Vehicle Backrest with Asymmetric Recesses for Rotated Driver Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drivers of utility vehicles, such as forklift trucks, face discomfort and fatigue due to inadequate upper body support when driving backwards, leading to potential health issues and reduced visibility.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle seat design featuring a backrest with recesses and elevations that provide integrated lateral support, allowing the driver to comfortably rest their arms and upper body, with adjustable height and shape to accommodate different anatomies, ensuring proper support and stability during prolonged backward driving.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If the driver sits in a rotated position to see the rear region, then visibility to the rear is improved, but upper body comfort and support deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The backrest is designed with non-uniform local features: recesses at specific heights and elevations at specific locations provide targeted support zones. The first recess supports the upper arm, the second recess supports the lower arm, and the third recess supports the elbow, creating localized comfort areas that accommodate the rotated sitting position without requiring a complete redesign of the entire backrest structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The backrest is segmented into multiple functional zones with distinct support features. Rather than a single continuous surface, the backrest includes separated recesses and elevations that can independently support different parts of the upper body (upper arm, lower arm, elbow), allowing each segment to address specific comfort needs while collectively solving the overall support problem.
2Ease of manufacture
If standard vehicle seat design is used, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but upper body support capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention maintains the simple overall backrest structure while adding localized support features (recesses and elevations) at specific positions. This approach preserves manufacturing simplicity by not requiring a complete structural redesign, while simultaneously improving adaptability by providing targeted support for the upper body in rotated sitting positions.
3Ease of operation
If the driver supports the upper body to the side, then some upper body support is provided, but complete upper body support deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The backrest is divided into multiple support zones with the first recess for upper arm support, second recess for lower arm support, and third recess for elbow support. This segmentation allows each zone to independently provide support for specific body parts, collectively achieving complete upper body support rather than just partial support at a single location.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the backrest are designed with specific local features tailored to support different parts of the upper body. The elevations and recesses are positioned and shaped to match the anatomy of the upper arm, lower arm, and elbow, providing optimized local support that collectively achieves comprehensive upper body support.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a vehicle seat, preferably for a utility vehicle, comprising a seat part and a backrest part. The backrest part has a left portion and a right portion when viewed in the seating direction of an occupant of the vehicle seat, and a first recess is arranged on the left portion so as to extend to a first distance and a second recess is arranged on the right portion so as to extend to a second distance starting from an upper end of the backrest part in a height direction of the backrest part. The first and the second recess are mutually spaced and are continuous from a front border surface to a rear border surface of the backrest part, and the first distance has a greater value than the second distance.