ease of operation
If convenience devices such as inclination angle adjusting devices are added to the headrest, then user comfort is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pivoting guide unit merges the collision response function with the inclination adjustment function into a single integrated mechanism. The same moving bar and guide bar structure that enables forward and upward motion during collisions also allows for forward and rearward inclination adjustments during normal driving, eliminating the need for separate adjustment devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The headrest mechanism is designed to perform multiple functions: it provides automatic collision protection by moving forwardly and upwardly, while simultaneously offering manual inclination adjustment for user comfort. The guide bar, moving bar, and pivoting guide unit work together to enable both safety and comfort functions within a single unified structure.
3Reliability
If the headrest is not permanently secured to allow quick movement during collision, then neck injury prevention is improved, but shake and noise occur during normal driving
Solution Approach 1:
The latch unit provides periodic locking and unlocking action. During normal driving, the latch unit keeps the headrest securely locked in position, preventing shake and noise. During a rear-end collision, the driving spring automatically pushes the sliders upward, causing the latch unit to release and allowing the headrest to move forwardly and upwardly for protection. This periodic locking/unlocking mechanism resolves the contradiction between stability and mobility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively prevents neck injuries during rear-end collisions, adjusts for comfortable support during normal driving, reduces noise and vibration, and improves the quality of the vehicle seat and car by providing stable and secure headrest functionality.
Implementation Method 1
a driving spring providing an elastic force for pushing the sliders upwardly
Implementation Method 2
a moving bar pivotably coupled to the sliders so that the moving bar is pivoted around the guide bar forwardly and rearwardly
Data Source
AI summary
An active headrest has a simple structure so that injuries of the neck and a portion near the neck of a passenger can be effectively prevented in the event of a rear-end collision and forward and rearward inclinations of the active headrest can be adjusted in an ordinary driving state to improve user's convenience and shake of the active headrest with respect to a vehicle seat in an ordinary state can be prevented to suppress noise and vibration and the quality of the vehicle seat and the car can be improved.